Blog Post #7

What is meant by uses and gratifications? Which uses and gratifications do you think are the most important for people nowadays?

Uses and gratifications is the idea that the reason people watch or take part in some types of media is because it provides something, whether it be to meet the “gratifications individuals seek… [or] people’s needs.” (Berger 119) Some of the important types of uses and gratifications are the need to be amused, to gain identity, to reinforce belief in romantic love, and to affirm moral, spiritual, and cultural values.

To be amused seems like one of the main reasons as to why people take part in different forms of media. People all over the world pay attention to music, social media, movies, television shows, etc. to be entertained. 

In recent years, the idea of belonging to a group and feeling united has become very important. With emerging media comes the emergence of fan bases that are groups of people who love a particular media (for example the Twilight series or Game of Thrones) that come together to share their experiences and ideas with the world. This feeling of belonging somewhere reassures our identity because we can identify with others.

Relationships take work and sometimes when relationships fail, they can change a person’s views on how love (in this case, romantic love) works. Although very oriented towards women, usually romantic comedies or romantic movies are based in the story of how two characters are destined to be together despite all the obstacles that may come between them. Reinforcing the belief of romantic love sells to both men and women, but having that idea in children movies teaches the young that romantic love exists. For example, Disney movies such as Cinderella and Snow White have been teaching generations about the journey of a woman who is destined to be with a certain someone.

Different cultures have different values and morals, but when the media they are exposed to validates those values, then we pay attention to that certain type of media. The documentary Miss Representation had a section where it revealed how certain TV shows such as I Love Lucy reaffirmed the beliefs of the American people to why being a housewife was great, especially since after WWII when women wanted to continue working in the factories like they had when the men left for war. I Love Lucy paved a pathway into reaffirming the moral, spiritual, and cultural morals that the American people had.

These are what strikes me as the most important reasons as to why people engage in different forms of media although it is almost impossible to ignore them. Different cultures and different people have their different reasons as to why they choose to watch what they watch and listen to what they listen. Different aspects of their social surroundings and their internal thought process goes into play when contemplating why people’s uses for the media and the gratifications they receive vary.

Blog Post #6

Blog Post 6: Miss Representation

Miss Representation showcases the way that the media whether intentionally or accidentally portrays women.

As a feminist [wanting to have equality between genders and closing the current gap between them] I found myself somewhat surprised when watching Master of None, a comedy series on Netflix, when one of the episodes featured a female president. I felt confused for a second, and although currently we have Hillary Clinton running for president, the fact that in the media I have never seen a female president, and now I have surprised me a bit. I know that there are many women in political power all over the world, for example Dilma Rousseff as Brazil’s current president, but it was still a surprise to see it within the media, especially a popular Netflix show.

Films are [usually] a representation of the current society, and movies have been more and more liberal when representing important figures in society such as the president of the United States. From having Harrison Ford playing the president of the United States in Air Force One in 1997, to Morgan Freeman in Olympus has Fallen in 2013 to finally De'Adre Aziza as a female president in Master of None in 2015.

In the beginning of the semester, it was very clear that women are portrayed as sexual objects in magazines, advertisement, but one would think that now, in 2015, the portrayal of women would be better, but it is not as good as I thought. In past decades, women reached the standards of beauty with makeup and cosmetics, but with increasing technology, the standard of beauty is almost impossible to reach due to the photoshopped features of models in advertising and other forms of media. 

Miss Representation does a good job at pointing out the way that the objectification of women by both men and women themselves leads to a decrease in political participation, and when women do participate politically, the only aspects that people pay attention to is their appearance. 

In the end, everything relates and comes back to capitalism and how media companies and advertisers are looking at ways to make profit. Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney Co., stated in an internal memo that “we have no obligation to make history, we have no obligation to make art, we have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.” Although it may unconfirmed, the media may be sharing these unideal ideas of beauty and showcasing an excessive amount of negative portrayals because that is what catches people’s attention. Miss Representation discloses these ideas and makes an audience member reflect about whether or not the media has impacted us, and how we can change or take part in the improvement of how the media affects public views.

Blog Post 5: Psychoanalytic Criticism

     The psychoanalytical theory takes the teachings of Sigmund Freud about the unconscious, our desires, our defense mechanisms and our id, ego and superego, and applies it to several different fields of study, including the media. In a way, psychoanalytical theory resembles the teachings of social psychology and how our past experiences, current events and the surrounding environment affects what we do and what we think. Our mind can be divided into three sections, the conscious (what we are aware of), the subconscious (our memories) and the unconscious (when events control us and we are not fully aware of it).

     The Oedipus complex plays a large role when analysing a text because “according to Freud, the essence of Oedipus's story becomes universal human experience.” (Bressler, 124) If freud is correct about the Oedipus complex, in which all humans experience this particular development process, then we all “are drawn to stories, regardless of the medium, [because] these stories help us resolve our Oedipal problems or confirm that we have resolve them.” (Berger, 79)

     Referred by Freud as the structure of our mental process, the id (focused on the self and pleasure), ego (rational and logical, although unconscious) and superego (restraints and moral judgement) interact to form our internal thought process. Berger summarises Freud’s philosophies that describes that “the psyche is in constant struggle, as the id and superego war against each other [and] the poor ego tries to mediate between the two-between desire for pleasure and the fear of punishment.” (Berger, 80) A constant example we continue to see in movies and tv shows is the demonstration of the id as the devil, the ego as the hesitant character, and the superego as the angel.

     According to Berger, “defense mechanism are techniques the ego employs to control instincts and ward off anxieties.” (Berger, 83) Some of the most common defense mechanisms are ambivalence, denial, rationalization, reaction formation, suppression, etc. An example of reaction formation, “when a pair of opposing attitudes generates problems”,(Berger 83) is seen in ABC's How to get Away with Murder when Annalise is conflicted with the information that Wes brings her when he shows her the cellphone with the provocative pictures of who she knows is her husband. As a lawyer, Annalise knows that this information could be vital to Rebecca’s case, yet she suppresses that thought and emphasises on the fact that her husband was cheating on her with a student.

     A psychoanalytical analysis also includes the findings of Carl Jung along with Freud’s findings. Jung proposed that we all have a collective unconscious where our mind continuously collects new information about our experiences and knowledge. Jung also emphasized on a series of archetypes, “universal themes found… in dreams, myths, religion and works of art” (Berger 91) An example of an archetype is found in Star Wars where the myth of the hero is resembled in the journey of Luke Skywalker as he finds himself in a situation where he has to power to save the galaxy.

     Using the psychoanalytical theory to analyse a work takes into consideration the internal processes of the characters and the environment around them. Their story now is not something written by the author, instead it is it’s own standing work that we, the audience, can analyse and participate in when watching the television show for example so that we can relate to and find the hidden significance of the work's narrative.

Blog Post #4

When observing and criticizing media, one must take into account the principles of Marxism to truly analyze a form of media well. When analyzing media with the Marxist perspective, one recognizes what the media is trying to suggest to its audiences about the social and economic status about a particular group of people, whether it be by race, sexual orientation, or nationality.

In economic terms, Marxism is the idea that there are two sets of people, the elite class and the working class; the elite class owns the terms of production while the working class is just that, the people that provide the labor for the benefit of the elite class. Transitioning that idea into media, we can think of Marxism as having the elites, which own the media such as News Corp that owns Fox, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post among others, and the working class, which is the population of people that read, watch and/or listen to what the media is advocating.

False consciousness is one of the main characteristics of Marxism, where the idea of “whatever is, is right” causes a false sense of truth to the beliefs of a society. For example, in the 1950s when people in the United States shared the belief that African Americans and White Americans had to be separate because one group was supposedly better than the other that they had to be separated, from the fountains they drank from to the areas of the bus one could sit on. This shared belief was valued as the correct way of thinking because that was how it was, anything that challenged the idea of being separate was wrong. This ideology that applied to a majority of the people in the 1950s showcased the concept of hegemony, which categorizes a group of people, White Americans, dominant to other individuals, African Americans.

When looking at a TV show or an advertisement, we must see beyond the superficial significance of the ad. For example, we must set aside the fact that a Chanel advertisement is trying to sell their products while branding themselves as high luxury, and focus on the idea that Chanel may be unintentionally advertising the fact that only rich, successful, and famous people (the elite class) can afford the lifestyle that is correlated with Chanel. Although it is true that the people that usually purchase products like Chanel and Gucci are rich and successful, the idea that a particular group of people is better than the rest because they can afford expensive clothing and accessories should not be permitted to stand along our beliefs.

When analyzing media, we must notice what they are saying about society and about groups of individuals. Are they suggesting the idea that a particular group of people are superior to others, or that they are less than others? Who is teaching these beliefs and who is taking part in being an audience member to the media that is in our environment? Is this form of media in anyway becoming a method that “[maintains] the dominance of a ruling class?” (Berger 57) These are the questions we must ask ourselves when analyzing media while using the concepts of Marxism.

Blog Post 3

Media is everywhere we go, whether it is in the commercial we see before a YouTube video or the print advertisement in the menu of the Cheesecake factory. We are surrounded by discrete messages that if one does not learn to consider, we are influenced by the information we are subjected to and unconsciously incorporate the meaning into our lives. This is one of the main reasons why the fashion industry has imposed an image of the ideal ‘super model’, an unreachable aspect of beauty. Before this class, I considered the media as manipulative, although the media can impose ideas into our thoughts and lead us to classify better with some ideals more than others, it is not all negative.

            The media also helps in spreading positive messages. To take an example from recent pop culture, in the music video “Superpower” by Beyoncé, the overall theme of the video visualizes the quote “love and war” that focuses on the idea that even in difficult times, love always triumphs.

            In high school, the importance in understanding what we read instead of what we see is emphasized. Books have hidden meanings and their success leads them to become pieces of timeless literature. Although the plot “Romeo and Juliet” is unique and has probably never happened to anyone exactly the way to them, their story of the troubles of love can be applied to many situations, both to when the play was published to our current times. This type of media was analyzed and withstood the test of time.

            Learning how to analyze media makes for a better understanding in the culture and ideas that a society has. Personally, wanting to work in the media aspect of advertisement, it is important to keep advertising both relevant to the time period and timeless while attracting the attention of many, otherwise an advertisement is unsuccessful. After learning semiotics, how to analyze media, it is important to me to focus on what media is trying to advertise unconsciously instead of what they are directly presenting.

Blog Post 2: Sherlock

The first episode of Sherlock (2010), “A Study in Pink”, is centered around a serial killer who manages to convince their victims to take a pill that makes their death seem as a suicide. The theme of death is signified by various elements in the episode, such as the intense music to the lighting in some of the scenes. For example, at the beginning of the episode, when the younger male is walking on the street looking for a taxi, the scene happens to take place at night and during a thunderstorm while dramatic music is playing. Without having a script read to us, we can infer that the scene will not end well. Another scene that implies death and darkness, is when Holmes is about to get into the cab, the entire screen is dark except for the light that hits the cab driver’s face. The darkness in the scene and the tension between the cab driver and Holmes is meaningful to determine that this scene is the start of the climax of the plot. We can also tell it is a detective series because of the several scenes with the crime scene tape and flashing police lights, which are a staple characteristic in a mystery film.

Watson’s cane plays a large role in the characterization of Martin Freeman’s character because it signifies the way that he feels unstable both physically and mentally without the action that comes with war. Throughout the episode, Watson struggles while he walks due to the fact that he was shot while abroad in the afghanistan war, but as he tags along with Holmes around the city, he finds himself needing the cane less to the point where he starts running without it. This is important because one of the topics of the show is to see how Watson feels complete when he finds himself in dangerous situations. When Mycroft first meets with Watson and tells him that he “he is not hunted by the war… he misses it” because of the way that he is stressed but is completely calm and collected.

Holmes and Watson have their similar traits but keep different profiles between their characters; both are unattached people who prosper in complicated situations but they are different in their personalities. In the beginning of the episode, the gentlemen sitting in that park bench tells Watson while they are having coffee that hearing “Who would want to be flat mate with me” is the second time he has heard that, is the first similarity we hear about Sherlock and Holmes. One of their major differences is the way that Sherlock sees things in ways that Holmes doesn’t and vice versa. Sherlock can tell many things, such as the fact that the lady in pink was carrying a suitcase when walking, but cannot tell the social cues around him like Watson. For example when Watson knew that Sherlock was in danger when he saw him holding the pill, Watson quickly decided to shoot the taxi driver.

Sherlock manages to impose different themes in several different ways effectively by signifying the mystery theme throughout the episode, making a synecdoche out of Watson’s cane and creating a compelling relationship between Holmes and Watson.

Blog Post 1: Michael Kors

Michael Kors is a high-end store that sells women’s clothing, handbags, accessories and more. Their purses vary in price, but they average at around $300. This advertisement was released as a promotion of the 2014 fall collection. The ad itself is visually appealing with a common color scheme being used. The advertisement sells the idea of friendship, beauty and above all luxury.

            This ad promoted the ideas that if you buy their products, not only are you purchasing their pieces; you are also receiving the friendship that comes with it. Psychologically, humans crave connections with others, including friendship. People may choose to purchase the product, not because it is the purse of best quality, or because it is visually appealing, because the same design of the purse is in JC Penny, but the though of belonging to a group of people that purchase MK is appealing.

            As a society, the idea of beauty has been planted in the minds of all people. Advertisements have kept putting attractive people on their commercials trying to sell an idea of unreachable standard of beauty, and this ad does not exclude that view, the models here all look beautiful.

Michael Kors have a “Jet-Set” theme in their purses, oriented towards the idea of the luxury in their products. One of their bags is the “Michael Michael Kors Tote- Jet set medium multi function – Black,” the name itself gives a vibe of travel with the “Jet-set” in the name of the bag. All the clothing worn in the photograph is high-end, their accessories are gold, and the models appear to be inside a private jet.

The brand has acquired much attention that the image of the purse alone, tells the consumer that the advertisement is for Michael Kors. The famous lock in the front of the purse is an iconic symbol of the MK brand. What Michael Kors does with their products is, they provide luxury to consumers that might not be willing or able to spend over $3,000 on Prada or Burberry products. It makes the luxury of being rich reachable to ordinary people.  Michael Kors is a high-end product, but that doesn’t mean we see the richest of people suing their products. Celine, Hermes, Saint Laurent and Chanel to only name a few are popular within celebrities and millionaires, but not ordinary people.