I have never used a blog before RTF. The positive aspect of using the blog in this course is that it forces us to think and apply the concepts discussed in the lectures. The difficulties with the blogs were that they did not give instant feedback and were worth a few points each time so minor mistakes would cost a point which in the end became a lot. I overcame difficulties by referring back to textbook and lectures for examples and Keara’s TA sessions were very helpful in explaining the material so I could write my blogs correctly. Blogs that were most challenging were ones that were over concepts that we had to define. For example, the hegemony blog post was probably the toughest for me to grasp. I remember it followed after the “City of God” screening and we had not really discussed hegemony prior to the blog due date so I lost points because I did not fully grasp the concept. I recommend a blog post but not as often as the ones we had this year. The blogs were interesting and fun at first but one a week just made them less interesting. I would recommend having half as many blog posts.
Monday
Tuesday
blog post 10
According to the lecture, globalization is "a process in which interconnectedness is increased among nations, cultures and people." Across the globe, technology is being placed in the hands of more people than ever before. The expansion is exponential with every breakthrough. As the interconnected world works to bring in the poorest of people using technology, there is no doubt that globalization reaches out through media.
Glocalization is the process of using an idea or concept that was successful in one region of the world, then importing it into another region, and then slightly altering it to further appeal to the local culture. The media, such as tv or web, offers a medium in which ideas can be shared worldwide. The media is a window for glocalization to occur in regions of the world.
An example of glocalization would be the very popular “American Idol”. The foundation for this widespread “Idol Fever” started in the UK and was called “Pop Idol”. The audience posted great reviews for the show, and remained committed to watching their favorite singers compete. The successful show quickly found its way into countries such as United States (American Idol), India (Indian Idol), and many other countries. Each country kept the foundation and rules for the show the same but altered the small details such as name or music in a way that would cater to their country. By doing so, each country had glocalized the “Pop Idol” show.
Wednesday
Blog 9 ARMY STRONG
An advertisement that I found to be powerful and persuasive was the US Army Strong recruitement advertisements. They start out by defining the word strong and using motivational quotes that would appeal to the very patriotic population. As the advertisement progresses, clips of soldiers performing difficult tasks and completing missions are displayed on a quick reel. The point is to send a rush of excitement and respect for the soldiers who have carried out these duties for the country. To further embellish on the fact that it takes strength to be in the US Army, quick quotes such as “The strength to obey, and the strength to command” appear between photographs of soldiers saluting. The characteristic used in this advertisement is both repetition and dominance/achievement. The add exemplifies this kind of appeal by showing “strength” and power through footage of the soldiers at work. The add uses repetition to instill the importance and reverence towards the US Army. This ad is geared toward the youth of the nation because they are making decisions on what to do for the rest of their life. The advertisement shows an appealing lifestyle that is highly revered and strong. The appeal used in the US Army Strong advertisement is highly effective in getting their point across and holds sophisticated advertising strategies.
Sunday
blog 8
A film that follows the 3 act rule is “The Parent Trap”. This movie’s plot is centered on two girls who discover they are separated twins and try to reunite their broken family. The first act focuses on the girls discovering that they are related. The act develops with the girls pulling pranks on each other and slowly finding similarities between them. The camp wars and pranks soon lead to the girls realizing that they are indeed twins and that their families are nowhere near perfect. The act peaks when they decide that they must secretly get their parents back together. Thus, the second act begins. The girls switch places and meddle in each other’s lives. They continue to try to bring the parents together secretly by reminding each parent of their old spouse. However, at the end of the act the father and mother discover what the girls are up to so they agree to meet and switch back. The third act begins and develops when the family is reunited and the twins have to convince each parent to reconnect with each other. This becomes incredibly hard when the father reveals his marriage plans for another woman. Therefore, the final act concludes with the parents deciding to stay together and the girls celebrating their victory. The timings for the acts are very similar to the plot chart that Professor Ramirez-Berg presented, they are about 1/3 of the movie each.
Thursday
7th Blog
A sitcom or situational comedy is a genre of television show that has a consistent set of characters that encounter different humorous problems within their same environment. A characteristic of sitcoms is that a problem or problems arise in the show and are resolved within that show. The shows are not connected and do not leave a “cliffhanger”. If one were to just watch a single show they would have watched a solid episode and would not have to watch the next shows to resolve problems in the earlier ones. It functions within the sitcom genre because if each show left problems unresolved it would become a series. In which each show would be connected and problems would not be resolved until the end of the season.
This characteristic of sitcoms is illustrated in many shows such as Friends, I Love Lucy, and The Simpsons. I Love Lucy was a successful sitcom because the characters dealt with new difficulties every episode in their common environment. For example, Lucy is always trying to squeeze her way into stardom by appearing on Ricky’s TV program. She often meddles with Ricky’s work to find a way to get on TV. In the Vitameatavegamin episode Lucy finally finds a way in but cannot appear on TV for long because she is too drunk. I Love Lucy episodes are humorous and leave the audience satisfied after one episode because everything has been resolved in the end of the show.
Sunday
Blog Post 6
An important aspect of the media from the 1920s and 1950s was the star system. According to professor Straubhaar: “the star system was the film studio’s use of star’ popularity to promote their movies… The star system was important advertising and promoting movies. It encouraged viewers to go out and watch movies just because their favorite celebrity was starring in it.” This strategy was developed from the idea that the public is more likely to watch a movie with an actor that they are more familiar with than a new one. Big movie producers such as MGM used the star system to build a certain actor’s reputation, make them very well liked, and use them to make many movies through their studio. The studio produced films that could gain public popularity and keep the demands high. A prime example of MGM using a star actress to sell their movie is Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz. She was a star of the time and was in many movies, she easily became familiar to the public eye.
Blog Assignment #4
“All in the Family” was striking controversial during its air time because it exposed certain topics such as homosexuality to a fairly conservative audience. At the time, society was wary about the effects of the television and when a show such as this releases ideas that could cause unrest, it became worried. “All in the Family” was different at the time because while other shows depicted happy families and romances, this show questioned topics and issues that many would not expect the entertainment industry to air. It was the same because the way they framed homosexuality was in conservative and discouraging way. By using Archie’s character to act repulsed by homosexuality, the show catered to the majority who were against homosexuality. Many shows today do not dwell on whether homosexuality is right or not; shows use it for comical relief or just teach the audience to accept it. Contemporary shows such as “Gossip Girl” air shows with characters debating over how to react to it, and in the end the right way is always acceptance.
courtesy of youtube.com
Blog #3
The technological change ignited the craze over the radio and thus influenced the shaping of the radio industry.
The technological change in general, describes a process of invention, innovation, and diffusion. The invention of the radio did not affect society in the beginning until the Titanic disaster proved that a device of this sort is ideal for communication. Then comes the innovation sector of the technological change, entrepreneurs think outside of the box. Could society benefit from a quicker and more efficient channel delivering information? Of course. Innovate, lets provide little radios that could be affordable for most citizens. As a result, diffusion of the radio was inevitable. Soon every household had a radio that they could congregate around to hear the news, soap operas, or just music. The radio industry boomed after this process was complete. With the support and enthusiasm from the nation, the radio industry became the nation’s core entertainment system.
The technological change affected the evolution of radio in a sense that it pressured entertainers and important figures to become innovative. The citizens of the U.S. all depended on the radio for their national, state, and local news as well as entertainment seeing as there was not television yet. However, the concept of pressuring entertainers to keep the radio shows interesting parallels with the nation’s pressure on T.V. show producers.
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/radio-show-1.jpg
Blog #2
The concept of cultivation helps me understand the impacts of the images of incredibly thin yet beautiful women in media; it affects society by hinting that beauty can only be attained with a small waistline and a full bust. The promiscuous TV shows and advertisements use only skinny gorgeous women to sell their products or shows, and with good reason. Society has grown to worship the flirtatious women who are not afraid to flaunt their “perfect” bodies. What effect does this have on women in society? Psychologist Eric Stice, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin teamed up with Diane Spangler, Ph.D., Brigham Young University; and W. Stewart Agras, MD, Stanford University to conduct an experiment on the effect of media on teenage girls. The psychologists “randomly assigned 219 girls, ages 13 to 17, to a 15-month subscription to Seventeen magazine, which is the most widely read magazine among adolescent females, to a no-magazine control group and followed the girls for 20 months.” The group that was exposed to the magazine’s constant portrayal of slim beauty held more cases of self-dissatisfaction and depression than the group who was not exposed to the magazine. Many scenes from television and movies also carry the same if not more extreme impact as magazine articles on women. The constant craze for a thin body and C cup model cultivates the idea that through implants and eating disorders a woman can attain beauty like the rest of the models. It is a serious problem that women are portrayed this way, from the Killing us Softly Video presented in class, the collage of sensual advertisements only heightens the problem. All in all, the cultivation theory helped me make the connections of the media’s effect on women in society.
"Whether you're thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna be something else," said the world's first boldface supermodel. "I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately."-TWIGGY
The article
Information and article courtesy of selfhelpmagazine.com
Hegemony
“Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others…But hegemony is more than a social power itself; it is a method for gaining and maintaining power”(Lull 1) The influence of hegemony today is apparent in the country’s media through advertisements and news. The elite or more dominant group has influenced the public into trusting their beliefs in order to remain in control. For example, in the City of God movie, the drug lords had fought to remain in power. Hegemony was important to every drug dealer because for them it was a way to maintain a sort of order and safety. With the city in their hands, a drug dealer could abuse and kill without consequence. The idea of power became very inviting for each lord and a gate to retain respect from the city. With power in his hands, a dealer could spread his ideas and rules throughout the city. The public would submit to the violence and hate because it had become so consistent from lord to lord. The drug lords had negatively impacted the city in such a way that each person carried a gun and shot ruthlessly over and dispute. Violence had grown immensely and become so ordinary, so when a new drug lord took over, the fight for power always reignited. Hegemony had been a theme from City of God and I felt the movie was a great example.
Scene from City of God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUTlbkIAsw
Scene from City of God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WUTlbkIAsw
Monday
My First RTF 305 Blog Post!
My name is Puja Chugh and I am currently a freshman at the University of Texas! I am so excited to be here and I am even more excited about taking RTF. I chose this course because I am lacking my fine art credit; however I also enrolled because I am very interested in this course. I hope to learn a lot about ethics and the sometimes overlooked meaning behind certain media such as advertising. The media is inescapable and very diverse; I feel that this course will provide me with a lot of insight on different views globally and locally. I am very enthusiastic and hope to get everything this course has to offer.
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