The Salton Sea has only been in existence for just over a century; its location used to be an empty basin below sea level in the Southern California desert. In 1905, the Colorado River's irrigation canal flooded. This caused excess water to flow into the basin and thus, created a sea in an unexpected location. The channels were fixed in 1907, but the sea remained. After World War II, real estate developers took their chance to capitalize on this accidental occurrence by purchasing homes and building resorts around the Salton Sea area. In the 1950's, Bombay Beach and its surrounding towns were booming. Tourists travelled from all over the globe to experience the phenomenon. Many invested in these towns because it was thought to be a successful tourist destination, but its success was short-lived. Quite a few storms in the 1970's flooded part of the town along the coastline, leaving homes destroyed and abandoned. As agricultural runoff continued to fill the Salton Sea without any escape except evaporation, the water became overly salty. The sea's salinity level drove tourists away, as it caused the fish and birds to die. The bodies of these animals lay along the shores, emanating the smell of death. Eventually, all that was left were brave locals weathering the storm. In the 2010 census, the population of Bombay Beach was 295. As of 2017, the population has increased to 341. All that remains now is two local stores, the Ski Inn, a local bar, semi-abandoned homes and trailers, and the art installations that have recently been added to the town. Tourists have been sparse in the last twenty years, but artists are potentially bringing life back to Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea. 

          We will first analyze the language used by two separate tourists. These tourists both travel, take videos and share their interpretation of the destination they are exploring. The opinions of these two people are already shaped by the social groups they are in, but had never personally seen Bombay Beach or the Salton Sea before. Taken from the YouTube channel, Wonderhussy Adventures, we analyze a video titled Salton Sea Abandoned Bombay Beach Drive-In. The channel owner, Sarah Jane, begins her trip by showing us the Salton Sea. She then moves on to the abandoned buildings in the town of Bombay Beach. While in a building, she discusses the community of Bombay Beach. The words she uses that catch the ear include: cool, friendly, community, vibe. At the end of her exploration through that building, she pans to another and states that if you are interested in abandoned buildings or ruins, this place is your Disneyland. As she recaps the trip at the end of her video, we hear her talk through a traveler's lens. The words she chose to describe this location are interesting and fascinating. Sarah states that she loves the town and plans to come back in the future. If you pick apart the key words Sarah used during her video, you will find that she views this place in a positive way. All of these words bring out a very welcoming and easygoing feeling to the heart and mind. Her word choices makes one believe this place has a sense of family and values - a place worth spending time venturing there. These words give worth to the town. 

          The next tourist chooses a very different language game than Sarah Jane. The next video features Danny Filaccio, owner of the YouTube channel, Cinestalker. The video we are analyzing here is titled, CineStalkin' Bombay Beach, Salton Sea. Danny starts off by exploring some of the abandoned buildings from Bombay Beach. He makes his way to the Ski Inn, one of the only businesses left open. Afterwards, Danny heads out to the end of town against the ridge separating sea from city. As he walks through a building along the edge of town, he uses certain words to explain what his senses are picking up on. The words he uses are: stench, trip, creepy, and strange. The word stench has a negative connotation to it. Words associated to stench are: dirty, unpleasant, unwelcoming, messy, and contagious smell. The feelings that arise from this description of Bombay Beach will be interpreted as the town being a horrible place which needs to be avoided. It takes worth away from the town and sea. When he uses the words, trip, creepy, and strange, he may be hiding behind these words, not saying how he really feels about his surroundings. These words are used to describe something that is "out there". People often play language games to describe something when they would prefer their true opinions to stay hidden. The words were chosen to give the viewers what they would like to hear. The feeling he was portraying was a hipster's happy place. However, the words to describe his underlying reaction are weird, scary and unsettling. 

          His video continues by taking us to the back of the building. He pans down a display made of dead fish hanging from a building pillar. As the fish swing back and forth with the wind, he moves the camera over to a wall covered by a quote. Danny points the camera in that direction and says, "There is like, some quote up there" (cinestalker, 2016). It seems as though he displays the quote without reading it himself. Choosing the phrase "some quote" impresses upon the viewer that he does not appreciate the quote; the words in that quote have no meaning to him. The quote reads, "Life results in death, but new life comes from decay; none done with good intentions is ever in vain." He points the camera towards the mattress on the floor, spray-painted with a quote as well. The mattress states. "May you find whatever you seek." Danny pointed the camera out towards the town to show more abandoned buildings and trailers. As he pans, he describes the location as neat, bizarre, and another planet. He references 20th Century Fox's Hills Have Eyes and an Australian independent film, Mad Max. Both of these movies are set in the desert, categorized as thriller/ horror, and have a dystopian portrayal. He also references Texas Chainsaw Massacre which is a very graphic slasher/horror film. By using this type of language, Danny Filaccio shares his views of Bombay Beach as foreign, unknown, and unworldly. This portrayal gives a sense this town is a place in which is unpopulated, has no life, should not be trafficked by humans and should definitely be avoided. Although he also uses the word, awesome, it does not shadow the perspective he truly has. Adding the word awesome into the mix may intrigue some viewers, but, the deep meaning of his language game still remains. Again, he takes meaning away from this town as if it is not worthy of having occupants. Danny continues his exploration by taking the camera up to the Salton Sea Beach. His opinion of the sea is more negative than the town itself. As he walks along the beach, his feet sink slightly into the ground which results in mud sticking to his shoes. You can hear the frustration and disgust in his voice as he says, "Oh sh*t, Oh f***, my feet just sank in there. Oh god d**n, I got all of this stupid crap on my shoe now" (cinestalker, 2016). The words that stand out here are obviously the curse words, but stupid and crap are also very important. These words foster negative feelings and further instill the perspective of worthlessness towards the Salton Sea. 

          Although it is important to analyze the language used by tourists, the residents have their own views of Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea. These people have chosen this location to reside and have their reasons for it. Understanding the perspective of a local will help open your eyes to see life from a different lens. We take a look at some locals being interviewed by the famous, Huell Howser. This man hosted a show titled California's Gold which was popular in the 1990's. He would travel all over California to film its history, cultures and people. This particular episode aired in 1999. The first local Huell Howser interviews is Wayne Graham. He prefers the nickname, Wacko. The locals all call him the Mayor, although the title is informal. Wacko talks about the residents looking after each other. He states that the locals love living there and enjoy every minute of it. He says, "I just hope everybody on this channel knows that we love Bombay Beach. We love the desert" (KCETOnline, 2015). The video cuts to Huell Howser introducing Steve Horowitz, the superintendent of the state parks on the Salton Sea. Steve quickly describes Bombay Beach as unique and special. His choice of words resonate and spark interest. These words evoke meaning, portray the feeling of difference in a positive light, and leave one with the sense of openness, happiness, airiness and invitation. His and Wacko's words give life and meaning to this town. 

          Steve introduces Huell to a woman named Lee, who spoke about the goings on of the town. She explained that during memorial weekend, they had about 400 campers, and were able to provide many amenities. Huell and Lee discuss visitors either loving the place or hating it. Lee states that those who hate it take a look around, make a loop through town and head straight back out. When Huell mentions that he had never heard of Bombay Beach before, Lee said, "Shame on you. It's a beautiful place" (KCETOnline, 2015). She goes on to say the rangers at the parks are wonderful and reliable and mentions the game wardens in passing. She then says, "It's just a wonderful group of people" (KCETOnline, 2015). The words she chose are simple, but powerful. The video continues as Huell, Steve and Wacko walk along the water of the Salton Sea. Huell notices the sand is not actually sand at all; the beach is covered with bits of fish bones. He looks up and says, "As far down as you can see. But it's got its own beauty to it" (KCETOnline, 2015). Steve chimed in to agree by saying, "It does. It's a gorgeous place" (KCETOnline 2015). The words love, beautiful, wonderful and gorgeous spark joy. They represent belonging, worth, richness while bringing significance to the town. 

          Steve Horowitz mentions to Huell Howser that the Salton Sea has been forgotten since the boom and excitement in the 1950's and 1960's has worn off. Since 1999 when this episode aired, a new perspective has made a home out of Bombay Beach. Artists from around the world have taken Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea under their artistic wings. These artists find ways to bring significance back to the almost abandoned town. The video, Salt and Slabs: Exploring beaches of the Salton Sea and other seemingly odd faces of Slab City, published by Cami Buckman, features an artist by the name of Joe Regan. He describes Bombay beach by saying,

"It's just a really cool, funky town and it's apocalyptic and wild. It's just kind of a crazy, cool area for artists to do whatever they want to do. It's kind of a mix between art and people who live with no water and no electricity. Artists from around the world are actually buying places up here. They're starting to do art instillations and making it a cool, hip thing to do."

The words to focus on from this clip are cool, funky, apocalyptic, wild, and hip. All of these words are very colorful and fun. Joe is using hipster language games, bringing out the emotions of passion and excitement for what could be. These words bring an old school feeling with a fresh, new variation to it. There is energy and power in this language game. His choice of words bring life, meaning, drive, and worth back to the town of Bombay Beach and its Salton Sea.

          PBSNewsHour brings us our next video, titled Artist communities thrive along the disappearing Salton Sea. The commentator briefly explains the collapse of the thriving Bombay Beach until the video cuts to an artist known as Tao Ruspoli. Toa describes his love for Bombay Beach and the meaning of his work in this town. He states, "I fell in love with Bombay Beach from the beginning because it's so different from everything else that you see in American life. And I just think it inspires artists" (NewsHour, PBS, 2018). Toa's choice of words portrays growth and evokes potential benefit from a thriving Bombay Beach and the art within it. For the past few years, Tao and his partners have been creating art in this town. He explains why he chose to bring his art to Bombay Beach. "Every time I would come here for the last ten years, I'd see people shooting music videos, doing fashion shoots. Really kind of capitalizing on how strange and removed it was. And yet, the town had nothing to show for it" (NewsHour, PBS, 2018). These words resonate chaos, emptiness, negativity and discomfort. It tears away any life fighting to stay alive. Although the town was still alive and folks still resided there between the boom in the 60's and the artist's movement, the media portrayed Bombay Beach as a dying town. This matches up to Toa's description.

          The reporter discusses the art festival Toa and his team created, the Bombay Beach Biennale - "billed as a celebration of art, music and philosophy" (NewsHour, PBS, 2018). The annual event allows artists to come in and freely create with the chance to spread joy and awareness for the town. As stated in the video, the only agenda for the event is "saving the sea." The artists are creating a space in which the media can open the eyes of the consumer to present Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea as worthy of life and growth. Toa speaks about the calling of an artist.

"I think the job of an artist is to help people see the world through new eyes. And therefore, it's like a sense of discovering something together, uncovering something, reinterpreting something and so when an artist does that to a place - it brings it to life."

This quote from Toa Ruspoli is quite powerful, as with many of the language games we have seen throughout these videos. The quote is filled with energy, opportunity, renewal, peace and excitement. There is so much positivity, desire, and ambition in the words he chose to explain the job of an artist. Artists are known to be passionate and that is exactly what his quote is expressing. The artists coming to create in this town are looking for any chance to see growth: in themselves, the town, the perspective of outsiders, and the media representation. 

          Although there have been incredible changes since the artists have moved into Bombay Beach, it is important to remember that our world, especially our nation, is built on capitalism. Our second artist, Toa, touched on capitalism during his interview. Back in the 1950's and 1960's, California was capitalizing on the accidental sea by creating a tourist trap. Known as the "Palm Springs with water," the town was thriving in its hay day. Post-war real estate developers transformed the water-filled basin into a "Salton Riviera," packed with motels, restaurants, yacht clubs and waterskiing. Within a few years, Bombay Beach and the other towns surrounding the Salton Sea were booming. Schools were being built and houses were being bought in this resort town. Because of the agricultural runoff with no other outlet but the Salton Sea, the water became increasingly more salty. As time went on, the aquatic and bird life ceased to live. The tourists were gone by 1977, with many locals following in their footsteps. The population dropped, what seemed like, overnight. The Riviera that had been built and capitalized on was lost. Because the tourists jumped ship, the town fell apart without the financial support it needed. Funding to save the sea has not been seen in years. 

          After years of devastation and decay, the Salton Sea and Bombay Beach have found their way onto the map again. The artists coming in to reinvent, reimagine, and reinterpret the Salton Sea are bringing capitalism with them. The Bombay Beach Biennale is bringing tourists back to this town. Where there are tourists, there is money. This event brings in people for the weekend, needing food and shelter. This will improve the small businesses that do remain open. As these attendees enjoy themselves, they will use social media to express that joy. This will allow the change in perspective to begin on all media platforms. Along with the affect the yearly weekend revenue will have, each year also brings more permanent art displays. This will pull many tourists to Bombay Beach all year round. This town could potentially be the next artist boom, complete with hipsters, new businesses and a new perspective. 

          The beauty of the mind is its ability to understand complex ideas. Toa Ruspoli explains the Salton Sea perfectly. He says, "I think this place embodies a lot of contradictions. And they're all there for people to kind of contemplate" (NewsHour, PBS, 2018). There are many things about the Salton Sea that rightfully detour people from visiting, but if you can see past that, the Salton Sea is a wonderful place filled with so much to learn from. As a sociologist, one must not get stuck, or hindered, by a single opinion. Many things in this world will not fit into a singular, labeled box. The world around us is vastly complex, ever changing and immensely beautiful. Gustave Flaubert was spot on when he said, "There is no truth. There is only perception." As the local known as Lee stated, tourists generally love Bombay Beach or hate it. The problem with this mindset is they are not giving themselves the opportunity to learn by expanding their mind. Humans desire to fit in so they seek out others who are like-minded. These social groups will shape our beliefs, and in turn, shape our perceptions of the world around us. The people we analyzed earlier all perceive Bombay Beach with a different lens. The tourist, Sarah Jane falls in love with the town and perceives it as a friendly community. On the contrary, after touring the town, Danny perceives the town and sea as a worthless dump. The locals bring a very positive light to Bombay Beach by perceiving it as an open, happy place to call home. Both Joe Regan and Tao Ruspoli are within the same social group, artists. They have the same vision of Bombay Beach - to bring life back to the town and bring a new perspective of the Salton Sea to the media. 

          The word, polysemy, can be defined as: the notion of multiple meanings. The Salton Sea has many different interpretations. Social construction is a large part of the human brain, which sequentially, is a large part of society. The way a person forms viewpoints is based on the social groups they are involved in. There will always be multiple interpretations for the Salton Sea. Everyone has a voice, therefore, many truths will be spoken of Bombay Beach over time. As seasons pass, opinions will change. Each of these people have their own truth of the Salton Sea. The reality of the sea does not matter, only the perception of each individual will be the truth they see. As a sociologist, studying the way humans interpret the world is far more important than studying what the world is itself. If a person believes it, it is real for that individual. We notice what we need, desire, or find interesting; we have a way of selecting certain sensations while simultaneously ignoring others. Sarah Jane was able to ignore the smell emanating off the sea because she found the beach and town so intriguing. She was focusing in on so many other aspects of Bombay Beach. Therefore, her perception of the Salton Sea had nothing to with the negative characteristics it holds. Danny, on the other hand, picked up on the negatives and allowed his perception to be shaped by these senses. His desire and interest was not as apparent as the negative lens he saw through. 

          An audience may reject something because they are not ready for it. Bombay Beach was rejected by society for so long and is still given a bad name to this day. Since the artists have turned the town into an artist's haven, the media has slightly changed its perception. The opinion of the producer has an incredible effect on the meanings of a cultural object, but the consumer also has a large impact. Artists can move into Bombay Beach and create as much content as they want, but the consumers need to interpret the town in a positive light in order for any change in the meaning system to occur. Social movements, such as the Bombay Beach Biennale, are actively trying to change our meaning systems. They do their part to create a space and opportunity for that. It is up to the consumer's interpretation to make a change. 

          Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea are packed full on different meaning systems. Everyone will view this town and destination in their own way. The truth they seek is the truth they will find. What truth have you found along the way? Social groups will always shape the thoughts an individual has on the world around them. Your world is not the world your neighbor lives in. One should avoid living their life with only one pair of eyes. Once you are able to step back away from your particular viewpoint, experiencing the world through other lenses is a beautiful thing. Perception is power; use it for knowledge, not ignorance.