An Informed Perspective: Tumblr

While the rest of the world is on Facebook and Twitter for almost 20 hours of their lives, I am on Tumblr for nearly 26 (One of the topics is time travel, so it's totally possible). Tumblr is another social media website, created by David Karp and was designed for photo sharing along with the advantages of being able to post text, music, links and quote posts as well as being able to fully customize the layout of your blog to your personal taste. Tumblr has developed into something so much more, including so much more and it makes it such a usable website to such a wide audience, myself included.

I use Facebook for the games and the occasional status update and group planning event, as well as stalking my friends photos while they're on vacation, and I hardly use Twitter finding the character count is ridiculous to convey anything I want to say without needing to review and trim my original message. Tumblr!
On Tumblr you have your main categories of blogs: Personal/Hipster, Professional, Writing, Fandom. I happen to have all of them (Personal and Hipster being the same category, and mine being a personal blog).



A Personal blog is pretty much just you, you post what you want to post when you want to post it. This can include photos you find on the site and want to reblog, or just the most randomest things that make you who you are. A Hipster blog is filled with Galaxy print and crosses and meaningful text on random backgrounds. "They knew cool before it was cool". Fandom blogs and Hispter blogs have taken their two different sides of the spectrum of Tumblr, it's rather entertaining to listen to us squabble over things. (Another joy of Tumblr over Facebook and Twitter, this wouldn't be able to happen on those sites).
Professional blogs include artists, photographers, advertisers and people who own their own business and use Tumblr as their main website/blog. You can also find DIY blogs under this category and 'How Tos'.
Writing blogs are what I specialize in on Tumblr. In this category you will find yourself drenched in the world of literature, fan fictions, personal works and of course, Role Play blogs. This is where I get to have my fun and run away from reality along with millions around the world to interact with.
Finally Fandom blogs. Once entering the world of Tumblr, you are hit with Fandom blogs. You may imagine it's like a normal person walking into a hospital for crazy fangirls while the roof is on fire and slowly consuming the entire building (that's one of the Tumblr jokes). To sum up a Fandom blog, it's exactly what it sounds like. A fan blog for something. Usually these consist of television shows, movies and actors. The 'Big Three' of Tumblr is BBCs Doctor Who, BBCs Sherlock and Supernatural. Together, these create what Tumblr users call SuperWhoLock. Tumblr also hosts fandom blogs to other popular shows such as the Vampire Diaries, Glee, Elementary, Torchwood, Avatar and a whole lot more what would take more twitter posts than Facebook could handle. Movies include things such as Harry Potter, The Avengers (And pretty much Marvel and DC in all), The Dark Knight Trilogy, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and once again, many, many more. Fandoms on Tumblr post GIF files and still images of their favorite moments in their fandom seconds after it happened live on TV (this is a constant for Doctor Who).

That's it for the main blogs. There are still a lot more out there, but that's for you to find out. Tumblr's also a little underground, which is why so many people like it (Hipsters especially because they had a account before it was cool). The next story about Tumblr and the different kind of media you'll find on it is one of a more mature matter and closer to the heart then a show, movie, hobby or job you obsess over.

Tumblr is a community, an international one where I personally have met some of the most amazing people in the world (My 'Group of Seven' as we call ourselves consists of myself, another Canadian from Vancouver, a Scottish gal, two English peeps, a Swede and a Texan. You can say they're my best friends and we constantly have Skype chats with one another). It's also a support group. Constantly on my dashboard I will see posts about Suicide Hotlines and those who have either mentioned the thought or are seriously considering it. I've been effected by this personally by a friend who's had some trouble and she needed a friend, so a friend for her I became. People post about their life and you will either get one of two things, hate messages or messages saying to ignore them, look in a mirror and see how wonderful you are. Together the community of Tumblr likes to think they save lives, which they do.

Tumblr has become so much more than David Karp ever intended, but so did Facebook and Twitter when they were first standing up on their feet. You still find problems, because it's the internet, where are there not problems" But you find a lot of good things too. One of my favorite quotes in Doctor Who, which the Fandom blogs of Tumblr has pretty much voted as Tumblr's motto is:

The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant. 

~Vincent and the Doctor (2010) 

The Home Stretch: Doctor Who

Media Text: Doctor Who

For those of you who have noticed a trend of personal interests on this blog, two of them include Doctor Who and Tumblr and for those of you who haven't, well, those have been two of my top personal trends to relate issues back to. 
Doctor Who was a Sci-Fi television show that first aired in 1963, on the 23rd of November. The show started off as something unique to the BBC and something not a lot of people were quite aware of, now of course today 'New Who'  (the series re-boot in 2005 by Russell T. Davies) is one of the most popular and well known shows on the BBC as well as BBC America. 

Doctor Who has received a lot of media attention this year especially due to its upcoming 50th Anniversary that is due to air November 23rd this year. The stars and featured actors have all been announced and this has both sparked joy and disbelief as only a few of the fans favorites will be making a return to the show. Along with this, the show has received a lot of discussion and debate among its fans as to what course the show it taking. Steven Moffat, the new writer and director of Doctor Who since Davies stepped down a few years ago, has taken the show to places some of the fans don't exactly agree with. The debates online discuss the meaning of the show, the plot points and the characters. Both sides are persuasive (I however am on the side that disagrees with Moffat's direction. Some of his plots are wonderfully constructed, but not as thrilling as the fire few in 'New Who' constructed by Davies and his team). The debate just makes the show more unique as it sparks creativity in its followers. 

Creativity. Doctor Who forces you to come up with theories for the mysteries the show has to offer, for example the current companion to the Doctor is Clara Oswin-Oswald a.k.a. 'The Woman Twice Dead'. She's dies twice at different points in the show and now she's back and alive. The theories as to how are extensive and nothing short of brilliant. The connections people have brought back from the original Doctor Who, the characters and relatable events show how timeless the show is and how nothing is ever truly over and done with. 

As for the Classic Doctor Who, I unfortunately can't voice an opinion as I've only seen a few episodes from the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) but I can see why the show has lasted this long. The writing has only gotten better (well, that's left for discussion) and the plots have gotten more intricate as the show continues. One of the timeless debates of the show, that has never really been settled although does have more weight on one side then the others, is who the best Doctor was. David Tennant's Doctor is one of the favorites from New Who and Tom Baker is the favorite from most Classic Whovians. Of all eleven actors who have played the Doctor, it's fair game when choosing who your favorite is, if you can choose a favorite that is... 

Doctor Who follows the rules of a traditional post-modernism Sci-Fi show as well as the benefits of breaking countless rules to bring thrilling plot twists that you didn't even known where being followed. In a somewhat linear perspective, to the companions, it's interesting to see if the Doctor ever comes at different points in his timeline (Example: With the Ponds, after they left, the Doctor traveled back to see them, which was one of the episodes prior to them leaving. So, we view the lives of the Ponds in linear perspective, but the Doctor sometimes goes back and forth). 

A show that inspires creative minds in its viewers and cosplayers is certainly one that will stand the test of time, especially since the main character is a Time Traveling alien from the planet Gallifrey. 

College Boy

[Link to video can be found here]

1. College Boy a video by Quebec director Xavier Dolan has been viewed as controversial and offensive. Do you think it has gone too far in depicting school aged bullying? Explain.
I think it's meant for a more mature audience. I understand why people are regarding the video as controversial and offensive; reading some of the french comments below the Youtube video was very insightful to Quebec views. The message is clear as day in the video and the visual metaphors such as everyone wearing blindfolds extended the message to a territory few go to. Everyone is the bully if someone is the victim, whether you do it yourself, or do nothing about it. It's a very powerful message and looking at it from a religious perspective probably gave it more of a power push to that audience (The crucifiction of the boy was the offensive part, and I can see why with the message it sent out using Christ's image as well as the mature content and graphic image that follow). 
School age bullying, yes, this crossed a line that no one has crossed before. Is the message powerful? Yes. Should this video be played for schools? This is where another controversy lies. When looking at domestic violence and racial discrimination, the majority of the world is desensitized to it due to the content of shows on television and movies. I think it has gone too far along the lines of school bullying, but then again, there are more suicides from students who are bullied at school and suffer from mental illness then any other cause of death among the age group. 


2. What do you think people find particularly offensive about the video?
The religious references and graphic images int he video are offensive to an wide audience. Personally myself, I was unprepared for the graphic imagery of the student being beaten by the other students and the cricifiction of him. had I been prepared, I may have reacted differently but then the impact of the act would have been lost and the needing message of the video would have been dulled. The image of the cross and being nailed and tied to it was very graphic, which is what upset me. On the side of the religious figures, I can't say much. I'm not offended to the same extent that others would be by the imagery of Christ's image used in a controversial topic. I do like that the director went into no-man's land and used material that would create such a vivid and diverse discussion on a topic most ignore. 

3. Some people might have the perspective that the video sensationalizes bullying and makes the victim into a martyr. Define the two highlighted words and agree or disagree with this statement. 
Sensationalizes:  Present information about something in a way that provokes public interest and excitement in an exaggerated way. (Making events in a newspaper seem more vivid, shocking and devastating then they were)
Martyr: A person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs. 
I completely agree with the statement, whether I share it or not is another question. The video did sensationalize bullying in the generic sense. Most people are aware of the first part of the video, spit balls and paper thrown at you in class followed by names and the hallway shove and locker break in. What was exaggerated to the greater audience was the ending and the result of the boy being killed. It doesn't happen the way it was portrayed in the video in real life, but it does happen as well as the idea of turning the authority on the one who is the victim. 
I agree with the idea that the video was sensationalizing bullying to the wider audience, and the direct translation of the video makes the victim into a martyr, but looking at it with a broader mind, the message is looking at everyone (one of the topics discussed in the comments below the video)


I found reading the comments rather insightful and a wonderful view of Quebec attitudes about this. There is a thread going on with replies between eight people, three of them are on the side that it's controversial while the other five are relating it to different topics, issues, backgrounds, sexual orientations and beliefs and perspectives. If you understand french it's a wonderful discussion to read, if not, Google translate is a wonderful tool to assist you.