Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Age of Innocence
In class on tuesday, we talked about how Age of Innocence is a book that makes fun of society's elites and exposes the flaws of their lives. We see modern versions of age of innocence all the time, such as gossip girl. why do you think that this type of story has been, and still is, so appealing to our culture?
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As ms. Stuart said, it could be because people in lower classes want to know how richer people live. Or maybe it is because some people have gotten tired of seeing these rich people living such superficial lives that they want to criticize them or make fun of them by writing these books.
ReplyDeleteI think it gives us some form of entertainment. I agree with Cedrik because people who don't necessarily get to experience the life of the rich get a "sneak peek" of what it is about. Again, agreeing with Cedrik, what if they are just jealous of the rich and wish to criticize them? I think we all have a little of this superficial lifestyle in our own lifestyles. We also have reality television for this same reason. We find entertainment in the struggles that we see in celebrities' lives because they are so gossipy and minimal in our own lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jayme and Cedrik that we like to see into the life of the rich but I think it is more about looking at other peoples life in general. There are other show that have to do with people having weird or different jobs or having strange habits. I think that we like to see other types of lives even if they are not rich. We like to make judgements about other peoples lives and shows about the elite class are very entertaining because of there scandals but they are also easy to make fun of because it seems as though they have very superficial lives. As much as we like watching shows about the rich we also like watching shows about other peoples life as long is their is something different about them from our own.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren that we like to see what other peoples lives are like if they are different from ours in any way. We like to watch shows and read books like this because they are entertaining and or critical like Jayme and Cedrik said. In the Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton is trying to show just how ridiculous and shallow New York society is and that people should make fun of it instead of take it seriously. Reading/watching things like this make us realize how much we should value our own lives but also gives us a peek into the entertaining lives of the rich and famous.
ReplyDeleteBecause even in our society today certain people act in ways that the people in age of innocence act. for example high school girls are known for gossiping and talking about people and only associating with the "right" people and thinking that certain ways of acting are better than others and certain people are better than others. i think its so appealing because in many ways the behaviors in this story are still around today. rich people are known for owning really expensive fancy things and only associating with fancy rich people and not so much with less wealthy people and this is another behavior in the age of innocence. i think its appealing today because people notice it in our society still and can criticize it first hand and see that in a way certain people think like people hundreds of years ago did
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Lauren and Jamye I think that this type of story is still around today because gossip in general is something that as always been around. These types of stories provide entertainment to everyone and I also think that this form of entertainment is still around because it can take your mind off of your own problems which can allow you to relax. I like comparing these types of stories to going out to the movies it is away to take your attention off of your own life and focus on someone else’s--(like the characters in a movie)
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is more entertaining to people who don't actually live that kind of lifestyle. It also almost humanizes those kind of people by showing that they too have flaws. I agree with Nicki that it also provides us with an escape from our own (maybe mundane or boring for some people) lives. In Edith Wharton's time it wasn't possible to climb the "social ladder". So, the people who probably enjoyed her book were those in lower classes. They knew that they were never going to be able to experience these things first hand, so it was a wonderful opportunity that they got to read about it instead.
ReplyDeleteI think we like to watch show like Gossip Girl and all the Real Housewives shows is becasue it gives us a glimpse of what the elite class in America is like. Many of us will never make it there so it gives the viewers a chance to experience it. You get personal view into peoples lives, in the confort of your own home. Personally i watch these shows and i like them. It is a whole new lifestyle that i maybe or maybe not get to experience.
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