Ethnography

            I love that the art of people watching has become a research method for cultural studies. As I looked deeper into the ideas of culture and ideology through Chris Barker’s book, Cultural Studies, and personal experiences, I realized that watching the way people live around me defines the culture in which we live. When I thought about where I wanted to do my research so that it would exemplify “radical romance”, I figured that I would observe in a setting that I was familiar with, at a restaurant. My fiancé and I have been going on weekly dates ever since we first started dating. It was just a way to spend personal time together without interruption from friends and family. We happened to have free meal certificates to Souplantation so I decided to observe there. Since I had never been there before, I didn’t know what to expect for my observation. After analyzing what I saw, I was surprised to see that “radical romance” was portrayed in a different way.

Observation

            We (my fiancé and I) arrived at Souplantation at around 7:00pm on Friday. Walking through the double doors we were greeted with a huge salad bar that had every topping imaginable for a salad. At the end of the salad bar was the register to pay for your meal. There were lines on each side that took up the entire length of bar. While I was waiting in line and creating my salad, I saw several families and not that many couples. Since the dining area was pretty full a hostess woman took our group number to find us a table. After we got seated, I began looking at the tables surrounding me.

            A table next to me had two teenage girls sitting on one side of the booth and two older women sitting on the other side. The girls were looking at their cell phones while the women were facing each other talking. After about ten minutes, they left and a new couple took their table. It looked as if it was a mother and a daughter. I noticed that the older women was wearing a black T-shirt, gaucho pants and was not wearing makeup. Throughout their meal the older woman kept looking at her phone and periodically picked it up like she was texting. The daughter was just sitting there eating.

            Around a half an hour after we sat down, a family of four was seated behind me. The mother was a larger woman wearing a teal v-neck shirt, jeans and had a sweatshirt wrapped around her waist. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was not wearing any makeup. The dad was also on the bigger side was wearing a black polo and had long wavy dirty blonde hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail. The younger son was wearing a sports jersey and was also a bigger for his young age. The older son was tall and was wearing a skater hat and had headphones sticking out of the collar of his black T-shirt. Periodically one or two of the family members would get up and leave to get food. Across the way from me was another family that looked like grandparents taking their grandson out to eat. By this time, the rush of families had passed and the dining area was less than half the amount earlier. Finally the last family I observed was an Asian looking family. The dad was wearing a gray T-shirt and a black hat that read “Titleist”. The mom looked pregnant and was wearing a pink tank top with a gray shawl vest and had her hair pulled back in a messy bun. And their son was young, could be around 5 or 6 years old.

Analysis

            When I think of a date, I imagine going to a nice restaurant to share in a special meal. That was the extent of my expectations going to Souplantation. I quickly realized that this restaurant was just a glorified buffet. Although the restaurant itself was very well put together with artwork and flowers lining the walls and an extremely clean dining area, the individuals that came to the restaurant was hardly on the typical “date”. Barker explains my belief system through ideology that my understandings of the culture and norms that I live in are based off of my own perceptions and what was taught to me (pp. 61-64). This restaurant does not follow in the same patterns of other restaurants. It creates an atmosphere of “its just a place to eat.”

The families I watched all had a similarity about them. Typically, when I go out to a restaurant, I am there about an hour. Within the hour of my observation, there were several families to come and go from the same table. They just came to each with little socialization and then leave. Also the families all seemed like they wanted to opt out of making a home made meal and came to Souplantation in the comfy clothes they were in.

My experience at the restaurant does have “radical romance” in the sense that there was a lack of romance. None of the families came to the restaurant with social intentions. They were not dressed to impress. The families were also radical in that they were not fitting into the traditional family mold where families have meals together in the home. But then again, our culture has turned going out to eat into a regular part of society. Barker explains that culture is not created by individuals alone, but by the society in which they live (p. 43). Our society makes restaurants the new “home made meal”. It lets people believe that taking your family out to each regularly is normal part of society.

Works Cited

Barker, Chris.  Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice.  Los Angeles: Sage, 2008.

Identity...

When we finished talking about “Identity and Subjectivity” in my Pop Culture class, I immediately thought of this web show that I just saw. Watch the following three episodes then read the rest of my post.

The Guild - Episode 2: Zaboo'd

I don't know why it has Spanish subtitles.

The Guild - Episode 3: The Macro Problem

So for those of you who had no idea what was going on, this is a web series about a group of six individuals that play an MMO (massive multiplayer online game) just like World of Warcraft. I have never played the game nor do I intend on playing the game, but my knowledge of the game (because my fiancé used to play… a lot) is that people log into the game as an avatar they created and go on raids or quests to gain levels. The higher your level, the better your skill and the more loot you have. When individuals get together and form a group, called a Guild, it helps them level their character faster. Most of the language they were using in the show came directly from the game. For example, AFK means “away from keyboard.” Essentially the only social interaction the players have with other players is through a microphone attached to their head and the keyboard in chat rooms.

Thinking about identity these individuals have created a pretend creature in this game that represents something they want to portray to the rest of the game. Most of the time it shows a more confident, well-distinguished individual. Unfortunately, the people that play this game will end up playing an insane amount of time, identifying themselves more with their avatar than their real self. They will end up talking “leet”, the language they use in-game as well as obsess over treasures they can get in the game.

I found the show funny and so true. When “Codex” suggested having a guild meeting in person, the rest of the guild was nervous as if they didn’t want to reveal their true self. As “Tink” said, “I like you guys the way you are. Cartoon characters who let me feel a sense of achievement in an imaginary world.” With any kind of online social network, people create an image of someone else by whatever they can find within the confines of the computer screen. So if you think about it, how can you truly know someone’s identity online? You can’t, really. They create an identity that seems real, but is not. It’s the same in real life. We put ourselves in certain social groups that create an identity, but switching to a different social genre can easily change our identity. In my pop culture class, we received this quote “Cogito ergo sum” meaning, “I think therefore I am”. We are what we make it.

What is Culture?

What is culture? I feel culture is what society makes it to be. Culture is the way we live. Take this picture of example. What do you think about when you see it? What does this picture tell us about the lifestyles and values that is associated with this image? 

In my popular culture class, we discussed these same questions about this image. At first glance, I saw the typical hamburger, something I would get on my way to work because I don’t have time to go home. I thought of the fast paced society that we live in where fast food restaurants have become an essential food group. There is a good chance that anyone who reads this probably has fast food at least once a week. But if you investigate the image more you can think about what went into making the burger. Just imagine all the people that were involved in making the bun or growing the cows and produce for the cheese, patty, lettuce, and tomato. This simple burger gave many people jobs and a way of living.What do you think?