So What if he Can't Draw, it's Still Cool!

Reservoir Dogs brings with it the concept of cool literacy. While being able to read is an almost certain thing within our society, I feel literacy has moved beyond its basic definition to simply mean that being literate is having an understanding beyond the aesthetic in multiple areas while being able to see the connections behind those areas. For example, a mechanic may know the intricacies behind how a car engine works, but without knowledge of other diverse subjects like science, literature, and politics, he would have a low literacy level. In Reservoir Dogs, the main characters all know the way that crime works. In addition, in scenes that are spliced throughout the film, we see the characters talking about various other subjects like pop culture that add depth to their personalities. For viewers of the film, a certain level of literacy is required to understand the film beyond the seemingly random conversations and violence. Having the ability to see the cultural understandings that the characters make through their conversations makes the film much more powerful, especially in terms of the betrayal and Mr. Orange. The betrayal goes from an undercover cop performing his duty to a scene of a friend completely destroying his relationships and condemning his friends to death.

Literacy is cool for a very simple reason. Without literacy, only aesthetic observations can be made about things, meaning that content that would otherwise be known is lost through the fog of illiteracy. XKCD requires at least some literacy in order for it to be funny. The comic strip, in the words of the creator, is "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." Because XKCD assumes the literacy of the reader, it can make jokes about anything including current politcial news, pop culture trends, and even math. Because the comic strip transcends all areas of knowledge, it becomes funnier with the more things that the reader knows. For example, before becoming versed in technological jargon, this strip would be meaningless. However, when it is known that sudo is a command in Linux operating systems that forces the computer to do something regardless of the circumstances, then the strip becomes a quick laugh about Linux. Overall, I highly recommend XKCD to anyone who can read English and has at least a little bit of literacy. It is a very fun experiance.

Unfortunately, a lack of literacy amongst most people has caused our entertainment to decline in recent years. Although we have not slipped back into the practice of bear baiting, our entertainment is growing considerably more vulgar as a result of a lack of literacy. One example of this is the cartoon Family Guy. While Family Guy does have some funny moments, it is plagued by a type of humor that is characteristic of the rising vulgar movement. However, even though vulgarity is on the rise, there has also been an increase in literate entertainment. The Discovery Channel boasts many programs designed to entertain and educate the audience. Shows like MythBusters, How It's Made, and multiple specials on everything from science, art, and history are far from vulgar, but they can retain their quality as good television shows. My hypothesis to why there is both a rise in vulgar and literate entertainment is the diversity of entertainment sources. Because of cable television and the Internet, anything that a person wants to watch is available. Therefor, because the source is unlimited, it is ultimately up to people to make the decision to whether or not they wish to have literacy co-mingling with their entertainment.