Wiz Khalifa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1KVDHnM4sU

As most of you know, Wiz Khalifa performed at DePaul last Friday for our annual FEST concert. It was a fun concert and all, but was he an appropriate choice to be allowed to perform at the world's largest Catholic university in the country? As seen in this video and through many of his lyrics, Wiz loves smoking weed and being under the influence of other substances. Sure, I understand the notion of freedom of speech, however, at what does ethical norms and religious beliefs come into play?

I personally loved Wiz being here and think his music is awesome. With that being said, I am a 20 year old college student, not a University president. In the music video, Wiz is seen overtly rolling joints, drinking, and smoking. This all is cool for Wiz in freedom of speech and expression aspects, however, what are we teaching not only kids, but young adults? That if you're famous you can do whatever you want (even on camera) and avoid the law while still making money? I don't want to be a stickler about this, but people make such a big deal about what you post on Facebook, while here you see a public figure blatantly committing acts frowned upon in society. Also, if the cops were to see a picture (let alone a video) of me doing this stuff, I would get into trouble. Wiz is not only staying out of trouble, but making a fortune about breaking the law and singing about it. I don't know whether to call him an idiot or a genius, but whatever the case may be it is strange how our culture works.

Just Don't Be Stupid - New Media, Bad Behavior, and Child Endangerment

Dude, I'm consistently fascinated by the lack of awareness that folks have about the power and pitfalls that come along with the power we now have to create, post, and widely circulate media.  This news story chronicles a recent tale of a college guy who used creative editing and online media to land himself in prison.  Evan Emory gained access to a 1st grade class, sang a nice little song to them, and then reedited the video to make it appear as if he was singing a lude tune to them.  Emory eventually received a 2 month prison sentence and evaded the child pornography charge (and consequent mandatory sex offender registration).  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this situation.  On the one hand, it falls firmly under the same category as the Asians in the Library video and politicians who send out racially offensive emails as jokes, and folks who lose jobs (or nearly do so) for things they posted on facebook.  Use your head!!!  Anything you post or email takes on a life of its own.  You no longer have control of how your material or your name is used at that point. You never know who will receive it, change it, or bury you with it.  On the other hand, this isn't in fact child pornography or child endangerment.  He never exposed the students to any of the racy material depicted in the video.  He was just skillful with his computer.  One article compares him being punished for this crime as the same as charging Anthony Hopkins for the killing of Janet Leigh in Psycho (fyi, those are the actors who played the characters).  Where do we draw the line when the issue seems to be one of poor judgment and individual idiocy rather than actual criminal behavior.  I wonder if folks' good sense will catch up with their new media options.

You know you've watched 'To Catch a Predator'

MSNBC’s ‘To Catch a Predator’ used to be one of my favorite shows to watch to get a good laugh. The men that are interviewed are such idiots that have a lack of common sense and ethics to put it short. Obviously we know what they are doing is wrong. Yet, since they all get arrested in the end, we think its okay. But is it really okay to watch?

Coming across this old clip I started thinking, is it okay that I or we watch this for entertainment and a humorous guilty pleasure? Technically it’s a legitimate, ‘journalistic’ program that is featured on MSNBC, a credible programming station. To the contrary, the editing of the show is clearly cut in a way to make all the men look brain-dead, Chris Hanson (host) is the comedic interviewer that always puts them in their place with a punch line and the trap is always so obvious. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I’m not watching a ‘Candid Camera’ knock-off, but an actual clip of an adult man who is under the impression that he will take part in sexual act with a young child. I question my own judgment and morals for watching such a show and laughing, forgetting that this is an actual show that shows similar cases that happen to innocent young children.

Should we watch stuff like this?

A.S.