Blog Post #3

Going into this semester, I was under the impression that this course would be like any other course: we look at some form of media, examine it, and then move on to the next topic. I was wrong. Throughout my month in this course I have been able to look at visual media in a way I never thought to. By examining media as if it were a written text, by reading it, I am able to appreciate the media on a much deeper level. I can now appreciate it from the stand point of the message the media is trying to convey, in the ways characters interact with one another, and the ways in which the story reflects some aspect of society at a given point in time. I am no longer seeing just the surface of the media. In particular, this week's lesson on Marxism has helped me identifies characters by a new set of archetypes. This new set of character archetypes is not as cut-and-dry as the previous set I am use to. This new set allows for characters to fit into multiple archetypes as a way of showing character progression beyond the linear narrative we are consuming through television and film on a weekly basis. As a consumer of media who loves to look at character progression (and is often times disappointed by perceived "poor" writing), I will be able to use these new tools to appreciate what I have otherwise seen as inappreciable.