Mr. Edwards' Media Profile

Mr. Edwards' Media Profile

How media is important in my life:

I think that media is pretty gosh darn important in my life. Even when I don't want it around, there seems to be no way to escape the popular culture our society has created; whether it's the unavoidable inundation of advertisements or those annoying text messages my students always try to read in class. However, mass media also acts as a great way to keep us all connected and can be entertaining and a lot of fun - all it has to do is never talk about The Hills again.


My Top Three:

Music: I don't think I could go a day without listening, at least at for some small period of time, to my I-Pod, a CD or record, or something on my favourite radio station (Oldies 1150!). While I may not be quite obsessive about music as I was in my teen and university years, I believe that music has been the most influential medium in my life. From grade nine, the year I discovered The Beatles were more than just music my parents listened to on car trips, popular music has provided the soundtrack to my life. And there's something about how music and memory work together that causes that favourite song to take you back to an event or moment from years ago.

Film: Since I really can't sing or play an instrument other than air guitar, film was the medium I originally decided to focus on for a possible career. My friends and I obsessed over films all through high school and, fancying myself the next Scorsese or Kubrick, I attended film school for two years before switching over to History and teaching. Now I get the chance to watch and analyze films in my career again as I look forward to this course!

Comics: I know for certain that I wouldn't be teaching English today if it wasn't for the passion I have for reading that came directly from my obsession with comics during childhood. Comics were so appealing because they were pure imagination in the hands of the individual reader. I could take my time over the newest issue of Batman, marveling at his capture of the Joker over and over again or even stop to trace out the batcave for my own unproportionately-drawn adventures of the caped crusader. And while my tastes have matured since then, I love the fact that I can go into any book story now and find a comic just as engrossing as the best Hollywood has to offer.

Pop Culture to Me...

Popular culture to me is a little too sensationalist for my tastes. I know that I am guilty of not flipping the channel when the latest Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan scandal comes on the news, but I think the obsession with every minute detail of the lives of celebrities is a little too much for me sometimes. However, deep down I know that me and popular culture are good friends - hey, it's responsible for bringing me all my favourite hobbies, from music to film. And while I'm hesitant to accept all it has to offer, I believe that technology like the internet and I-Pods are changing it in such a radical way. It's the perfect time to be studying this change in class!

Desert Island Choices

If I had the choice of taking one movie, one music album, one T.V. show, and one video game to a desert island, I would choose the following:

Movie - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)

This is definitely one of my favourite films, and is certainly one I can watch over and over again quite frequently. The cinematography in this film is so amazing that I think I could easily fill my time watching the future of humankind's evolution, and any movie with apes attacking other apes is sure to be a classic.

Music - The Beatles - "The Beatles" (The White Album)

This is cheating a bit because it is a double album, even though it originally came out on record and it's only slightly longer than a single CD. However, this album does show the fab four at their most experimental and independent; it's almost like getting four solo artists all on one CD. Of course, Ringo doesn't really count. Stand out tracks include "Cry Baby Cry", "I Will", and "Long, Long, Long".

T.V. Show - The Simpsons

I believe this show was one of the few and best programs aimed specifically at my age group. During the first few seasons, Bart's hijinks ran the show, and his "underachiever and proud of it" period was so cool to a nine year-old boy too afraid to do anything that might earn him a detention. By around the fourth season, when Homer became the star of the show, I was old enough to start getting the satire of the show, and The Simpsons began teaching my friends and me comedy. The most memorable, quotable, and classic TV show of all time; and, if you're stuck on a desert island, you can't really argue with a 19-season show.


Video Game - Tetris

Come on... What other game out there would I be able to play forever without getting bored? And all that Russian music? Can anybody say 'dance party'?