Written by: Melissa Lam, Jasmine Lee, Vi Nguyen, Lezlie Allyn Plaza, Hannah Richman, and Cynthia Thurairajah
Pop the Culture
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TABLE OF CONTENTS A Dream Wedding ….Pg. 5 TV Dinner ….………....Pg. 17 I Want to Be Famous .………...……Pg. 27 Belle Femme’s Beauty Secret ……....Pg. 37 A Man’s Health …….Pg. 47 Y.O.L.O ……………….Pg. 55 3
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One day, a mother and daughter sat down to spend their daily 20 minutes of family time together. The TV turned on right when the popular show “Keeping Up with the Kangaroos� ended with Kim crying as usual.
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Rachel began to flip through the channels, passing “Shoobie Shore” and coming across “Say Yes to the Dress”.
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“Wow, look at her. She looks beautiful! But the dress is a bit too long; it’s all the way down to her thighs,” said Rachel. Rachel’s mom looked up from her phone and scoffed, “Is that what wedding dresses look like nowadays?”
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“Here, watch our wedding video!” said Rachel’s mother. She popped the tape in and Rachel said, “Wow, it’s on a VHS, how ancient is that?”
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“At my wedding, I wore a beautiful white gown, the white cake was three tiered, and my wedding song was “Beautiful in White”. White was the new white.”
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“Ew, gross. Really? That sounds like a boring wedding. I want to have a classy wedding, so “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore will be my wedding song. I’ll go to the thrift shop with $20 in my pocket. My dream dress will be skintight with my entire back open. Maybe I’ll get some moccasin somebody’s been walking in or even better some green gator shoes.” 12
“But why should I spend money? Maybe I’ll just take Grandpa’s style, take his plaid button-up shirt, his flannel zebra jammies, and his leopard mink. I’ll look incredible! My first dance will be to “I’m Sexy and I Know It”. Do you think Macklemore would come if I invited him?” asked Rachel.
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“I don’t know honey. You can always try,” said Rachel’s mom who was visibly worried.
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The clock just chimed nine o’clock. From the kitchen, Mrs. Bond yelled, “Dinner time! Your five minutes to eat starts now!”
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Stumbling to the kitchen, Elle groaned, “Mom… I was doing something important.” Mrs. Bond interjected, “Ooh, have you finished your homework already?” Elle scoffed, “Homework is not important. The newest edition of my magazine just came out. Now that’s important and isn’t it too early for dinner?” Mrs. Bond responded, “Elle, go tell your brother and father that it‘s dinnertime.” Elle shouted, “Dad, come to the dinner table and you too Arod.” 20
Everyone sat down at the dinner table, each absorbed in their own world while the dog laid nearby. Arod was reading baseball stats, Elle was reading her magazine, Mr. Bond was watching baseball on TV, and Mrs. Bond was sewing her scarf.
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T HO SO
Mrs. Bond questioned, “So how is the food?” Elle, giving her food to the dog, shouted, “Mmm, this is yummy!”
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Mrs. Bond asked, “How is the lemonade?” Arod said, “Sweet, keep this pitcher.”
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Mrs. Bond murmured, “I bought the salmon for fifty dollars!” Her husband exclaimed, “Wow, that’s a nice catch!”
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Mrs. Bond gushed, “Isn’t this a lovely dinner? We’re talking to each other and enjoying the food. I love our family because we’re so close!”
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I WANT TO BE FAMOUS
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Every morning Carly wakes up and heads downstairs to the living room to watch the world news with her family. Today, E! News was covering a story about her idol, Lindsay Lohan, who was heading to a trial once again. Her parents rolled their eyes, but Carly’s eyes were glued to the TV.
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Carly had seen every movie Lindsay was in and just like Lindsay, she wore pink on Wednesdays. Her room was plastered with magazine headings, movie posters and collectables all starring Lindsay.
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Her friends dreamed of becoming singers and actors to achieve fame, but Carly didn’t. She was the only one who had done her research and knew exactly how to achieve the fame that Lindsay had. She could skip all the hard work of school or acting classes and just get the media to recognize her. Then, everyone would love her.
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After school she decided to take her shot at fame. Carly went to her room, turned on her laptop and started vlogging. “Those stupid police officers don’t even know Lindsay like I do, she would never do drugs! Just look at her, she’s an angel! Those police officers won’t know what’s coming when I get to them….” 32
After a half hour of trash talking police officers and making countless death threats to protect her idol, she uploaded her video to YouTube. A few days later she heard a knock at the door and ran down the stairs.
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Two police officers walked in, along with a camera crew from Channel 10 News. Carly, kicking and screaming, knew that all her friends would be watching. She would make the front page, finally becoming famous. 34
“When I get out of here in two years, I’ll be so popular. Plus I’m on the front page right now.”
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Belle Femme’s Beauty Secret
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Belle Femme was just an average girl. On the outside, she seemed very happy.
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But on the inside, she was actually very sad. 40
Belle hated the way she looked. Whenever she turned on the television, she would see fashionable celebrities and she wanted to look just like them. She wanted their shoes, hair, and makeup.
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While doing her homework one day, Belle came up with a plan. All she needed was her emergency credit card and a trip to the nearest mall. She could do her homework later on; her appearance was much more important.
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When Belle returned home from the mall, she was carrying twenty full shopping bags and had a new haircut. “Well, I think this is a pretty decent start for my new look. I should probably try some of the clothes on,� she decided, forgetting about her homework.
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After Belle put on her new feather dress and applied matching makeup, she exclaimed, “Wow! I look just like that singer. I feel gorgeous!” “Those celebrities really know how to dress themselves. I have to keep up to date with what they’re wearing all the time now,” said Belle. 44
And so, Belle continued her life by spending all of her time planning outrageous outfits and bold faces. She fully embraced her artificial beauty, and she was absolutely ecstatic.
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Once upon a time, there was a very ill, old man in the hospital. The doctors said he only had a few more days to live.
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Concerned for his grandfather, Jake visited him in hopes of offering comfort during such a difficult time.
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“Hey Pop, how are you feeling?” Jake said. “Not well at all!” Grandfather gasped as he coughed up a lung. “You don’t sound too good. Let me get the nurse-” “No, forget her!” Grandpop interrupted, “Get the IT guy, the remote ain’t working. Also, I need my Men’s Health magazine!”
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“You should be worrying about your own health, Pop,” Jake said. “Justin Bieber is on the cover of the new issue and I need it now! I’ll die if I don’t get it!” Grandpop said as he uttered his last breath.
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Yolo
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On a Saturday morning at the park, there was a group of young children playing together. Sam, a seven-year-old, was riding his bike without his helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads. “Hey guys, look! I’m riding my bike without my training wheels – YOLO! I bet you can’t do this! I can feel the wind in my hair.” yelled Sam as her struggled to keep up with the old lady.
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Tim, his arch nemesis, was jealous because Sam could ride his bike; he didn’t like Sam at all. He thought Sam was always doing dangerous stuff and plus he always said that stupid slogan YOLO. Since Sam had one life, he 58
Sam always thought that Tim was ruining the fun for everybody. Sam felt that since you only live once, nobody should let life go to waste. “Hey guys, let’s go play on the swings and slides!” screamed Sam.
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Instead of going towards the swings or slides, Sam ran towards the monkey bars. When Tim saw this, he shouted, “STOP! You can’t go on the monkey bars. My mommy said that it’s too dangerous! Forget YOLO!”
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“Tim, going on the monkey bars is the whole point of life! I can never forget YOLO! It’s not like I’m going to break my arm!” Sam replied.
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Sam fell from the monkey bars. “OW! My arm hurts. Get my mommy!” cried Sam.
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“I bet you’re glad you went on the monkey bars. Look where that got you!” mocked Tim.
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