Blog Post 7- A Shift in Mass Media

Do you think people today use the mass media differently compared with how people used media 10 or 20 years ago? Whatever your position, justify it.
Media today is incredibly different that media in the 90s, with the invention and popularization of the internet there has been a shift in who holds the power to disseminate information. In 1995 most media consumption was still accessed through television, radio, and print media. This meant that the power to control the flow of information accessible to the public was in the hands of companies and groups, which greatly narrows the point of view being shared, and what was shared was held to strict guidelines. With the revolutionary change that the internet and the creation of social media and large media sharing sites like Youtube and Netflix, there is a much greater ability to show a variety of interests and perspectives. People today have much more access to things that fit their own unique interests than they have ever had in the past. Niche markets that would never be targeted with traditional media because of the small fan base can be satisfied over the internet by shows from internet distributers which can use things like crowdfunding to avoid the need for large audience to draw advertisers to fund the show. Not only does this allow viewers to create direct input to the shows that they actually want to see using these methods almost anyone can create their own content that they will then be able to share with as many people as are interested in the same topic.

Blog Post 6- Miss Representation

The documentary Miss Representation gives viewers a comprehensive look of some of the most pressing gender issues present in today’s society. It begins with the host, explaining how this issue came to be of vital importance to her at the birth of her daughter. This creates a more personal view for the audience who can likely relate to seeing a young girl close to them grow up in this world. The video also uses dozens of compiled media in montages of footage that demonstrates the hyper-sexualization of women in mass media. This quick succession of clips not only works to reveal just how massive the amount of such content exists but in a way it also works to catch the attention of the audience before explaining why this is problematic to the audiences who these techniques are often targeted towards.  
To me this is a very important issue because I believe treating any marginalized group as somehow having less worth than whoever happens to currently hold the power creates a great rift in modern society and prevents any possibility of cultural advancement. I very much believe that a future is possible where we can celebrate our individual differences of things like gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation without resorting to judging and degrading anyone who is dissimilar. I also think there is a trend in media that (while still small and not perfect) supports this. Though still rare in the grand scheme of things, more popular media is being created by people who don’t fit Hollywood typical mold of the middle aged white male. As a result of things like this documentary there is also more of a focus on more empowering messages towards women.

Blog Post 5- Psychoanalytical Theory

Psychoanalytical Theory allows you to examine characters in media based on their motivations whether they are conscious (known to the character) or unconscious (hidden but still manifest in the actions of the characters). The connection between conscious and unconscious is based in the theories of Sigmund Freud. He theorized that a person had three aspects of the mind-the id (subject to baser instincts, interested only in instant gratification, present only in the unconscious), the ego (uses reason to mediate the whims of the id and reality), and the superego (uses moral judgments to prevent any actions that might go against societal expectations). Along with using the ego and superego to regulate the needs of the id people also have defense mechanisms that can prevent aspects of the unconscious from reaching their awareness. These include things like repression of unpleasant experiences, unconscious projection of an aspect of the unconscious on to unrelated people or objects, regressing to an earlier developmental stage, and more.

Another aspect of Psychoanalysis is the theory of the collective unconscious. Jung theorized that people are all born with innate knowledge and understanding of archetypes (sort of like a template that represents a basic example) these archetypes help humans to understand the world around them and are used around the world in mythology and folk tales. Examples such as the hero, the wise old woman, and the devil have been used in countless stories in every corner of the world.

A simple example of these theories from popular culture would be to look at the main characters from The Wizard of Oz:

Dorothy: Motivated by her wish to get back home to Kansas. Ruled almost entirely by her superego. The archetypal heroine with her trusty canine sidekick Toto.

Scarecrow: Motivated to get a brain.

Cowardly Lion: Motivated to gain courage.

Tin Man: Motivated to get a heart.

Wicked Witch of the West: Wants to keep power. Acts on id.

Oz the Great and Terrible: Wants to continue ruling Oz and to prevent people finding he is a fraud. Acts on his id, but ultimately is ruled by superego to help Dorothy.