Blog Post 7: Question 6

A major misunderstanding is considering gender and sex to mean the same thing. This is not true as sex refers to the biological identifiers that determine male or female, where as gender is better understood as sexuality and sexual identity of person.  Gender is a social construct. We as people have desires for companionship and intimacy but it is unique what draws one person to another. If asked I would guess that even is a group of men or women have the same feature they look for in a perspective partner their image of the ideal mate will most certainly not match up perfectly. The fact that there are similar ideals and romanticized visions of a perfect mate also feeds into the idea that it is a socially constructed element. A persons sex can be changed but the concept of changing ones sex is a procedure, their identity is that of some who is transgender. This example shows the fundamental difference between two in that one is a scientific term and the other is a social element that can change and evolve through history. Media helps mold these social elements by either enforcing stereotypes or by shedding light on misconceptions perpetuated by faulty information. Though out this course I have learned truly how subtle and powerful the media can be, especially visual media. Its almost impossible to filter through the nonstop stream of information for all directions. So it is very understandable how something like the idea of someones sexual identity and gender can be confused. A further example the medias ability to cause doubt and confusion not out of malicious intent but by a populace not sure how to navigate it. 

Blog Post 6: MISter-Understanding

  After watching Miss Representation I was thankful that it also addressed the two sides of the problem with the media's portrayal of women and that it destructive messages effect both girls and boys from a young age. As a boy we are given media that is meant to embody our role society. Originally I thought the message was to be manly, strong, good at sports and physically impressive. And that has been the predominant idea of a man since my dad was young. Now that I'm older I have noticed the concept of masculinity and what is portrayed as attractive has shifted allowing men to be more open about being nerdy and being accepted. The new message to men though is the idea of sexual conquest as a reward. From music videos to television the over sexualization of women has created a situation where men are in a way conditioned to expect sex from a prospective partner and that in of itself to the purpose of it. It is a very negative outlook because it devalues women and their sexual identity as a thing that must be won and can be discarded after achieving the 'goal'. This idea also affect women as they are also condition to believe that only was to hold onto a male partner would be to offer him sex and ultimately is perpetuating the same idea. It also puts pressure on men who have not had sexual experience. They feel that they are somehow defective and are intimidated the women they do have their first experience with would mock them from their lack of said experience. The media's portrayal of women are not only causing problems for girls growing up in this media over-saturated society but also the boys who grow up not know how to reach perceived social ideals and convincing themselves that those images of women are real.  

Blog Post 5: Who, Why, What

Put simply Psychoanalytic criticism is examining a media artifact using psychoanalysis as lens understand the character(s) and/or the creator of the work. Psychoanalysis is the study of the development of persons mind and identity. This lens of media analysis works in concert with Semiotics, the study of the parts and components that create a media artifact, where in the signs are behaviors and they signify the way in which a character's psyche developed or deals with situations. Unlike other media analysis techniques, Psychoanalytic criticism focuses closely on the characters, in the same way a detective uses a magnifying glass, it allows us to take in the subtle clues and put them in the context of psychology.  The psychoanalytic lens draws its criticism from the studies of Sigmund Freud and Carl G Jung.  These two are considered the fathers of psychoanalysis and thus it is from their research into the development and understanding of the psyche that Psychoanalytic criticism. Even though it involves the complex science of psychology, it is not necessary to understand. Character's in a media artifact are not as complex as a real human being and therefore only the most basic of ideas are necessary to understand and analyze a character. 

Blog Post #4 Marxist Analysis and You

        The Marxist lens of analysis is used to understand the dynamics of power in a media artifact. It uses the same techniques of semiotic analysis only focusing them on the group structures and how rigid or fluid they are as well as the how the dominant group exerts control over or  alienate those who do not share the same Ideologies.  Rather than placing character into Propp's dramatis personae we instead figure out how their lifestyles and group boundaries are dived and the difficulty of crossing from one group to another using what is called Group-Grid Theory. Those who go against the dominant group face the most resistance, those who adhere to it maintain the status quo and some become distraught and alienate themselves entirely.  The dynamics of power groups can examined in all the ways that there is a dependency in power be it, sexual, economic, social or physical all of these conflicts can be examined through a Marxist thus create an understanding of how these groups interact with each other deepening the understanding of them. 

Blog Post #3

  This observation is less one I have about Media and more one that I have had about my self. I have always found myself critical of media I consume, more specifically Literature. Having had Literature classes I found myself capable of understanding the works and analyzing them but when trying to do the same with television or a movie I find myself unable to articulate my way of understanding them. I feel that after the first chapter we've done I am better equipped to analyze these media artifacts as I now have new ways of using some of the same literary devices I was so accustomed to.
   I recognized and applied this understanding to last week's premier of the series Heroes: Reborn, a mini-series continuation of the popular NBC Science Fiction Drama. I found myself categorizing the signs and symbols as they showed up, as well as finding the parallels in the way camera shots were used between this new series by the same director of the old series, made easier by the fact I used the first episode for our paper.  Now that I knew these way to apply my previous knowledge with the techniques we have learned in class it felt more natural and I didn't feel like was trying to stick a television show in a literature sized hole. I hope as this class continues I'll be more at ease analyzing and expressing that analysis through my writing. I can only hope that more practice both in an out of class will be what makes me better understand the media artifacts and what makes them work so that I can learn how to write for them, which is a goal of mine. 

Blog Post #2 Sherlock Analysis

        What does where you live say about the Characters' from Sherlock.

         In the first episode of the BBC Sherlock, A Study in Pink, we are introduced to our leads Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes. A great deal is revealed about the nature of these two men by the scenes showing off their respective apartments, before Watson accepts Holmes' offer to be flat mates of 221B Baker St.
      The first time we see Watson, and the first scenes of the series, he is in his apartment. The scene shows Watson awaken from a night dreams related to his service in the military. We see that Watson's apartment is small, containing what appears to be a single room with a bed, a chair and desk table and dark, the only illumination being the desk table lamp. These sparse living conditions are a reflection of Watson's personality. He is a man who has returned from war injured, as shown by the crutch leaning against the desk, His life was the battlefield and now home he creates a space that is drab and uncomfortable reflecting his position in life. His only positions, beyond his crutch, is a laptop, a mean of communication and exploring the outside world and a handgun. Both items are found within drawers of the desk table. These further signify his character arc in the episode, finding his new war. His laptop represents he doesn't want to give up on the outside world and his gun represents danger, which is partially why he retrieves after reading Holmes's text about the case becoming dangerous. The room and items within it are a mirror for Watson's character and when he leaves it after grabbing his gun, it signifies his acceptance of the call to adventure alongside Sherlock.
      Sherlock's Baker-street flat, like everything about, is loud and expressive about the character of the man who lives there. Sherlock's apartment is a complete contrast from that of Dr. Watson's, crowded and filled to brim with artifacts of the cases he follows. They left strewn about in an organized chaos in representation of the way Holmes' mind works, leaping from train of thought to another by following a unseen logic and process of deduction. This peculiar and particular way of operating is an extension of Sherlock's mental where he requires certain conditions to think through a problem and can go from still to moving at the drop of a hat. His skull, which he used to converse with to help himself think is highly prominent on Watson's first visit but on the second it has conveniently disappeared just as Holmes' found  a new, and more socially acceptable, 'skull' to bounce his thoughts off of. Also noticed upon Watson's second visit to Baker Street is that though still cluttered it is noticeably moved as to open more space, just as Holmes's is opening himself to working with Doctor Watson. Both character homes reflect whom they are and evolve along with the characters through the first episode's narrative. 

Blog Post 1

        This advertisement for Electronic cigarettes' most eye catching element is the close-up of a female figures lower body. Particular attention placed on her navel and bikini bottom, upon which is written the name of the product. Our attention in drawn down the page to full ad proper by the used of the upside arrow shapes on her belly button piercing and her shape of her bikini bottom.

            The Ad though featuring a woman is not marketing to her, but to a male audience. Her face and body are hidden save for her lower body, which is shown in an intimate close up shop and is meant to attract the attention of male reader. This also corresponds to how much of the page the picture takes up compared to actual product, seen in the lower right. The target audience is further elaborated on by the paradoxical placement of the shapes of the female figure and product. The product is sold in a solid rectangular box. The contrast between the two types of shape further create a distinct link between the male audience and female figure in the picture. 

      By examining the visual rhetoric of the picture we can see the advertisement is saying that women find it attractive if men smoke Blu E-cigarettes. The ad does not function to demonstrate or explain the product but create awareness of the product along with projecting a possible outcome for the user of said product. The intimacy of the close up of the female figure's bikini bottom being used to that effect, implying the connection between using Blu E-cigarette and intimate contact. Though eye catching the advertisement ultimately does not help my understanding of the product other than its nationwide release.