Self Introduction Post: Ricky

Introduction of Myself

I'm Ricky Ochoa, a sophomore at NJCU. I really like to chill out and question humanity's existence. I plan to make successful comics and TV animated shows once I have enough money. My belief is ambiguity because our sense of reality can differ through perspective. What led me to this conclusion is that there are multiple religions, philosophies, histories from around the world, scientific discoveries, and theories about why stuff happens. My drive for doing comics and eventually moving on to animated TV shows stems from disillusionment with how Hollywood and Anime have been doing with the quality of their stories within the realm of the superhero genre. As I became a better writer, I started to see the problems related to how males and females are portrayed, plot holes after using deus ex machina solutions that make an exciting story too simple, plot armor to keep main characters alive for the plot to continue which usually involve situations where they are supposed to die or fake out deaths that come out of nowhere, and keeping other potential characters sidelined for the main protagonist to always shine and solve all of the world's problems. I wanted to make an ensemble cast in my works with equality for both genders, male and female, while making them complex and human to give story potential. 

 Quotes from "Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hooks"

1. "Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence."

2. "Patriarchy demands of men that they become and remain emotional cripples. Since it is a system that denies men full access to their freedom of will, it is difficult for any man of any class to rebel against patriarchy, to be disloyal to the patriarchal parent, be that parent female or male."

My Responses

1. It's on point because we, as a collective, created this system in the first place. We justify why men and women are the way we are due to our biology. However, we must remember that we also have a brain that allows us to learn about the world and ourselves, enabling us to create stuff in our heads in the first place. That is why male and female standards have been confined to their own rules due to us creating such a thing in the first place. Men are expected to be gods, and Women are expected to serve their gods.

2. For the expectations of how men should behave. They are treated like gods and put on a pedestal. They can't feel emotions because they are supposed to be admired for their accomplishments. Failure is also not an option, and they should eliminate any perceived weaknesses by themselves and hide them from the rest of the world. Because of this, man's greatest fear is failure, which drives them mad to achieve perfection. If they don't reach that standard, society often expects them to either commit suicide or take their anger onto others, which ends up with violence. They never get help or seek it because of the fear of being perceived as weak and incapable of existing in this world. Patriarchy affects not only women within the system but men as well, which is why we must destroy what we have created in the first place.

Quotes from "What Memes Owe to Art History | Artsy"

1. "Today’s meme culture adopts the techniques of postmodernist movements like Pop, performance, and conceptual art to buck their precedents to subvert the status quo."

2. "'Memes aren’t an innocent process—they carry serious political weight, and not always of the activist variety,' Wershler said, citing the website 4chan’s politics board and other alt-right cyber-communes where hate speech has festered in the form of memes."

My Responses

1. Memes have evolved into absurdism. It feels that way now because of the many religions, philosophies, and discoveries of history and science. At this point, I concluded that we don't know anything and will continuously learn new things for eternity. We don't know much about the past because most information has disappeared. As such, we rely on our theories or pragmatism to explain why things happen as they are.

2. Slander has been popping up more often, and even though memes are usually known for gags and jokes, they frequently carry the context of what they're trying to do. Usually, it mocks everything about a person, object, or idea. If you don't know the context, you will probably laugh, but if you do, it is not funny anymore. Not all humor is for everyone, and it can hurt someone's feelings.

Quotes from "Memes Are Our Generation's Protest Art | VICE"

1. "Most are rooted either in expressing anger, mocking Trump, or collectively coping with his presidency's absurdity and even trauma. Other memes defend the president, or at least train fire on his detractors, teasing them for being triggered or crying great gobs of liberal tears: Sharing memes that go to bat for his dad is one of the primary ways Don Jr. spends his days."

2. "Most people interact with these images in fleeting ways as they scroll through their feeds, but creating or consuming political memes that align with one’s point of view can be therapeutic. They reflect what’s happening in society and help justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone."

My Responses

1. Memes have evolved into being used for political views which to me feels surprising since it used to be for fun.

2. Memes can help create a sense of para-social community but if not carefully checked can lead you to radicalize and even believe everything that you see without considering other perspectives.