Marxism Blog Post 3

When I have began reading the chapter concerning Marxist analysis, I have been consuming the media, whether be from the news, internet, or newspaper, as a conscious reader rather than a passive member of the audience. According to Marxism, the media is designed to spread and propagate the illusions sent unto the minds of the masses by the so-called ruling class as a means of justifying exploitation and victimization. Clearly, I have seen the 1990's show titled Freaks and Geeks, which features Sam, who is portrayed as a fatalist, Lindsey, who is the older sister who ends up joining a group of teens who throw eggs, bash down mail boxes with bats, and smash pumpkins for entertainment, and their mother, who happens to be the traditionalist with a sense of hierarchical elitism and temporarily acted as a fatalist when people in her neighborhood are given this ideology about unwrapped cookies having razor blades inside them. Of course, one can at least consider the fear of dangerous items being hidden within Halloween cookies as a form of false consciousness. According to Marxism, there is also the concept of alienation, in which Sam and his friends, whether they know it or not, are targeted as being outcasts in the social hierarchy. To be honest, I am uncomfortable with this week's conversation, as it is clear to me that whenever I hear the word "Marxism", it reminds me too much of the far-left, totalitarian ideology of communism, which was practiced within the Soviet Union, Cuba, Mao's China, and North Korea. Indeed, even the idea of power in Marxist terms, as depicted by a typical stereotype of high school athletes being at the top and the nerds and freaks being at the bottom, tends to be a ridiculous conception that might as well convince people into fearing the idea that it would encourage and agitate the envious "outcasts" into forming an uprising. As opposed to the symbolism of semiotics that I have enjoyed for the past weeks, especially how it is helpful in finding indexes and icons within every show like South Park, I do seem to be showing criticism for the Marxist analysis of the media and I personally felt better when I looked over advertisements and the symbols and signifiers that offered me an interesting way of looking over popular culture as opposed to Marxism. Although, I do admit that it allows me to place characters into certain archetypes as a means of understanding their progression, but nevertheless, I do not like hearing or saying the word Marxism.