Blog Post 6

The documentary "Miss Representation" thoroughly shows the struggles of media pressure when it comes to women in media whether they be actresses, models, or even politicians. I think it's good that they brought up the important issue of eating disorders and societal expectations of women's figures. It provided the concerning large statistic that "65% of women and girls have an eating disorder." The documentary says "How you look is equal to your worth," and it seems to be a true statement of what we see today. Women are expected to be beautiful and thin with exaggerated parts or facial features rather than being able to contribute to society in some way without regards for their appearance. It brought up the point that computer/digital editing is having dangerous consequences by making impossible people for mass consumption. The model themselves who are photographed cannot even look as they do on the cover. I had never really focused on the media's portrayal of women politicians and their reception based upon their looks until "Miss Representation" brought it up. The demonization of Hillary Clinton based primarily upon her looking different from the standard woman in media such as an actress or model. The fact that how a woman looks somehow limits her ability to lead a company as CEO or lead a country as President is ridiculous. The documentary mentions the double standard of how the clothes are important with a woman but not with a man. That a woman cannot be too revealing but also cannot be fully covered and modest. It shows examples from both end with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. It doesn’t start with politicians though, it starts with even newscasters. They need to be wearing revealing clothes just to draw in viewers and prove worth for the news station rather than having good intellect like a man. This documentary has really just reaffirmed what I already knew overall; the media doesn't treat women equally and expects things from women that it doesn't from men when women are more than just their looks. 

Blog Post 3

I have noticed that I look at media as vehicles for messages rather than just general entertainment to be consumed. I am more capable of seeing characters and their motivations throughout shows and movies. The media is more dynamic and well thought-out than it originally seemed. Previously I could only give a deep analysis of purpose and message with literature and only picked out things unique to that when reading but never with watching a tv show. I can now do that with a tv show without too much conscientious effort. Watching the media in class and then analyzing it has helped when it comes to doing so on my own. The group effort to input ideas has really helped me think from different angles when I do it individually for the papers.  

Blog Post 1

This is an ad by the French Ministry of Health for obesity and it is a bit shocking to look at initially. It only has one line of text on the bottom that translates to "obesity starts at a young age." The ad has one main focal point that is front and center, pink ice cream on a cone stylized so that the ice cream looks like are large belly featuring a belly button and skin like texture. The only other thing within the ad is the official logo of the French Ministry of Health within the lower right corner. The text at the bottom literally says the point of the ad but it is just as clear and obvious without the wording. It is easy to see that it is a warning about obesity and health, specifically diet and things that can cause weight gain like ice cream. The pink color of the ice cream allows for to draw attention and still show the skin like texture openly. The cone is similar to an arrow as it takes attention down from the ice cream to the wording at the bottom. When it comes to the text the viewer reads from left to right and ends at the logo for the French Ministry of Health. The image is similar to a metaphor, saying ice cream makes you fat. Even though it is stated that this is for a French audience it is clear that it is not meant for an American one given that our culture isn’t typically exposed to weight loss and obesity prevention campaigns that feature large bodies, symbolic or otherwise. 

Blog Post 4

Marxism can best be described as the power structures and conditions in a society and how the upper or higher people have control and influence. Marxism involves 3 main points, ideology, hegemony, and false consciousness. Ideology can be summarized as a concept that refers to shared ideas and beliefs in a society. "The concept of ideology forces readers to perceive that all cultural texts have the distinct biases, interests, and embedded values, reproducing the point of view of their producers and often the values of the dominant social groups (Durham and Kellner)." Religion is an example of ideology. Hegemony transcends and includes the concepts of culture and ideology. Hegemony is a dominant ideology of one over another. Religion being forced upon a country as the rule of law is an example of this. False Consciousness is the spread of propagated information by the elite over mass media and popular culture. Through the use of false consciousness the masses are manipulated and exploited by the ruling class. An example of false consciousness today would be news outlets. They are owned and supported by large corporations which decide what will be told to the masses.  

The way to critique media through a Marxist lens is to identify the positions of the subjects involved. The characters can sometimes be identified with and are models to us, while one who we do not identify with are anti-models. Once the subjects and their positions are identified the media's class and power structures can be analyzed.

Blog Post 2: Sherlock Semiotic Analysis

This week's blog post will be analyzing the first episode of the show Sherlock, A Study in Pink. Sherlock is a BBC adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are a number of semiotic concepts that can be applied to the show. Signifiers are Watson's war flashback, cane, and gun which signify his PTSD and previous military experience. Others are Sherlock's upturned collar and scarf, as well as his nicotine patches that signify him as the traditional addict Sherlock Holmes of the novels. The Sherlock Homes of the novels being reinterpreted in the Sherlock series exemplifies intertextuality. Icons of both media are the skull that sits on Sherlock’s mantel and the building number 221B as well as the placard it is on. There were parts of the episode that made it clear what time and environment it is set in such as text on the screen to display text messages. There are a few cultural codes throughout this episode that exemplify its setting of London, England. One such code is taxi cabs that are small and black colored. Another would be the CCTV or closed-circuit television cameras that are spread throughout the United Kingdom and employed when Mycroft is trying to show off his power to Dr. Watson. Dr. John Watson is the first main character introduced and he is signified as the war doctor through flashbacks at the very beginning of the episode. Dr. Watson’s first conversation is with his therapist and the angles with which they are filmed break film codes of 180 degrees. Synecdoche in this episode would be Mycroft as the British Government and Lestrade as the police force. Mycroft states a metaphor that applies to this entire episode; “London is a battlefield.”