Course Review

Overall, I think that this class is an excellent class, and I would wholeheartedly support its continuation to the next academic year. It has taught to examine and to question, which are essential skills that students use throughout life to stay informed and freethinking.

I feel the course may improve in certain areas. Regarding the class's text selection, I was not a fan at all of the Susan Faludi text. I feel that, while her argument is valid, it is repeated without enough variation on her original argument as to warrant an extension; the inclusion of her ideas to the course would be best served with a brief handout with some excerpts, which would save the course several classes so more material could be covered.

I feel that writing in a blog was an excellent way of becoming part of a new, individualistic form of media, which we should do as students of media. I also think that the number of blogs per week is ideal in order to keep expressing the flow of one's ideas.

I enjoyed the contrast between Henry Jenkins and Noam Chomsky. I would absolutely include these two texts within the course syllabus, as they represent two different and rather prevalent opinions toward the media today.

The class discussion was especially rewarding, as everyone was able to provide different perspectives on the readings or contemporary issues. This was my favorite part of the class especially because I was able to voice my opinion on a much wider variety of issues much more rapidly than I was able to on my blog. Again, I would like to thank all of the students and my teacher for making this class what I perceive to be a complete success.

From Beginning.....to End

I feel that as school winds down for the summer, I am in an excellent position to reflect on who I am and where I have come from, in the short term and the long. This may not be the most academic blog post, but I feel that this is an example of the outlet of self-expression that blogging provides to the individual.

At the beginning of this year, there was an person who was so consumed in my new environment. This young man was the top of the food chain in terms of age within his school, and this person now had a new role within his school. However, this person was very different than the person who is sitting in front of his computer screen today and typing. This youth thought he was mature, though he could handle the wide world, and was ignorant of the fact that he was ignorant. Much has happened to this person since he came to his school in the fall; he has made many decisions and has been exposed to many things. The culmination of all of these influences has shaped this person into what he strives to be today: an individual. That person was me.

Now at the end of the year, I am able to look back on the person I was at the beginning of the year and am able to see the progression into the person I am now. I am far more informed, I am more experience at, well, life, and I am more qualified to examine the status quo. This media studies class has greatly contributed to the lattermost clause. Who controls ideas? Who controls feelings? These are questions I have been asking while I have gone through this class. In the end, I feel that I have gained some observational nuggets of insight and of perspective. I have listened to opposing opinions, and I have voiced some as my own. My teacher often says that she wants us to develop skills that we will need at the next level of education. For me, the primary skill that I have gained is the ability to question and consider difficult topics as well as develop opinions of my own. I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to do this, and I would like to thank my teacher and my classmates for being an active catalyst in this exploration.

Thank You For Reading

Can you Digg It?

I have just recently joined a system called Digg. Digg.com is a site where Internet media consumers may suggest certain web pages throughout the internet for consumption by other websurfers. People basically bookmark stories, pictures, anything on the internet so that others may share in what people find interesting or funny. These stories are put on Digg.com's web page (http://www.digg.com/) along with a number of people who suggested to specific website.
One of the reasons I find this website fascinating is because it is an example of collective intelligence as well as the collaboration of individuals as put forward by Henry Jenkins in Convergence Culture (description of book may be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Convergence-Culture-Where-Media-Collide/dp/0814742815). I feel it is an example of Jenkin's idea of collective intelligence not because of the information within each web page that is suggested to digg.com, but because the website that was recommended is presumably only a small part of the media consumer/digg.com member's repertoire. This is the collective intelligence of information sources, not only the information within them. This is where the individual collaboration comes in. The site is presumably based with the fundamental assertion that people will suggest stories that people will want to read. This builds a reading base which gives digg.com not only legitimacy but also some weight as to which topics get read. However, this is a self-propagating cycle in that the more digg.com members who read the suggested stories, and, in turn, put their mark of approval on them as well, make even more readers come to the story. I know that I personally gravitate more towards the stories that have a large number of people who approve of the webpage. This is interesting because this makes digg.com a perfect example of how the media is changing, with the power coming into the hands of the individuals.

The Journalistic Deographic

We all depend on the media to be the source of all of our information in this age of quick occurrences and rapidly shifting landscapes. This dependency is exacerbated especially when one considers that this year is an election year. Demographics are being examined, and whether we like it or not, media political biases are coming out.

However, I want to ask, of which individuals is the media comprised? Is there any common uniting factor among members of the media that also is a common uniting political factor? In essence, I am simply trying to examine a possible political bias towards Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the democratic primary. Hillary Clinton was the front runner in the beginning of the Democratic primary. However, she has lost all of her steam to a media darling such as Obama. In one glance at the magazine section in CVS, one of the first things I see is Obama on the cover of Esquire magazine (June 2008 edition). This is one instance where all I look, I see Obama's visage. Furthermore, Hillary Clinton's campaign has completely imploded at this point, especially with major hits such as Edwards endorsing Obama. It is important to recognize that these blunders are fully maximized in the eyes of the press. Hillary crushed Obama in Kentucky, but this was not the major news of the evening.

It is ridiculous to say that the media has not had a massive influence on the Democratic primary. It has. I believe Hillary Clinton has made mistakes throughout her campaign, but I feel that it is the media coverage that truly drove the stake through her heart. It is a necessary evil of politics; people need to see the candidates in their true element, for which the media is essential. However, the media has control of what kinds of elements the candidates are seen through. This has had an alarming affect on the democratic race altogether.

Affective Economics and Star Wars

When I was younger, I feel in love with a specific cinematic adventure: Star Wars (1977, written and directed by George Lucas: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/). Everything about the movie series was special to me; the characters, adventures, and storyline all reached out to me and piqued my interest like nothing in my life had done before. The thing that really hooked me into Star Wars was the universe that George Lucas had created.

See, I did not just enjoy the movies. I bought the action figures, the trading cards, and the books. All of these items took peripheral things within the movies and created substory upon substory within the Star Wars Universe. Within the cantina scene in "A New Hope," (1977, the first movie in the original Star Wars trilogy: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/) there are just random extra creatures in the background while Han Solo and Obi Wan Kenobi are talking. At one point, I owned a book that talked about the side stories of the characters who are in the scenes. This change of media out of the direct control of George Lucas had helped the Star Wars universe expand exponentially. The story was no longer about the Rebel Alliance versus the Empire, but about the regular creatures that live within the larger story.

For a young kid who was already blown away by the imaginative scope of the Star Wars franchise, these alternative storylines provided more sophisticated stories and details took me hook, line, and sinker. I could recite literally everything anywhere near related to Star Wars ( a skill that I still possess, to a degree). It was not until now that I really realized how powerful the fan culture was toward Star Wars. I have seen footage on the news or random TV programming about massive Star Wars conventions, where people would take on a completely new persona, an avatar in the form of a character from the Star Wars world. These people had massive amounts of power when it comes to directing the future of the Star Wars franchise. Also, the authors who wrote the books that continued to define Mr. Lucas' world completely changed the fan bases' perspective of Star Wars (for example on this, please see http://www.amazon.com/Sacrifice-Star-Wars-Legacy-Force/dp/0345477413/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212063346&sr=1-11). It was a universe to explore, and the fans began to further define this world. The fan passion is what truly made the Star Wars craze just that: a craze. The fans who exhibit this passion are a small group, but their love for Star Wars is unbridled; their existance also allows for a fan community that welcomes new converts. In my opinion, this supportive and creative fan base is what truly made Star Wars so popular.

Freewrite

I decided that it would be a good time to do another freewrite so that I may see what is on my mind lately.

I am listening to the new Coldplay song: "Viva La Vida" (http://www.amazon.com/Viva-Vida-Coldplay/dp/B000RPTQ1C), Dang it, this is a real good song. Coldplay gets a sissy rep from a lot of guys, but, in my opinion, this group of young men possess a level of talent that is of the highest echelon. I hope that the rest of their album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" is as good as their initial single.

Ebaumsworld.com is hilarious (www.ebaumsworld.com). I would describe this site as an irreverent youtube. Like youtube, users upload pieces of media to the site so the rest of the Internet community may view those hilarious moments caught on film or tape. It is grade-A quality webjunk that I often find myself gravitated to if I am bored.

The idea of graduation has completely permeated my brain. I am pretty much counting down the days, except I don't want to have a definite number in my head because that will make the waiting that much more difficult. I have been at this school for three years, and I don't know how anyone could keep their sanity by doing four. I am ready to go and enjoy the independence that comes with not having to sign in or ask an adult permission to get into a car. I am also excited to have a job and make money. It's been a while since I've had a good, money-paying job; I have been doing government internships these past two summers. They have been invaluable sources of experience (and admittedly something cool to put on the resume), but I've been irritated that I have not been able to build up a tiny bit of personal wealth. I will probably end up working two jobs this summer, like my sister did the summer before. That's all good. I just want to work, workout, read, and sleep.

On the media front again, for a math assignment I need to see the movie "Stand and Deliver" (1988, directed by Ramón Menéndez: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/) However, when I went to the library to get the movie so I could watch it in the comfort of my room, I was floored to hear that its was on a VHS. VHS!! That stuff is ancient! I remember watching the Disney movies of my youth on VHS, but that was a whole different era. Alas, I must return to the technological primordial muck in order to complete this assignment. I wouldn't be as irritated if it weren't for that fact that it is incredibly difficult to find a VHS (I certainly do not have one in my dorm). Whatever. I guess I will hunt one down or go to the school's media center.

Well, I think that is enough verbal vomit for now.

Thank You for Reading

The Susan Faludi Reading

After a very interesting class discussion over Corbin's question of Susan Faludi's book, Terror Dream (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dream-Fantasy-Post-9-America/dp/0805086927), I felt I should share my opinion on her work as a whole.

Susan Faludi does a good job out outline her concept of a specific kind of master narrative, namely, the idea of a regression of social gender equality back into a more masculine status quo. This is a legitimate argument. However, I feel the book as a whole could have presented the argument in a much more efficient fashion. The vast majority of the book relies on anecdotal evidence. On one side, this is a good way of presenting evidence for this argument because much of what shapes society is the spread of stories and images. On the other hand, I found her point hopelessly without variation throughout the book. The best writing that I have read which defended a belief examined various facets of an argument. In Terror Dream, I am hard pressed to find arguments that would defend from attacks from opposing interpretations of world events. Corbin gave the example of the metrosexual movement. Yes, this may be another master narrative, but society is not simply the coexistence of different social movements. These movements play off of each other, and doubtless that the series of events described by Faludi are greatly influenced by other social movements. I personally see history as a combination of progressive and regressive periods, with the overall result being progress. Faludi's message is that women have been portrayed as victims and men as heroes in order to rally a nation to war. I see her book as part of a separate master narrative that reinforces the notion of the recent periodicity of social conflict and inequalities within societies. This book is part of a gathering force, like the growing resistance to the Iraq war and all of the ideals that come with it according to Faludi's book, that will rectify the scale of society.

"You Will Not Enjoy This" - Queen Gorgo, "300" (2006)

I finished Susan Faludi's Terror Dream (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dream-Fantasy-Post-9-America/dp/0805086927) and was stunned by Faludi's account of the damage that revisionist historical accounts and literature had done to the accounts of female heroism in America. According to Faludi's research, American society has a pervasive notion that women need protection from men against threats. After reading this material, I turned to a piece of media that showed a depiction of female heroism in an interesting situation: the depiction of Queen Gorgo of Sparta in the movie 300 (2006, directed by Zack Synder: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/).

First of all, Queen Gorgo is in a female position of power within possibly the most patriarchal society in human history. However, she is depicted to relish within the masculine strength of the quasi-fascist republic of Sparta. This idea is best portrayed when the messenger of Xerxes asks who she was to speak in the company of men, to which she replies "only Spartan women give birth to real men" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/quotes, found a little before halfway down the page). This example of androcentrism, the idea of women judged in value in relation to men, is interesting in that Queen Gorgo has beaten the messenger at his own game; he insults her status as a female, and in response, she emasculates him while praising her own ability to produce "real men."

Another example with Queen Gorgo within 300 that came to mind is her rape and betrayal by Theron. In order to gain support within the all-male Spartan government, she had to sell her body for Theron's support. However, Theron has been bribed by the enemy and proceeds to default on the agreement. In response, Queen Gorgo displays a "masculine" display of violence: she takes a sword from a man nearby and kill Theron with it. This example in particular made me think of the Susan Faludi reading because Ms. Faludi, in The Terror Dream, gave several example of women who were captured and committed violence to escape. In the movie, unlike the reactions described by Faludi, the rest of the Spartan council is impressed by this show of strength and aids Queen Gorgo.

(something is wrong with the adding a photo option, so I am putting a link to a poster that shows Queen Gorgo's role in the movie in a nutshell: http://www.hollywoodnoise.com/image.php?productid=16285)

Fighting Sports

For a post today, I thought I would discuss an argument I often encounter. A lot of people feel that boxing is a barbaric sport. Fair enough, I respect that opinion. However, I disagree when people continue with the extension of that argument, that the up-and-coming Ultimate Fighting Championship platform of fighting entertainment is just as, if not more, barbaric. I want to explain my reaction to this idea as well as my opinion as to why UFC is such a phenomenon in the entertainment world (UFC website: http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=tuf.home).
First of all, many boxing matches are twelve round slugouts that involve people basically hitting each other in the head for over an hour. UFC consists of three five minute rounds in which a person may lose by decision, knockout, or submission. Another major distinction between boxing is that while in boxing, the fighters must stand and hit above the waist; in the UFC, one fighter can "take down" another and make the fight more into a wrestling match, jockeying for superior position in order to land punches. As a result, far less time is spent actually fighting, punches and kicks are distributed throughout the body, which presumably reduces the amount of head trauma (in turn probably reducing the risk of degenerative diseases later on in life such as Parkinson's), and submission techniques provide a "third option" to winning a fight that boxing does not accommodate, which also reduces the amount of abuse a fighter takes.
Obviously, the UFC is much safer for its fighters than professional boxing is. Furthermore, it has been crushing boxing in the entertainment world. In my home of Las Vegas, boxing obviously has a lot of history and weight in the city, but I feel that the UFC is starting to gain ground in major venues such as the MGM Grand or the Mandalay Bay. I feel that this is because the UFC espouses a much more dynamic style of fighting. Fights usually last maybe into the second round due to the use of submission techniques or referee decisions to end the fight due to someone becoming unable to defend themselves. There are many different styles that go into a UFC fighter's repertoire such as Jujitsu, wrestling, and boxing. Furthermore, as boxing is a very lengthy event, there are strategies such as holding out until the last rounds in order to mount a last second push to win. In the UFC, the fight may be over in a matter of seconds, so the fighters leave nothing behind. Another secret to the UFC's success is that it has avoided the bad reputation that boxing has earned due to the early deaths of its champion fighters. In the UFC, because one receives much less abuse over the years, its champions go on to produce a new generation of fighters, as is presented in the popular show on Spike TV, Ultimate Fighter (Ultimate Fighter Site: http://www.spike.com/show/22307). Finally, I feel that the UFC is the next evolution of fighting entertainment due to its augmented ability to entertain its views and because of its safety.

an interesting presentation about the evolution of fighting entertainment into UFC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5M3gmqtMu4

Forget "Unbiased" Reporting

I was going through the blogosphere earlier today when I came across an interesting post on http://www.buzmachine.com/ (accessed May 8, 2008). This is the blog of a man named Jeff Jarvis, an individual who has extensive experience in the media world having been the founder and editor of Entertainment Weekly among many other stints in the media world (more about Mr. Jarvis: http://www.buzzmachine.com/about-me/). This blog examines controversies within the media, and today Jarvis is examining a blog written by a man named Nick Denton (article may be found here, accessed May 8, 2008: http://gawker.com/5008177/why-the-times-should-abandon-the-news+opinion-divide) that criticizes the New York Times for having blogs. Mr. Denton feels that, as blogs are written in a human voice, that they are biased and ill-suited in the modern media world.
Mr. Jarvis presents an interesting perspective on the argument with which I am inclined to agree. He explains that yes, blogs may have bias; however, bias has always existed within the media, even written media. Mr. Jarvis focuses on what he calls the "organizational divide," (http://www.buzzmachine.com/ accessed May 8, 2008) which is the consolidation of opinion filtering through the editors of written media. He argues that blogging is simply a more individual and exciting way to present ideas and perspectives.
I agree in a way with both men. I feel that newspapers have been feeding themselves and the public a lot of self-righteous junk about how unbiased and "holy" they are. We need to present stories and articles as opinion because, let's be serious, that is what they are. Anyone can look at a series of statistics and derive completely different conclusions. These are informed opinions, but they are opinions nonetheless. I feel it is irresponsible of the media to operate under an unbiased facade, and opinions should be recognized for what they are.

Pride

I was just reading the most recently assigned chapter from Susan Faludi's The Terror Dream (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dream-Fantasy-Post-9-America/dp/0805086927) when I was struck. Do you ever get it when you are listening to a song and BOOM, you notice that the lead singer belts out the words from which the song is entitled? For some reason the band you are listening to has decided that these words are more important than all of the other words, so the members of the band made those words the title of the song, a pocket explanation for everything that the song represents.

I had that BOOM moment just now with our assigned text, The Terror Dream. Apparently the "Terror Dream" is something that a male character in a movie has been living with: impotence (p. 207). If Susan Faludi has deemed that this phrase is important enough to use to label her work, then it must be the central idea to the work. Susan Faludi has been alluding throughout the book to the masculine backlash in response to 9/11. First, she describes how feminist voices have been silenced in the major media. Next, she describes how men in relation to the 9/11 attacks have been portrayed in hero roles while women have been pushed into the roles of the weak victim that needs protection. Finally, Susan Faludi directs her argument to what seems to be the core of her theory: a male-dominated society has been emasculated in its failure to protect its citizens. I feel that this is a very interesting thesis in that most people would associate the American response to the 9/11 attacks as a justifiably angry giant instead of an emotionally damaged and ashamed man. If one imagines American society as one solid unit it makes sense that America would build back on where its society may feel it has been consciously or unconsciously decided that has been damaged. I feel that Faludi's argument is quite valid, which is that the "masculine" roles of protection that America has espoused has been violated and the silencing of feminine voices is a direct result of this violation.

The Generational Gap

Last English class the topic came up of a generational gap and its effect on our perception of the PBS documentary "The Persuaders." I feel that this is an interesting topic and has increasing relevance in today's society (link to the documentary's website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/).

We live in a world that is changing more rapidly than ever. Earlier in the term our class discussed the idea of people who stand tenacious in the face of change through small acts of non-conformity such as continuing to write paper letters through the "snail mail" as it is now called. Evidently, these people do not want to change their lifestyle to the more competitive paradigm in which we now find ourselves. I feel that the media, corporations, and governments are operating in a way that is completely new to the general public, and as a result, people do not want to change.

We world is changing very rapidly, as I have said. As a result, the world is a very competitive place, especially between businesses and countries. This being said, "The Persuaders" mocks attempts by companies to try to gain leverage on one another. In some ways, I feel that this mocking is appropriate, such as in the case examined within "The Persuaders" of Song Airline's advertising campaign, which was hopelessly useless because it marketed an idea without a foundation on simple facts. I feel that the mocking point of view that the host of "The Persuaders" took toward Cotaire Rapaille's ideas was unwarranted, that subconscious ideas are an important part of consumerism. My point is that nowadays companies are trying to jump into the growing pool of young consumers. However, there is a massive generational gap between the ideas of the leaders of the corporate world and the ideas of my generation. As a result, companies need to anticipate how my generation will respond through tests groups; however, sometimes these guesses may fail (as they did with Song Airlines) or make all the difference.

Response to Subconscious Consumerism

Yesterday, when my class continued to watch the PBS documentary "The Persuaders," (link to documentary site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/). we were introduced to an interesting character in the documentary: Clotaire Rapaille. Dr. Rapaille is a psychologist who has turned his experience with human behavior to applications in marketing. He explains that consumers were subconsciously driven to buy products by what he calls the "reptilian" primal urges of the human brain. PBS's investigator, along with seemingly most of the class, seemed pretty skeptical to his methods. How could such a bunch of hokey really make money for corporations that pay this wierdo tons of money? However, I was not skeptical.

I have read two very interesting works that reflect the peculiar sociological and psychological aspects of people's consumption habits. They are The Tipping Point (description of The Tipping Point: http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html) and Blink (description of Blink: http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html) by Malcolm Gladwell. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell explores how relatively unknown products can suddenly explode into popularity due to how people interact with each other. The most prevalent example throughout the book is the explosion in popularity of "Hushpuppies," a particular brand and style of shoe. Gladwell explains the mechanics of brand popularity, describing how society can be broken down into consumers with different behaviors. There are an advance few that will try new styles that have never been tried before, then there are those consumers who specialize in disseminating information about these advance consumers. After a few more of these steps, a particular brand may become incredibly popular. It may not be obvious, but the science of sociology plays a huge role in people's consumer habits.

Blink can be best described as a dissertation explaining why gut feelings are usually correct. In this work, Gladwell explores the powerful influence of the human subconscious. I feel this book is relevant because it shows how the arcane human subconscious manifests itself in the daily actions of people. Quick decisions are made by the human subconscious faster than the conscious mind ever could, without any inner dialogue. This concept, in combination with the sociological roots of consumerism, makes me feel that Dr. Rapaille may be onto something ingenious instead of being a complete nut.