Blog Post 5

When discussing the psychoanalytic criticism one is referring to the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious course and the human functioning. There are a few dimensions when it comes to psychoanalytical. First there is the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id deals with the psychic illustration of a person's drives or motives. The ego are the purposes that are related to an individual’s relation to his or her environment. Lastly, the Superego is our moral views along with our ideal objectives. Then there are the defense mechanisms. There are a lot a brief description of each will be provided. To start off we have ambivalence which is a feeling of love and hate or attraction and repulsion between to people. Then there is Denial, or the refusal to accept the reality of a situation because it causes anxiety by blocking it from the conscious. Avoidance is the refusal to become involved with subjects because they are connected with the unconscious. Next is fixation, which is when one has an obsessive attachment to something. Identification is the desire to become like someone or something in some aspect. Projection is an attempt to deny negative feelings of oneself by crediting it to somebody else. Rationalization offers logical reasons or excuses for behavior generated by the unconscious. Reaction formation occurs when two opposing attitudes force problems. Regression deals with an individual’s return to an earlier stage in life development when he or she was confronted with a stressful situation. Repression is the excluding of consciousness instinctual wishes or memories. Finally there is suppression, which is the purposeful putting out of the mind and consciousness of something a person finds painful. I hope these descriptions help one’s understanding of some of psychoanalytical criticism. 

Blog Post #4

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who believed in communism, and he developed the Marxism theory. Due to Marx’s communistic way of thinking many people believe that Marxism and communism are one of the same. However, that is not the case. Marxism is the idea that material conditions and economic practices that shape the ideology of who should be and who should not be in power. An example of Marxism would be if a basketball coach thought a certain player ought to be captain of the team, but the entire team or that certain player think it should be someone different. The goal of Marxism is believed to expose how culture tests and reinforce the status quo of power structures as normal. Another way to think about it is based on the idea of hegemony. That is the privileging of a dominant group’s ideas and beliefs over another’s. This part of Marxism is where people might confuse it with communism. Marx believed that after one stage of a social classes struggle was complete, then the next one would begin instantly. He did not believe that evolution through the phases of society was possible or could be changed. Hopefully this explanation of Marxism was helpful in one’s understanding of the subject. 

Blog Post #3

There are a few things that I have noticed about the media that are different since I have been in this class. We have been analyzing a lot of television shows so far this semester. I used to just watch the shows and not think to in depth about what is going on. Instead I would just watch them for entertainment, but now I catch myself thinking about what is going in the shows and how it connects to what is happening in the real world or the connections between the other characters. For instance, I was watching Impractical Jokers the other day, and it made me start thing about how people’s reactions to interactions with strangers are mostly instinctive. Also, I have noticed that the media had been stressing about persuasion right now with the election coming up in a few months. Fox news is focusing on targeting their conservative thinkers and CNN is sending out their news for the liberals. The news is not just trying to win people over for the elections, but with all the controversial issues that have been going on as well. The media seems to be forcing race in the consumers face, and trying to make them pick a side. An example would be about all the police shootings. If a police officer shoots someone during their work and they are of the opposite race or ethnicity the media has been blowing it out of proportion. As opposed to if they were the same race or ethnicity we would not hear much about it other than the local news. Those are just a couple examples of how this class is making me see media in a different light. 

Blog Post 2

The initial episode of Sherlock was interesting to say the least. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are detectives in London. It is easily made known that they are detectives because of their attire. Sherlock is the lead role with John Watson simply made known his assistant. They inspect the deaths of few characters that are all similar. A cab driver is later known to be the cause, however society believes they have committed suicide. As a consumer of these types of shows it is safe to say I was hooked immediately. Throughout the episode important things about Sherlock’s way of thinking are made known. Sherlock seems to do things because he is uninterested. He is essentially a volunteer, and he does attempts to solve these cases because they keep him entertained. Later in the episode Sherlock attempts to take a pill, but Watson fires a gunshot to save him from doing it. The killer is the taxi driver, and he tries to cover up his murders by saying they committed suicide. The show is very comparable to Dexter, The Killing, and Rizzolli and Isles because of the pressure, exhilaration, and hold up on different situations. The main symbolism I could pick up was life or death. This was noticeable through the tablets Sherlock had trouble with knowing what to do. John Watson and Sherlock’s friendship seem to be already evolving in both positive and negative ways in the initial episode. The hinted message in the episode happened when the lady in the pink spoiled the floor with  Rache scraped in it which interprets to revenge in German.

Blog Post #1

In this print advertisement Bud Light is trying to promote their beer by claiming that it is the best beer for all situations through two aspects of semiotics. To start off, the denotation aspect. This is a very simple ad, but seems to be effective. A person is holding a bottle of bud light in the foreground. Then in the background is what seems to be a bar type atmosphere. On the bottle under the bud light logo it states "The perfect beer for stepping outside for some old school fun." Then directly under that on the bottle it says "The perfect beer for whatever happens." Bud Light is saying that their beer is for everybody that is looking to have fun in any environment. Now looking at the connotation aspect, I believe this ad is directed towards people that are really laid back, and are just going with the flow. People like myself. Being one of those customers that I believe this ad is intended for, I can understand why people would want to buy bud light because of this ad. Bud Light is trying to relate to us by saying that their beer is made for laid back, maybe shy people just out for some old fashioned fun. In the past many beer ads put their product in a certain situations or location. For instance, Corona is always at the beach, and Heineken is always at bars. Bud Light now has claimed that their beer is the best for all situations and locations. Their new commercials show people enjoying their product at parties, bars, restaurants, pools, and many other places. Bud Light did a great job advertising their product here.