Introductions

Hey guys!!! I’m Eman and i’m really looking forward to posting on this blog. This is probably the first course i’ve ever taken that encourages this much freedom and critical thinking. It’s great to know that the next time a song, movie or book makes me think of something larger than the work itself, i can share it with you guys :) I am currently halfway through watching churails right now, which is a pakistani drama that has (you guessed it!!) been banned in pakistan for the social issues it addresses. Other than that i’m rewatching suits and am halfway through around five other movies that i’ve lost interest in. I am a biggg rock fan and my favourite band is probably nothing but thieves. my alter ego also likes to listen to soft indie songs so if you listen to people like clairo or girlinred please drop down song suggestions :))

Hi everyone, I'm Momina Moazam. I am honestly so excited about this blog and the course in general. I feel like this is one of my favourite courses yet (it's a close second to Qawali). I love the idea of making sense of popular media because its is so prevelant in our lives yet somehow we just passively take it in. Looking forward to all the amazing discussions, and if it wasn't already clear I'm a qawali fanatic. I'll listen to/watch/read almost anything and everything so recommendations are always welcome. Lastly I'll just ask you to bear with me because I do tend to hyper fixate on weird things and that'll definitely translate into the posts that I make here. Stay safe and happy!

Hello everyone! My name is Ali Roman, your friendly boy next door. I just want to start of by saying how cool this course is for having this blog component. Never have I been enrolled in a course where I can literally talk about pop culture, music, dramas, movies, etc. and not be dismissed for wanting to talk about irrelevant things. Really looking forward to reading all of your opinions on things you're passionate about!

As for me, I'm a huge music fan and will try not to make 209309 blog posts about ARTPOP (If you don't know about that album, please check it out) for sake of not becoming repetitive hehe. C'est la vie, Take care everyone!

Hi all! I’m Alina, and am really excited for this project. I love finding meaning in pop culture and seeing how things have changed, evolved, and grown, even within same genres over time. Comparing shows like Friends and The Fresh Prince with something like Brooklyn 99 shows the sort of change that has happened and is bound to happen in media, how it has affected people, and how it was affected *by* people. I love listening to new music and prefer to watch movies at the cinema instead of at home! I finished watching Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend Of Korda last month (after years of putting it off) and believe me when I tell you that my newsfeed it full of fan theories, or posts highlighting character growth arcs and how they’ve inspired viewers! I’ve recently started watching Gilmore Girls and love it so far. When I’m not on Netflix or YouTube, I try to make time to paint, all while listening to a curated playlist according to my mood on that day. Looking forward to learning and growing with everyone!

Hi Everyone! Ali Mustafa here. I am really excited about this project because we are going to discuss things we already know but have never viewed them from a different lens. I have watched countless Hollywood and Bollywood movies but have never asked myself the question as to why a certain thing is represented in a particular way. After watching a movie, I would unconsciously adopt a view that whatever is being presented before my eyes is real. This is how things should happen. And this project, I believe, is the way through which we can decode the messages hidden behind those running pictures.

I follow Sci-Fi and fiction movies like a crazy person. The last film I watched was “Tenet”, a movie written and directed by Cristopher Nolan. However, in non-fiction my favourite film or as I should say the trailer is “Zindagi Tamasha (Circus of Life)” written and directed by Sarmad Khoosat. The idea regarding Mullah’s that is present in society, this movie tries to represent it; however, there is a severe backlash from the in the country due to which film is currently banned. I really hope the movie gets unbanned.

I will end my comment by telling my favourite song, and I think it is much needed in this semester that students listen to this song. The song is “Smile” by Jimmy Durante.

Hi everyone!!

Finally having won the battle against all technical difficulties we are so excited to welcome you all to this blog! As you guys already know i'm Anna, one of your TA's for the course. Our hope for this blog is to become a place for active engagement and discourse and for everyone to post and talk about things to their heart's content! So please feel free to post as often as you want and do not worry about sounding smart or keeping your posting content limited. From your favourite Netflix shows to your taste of music to obscure YouTube videos that you're hooked on, from Bollywood to Hollywood and everything else in between, please feel free post about whatever you want! And be sure to add in relevant pictures/videos to make your post even more interesting! Have open discussions, voice your opinion and criticisms and look to challenge and breakdown the preconceived notions of not just others but also yourself. Here's to what will hopefully be a wonderful process of unlearning!

Cheers! x

Hello Everyone! This is Rafeh, one of the course's student pedagogical partner.

Hoping you enjoy this forum and have some great debate and discussion. We'll be watching ;)

Hi everyone! This is Ashal, one of the teaching assistants for the course. I'm super excited to use this blog to start sharing and learning new things related to the course throughout the rest of the semester! I think this course covers a lot of topics I generally like to discuss with my friends and that it generally expand my own analysis of media and intersectionality, so I'm hoping that this blog will bring more of those discussions to life. My favourite song is between the bars by Elliott Smith so if you like any songs similar to that please feel free to share the names with me!! Also my favourite TV show has got to be Avatar the last airbender, I have shamelessly binged it at least a dozen times over the past 15 years so if there are any fellow atla fans here let me know! (I'll definitely be putting up blogs about this in the future hehe). Anyway, here's to seeing hopefully an endless amount of thoughtful posts, healthy debates, and dank memes for the next few months.