Pop-Culture Icons

Stan Lee to me is one of the most prolific pop-cultural icons in today's contemporary society. Stan Lee's creations can be recognized in today's media almost instantaneously. Mr. Lee is responsible for the creation of such iconic characters in comic book literature, such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, and the list goes on and on. These characters are present in almost every form of media in America today; and perhaps throughout the entire world. Everything from comics, blockbuster movies, video games, children's clothing, and etc. Through these characters though, Lee has poured deep complex and detailed personality traits and life lessons into everyone. One of the most well known is the every popular phrase " With great power, comes great responsibility." originating from the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series. The lesson of morality was true when conceived in the 1960's as it is today. Weather it be the Hulk's ongoing struggle with managing his emotions, to the mutants in the X-Men series overcoming genetic adversity in the face of a society that fears and hates them, Lee's creations have touched so many people in so many prolific ways, I believe his status of Icon is just earned.

For my second icon, I choose the amazing Pittsburgh Penguin Mario Lemieux. Well I chose old number 66 for a couple reasons. First reason being that the Pittsburgh Penguins rule, and no matter how much you want to deny it; it's as solid of fact as gravity. Second reason I choose Super Mario is not only is he a phenomenal hockey player but is a symbol of hope and determination, especially in the sense of betting the odds. Mario had to miss the entire 1994-1995 season due to his ongoing battle against Hodgkin's Lymphoma, as well as ongoing health such as  chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle, herniated disc and other minor aliments. Through all the pain, the agony, and doubt; Mario kept fighting, kept playing and was eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. After his retirement from Ice Hockey, The Pittsburgh Penguins fell on hard times declaring bankruptcy in 1998. Only to have Mario lemieux buy the team and keep them in Pittsburgh. Today Mario is alive and well, watching over his precious Penguins from the elevated voew of the owners box, cheering his team on with as much heart as the day he skated onto the ice at the igloo.

My third icon of choice is the wonderful, the amazing, the spectacular...ME!

Hahahahaha, Just kidding!
My real choice is the political comedian Bill Maher. Whether you love him or hate him, there is just something about his calm, sarcastic, and condescending aura about him that invokes some reaction. For me it's usually laughter and agreement, but for some with other political beliefs and views the reaction can certainly get under a persons skin. I feel the Bill Maher not only gets a reactions but has a message to the American public. I believe that his message is that people should stop and think for themselves and not take themselves to seriously. I could go on and on about the impact of Bill Maher on the American public, but I kinda feel like it's more subjective from person to person. In any regards Bill has made an impact, one that I hope continues for future generations.

Thanks for reading.

All images taken from Google.com and wikipedia.com

Assignment 1-1:Popular Culture

To me, the definition of Popular Culture is a massive interest in trends and practices that help define society and sub cultures within. These trends and practices vary from individual fashion choices, to massive public marketing trends, such as the Budweiser frogs and Nike's slogan "Just Do It". Society uses pop cultural practices to help it define past, current, and new generations as well. Practices such as the Zoot Suit swing dancing to modern day tattoos and piercings. Whatever current or recent generations find interesting, fun, or enjoyable pretty much stamps its place within society's pop culture.

Aspects of pop culture are relevant in the fields of business and information security more so today than ever. With the increasing popular trend of opposing corporate authority and the government practice of withholding information to the public, hacker groups such as Anonymous contribute to the rise of internet hacking activism or "Hacktivism" making it a constant reoccurrence. My major of information security deals with just this by maintaining network and server security for whomever is paying my salary. My loyalty can be bought by the highest bidder.

In a somewhat related area of pop culture, my artifact is the Online game sensation World of Warcraft.

Never before has there been a video game that has connected the players and fan base together on the massive scale of influence. This online role playing game at one time had 12 million subscribers playing worldwide and generates billions of dollars in revenue each month. World of Warcraft has infiltrated almost every aspect of social culture. Its influence include books and novels, clothing, art, an upcoming movie, music, tv, global championships, toys, and food. Below are some pictures of examples of some of things I'm talking about.

As you can see, World of Warcraft has secured its place within pop culture as well as its place in modern history. For these reasons I am also using World of Warcraft as my topic in class due to the games massive impact of society.