Blog Post #1 - Ted Bangs

The above advertisement is a P.E.T.A. support campaign ad, and the subject matter of the ad is quite obviously what makes this particular ad controversial. To a certain degree, a large portion of commercial advertisement hinges its popularity or success probability on the bet that “sex sells”. In this specific case, it was not so much that sex sells as much as it was that sex in this case catches the eyes of the viewers and draws attention to the ad campaign. With the tagline above the image “all animals have the same parts” the reader is somewhat taken back because we as human beings (although technically we are also animals) don’t like to consider ourselves as part of the animal kingdom. We as a species almost believe that we are above that to a certain degree, but this advertisement juxtaposes that comment alongside the body of Pamela Anderson in order to make a point. Their point is to demonstrate that animals are, from a practical and functional point of view, just the same as us. We all have a common denominator in our mortality and that is made especially obvious by the way in which Pamela Anderson’s body is painted. It is painted and sectioned off as if it were a butcher’s guide to extracting meat from a cow.  It is very jarring at first glance, but this image could also be taken in a different way. It could be taken as a type of satire that models and their bodies are objectified in advertisement today, not just by commercial entities but also non-profit organizations like P.E.T.A. that use the models as conduits for their advertisements.

Blog Post #3 Ted Bangs

Blog post #3 What have you noticed differently about the media since this class? Talk about this week's media consumption and any thoughts and criticisms you may have about what you've consumed this week.

I have always been aware that there are often ulterior agendas within advertisements, the marketing industry hinges itself off of the ability to push its own agenda ever increasingly efficiently. That being said, being exposed to rigid analytical semiotic charts forced me to take some of my abstract prior ideas of how media manipulates the audience and really work to clarify my points and understand the entire process better as a result. My media consumption this week centered around the NFL and small bits of free time where I watched the news. However, I did do a good amount of listening to music on Pandora, and I have come to enjoy the adds that I receive while listening, I feel like commercials keep me in touch with today’s culture. I don’t know if its my interest in the subtleties of advertisements or if learning about the newest Keurig makes me feel at touch with the world, but I enjoy the commercialism of it. That being said, I do make an effort to analyze commercials, and wonder what trend, or occurance would make the setting (for example) of a certain commercial relevant, or why the song choice is an appropriate choice for what I perceive to be the target audience. As it stands in the class, I have tried to absorb some of these ways of looking at advertisements and enjoy adding tools to my analytical skillset each week.

Blog Post #6 - Missrepresentation

6. How should one define gender? Is gender natural, or is it socially constructed, and if it is socially constructed, does that mean gender is anything someone wants it to be?

In the early 20th century, this thought of blue and pink representing boys and girls never held any significance. Boys and girls used to always be dressed in pink if their eyes were more brown, where as they would be dressed blue if their eyes were more brown. From a humanistic point of view, gender is the sole dividing line between the the two reproductive subclasses of the human species, however in today's advertising hyper world, it has been used as a tool in order to help the sales of boys and girls toys/clothing. The fact that now, marketers are able to designate a blue and pink side of toy stores specifies their target audiences down by double the factor. Making "his" or "her" barbie convertibles or bigwheels only helps to further promote this separation as well as help sales for companies such as hasbro. The saddest part of this is the social effect it has on young children today. A girl that likes to wear overalls and long sleeve shirts may be made fun of at school because she "looks like a boy", or a guy may dress "like a girl".  This is exceptionally concerning when realizing that just 70 years ago a boy and a girl's dress were only separated by the color of their eyes.... It goes to show where our civilization has gone through the prostitution of product marketing. 

Blog Post #7 - Uses and Gratifications

The uses and gratifications paradigm relies on the assumption that media consumers are not just passive viewers, but that they utilize the media shown to them by certain personal uses or gratifications. That is to say that one individual may not typically be a "South Park" viewer, but perhaps South Park's cartoonish style and perverse language made them feel like a kid again, so that person watches South Park when they are overwhelmed with life's turmoil. Other examples of this could be if someone had just been broken up with and watched romantic movies as a type of solace to make them feel as though there was love in their life. There are many ways to consume media in a non-passive manner, and in honesty, almost all of us do this subconsciously. This theory then comes into direct conflict however with the theory of "Strong Media Effects" which states that the media's agenda and issue creation (through priming and framing) are what drive the viewers to watch media, and influences what is important to the viewers. However obviously, the uses and gratifications theory negates that assumption.

Blog Post #4

Marxist Media Criticism

Marxist media criticism is the analyzation of any type of media through reflecting the work against social structures and unpacking how they are presented within that certain piece of media. Like Marxist literary criticism, Marxist media criticism strives to decode and decipher the work more acutely and with more conviction toward meaning, however, they differ in that media criticism approaches any type of media artifact. Marxist criticism attempts to find a parallel reflections of social structures within works of art or commercialism that in turn effects the individual consuming said media’s ideology. It is human nature to feel a desire to belong or become a part of a larger group. This is why it is natural for an individual to associate themselves with larger like-minded social structures (republican versus democratic beliefs for instance). These larger social structures then inherently have a voice within the individual’s mind, whatever agenda is of importance to the larger mass becomes an issue to the individual, and begins to allow us to analyze his behavior and influences accordingly.

One example of how Marxism is used in today’s media to take a look at how power structures are depicted within a modern rendition of a classic folk tale: A Muppet’s Christmas Carol. In the show, Scrooge, who represents the wealthy class, is portrayed by the only human actor on cast. Scrooge is juxtaposed against the other Muppets in the town, representing the working class, who are all Muppets dolls and emphasize scrooge’s age and perceived orneriness. Scrooge is portrayed as being cold, blinded by money, and without love in his live; the muppets, however, live robust, colorful lives in seemingly utter bliss of their economic situation. The show depicts the working class as being more good natured and trust worthy, making it the more appealing side to the viewer. 

Blog Post #2 - Ted Bangs

The plot of Sherlock is interesting in the way in which it furthers it's plot not by contextual and cliche "detective off to solve crime" motif, but rather by a complex internal paradigmatic struggle within the protagonist. Sherlock is said to "get a kick" out of solving murders, it even seems to bring him joy, but that joy which is often misconstrued as sick pleasure by his peers, is actually a yearning to understand the villain behind the crime. Though Sherlock does often have second thoughts about whether or not to pursue a villain out of his own curiosity or to turn him in for the sake of justice. This is seen when Sherlock is given the opportunity to turn in the cabbie to the nearby police at their first introduction, or to ride along with the cabbie to understand the underworkings of his sinister plot. In a way, this makes Sherlock his own nemesis, which only further pushes the idea of this internal good versus evil struggle that Sherlock experiences. However Sherlock's struggle is not the only good versus evil conundrum within the plot. Watson experiences seperate yet equally polarizing questions about the good or evil within Sherlock and whether or not he believes his actions to be that of a man intent on catching villains, or something much darker that he has yet to understand. This is seen through the presence of Sherlocks' "Arch-nemesis", his brother. Watson who at first scoffs the man off as a petty threat trying to scare him from working with Holmes begins to wonder if this man truly does care for Sherlock, and if so, for what reason.