yuntingmao

       I have studied Unit 2 for a couple weeks, and I have a deeper understanding of pop culture. Popular means people, and  culture means shared attitudes and beliefs. There are four components of pop culture, including objects, people, places, and events. If use a word to express the essence of this unit, I would choose condiments because they can be widely used in a variety of food and add flavor to food. This affects our lives as widely as pop culture, from music to fashion, from people to sports. Pop culture not only has the power to reflect and shape our values, beliefs and behaviors, but also plays an important role in determining future fads and trend. My “aha” moment was when I completed the group project with my groupmates. I learned culture is passed from one generation to the next through the process of inculturation from Unit 1, but I always think it only in language and knowledge. I was surprised to find that pop culture is inherited in many place...

        Kim Shui is a fashion designer. She was born in the United States, and she is 32 years old now. Her inspiration for fashion design comes from her experiences in different cultural countries: the United States, and Rome. She founded Kim Shui's brand in 2016, known for its bold and playful aesthetic. Her clothing often features bright colors, unique patterns, and unconventional silhouettes. Time magazine named her a "Trendsetter" in 2023 because of her unique and innovative clothing designs. She hopes to empower and uplift women through her fashion designs. She rejects the idea that women need to conform to society's beauty standards. A woman does not necessarily have to have big breasts, perky hips, and a thin waist to be the most beautiful. She embraces girls of all sizes and aims to create inclusive clothing that fits all shapes and sizes. To make every girl feel confident and beautiful in her clothes. The trend that Kim Shui represents is to break with trad...

       I read the article Dancing Between the Notes: Music and Asian American Panethnicity. It was written by Gray Phillips on Jun 10, 1998. This article describes the relationship between music and Asian-American pan-racial identity construction. The author explores the role of music in shaping AsiAn-American pan-racial identity, and music how to influenced by cultural, historical, and social factors. The article describes that Asian musicians draw inspiration from diverse Asian traditional music, while also incorporating elements of Western music to create their own unique music. At the same time, music has played a vital role in expressing political and social issues. It has made Asians more united and confident, such as the Asian American movement in the 1960s and 1970s.        I learned a lot from reading this article. First, I learned music plays an important role in Asian-American pan-racial identity. People use music to change American ste...

  Our group project is in the 2020s, and I am responsible for two important films and one major event.  By completing this project, I learned a lot about pop culture, fads, and trends around the world in the 2020s.  First, pop culture is communicating with each other.  For example, Coda is an American coming-of-age film,  and it remakes a 2014 French film.  The film was loved by many people and won the Best Picture Award at the Academy Awards.  Second, I think pop culture is inherited and innovative.  The Avatar sequels are a good example.  Maybe there will be Avatar 3,4 or more in the future.  They will continue the previous Avatar, and then inject a more innovative and creative culture. 

        I chose number two Shereen El Feki: Pop culture in the Arab world. She tells us that people are busy learning Western innovations and changing them into things in the Arab region. There are two prime examples of this sort of Islamic cross-cultural hybridization. One is 4Shbab, which means "for youth", and it's a new Arab TV channel. It's different from the old music channels, showing a kinder, gentler face of Islam and inspiring young people to bravely face challenges and difficulties. The other one is "The 99". The characters are meant to embody the 99 attributes of Allah such as justice, wisdom, and so on.          I am very interested in Fulla which is the Arab world's answer to Barbie. It's my first time to know, and it makes me surprised. I think Fulla is a great symbol of cultural mishmash because she has both studied Western popular culture and retained her own identity. She is not a copy, she really belongs to Arab popular cu...

  Charlie Chaplin is a world-famous comedian, and he is also an excellent director. His name has become a legend in the history of cinema. He was interested in performing arts from an early age. He entered the stage at the age of nine and began his acting career. He began his career in the silent film era. He became famous for his iconic clown image and hilarious antics. He created one classic character after another, such as The Tramp. I like Chaplin for many reasons. First, his comedies always bring me a lot of joy. Second, he is different from other comedians, his acting style is unique, and he can use very simple actions and expressions to create the funniest plot. Finally, his movies contain a lot of life lessons. He uses humor to shed light on social issues such as poverty and poor working conditions. His films make me think and pay more attention to today's social issues.