Good and Meaningful Life According to Various Sources Draft, Pt. 1

 

1. Introduction: Every person on the planet, whether they do it consciously or not, is trying to find meaning in their life. However, meaning is not a definitive term, and every person has a different idea for what is meaningful. These interpretations of meaning differ from person to person due to the cultures around us, including corporate culture, folk culture, and big sub-cultures. Within each of these there also lies he mainstream, marginal, and prohibited messages that they get out.
2. My ideas about a good & meaningful life 1: I personally think that there are many different ways to live a good and meaningful life. While I may feel that certain things I do are meaningful and good, somebody else may think that they are a waste of time and pointless. For that reason, I think that in order to live a good and meaningful life, you have to follow your own standards. Everybody has a place in this world and everybody is an individual. No people are the same and they shouldn’t be. If everybody was perfect, successful, and helped their fellow person, individuality would be lost. This “utopian society” would eventually crumble due to withheld resentment. While not all meaningful lives are good, meaning can be found in all lives.
3. My ideas about a good and meaningful life 2: I do believe that there are certain overall guidelines that should be followed for a good life. I was raised to be Catholic, so I am influenced by the Church. As a result, I do think that most of the 10 Commandments apply for a good life, but there are exceptions. I do not think that somebody has to be religious to have a good life, and they don’t need to honor their mother or father. I think that people do have to overall be nice to others and do their best to help their fellow person, but if somebody is entirely helpful to others then they will lose themselves and their individuality.  A good life is harder to have then a meaningful life in many cases, because you have to be a good person to others and yourself. In addition, just because you live a good life, it is not necessarily meaningful, and vice versa.
4. Other peoples ideas about a good and meaningful life 1:
5. Other peoples ideas about a good and meaningful life 2
6. Defining corporate/commodified culture and raising the question of messages it sends (dominant, marginal, prohibited)
7. Corporate messages 1 - Music video 1: The song “Lip Gloss” by Lil’ Mama is basically saying that physical possessions, such as Lip Gloss, make you popular and happy. Therefore, it implies that having expensive or nice possessions will make you happy, more popular, and that it will make your life “good”.
8. Corporate messages 2 - Music video 2: The song “Good Life” by Kanye West talks about money and the things that come with it. The song goes on to describe money as a good life, and that having nice things and a sexy woman by your side is meaningful.
9. Corporate messages 3 - Film 1: The movie “Superbad” starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera has mixed messages on a good and meaningful life, and is a good representation of mainstream media contradicting itself. Throughout the movie, the main characters are trying to get to a party so that they can “get with” a couple of girls. Michael Cera’s character Evan is more into the romantic side of mainstream media, where you like a girl for who she is (Although she is also rather pretty) and don’t avidly pursue sex. Jonah Hill’s character Seth is the opposite and wants to get drunk, get action, and have a summer full of sex. The movie in the end seems to put most of its support behing Evan though, as he ends up getting the girl and Seth, seeing this, decides to try to be more romantic and caring for who the girl he is with is.
10. Corporate messages 4 – Magazine Ads: Corporate media sends out many different messages depending on what circle you are in. What is a prohitited or marginal message from one circle may be mainstream for another. In the video game world, there are money common threads. Based on advertisements for both Saints Row 2 and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, conclusions can be drawn quite simply. Other than the surface “message” that video games are meaningful and good.