What Would Kurt Cobain Do?

Today in J620 we finally moved from discussing the history of humanitarianism and how the media works for and against humanitarian groups to the part of the class that incorporates celebrity. I did enjoy learning about humanitarianism in the sense of just building my knowledge base because I have no background in it, but I am looking forward to discussing how celebrities interact with the media.

In starting our discussion of celebrity, my professor brought up the fact that her favorite band is Nirvana.  I don't often have professors who profess their love for grunge or who have a Kurt Cobain poster in their office so I found that amusing. My professor said that when she's having a bad day she'll look up at her poster and think "what would Kurt Cobain do?" and she usually comes to the conclusion that her situation really isn't that bad.

But anyway, Nirvana was a segue into discussing what makes someone a celebrity and how celebrities can cause social movements. Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and Bono were the other celebrities that the conversation seemed to center around.

I find it kind of funny that for the most part everyone seemed to have a pretty extensive knowledge of celebrities, its like we all have this fascination that we try to keep hidden because we're supposed to be intellectuals. I guess that is why I appreciated my professor's Nirvana comment so much, it is always fun to see people divulge little parts of themselves. I find that especially true with music, and what certain people are drawn to. I love when people can surprise me.

In other news I got an A on my first paper for this class, which was a big relief for me since I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of my knowledge of humanitarianism.

Since I've now been inspired to re-visit Nevermind, I'll leave you with Nirvana's Lithium, which I argue is one of their best.