Blog Post #3: Marxism and Media

This class has taught me to analyze media rather than just watching with a blind eye. It’s gotten to the point where I’ll analyze a television show or movie without even noticing, it just happens unconsciously almost like breathing. It’s almost annoying because I’ll catch myself doing it and try to stop, but won’t be able to. I guess this is a good and bad thing however, we need to be able to analyze the things we see instead of just being blind to it. We need to see those signals, codes, connotations, intertextuality, etc. This week, while moving into Marxism we watched Freaks and Geeks, a television series that came out in 1999. I think this show has a major highlight on social roles, because you have the “freaks”, the “geeks”, the smart kids, and the popular kids. You can see a lot about the economy and the way things were during this time period. Lindsey, the main character of the television show, seems to have the typical 90’s family. Her family eats dinner together, talks about their days, typical annoying little brother that she looks out for, and a family that wants her out of trouble. Lindsey used to be one of the smart kids but she alienated herself from that group after her grandmother died. Now, she’s trying to be one of the “freaks”, but struggles fitting in. I this show was a great way to introduce Marxism and I look forward to learning more about it.