With the elections around the corner, it definitely makes sense to talk about politics and the youths’ involvement. This coincidentally leads into this week’s reading of “Fan Activism as Participatory Politics: The Case of the Harry Potter Alliance” by Henry Jenkins. Its focus on Andrew Slack, the founder of the Harry Potter Alliance, talks about how powerful society can be in becoming activists with the help of Harry Potter. Furthermore, it’s not only Harry Potter and the Harry Potter Alliance that influences the youth, but pop culture as a whole. Hollywood has a strong influence on youth and when the industry is able to use their power for good to bring awareness.
Personally, I am very much interested with pop culture and when I notice cultural acupuncture in entertainment, it makes me smile. I will admit, as a fan, I am easily influenced and will look into real life issues that are brought up through pop culture. It helps me expand my views and delve into more detail as to what is happening. Also,I find that pop culture and the cultural acupuncture definitely helps me and the students connect by using “metaphors and analogies that are already part of young people’s lives” (p 70, Jenkins). This is not only a great way to have students involved with real world issues and civics, but also engages them into your lessons when teachers are able to create this link.
In the reading, it mentions that Slack came up with the idea of cultural acupuncture when he noticed the news media was more interested in the next Harry Potter film than the genocide in Darfur, he decided to take action. This idea of using a very popular book and using its influence to bring awareness is definitely something I look up to. I strongly respect Andrew Slack for doing this. We need more people to model this and know what type of important information should be focused on more compared to others. To end things off with this post, here is a a link to a funny video of an anchor throwing a tantrum after having to deliver another Kardashian news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1fuoOH7Dw8 We definitely need to filter out reports like the Kardashians and focus more on what is necessary in civics.
Henry Jenkins. “Fan Activism as Participatory Politics: The Case of the Harry Potter Alliance.” DIY Citizenship. Eds. Matt Ratto and Megan Boler. Cambridge: MIT, 2015. pp. 65-73.
Personally, I am very much interested with pop culture and when I notice cultural acupuncture in entertainment, it makes me smile. I will admit, as a fan, I am easily influenced and will look into real life issues that are brought up through pop culture. It helps me expand my views and delve into more detail as to what is happening. Also,I find that pop culture and the cultural acupuncture definitely helps me and the students connect by using “metaphors and analogies that are already part of young people’s lives” (p 70, Jenkins). This is not only a great way to have students involved with real world issues and civics, but also engages them into your lessons when teachers are able to create this link.
In the reading, it mentions that Slack came up with the idea of cultural acupuncture when he noticed the news media was more interested in the next Harry Potter film than the genocide in Darfur, he decided to take action. This idea of using a very popular book and using its influence to bring awareness is definitely something I look up to. I strongly respect Andrew Slack for doing this. We need more people to model this and know what type of important information should be focused on more compared to others. To end things off with this post, here is a a link to a funny video of an anchor throwing a tantrum after having to deliver another Kardashian news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1fuoOH7Dw8 We definitely need to filter out reports like the Kardashians and focus more on what is necessary in civics.
Henry Jenkins. “Fan Activism as Participatory Politics: The Case of the Harry Potter Alliance.” DIY Citizenship. Eds. Matt Ratto and Megan Boler. Cambridge: MIT, 2015. pp. 65-73.