- The media aspect of this class is the one that really interested me the most. How much thought, time and money goes into creating these advertisements to sell to us really intrigued me. I guess it was just something I never thought that much about. Everything in a 30 second to 1 minute ad is so carefully constructed, I now look at ads so differently!
- 2. Going off of the media idea, the different tools that these companies used were eye opening. Now whenever I see an ad I start de constructing it in my head and analyzing which techniques they are using to try and pull me in. I in essence have this new lens on whenever I see ads and am more apt to not be swayed (I think) or at least recognize when the tactics are working on me! For example this one worked because the tactics were so obvious and out in the open...http://i.huffpost.com/gen/582569/thumbs/o-PONTIACAD3-900.jpg?12
3. Looking at the way that America was built at the car scale and not the people scale was super interesting to me and now so obvious after this class! This idea was mainly addressed in The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler, which was my favorite, most engaging read of the semester. Kunstler, albeit a bit cynical, really laid out how are constructed landscapes were created and why they were built the way they were. In terms of the car centered landscapes the superhighways are the epitome of this “driving stakes through the hearts of old neighborhoods, killing whatever life they touched” (Kunstler, P 193)
4. How cars define people and how people are so connected to their cars. Personally i have never owned a car and feel that I am a bit outside of this bubble of people hat are very hung up on their cars. But it was very interesting in American Graffiti to see how much having a car affected peoples attitudes and social status. This is addressed in Republic of Drivers as well. “Cars are a way to communicate not only personality but wealth and status” (Seiler, p. 58)
Now imagine this ad without the car...
5. This class made me open my eyes and really see the car culture in America in a new light. Cars are so accepted in our culture we don’t even realize we are surrounded by them constantly. Everything that goes into the car culture we as Americans rarely realize or see what is happening on the other side of the world in order for us to live the way we do. "The newspaper headlines may shout about global warming, extinctions of living species, the devastation of rain forests, and other world-wide catastrophes, but Americans evince a striking complacency when it comes to their everyday environment and the growing calamity it represents" (Kunstler, p. 10)
5. This class made me open my eyes and really see the car culture in America in a new light. Cars are so accepted in our culture we don’t even realize we are surrounded by them constantly. Everything that goes into the car culture we as Americans rarely realize or see what is happening on the other side of the world in order for us to live the way we do. "The newspaper headlines may shout about global warming, extinctions of living species, the devastation of rain forests, and other world-wide catastrophes, but Americans evince a striking complacency when it comes to their everyday environment and the growing calamity it represents" (Kunstler, p. 10)
class="s3">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YOx8KCvJZw.
6. Cars as a private space to get away from outside world, to either have private conversations with others or simply be in your own head. This can be seen in American Graffiti and is also talked about by Seiler in Republic of drivers. “Being alone in a car is like being in one’s own time machine, in which the mind can rove ahead to the future or scan the past” (Seiler, p. 139) This is an often used tool for people to reflect and get away. Something that I have never (consciously) used, but opened up my perspective to why people go for a drive a lot of the time... http://itstartswith.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/OPEN-ROAD-with-car.jpg
6. Cars as a private space to get away from outside world, to either have private conversations with others or simply be in your own head. This can be seen in American Graffiti and is also talked about by Seiler in Republic of drivers. “Being alone in a car is like being in one’s own time machine, in which the mind can rove ahead to the future or scan the past” (Seiler, p. 139) This is an often used tool for people to reflect and get away. Something that I have never (consciously) used, but opened up my perspective to why people go for a drive a lot of the time... http://itstartswith.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/OPEN-ROAD-with-car.jpg
7. Car as a symbol of freedom and independence. I think that this was a very important theme throughout. The idea of a car as a symbol of independence, allowing one to go where they chose without having to rely on anyone or anything else is unbelievable. “independence from reliance on the schedules and desires of others” (Lutz, 15) This idea has slowly become muddled with increased costs of driving and so many more cars on the road as well as more built up infrastructure and more police officers and surveillance. Lending itself to less freedom and more of a structure when driving around on the roads.http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2013/11/trafficcamoveload.jpg
8. A huge eye opener for me was the alternatives to the gasoline powered car. First off the electric car. After watching who killed the electric car I was awestruck and so frustrated! I had no idea about the EV 1 and can’t believe how much it faded out of everyones memory. What this really showed to me was the bigger picture, that technology isn’t necessarily where we are hitting a brick wall, but rather politics. It is greed that is stopping us from moving forward and it is really sad to see that greed killed what very well could have been a revolutionary change to the auto industry.
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/EV1_crushed3.jpg-Crushed EV 1s
9. Going off of that, alternatives to driving a personal car at all. Walking, biking, skating, running, public transit, etc... This would require a complete paradigm shift, however something that I think completely possible, and in all honesty completely necessary for human kind. It would require a restructuring of landscapes. I have briefly thought of this idea,however not nearly in as much detail or the actual possibilities that Kunstler showed in his book. Kunstler talked about DPZ who is a group that is working on building more people centered landscapes I became really interested and began my own reseach into what theya re doing and it turns out that they ahve already built a number of places. Below is an example of one place that they built in Al Khobar, KSA. Evidently they are doing projects all over the world, although centered in the US. http://www.dpz.com/Practice/1110
10. A very interesting perspective on suburban sprawl and the histories of cities was covered in Kunstler’s book. I found it increasingly interesting of how the car culture and suburbia is ultimately what has led to the downfall of Detroit. Detroit which was known as the motor city was one of the first cities to become a ‘car city’ is now seeing the fallout effects of this. A telling sign of what is to happen to the rest of our cities? As can be seen in Detroit, The “Quickest to uproot themselves are the educated classes, generally to advance their corporate careers.” (Kunstler, Page 148) It is going to be tough to get Detroit back on its feet if this continues to be the case.http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18nd14hozg2hqjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg
Thanks for a great class. I really did get a lot from it and am now that much more conscious of our built landscapes, the way I am advertised to and the cars that are running rampant in our lives today. I really enjoyed your enthusiasm and found the atmosphere in class to be very comfortable and welcoming:)
REV on!
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