Thursday, February 28, 2013

Notes on Bat Camp by Timothy Callahan


               The topic of this brief essay centers on how ‘campy’ Batman actually was.  The way it straddled the line between satire and silliness is a turning point for public perception, either you embrace it and accept it, or you reject it and speak out against it.  Half of the viewers loved it, half despised it.  Personally as someone who still reads Batman comics on a monthly basis, I straddle the fence.  I accept it because I used to watch it with my grandparents when it went into syndication, but I also don’t count it in the canon of Batman history.  But I digress.

               I found myself remembering the waning days of 2012 as they appeared on my facebook wall.  The majorities of posts were not reflections on the past year, nor were they eager predictions for 2013, but they were in reference to Psy’s Gangam Style…really.  That’s what flooded my facebook wall.  For the most part they were in jubilation that the year, in fact it was only a few months, of Psy were over.  So many of my facebook ‘friends’ hated the song with so much passion, it inspired them to post publicly about it in social media.  As I type this blog entry, the aforementioned video has been viewed 1,357,999,020 times.

               We are all inundated with trends and fads that originate in a digital form every day.  Fifty years ago it was a millionaire and his ward dressed in costumes fighting crime.  Today, it is a South Korean pop artist.  But just because it’s popular, doesn’t mean everyone enjoys it.  I have spent quite a bit of time discussing how important it is to tie in digital texts and resources into our classrooms, but in actuality, it may not work for all the students.  While teaching with digital resources is vital and critical in the coming decades, I must remember not to get wrapped up in the fast paced changes that are occurring.  My job is to ensure that each and every student learns to their fullest potential.  If this utilizes technology, great; if it doesn’t I will need to find another way that is fitting and suitable for that student.

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