My cabinet of curiosities is a collection of artifacts that I like and/or I’m inspired by. I wanted this collection to be special and to provide people with the same sense of wonder I feel when perceiving these media artifacts.

There is a large number of books and films presented inside the cabinet because of the huge impact they have had on me but also on society. John Locke’s Blank slate theory highlights how our surroundings effect people rather than genetics, and since the world is largely dominated by the media and people watch and read all the time, it’s clear that the books and films people are presented with can alter their lifestyle and ideals. Thus I presented multiple books and films, old and new, to highlight their importance. They are accompanied by quotes that help explain the film but do not unfortunately really highlight the importance surrounding them, which is something I wish I had included. Ghostbusters (2016) was a film I chose to include because of how it broke expectations and provided young girls good role models. I could have included its social media impact and that’s something I regret due to how fascinating it was.

It was hated and while most called it out as being another bad sequel that wasn’t needed, there were a few louder people who called it out for being “feminist PC crap’ and then saying “This is the movie I’ll forever avoid and never give it a chance lol.(1)”

The clear underlying message was that people weren’t happy that their classic male Ghostbusters was brought back with a female cast. It received critically good reviews yet flopped in the box office because of its bad press. The impact social media had on its success would have been intriguing to include.

The next collection of items in my ‘cabinet’ are technology based and were presented to create a feeling of nostalgia for the viewer. They’re my own personal items, and were presented to show their own technological development. Perhaps for the kindle and mp3, I could have placed them beside a newer version of the item like I did with the Nokia and iPhone but I did not, because unlike the latter two items the former two haven’t changed physically as much. I should have probably at least written about the changes, since some people may not be as updated with current technology and may not understand the point I was trying to convey. I personally think the Kindle is a great advancement in technology because people can now store books easily and read anything at any time because of its ease of transport. While some people don’t like the fact that a gadget replaced reading a physical book, it does have huge benefits and I personally love it.

Social media has a huge impact on everyone’s lives, with anyone who’s a millennial (generation Y) typically being a part of at least one social media site. In my ‘Cabinet’ I presented multiple sites that are important to me and that I use, although some more frequently than others. I feel that while it does present to the viewer my interest in the sites, it does not highlight what in particular I enjoy. I at first did not want to express what exactly interested me in these sites and presented them rather vaguely because of this. Now though, I do wish to go back and perhaps place images or key words around the platforms to explain why I like them and why I use them. For example, Pinterest is known for being a good place for sharing ideas and do it yourself methods for anything. People do also use it to display photos of anything from animals to hurricanes. Personally, I used it occasionally as a place to create mood boards for art projects but now my account mostly consists of entertainment shows and jokes.

Overall, I personally think my ‘cabinet’ is efficient in showing media that I like and am inspired by. However, at times it could be vague in explaining why I liked something and if I were to do this project again, I would add more details that would explain what I really did like about this piece of media and perhaps I would also include what other audiences think of that media too.

References: 1) Ghostbusters Trailer Comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ugHP-yZXw