Curious Questions

I will be interviewing my boyfriend Elias, whom I know does not enjoy Law and Order: SVU. I plan on beginning the interview with general questions, move into discussing him dreams and more personal life, and then speak strictly about the show. A few of my questions will be:

1. How often do you watch television, and what genre most often and why?
2. Do you ever have dreams of solving crimes, committing a crime, or physically fighting people? If so explain what they were in detail.
3. Is there any history of physical, sexual, or verbal abuse with you or anyone that is close to you?
4. what do you want to do at some point in your life; career, goal ect.?
5. Do you own any seasons of any television show?
6. Do you like Law and Order: SVU? Why or why not?

Geppi's Entertainment Museum: Lost and Found

After getting lost for twenty extra minutes because of the construction, parking far away from the entrance door, and walking around the sports museum that hides Geppi's museum, I stepped into the control-panel-wall-papered elevator of Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, I automatically knew that I was in for a good time. I stepped into the beautiful museum to find that no one else was there; although, not being able to find the door to the museum may be the answer. After paying the worker gave me and my friend a bundle of different things. First, we got a pin as a sort of entrance ticket. Then, we got a card in which we could play trivia games on and get a prize (my museum name was bean); did you know that on one of the covers of a Batman comic book, Superman was there, cause I didn't. We got a map as well that informed us about each room. The halls reminded me of a sort of "Alice in Wonderland" type of feel. The tall walls had extra big famed movie posters hanging all over the place. As I strolled from room to room, I felt as though I were entering different time zones. It was a flash back from generation to generation.

The first room I entered was covered from top to bottom with colorful vintage comic books. After I read a ten-cent copy of “The Fantastic Four,” I moved on to one of my favorite rooms. The Star Wars room was something that I could truly connect with. Because I have been a Star Wars fan for as long as I can remember, a lot of the items that were present in the museum looked very familiar to me. Along the same lines, upon entering the toy room, I stumbled across the “California Raisins.” These items had a very sentimental meaning to me, being as how when I was a young girl, I was given a “California Raisins” shirt by my great grandfather who passed away. A lot of the items in this museum engendered an exceedingly happy emotion within me due to the mere fact that they reminded me of my childhood. However, the fact that my childhood toys were in this museum implied that the generation to which I belong is now being considered vintage as well.

This creative museum is exceptionally unique in the way that it goes about educating its visitors. Although at first thought one may think that each room was simply full of innumerable out-dated toys, there are many fascinating historical facts that define this museum as an article of history in itself. As I walked into each room, an automated recording explaining the importance of the items present in the room was played. There is a lot of meaning behind many of the objects that existed in Geppi’s Museum. For example, “I Love Lucy” played in the television room. Although sleeping in the same bed was a little to risky, this show was the first of its kind, in that it was the first publicized display of an interracial relationship. These objects are not only significant because of the emotional effect it has on people, but more importantly because each room shows a timeline of impactful events that span several generations.

One thing I did think was a bit controversial was the house wife magazines. Whenever we see an old advertisement for a dinner or cleaning product, we see that same cartoon woman, wearing that same apron, and smiling. At one point women's rights were strictly related to the family. They had the right to cook, clean, and love her husband and children. It is a good thing that we have come as far as to not have that same woman on the products any longer, but it is controversial in the sense that at one point women did not have the rights that were so generously given to us (I hope you catch my sarcasm) in later centuries. Women's rights, at one point, was an extremely controversial topic. It is a good feeling to know that those magazines are now in a vintage culture museum... where they should be.

Throughout the entire museum there were signs of strict gender roles. In rooms that there were occupied by action toys were marketed towards boys,whereas rooms that were meant for girls were engendered with dolls. The amazing comic book filled room was lacking in comics that were made for girls. Barbie may have been one of the only books that was made for the female demographic. Across the hall from the comic books was the doll room. After being in all of the rooms, I could tell that the rooms had a greater meaning in the way that they were set up. The fact that there was a girl's and boy's room showed that marketers did not allow for confusion as to what was "for boys" and "for girls". This reminded me of a reading that I read that talked about the makers of toy trains, and how they were scared to put a little girl on the box of the train because of the fear of losing the consumption from the male audiance.

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is a hidden treasure in the city of Baltimore. The historical content that exists in the rooms of this museum is very powerful. From the beginning of the journey, consisting of simple toys and dolls, to the more recent time, including the Star Wars phenomena, the outside appearance of the museum is fun and entertaining, while the more obscure and underlying meaning behind the pieces are to evoke powerful emotional responses from the people that experience this special museum.

Sizzling Semester Topic

As you can all tell by now, I love television. The ordinary genre that I would typically choose to talk about, would be reality T.V; however, I have recently discovered my love of investigative television. With this being said, I chose “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” as my semester topic. The fact that a sexual assault can turn into a murder mystery in every episode, all the while keeping the audience's interest, is an amazing accomplishment. From the semi-gruesome story line, to the unpredictable conclusion, this is a show that I feel would be extremely interesting to analyze. Because this show is a form of a compilation television show, composed of many different branches, including “Law and Order” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” I came about choosing “Special Victims unit” because of the superior quality of acting represented in this stem of Law and Order, in addition to the higher intensity of the plot lines. I am thrilled about studying this show, and I am excited to see what I can do with it.

Getting to Know Me

Hey everyone! My name is Alexandra Pullen, but everyone calls me Alex. I have lived my entire life in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, which really is not as “hick-ish” as it sounds. I have been dancing competitively for sixteen years, and consider this interest a big part of my life. Currently, I am an interdisciplinary major, with concentrations in film, dance, and psychology. With that being said, I would have to say that pop culture is a seemingly influential part of my life, both in the present and in the future.

Needless to say, as a college student in today’s society, the Internet certainly holds a position of gratitude in my eyes; whether I am checking my e-mail, Facebook, or surfing the web, it is a valuable “tool” in many respects. In addition, television to me is priceless. Although some people may perceive reality television to be a joke, I watch it religiously. Whether it is Project Runway to Big Brother, and Celebrity Rehab to So You Think You Can Dance, I watch it all.

Another branch of pop culture that I am extremely interested in is the cinema. I love all different kinds of films, ranging from comedy to horror. At times, a documentary can be of great interest to me as well.

Apart from my recreational interests in television and film, one of the most significant and impactful forms of pop culture in my life, is music. Being a dancer, music has become an exceedingly essential item in my life. Although I am interested in unknown music, I am also a sucker for popular music, one of my favorite popular artists being Kelly Clarkson.
With all of that being said, I am really excited to take this course being that it involves my everyday life, and my goals for the future. From as far back as I can remember, I have wanted to be involved in the production of film and television. I am equally as passionate about choreographing (which clearly involves music) dances that vary from hip hop to lyrical; therefore, another ambition of mine would be to work on Broadway, directing and choreographing.

As it is blatantly obvious, pop culture has an enormous, and very special, place in my heart. I think that it is safe to assume that without pop culture, a lot of what I do and how I describe myself, would not be possible. I am looking forward to learning about the things that are clearly such a big part of my everyday life. I think it will be interesting to see what the future has in store.

My three possible topics for this semester are Law and Order: SVU (television series), Lord of the Rings (movie trilogy), and Myspace (on line community).