Miss Representation

Miss representation was an amazing film. I care a lot about how women are represented in the media, so that is the main reason why I was so pleased by this documentary. Women are often used and seen as props in media. And if they actually have some type of actual role, it's always a stereotypical one. Women (especially young impressionable women) need to see and to be reminded that we are more than what society sees us. I think there are many fabulous women out there right now that are standing up for how women are seen in the media because of misogynistic idiots. One thing I did not agree with about the documentary was how it basically bashed sexy women. We need to get to a point, men and women, where we aren't afraid of sexual images. If a women loves to own her sexuality, that shouldn't be a problem—other women should not have an issue with that. And we also need men to understand that women can play many roles. We are not just props or objects. It is important for young girls to know their worth, and to not be afraid to be the them that they know they are without societies crappy standards getting in the way of their growth. There are many women that I can name off the top of my head that I believe are great feminist role models. Amber Rose, Janelle Monae, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce. Although this is not every girls “ideal” list as far as “role models” go, they have definitely executed a great sense of pride when it comes to being a women and owning themselves.

Marxism is the theory, named after Karl Marx, that basically tells us that people in the world are essentially put into different categories and classes based on their background and relationship to how things were made. That every person is put in the position that they are now due to their upbringing. There is the "working class", and they are the individuals that make a living working on farms or in factories. I believe you can define them as the lowest class. And then there are the "capitalists" who as some what above the working class but not by much. They are the ones that are owners of these farms and factories that the working class works on/in. Then last but not least, there is the ruling class. The "Donald Trumps" and "Bill Gates" of the world. The ruling class are the people that pretty much own and live off of the smaller classes. Marx states that there will always be a struggle between the rich and the poor, and with corporations vs the public. If you think about it, it all is actually very much true still to this day. It's very easy to break down media with marxism, actually. For starters, you know that every character in a movie, TV show or play represents a certain type of person. If you are picturing a blonde hair jock, who constantly has women all over him, what would you think of that person? That he is popular. Maybe even rich if you manage to get a glimpse of his car in a scene. You are basically digging deeper into the character and analyzing their life. I think Mean Girls would be a perfect (and popular) example of this theory. Especially when they describe the social classes within the school.

Blog 3 - chinenye

As I have said before, I really appreciate this class. I, myself, am trying to be a movie critic. I not only want to critique films, but also videos games, TV shows, comic books-- essentially anything related to geek culture. I had no idea of the concept of semiotics before I joined this class. I have to say, watching my favorite movie in the WORLD, The Dark Knight, over again and having to actually think a LOT deeper about what I was watching was an interesting experience. I saw so many things after learning about the rules of semiotics and watching this time around than I did when I had watched it at earlier times. It was almost as if I were watching a completely new film. As if I were seeing the movie for the first time. It sounds bad to say, but I really can never watch that movie the same way again. I started to understand a lot of the characters that I didn't even like before. I have not started picking apart every line and ever seen, every camera pan. Now, I have learned that there might actually be a reason behind a lot of the scenes you watch. That certain things very well can symbolize something important. I definitely will not be able to appreciate movies, shows, cartoons or any form of media the same way again. Now, I will think harshly about everything I see, and wonder a little bit more about what the writers were thinking.

Sherlock analysis

In class, we took a look at the infamous BBC series Sherlock. I had heard a lot about this show from friends, and on forums, so I was excited when I heard that we were going to actually be taking a look at this series. Sherlock is a modern day spin-off of the famous book Sherlock Holmes. The series follows Sherlock and his new found partner Watson on their journey to solve mysteries around London.

The start of the episode, we get our first glance of Doctor Watson and his past. The dark, gloomy, sepia tone of the room let's us know a little bit about Watson's mood at the time. As we start seeing flashbacks of Watson's past, the gloomy scenery starts to make a little more sense. We learn that Watson was a war doctor, and he had just recently returned from war. I felt a sense of loneliness about Watson while watching the following scenes. As if something in his life is somehow missing. When Watson takes a seat at his desk, I noticed a coffee mug with the letter “S” inscribed on it. For me, I felt that that was somewhat of a code for “Sherlock”. Kind of hinting future events in the characters life.

We then get to follow Watson as he goes off to his therapy session by one of his old friends. It seems that during the session, Watson is still very uneasy after his dream earlier, and is still hesitant to answer certain questions that the therapist asks him. The scene starts off as very mellow and quiet, until we finally are introduced to the main character known as Sherlock. The scene quickly turns from bland and emotional, to rather quirky and upbeat. We get a look at Sherlock and his personality right off the bat. I learned that Sherlock is definitely the type to analyze someone before he introduces himself to them. In that introduction scene, I also noticed that Mr. Holmes is definitely not the ladies man! When the nurse was flirting with him, he took everything she said literally. Like the “going out for coffee” bit. You can start to notice Watson brighten up a little—mostly because of his curiosity.

It seems that the only times in this episode that Watson is having any kind of fun or “break” from his emotional state is when he is working along side Sherlock. When they were going after that taxi driver because they thought he was a suspect, we saw Watson drop his cane, almost as if he was using it as an emotional crutch the whole time. It seemed that, (and we soon learned that this was the case) Watson missed the action he got when out on the battlefield. So agreeing to join Sherlock on his adventures was a way of him feeling the rush of war again that he enjoyed so much. He quickly forgot about his 'damaged' leg during the chase and in that moment, we definitely saw a different side of him than what he had been seeing since the beginning of the episode.

It's interesting how different the two main characters are from each other. With Watson, its all about the rush. He just wants to be out there doing SOMETHING and not feeling useless, because it seems that after the war, he felt empty. Like he was missing adventure. Whereas with Sherlock, it seems that all he wants to do is test out his mind. These types of quests are a thrill for him. It could literally be any situation, a baby dying, a family murder—it's all an exciting mind game for Sherlock. During the case of the woman in pink, Sherlock ended up finding the murderer, however, we learned that it wasn't just about finding him, he also wanted to know (HAD to know) why he did it. He could have just had the cabby arrested and went on with his night, but unfortunately, he got sucked into the cabby's mind game because of Sherlocks cat-like curiosity. He just cannot let go of a mystery without understanding it 100%. It also seemed like Sherlock had a very chaotic mind. Like he is constantly inside his head all the time. This is something I thought of after examining his room in one of the earlier scenes. His room was very messy. Like things were thrown around. Normally, people say a messy room is the result of a chaotic mind.

In the end, it made for a very interesting watch. I definitely plan on keeping up with the show more after this.

This super inappropriate advertisement is actually a REAL advertisement for burger king. Basically, it is trying to get the audience to try their new BK "Super Seven Incher". Using the slogan "It'll blow your mind away", which has an obvious (and inappropriate) subliminal meaning behind it. It seems it's more directed at immature teenagers who think this kind of humor is funny, or gross middle age perverted single men. Because, lets be honest, what woman is actually going to see this and say "HM, I WANT A HUGE 7 INCH BURGER!" This advert uses sexual innuendos to push a message across to the right audience. Now this advertisement caused a lot of controversy and was scrapped immediately, so I am sure that this is a poor example of trying to get someone to buy your food. However, any person who has a developed brain can definitely look at this and kind of put all the symbolism and subliminal messages together and get what burger king was trying to say with this add. All of this uses semiotics.