Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. “Ecological Analysis." Critical Media Studies:
an Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 265-286. Print.
Monday 2 December 2013
My Disbelief in a Certain Media Remedy
One thing that I find interesting about my personality is an occasional characteristic whereby I continually harken back to certain pieces of discussion when I engage with friends and family. On different occasions, I have inspired anger from those I speak with in such a manner. Yet, unlike what is suggested by Ott and Mack in reference to tragedy and comedy, I do not think I would gain advantageous or productive feelings from seeing a media scene bearing similitude to an aspect of my life gaining representation (269). I believe this is because several disadvantageous episodes in relation to my unapologetic and incessantly circular conversations have culminated in being characterized as annoying and personally, I find this to be a powerful affliction. As an example, I recall being infatuated with a story my cousin told me when I was younger and one day, I needed and requested every aspect of the tale and left no stone unturned in my inquiry until my cousin demonstrated her annoyance by screaming "I don't know!" I did not feel right afterwards. Thus, for me, I think that similar media illustrations would have little benefit for me except for the arising of detrimental memories (ibid 269).
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. “Ecological Analysis." Critical Media Studies:
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. “Ecological Analysis." Critical Media Studies:
The Changing Operations of Life Evident in the Smart-Phones
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| iPhone 4s White Source: Apple.com/ca |
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. “Ecological Analysis." Critical Media Studies:
an Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 265-286. Print.
“iPhone 4s White.” Web Image. Apple.com. n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2013Why I Laughed at Fandom... Despite Participating in It
Brian L. Ott and Stephen L. Mack acknowledge that the academic investigation pertaining to fandom was started in the 1980's (249) Fandom denotes a solidified group who have an intense appreciation and feeling for some production emanating from the media (ibid 249). The forms of demonstration encapsulated by fandom are illustrated in certain activities, whether identified as distinct individual expressions pertaining to the championed work, evident in the bringing forth of unofficial
illustrations in connection to the text, while communal gatherings are additionally relevant (ibid 249). The infancy of the fandom investigation was involved in a context of perception whereby non-participants in the media appreciation viewed fans as illustrative of stupidity and the bizarre (ibid 249-250). This section made me remember a convention I went to last year. I went there in the hopes of finding vintage action figures, but one of my favorite instances of the day occurred as my father and I were leaving. We were going to my father's truck and we saw a man getting dressed in a Ghostbuster's ensemble. Arriving home, I told my mother and the two of us laughed at the occurrence. I am interested in this though: who was I to laugh at the impersonator? I attended this event wearing a t-shirt representative of a ninja turtle and if the impersonator was awkward, I was too. I think that I knew my mother found fandom to be ridiculous and I felt no ambiguity that she would find the story amusing. When her reaction was indicative of my expectation, despite being a participant in fandom, I laughed too. This illustrates that the outrageous perception of fandom, discernible in the investigation's infancy, is still forceful (ibid 249-250).
Works Cited
Ghostbusters Remastered Album Cover. Arista. HMV.ca. Web. 2 Dec. 2013
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| Ghostbusters Remastered Album Cover Source: HMV.ca |
Works Cited
Ghostbusters Remastered Album Cover. Arista. HMV.ca. Web. 2 Dec. 2013
Ott, L. Brian and
Robert L. Mack. “Erotic Analysis. Critical
Media Studies: An
Introduction. Malden:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 240-265. Print.
Sunday 24 November 2013
My Interaction with Radio: Audience Divergence as Suggested by Brian L. Ott and Stephen L. Mack
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| Pioneer FH-X700BT Source: Amazon.ca |
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Erotic Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 240-264. Print.
Pioneer FH-X700BT. Pioneer. Amazon.ca. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Media Audience Varieties: The Argument of Advertisement in my House
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| Deli-Pro Slicing Knife, As Seen on TV Source: Amazon.ca |
When Brian L. Ott and Stephen L. Mack investigate
the audience in relation to the comprehension of suggestion finding
representation in the media, they acknowledge an early surveying of consumers
(222). This initial illustration is characterized by a capitulating audience
who undertakes the invitation of grasping intelligence situated in the media’s
grasp without defiance (Ott and Mack 222-223). Within this configuration, the
audience is imagined in a disadvantageous light, not only converging on a
whole-scale agreement centering on the media’s speech but not having
feasibility in any degree of denying these articulations utilizing the
multi-faceted voice of media (ibid 222-223). I have suggested that this
theoretical design is disadvantageous and yet, I will admit that I occupy a
place in its construction when undertaking media participation. In thinking
about this, I look to my family’s perception of advertising. On the one hand,
there is my mother. She seemingly stipulates during every commercial that the
suggested capabilities are false in relation to the items, and it is then that
I issue forth opposition, capitulating to some degree to the acknowledgements
encapsulated in advertising. I dedicated time to conceptualizing the impetus
for my thought process and I have discerned that I find it inconceivable that
on a whole-scale level, the products which the media catalyzes our coming face
to face with are true of my mother’s estimation.
Therefore, an aspect of capitulation always operates within me when I engage
with advertisements, though I find it interesting that I do not betray a
significant illustration of the aforementioned audience which Ott and Mack
reference. If I believe that an illustration shining through the media’s
conveyance betrays aspects of fallaciousness, the capitulation I referenced earlier
in my blog does not arise (ibid 222-224). In the context of audience then, I myself admit that
the operation of my choice and belief bears aspects of media manipulation,
though an aspect of defiance is reference to this potency also finds
representation in my media connection (ibid 222-224).
Works Cited
Deli-Pro Slicing Knife, As Seen on TV. Ontel. Amazon.ca Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Reception Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 221-237. Print.
Songs Significant to Me: The Sadness of "Don't Stop the Party"
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| Pitbull - Swagged Out Cover Source: Best Buy |
I enjoyed the discourse of Brian L. Ott and Stephen
L. Mack in reference to the conception of songs which are important because of
their permeation into moments which are integral for individual consumers
(221-222). The authors explain different scenarios that would catalyze the
illustration of significance for a given song, for instance suggesting that it
was a surrounding element of the high school dances one engaged in (Ott and Mac
222). This formula necessitates, in the words of Ott and Mack, that despite a
hit single’s extension to a wealth of individuals, the idea of significance for
a sole person fails to find attainment in the minds of other patrons because
the latter’s dealings with the specific song have not been characterized similarly
(Ott and Mack 222). A song which I view as significant, though in an explicitly
negative and foreseeably comical dimension, is Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop the
Party,” a musical piece which I initially heard at my cousin’s wedding a few weeks
ago. During my cousin’s wedding, I asked a girl if she was desirous of partaking
in a beverage, and she capitulated. Due to the volume of the music, I inquired as
to if she wished to move into the hall to speak and she agreed to this as well.
In the midst of the conversation however, I comprehended that her engagement in
our discourse had lapsed, and soon she brought herself once more to the dancing
area. I do not remember if Pitbull’s song met my ears prior to the
aforementioned episode or afterwards but it is the musical representation of
joyousness that remained imbedded in my thoughts pertaining to the wedding, a
contextual element for my feelings of sadness and disappointment. Therefore,
referring once more to Ott and Mack, the track’s significance emanates from my
disadvantageous scenario and I thus have a detrimental perception of it; I
would imagine, however, that the viewpoint characterizing my cousin getting
married and utilizing the song is characterized differently, as it was a
constructive piece of a blissful event for him (221-222).
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Reception Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 221-237. Print.
Pitbull Swagged Out Cover. Pitbull. Best Buy.com. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Sunday 10 November 2013
My Changing Interpretation of the Bromance: Understanding Homoeroticism
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| Figure 1.1: Tango and Cash [Blu-Ray] Cover Source: Amazon.com |
In this past week’s
lecture, Professor Michael Petit explained what is denoted within the
conception of homoeroticism: it describes a construction of emotion which
encapsulates individuals within the same realm of sexuality, though it is in
defiance of homosexuality because instances of intercourse do not materialize
(Lecture: 5 Nov. 2013). The idea of the bromance was then referenced to constitute
Professor Petit’s example (ibid), and the most interesting aspect of this discourse
in my opinion was the changing outlook it dictated to me in relation to the
comical term. Familiar with the term “bromance,” I simply equated it with men
who betray an incredible bond with one another. I was a member of my cousin’s
bridal party a few weeks ago, and his best man was another cousin of mine, and
throughout their lives, they have shared an enjoyment of sports together,
worked in the construction business with one another, and taken part in the
same social events. Prior to Professor Petit’s lecture, the situation of my two
cousins would indeed have been the perfect constitutive illustration of the
bromance. The inclusion, however, of the explanation whereby the individuals encapsulated
in such a relationship disregard engagement that is defined sexually seemingly
allows for the sexual to infiltrate the bromance (ibid), though the degree may
not be significant. I think this is because I read the indifference towards
sexual engagement in Petit’s definition as perhaps reserving an image of it
nonetheless within the confines of the bromance (ibid). Thus, in the commercial
for the film Tango and Cash (1989)
documented in lecture, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell are simultaneously
participating in a facility shower while failing to bear clothes and upon the
latter character’s manoeuvring in a hunched positioning, the former leaves
little ambiguity in his uncomfortable feeling (Youtube: Tango & Cash, Trailer (1989)). When Kurt Russell humorously
suggests that Stallone relinquish such a view of himself whereby the situation
necessitates sexual attachment in his direction, the atmosphere of sexuality
cannot be denied (ibid, Professor Petit Lecture: 5 Nov. 2013).
Works Cited
Petit, Michael. "Queer Analysis." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. The University
of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 5 Oct 2013. Lecture.
Tango and Cash [Blu-Ray] Cover. Warner Home Video, Amazon.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Oldtrailer09. Tango & Cash, Trailer (1989). Online video clip. YouTube. Youtube, 16 July 2008.
Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Screaming Like the Opposite Sex: A Professor's Quick YouTube Search
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| YOUTUBE MOVIES Source: Amazon.com |
One of my favorite elements of Professor Petit’s
lecture last Tuesday was the focusing of the analytical, and also humorous eye,
upon YouTube content centering upon the emanation of behaviors supposedly held
within the realm of women issuing forth from men (Lecture: 5 Nov. 2013).
Specifically, Professor Petit illustrated that there was a wealth of the site’s
videos evidencing a scream which comes forth from a manly figure that is
highlighted as bearing a semblance to a sound relegated to the woman’s arena (ibid).
Yet, no reversal of this conception was perceivable upon the website, a
statement illuminated when Professor Petit looked for clips upon the website
which depict women as the enunciator of a vocal bearing resemblance to men, an
investigation failing to be fruitful (ibid). Through this interaction with YouTube,
however, I was thinking of a different idea. Uninfluenced by the trouble of
Professor’s second investigation, my mind had only blankness in my attempt at
grasping enunciation emanating from a woman characterized by its similitude to
the form of men. After reading my translation of Professor Petit’s lecture, I
believe that the conclusion of my aforementioned inability is accounted for in
his words. He suggests that the media is illustrative of strong reference to
the conception of heteronormativity, a term which denotes a construction of
humanity whereby features such as one’s biology necessitate connection with
other human designs such as behavioristic aspects (ibid). It is also
acknowledged that the infiltration of this media, into the realm of reality
where we the consumers live, in effect closes the door of feasibility for
certain actions to emanate from the opposite sexes of men and women (ibid).
Indeed, my engagement with the media has given me a grasping of the female
vocal, designed as soft and at times vulnerable, but I do not think my
acquaintance is as great with the male vocal and its designs (ibid). Thus, an
essential piece of the equation alludes me in the construction of the woman
whose enunciations fall into a characterization of men and their communication.
Works Cited
Petit, Michael. "Queer Analysis." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. The University
of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 5 Oct 2013. Lecture.
YOUTUBE MOVIES. Real Gold, Amazon.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Sunday 3 November 2013
The Different Lives of Men and Women on Television: Ott and Mack's Analysis and Television Study
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| Everybody Loves Raymond Season 6 DVD Source: HMV.ca |
In a discourse analyzing television, Ott and Mack
suggest that the medium betrays a different construction for the characters
within the male realm and those within the female arena (184). The authors
begin with the former, who are cloaked with aspects such as a degree of
volition and as having power within their palms, which is indeed the precursor
to the figurative outfit they dawn on television as the conqueror of
occupations and thus the holder of the family’s economy (Ott and Mack 184). In
line with this design, one who engages with a television program is easily
rewarded with a portrait men engaging with different jobs, and as this
necessitates some visual visitation of work-place, the authors acknowledge that
a televised man is aligned with public standpoints (ibid). This illustration
suggested of men fails to encapsulate the opposite sex finding representation
on television: according to Ott and Mack, televised women fail to bring forth
the emanation of strength, catalyzing their highlight as she who over-watches aspects
of the familial (ibid). The authors urge the reader to analyze housewives
finding representation in media, while Ott and Mack also acknowledge
illustrations of the actions held within the grasp of the aforementioned women,
and among others, the one betraying relevance to my blog is the effort
allocated for tidiness to permeate domesticity (ibid). I have mentioned my
adoration for Everybody Loves Raymond in
an earlier blog but I will once more illuminate a scene which is relevant. I
recall an episode where Raymond (Ray Romano) and Debra (Patricia Heaton) vehemently suggest to one another
that they should relocate a suitcase stationed in an unsuitable portion of the
home, in the midst of an adjoining staircase ("Baggage," Everybody Loves Raymond). The voice of Raymond’s father (Peter Boyle)
soon finds representation, acknowledging to Deborah that the travelling article
should indeed be re-positioned by her hand due to his reasoning that “that’s
the way it's supposed to be,” (Youtube: Everybody Loves Raymond Baggage Episode Full Skit) thus illustrating the conceptions illustrated by Ott and Mack in “Feminist
Analysis.” I am interested in the dynamic created by the fact that the often vicious Frank makes the impolite suggestion. I believe I have viewed the entire catalogue of the television series and there are a myriad of detrimental postulations emanating from Frank Barone. Thus, does the suggestion that viewers of the program possess, whereby the television character is utilized to demonstrate the uncouth, decidedly trample underfoot any semblance of what Ott and Mack suggest is the interconnectedness forming the connection between televised women and their seemingly uncontested residence within the conception of domesticity (Ott and Mack 109)?
Works Cited
"Baggage." Everybody Loves Raymond. CBS. 5 May 2003. Television.
Everybody Loves Raymond Season 6 DVD. Warner Home Video. HMV.ca. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Feminist Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 177-196. Print.
---. "Rhetorical Analysis. Critical Media Studies: an Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
99-123. Print.
SamieTrimble7. "Everybody Loves Raymond Baggage Episode Full Skit." Online video clip.---. "Rhetorical Analysis. Critical Media Studies: an Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
99-123. Print.
Youtube. Youtube. 5 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Combative Movies and Gender: Self-Reflection on an Observation
This past week was interesting for me, as the
content I read from Brian L. Ott and Robert L. Mack’s textbook Critical Media Studies: an Introduction actually
came face to face with me in my own life. The authors suggest that gender is an
element of a cultural or societal viewpoint which stipulates what will emanate
from the two sexes, illustrating this conception within the realms of what
males and females consume for instance, which I assume extends to media
selection, while the authors also reference gender’s voice in the explanation
of the drills of life which the differentiated bodies of male and female
dedicate themselves to (178). In offering explanation, Ott and Mack suggest
that it is the conception of gender that is illustrative of the woman as a manifestation
of the beneficial forces of support and guardianship, depictions which do not
have a relationship with sex, which the authors denote as the true elemental
divergences between males and females which harken to the explanations of
biology (178). Last Monday I was in a class where films are an integral
element, and in the viewing a group presentation from my colleagues, I will
generalize an important question of theirs with a relevant complexion to Ott
and Mack’s material. One of the group members inquired as to why a wealth of
filmic situations which illustrate the defeating of villainy issue forth a man
in the undertaking of the physical or psychological combat, while these heroic
scenarios do not imagine the woman.
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| The Dark Knight Cover Source: HMV.ca |
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| Mission Impossible/ Special Collector's Edition Cover Source: HMV.ca |
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| Skyfall Cover Source: HMV.ca |
I then shared my response, suggesting that combative
films have a relationship with purchasers of movie tickets or the films themselves
which illustrates the admiration emanating from men with greater strength than
from the opposite sex (Brym et al. 272). Soon after, a female colleague bluntly
questioned “is that fair?” This left no ambiguity for me that my suggestion
which was permeated by the conception of gendered pleasantries within the media
realm had an offending quality (Ott and Mack 178), though throughout my formulation
of the opinion and articulation, I did not believe that my opinion fell into
any arena of offence. As I had not yet read “Feminist Analysis” before my Monday
lecture, the words of Ott and Mack, however, depict my suggestion in class as attaining
a perception of proper suggestion from the hands of the realm of gender, which
the authors acknowledge as disadvantageous (179).
Works Cited
Brym, Robert J., et al. "Sexualities and Gender Stratification." Sociology: Your Compass for a
New World. 4th ed. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2010. 265-298. Print.
Dark Knight Cover. Warner Home Video. HMV.ca. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Mission Impossible/Special Collector's Edition. Paramount Home Video. HMV.ca Web. 3 Nov.
2013.
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Feminist Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 177-196. Print.
Skyfall Cover. MGM/United Artists. HMV.ca. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Sunday 27 October 2013
Different Suggestions: Plavalaguna's Performance in The Fifth Element
Figure 1.1 Diva Dance from The Fifth Element
Source: Youtube
Last Tuesday, Professor Petit spoke of a conception called the male gaze, which suggests that a whole-scale relegation permeates the media which is relevant singularly to figures characterized as female (Lecture: 22 Oct. 2013). The thought process encapsulated within the male gaze leaves no ambiguity that a woman standing in the confines of a media artifact is designed in such a way that the visuals of her representation, along with components of sexuality, are the weight bearers of the most significance (Professor Petit Lecture: 22 Oct. 2013). Finally, Professor Petit acknowledges that women are imbued with a necessitated utilization, evident in their stance being situated in the perceptibility of male figures who simultaneously occupy media artifacts (ibid). Explanation and case study was introduced through an episode situated within The Fifth Element, whereby an alien of femininity, Plavalaguna (Maiwenn Le Besco) performs a song while the wealth of consumers are of the opposite sex (Professor Petit Lecture: 22 Oct. 2013; Youtube: Diva Dance from The Fifth Element). Yet, I have discerned that the audience also betrays female visitation in reference to the event under investigation (Youtube: Diva Dance from the Fifth Element), which I find interesting because the consumerism centering upon Plavalaguna then fails to be the solely the culmination of an equation connecting her with males, indeed bearing a linkage between the alien and both sexes. What does this suggest for the conception of the male gaze permeating the aforementioned scene?
Works Cited
Frizull. "Diva Dance from The Fifth Element." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 7 Mar. 2010.
Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Petit, Michael. "Rhetorical Analysis." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. The University
of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 1 Oct 2013. Lecture.
Sexual Illumination in the Media's Realm: Examining a Scene from Phantom Lady
figure 1.1. Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)
Source: Youtube
During last Tuesday’s lecture offering attention to psychoanalysis and its theoretical affiliation with media, I was intrigued by Professor Petit’s documenting of Phantom Lady (1944), or in a more specific manner, the scene documenting a musical activity which betrays connotations of sexual intercourse (Professor Petit Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013). In the clip, the two integral characters are located in Carol Richman (Ella Raines) and a practitioner of the drums identified as Cliff (Elisha Cook, Jr.) (Youtube: The Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)) . The camera-work can be characterized as majorly indifferent to Cliff’s affiliates, as it is he who takes over the view (ibid). In the illustration of his character, the bodily fluid of sweat storms forth while the portrayal of facial expression would make one hard-pressed to not perceive a dimension of exertion and gratification (ibid). Shifting focus to the captivated Richman, she appears to manifest the fact that something is pulsating her, suggested by her powerful and satisfying mannerisms of physicality (ibid). Greeting the culmination of the brief illustration from the motion picture was an inquiry of Professor Petit: what are the conceptions implicitly up for grasp within the aforementioned part of the movie (Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013)? Though I myself did not respond, another student suggested what I myself calculated in reference to the scene, which is that the engagement of Richman and Cliff illuminated an instance of sexual intercourse linking the characters, an instance which paid no attention to physicality and all of its focus to connotation (Professor Petit Lecture: 27 Oct. 2013). As Professor Petit suggested, this utilization of suggestion came to be catalyzed by postulations finding representation in the Hays Code, a documentation device which issued forth illustrations of what is a justifiable depiction, and what does not enter this realm, thus necessitating a Hollywood barrier to its visitation in the enjoying of a motion picture (ibid). One postulation is that illustrated sexuality will be barricaded from consumers of Hollywood, defeating any semblance of explicit materialization, which is telling of the Phantom Lady scene (ibid). Despite the secretive elements, I was able to grasp the connotation of the scene in an instantaneous fashion and I think this is because there is no ambiguity in my mind that the media which has come across my eyes has betrayed sexual illumination in its illustrations, a statement true of the music I have listened to since my teenage years, the programs on television I have been providing my attention to since high school, and the small amount of films I engage with. If these media have embedded something in my mind, it is that the sexual circulates media artifacts in a great way, thus allowing me to grasp that an eroticized perceptibility is continuously lurking.
Works Cited
Petit, Michael. "Psychoanalytic Analysis." The University of Toronto at Scarborough. The University
of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 22 Oct 2013. Lecture.
Yourveins. "Phantom Lady - The Jazz Band Scene (1944)." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube,
4 Sept. 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Sunday 13 October 2013
The Arising of Stereotype in the Media Construct: Detrimental and Effectual Practice
Brian L. Ott and Robert
L. Mack suggest that the illustration of figures in the media’s projection who
hold positions of the myriad of races perceivable in our multi-cultural world
can be explained utilizing the conception of the stereotype (140). The author’s
explanation of what a stereotype is extends to an encapsulation of a given
collection of people whose common denominator is race, while the major
hallmarks of the concept are illustrated in their failure to betray any
semblance to the realistic form of the group and leaving no room for complexity
of representation but instead offering a demographic connection with the
minutest attributes (Ott and Mack 140). After a brief description, the authors
tackle the conception of ramifications, explaining that the engagement with
stereotypes delivers a configuration of the group finding stereotypical
representation from the media’s hand, putting forth significant qualifications
about the people encapsulated, such as whether they are allotted an
advantageous or disadvantageous aura (ibid 140). The consumer, however, also
appears as a significant stake-holder in this equation because visiting
stereotypical dimensions of groups can be the directing agent in the engagement
we experience with similar peoples, the suggestion being that our eyes viewing
entertainment with stereotype permeating it will consequently allow the
detrimental mode of perception to paint the picture of our reality (ibid 140).
 |
| Everybody Loves Raymond Season 8 DVD Source: HMV.ca |
My
favorite television show has always been Everybody
Loves Raymond, and though I would not suggest it is tremendously
significant to the program’s backdrop, when the nationalistic atmosphere is
conveyed, its extends to the Italian demographic ("Roberts Date" Everybody Loves Raymond). When I read this section from
Ott and Mack, I thought about an episode where Raymond’s (Ray Romano) brother Robert (Brad Garrett)
acknowledges that something is “whack,” a term which holds a position in the
lexicon of slang, the word meaning ludicrous and similar synonyms (ibid). Upon Raymond’s
acknowledgment of the enunciation of this term, as well as a perception of his
brother’s form of use, he makes the stereotypical comment that due to the
Italian aspect of their lives, the connotation of “whack” bears no relation to outrageousness,
while Raymond’s implied connection pertains to mafia language (ibid). I am interested
in the comedic dynamic this creates. If a character in a television show forwards
a humorous comment with the conception of stereotype permeating it, I am not
sure if the audience comprehends that a reality-based suggestion has been aimed
at them. If my perception is true, there is no ambiguity that a stereotype continues
to be a disadvantageous conception but at the same time, perhaps it can fail to
permeate thought processes.
Works Cited
Everybody Loves Raymond Season 8 DVD. Warner Home Video. HMV.ca. Web. 13 Oct. 2013
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Cultural Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 123-150. Print.
"Robert's Date." Everybody Loves Raymond. CBS. 1 Feb. 1999. Television.Analyzing Media's Overview of Class: Watching MTV Cribs
figure 1.1 Chad Kroeger on MTV Cribs
Source: Youtube
In the sixth chapter of Critical Media Studies: an Introduction, Ott and Mack are suggestive of the fact that the activity of media analysis opens many valuable doors to one who wishes to study the ever flowing American belief systems in reference to the country’s different classes (136). Two perceptions are attainable when engaging with significant media role-players, illustrated in the conception of television for instance, as well as their postulations within the subject matter of class (Ott and Mack 136). The first illustration is one which conveys no sense of ambiguity in depicting the presence of differentiation in the midst of different people stationed within constructs of class, each of which are painted with significantly different brushes (ibid 136). As the authors suggested, take the MTV television show Cribs for the purposes of an explanatory device (ibid 136), a program which I have utilized in the construction of my blog through the segment offering view upon Nickelback’s lead singer, Chad Kroeger, and his residence. In becoming acquainted with the tremendous things which come to constitute the house, evident in the glamorous swimming pool residing within the home’s construction and the inventive and tremendous kitchen where cuisine is prepared, among other examples (Youtube: Chad Kroeger on MTV Cribs Smooth), there is a suggestion which arises from this representation for the consumer: The viewer, who is suggested as being a constituent of the middle class position, if not the lower, perceives the discord between their life’s standing, and that characterizing a celebrity (Ott and Mack 136). As Ott and Mack suggest however, another acknowledgement is housed within this dynamic constituted by the media’s directives in connection with class. The other suggestion which arises is the postulation that if one imbues themselves with significant effort and tremendous aspirations, they will simultaneously fail to succumb to economic disadvantage but instead experience the conception of elevated life (ibid 136).
When I used to watch MTV Cribs, I never felt a poor disposition or disadvantageous in relation to the famous figures within society appearing on the program, despite the wealth illustrated. Speaking for myself, I would not characterize the differentiation suggested by Ott and Mack as an instance of detriment for those grasping a station of class located in lesser conceptions than celebrities. Instead, the construction offered in the Cultural Analysis chapter betrays, if anything, positivity. As the authors suggest, American media acknowledges that putting one’s tremendous strength in the formula for the grasping of the advantageous is integral, and in my opinion, this suggestions is marked by positivity (ibid 136).
Works Cited
Humosch. "Chad Kroeger on MTV Cribs Smooth." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 9
Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Cultural Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 123-150. Print.
Sunday 6 October 2013
We Give the Meaning: The Human Delineating of Suggestion
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| Traffic Light Source: MDSA10H3 Lecture: Petit - Rhetorical Analysis |
In discussing signs, one facet of the discussion
bears reference to the conception of arbitrariness, an element which explains
that the message received by society through the sight of a sign locates its
contingency in atmospheric ideas of society, such as its perception within
different eras of time and the intellectual affiliations with which others have
placed alongside the visual concepts (Professor Petit Lecture: 1 Oct. 2013). Professor
Michael Petit suggests that signs attain the capability of suggestion because
figurative human hands have delineated a message to speak alongside a given
visual form, thus acknowledging that any evocation that permeates a sign fails
to be the handiwork of its own devices (ibid). Professor Petit illustrated this
with the examples of a traffic light and smiley face. Focusing on the former, it
is feasible to suggest that common knowledge extends to the connotations
delivered by the red, yellow, and green bulbs within the traffic device. In humans
delineating what the message of a given color will extend to for instance (ibid), this
action seem to me another example of societal education, similar to delivering the
news (Ott and Mack 13). The common denominator is that these lines of action come to undertake
the objective of providing information the impetus to sprout within the
construct of society (Professor Petit Lecture: 1 Oct 2013, Ott and Mack 12-13).
Works Cited
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Introducing Critical Media Studies." Critical Media Studies:
an Introduction. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 1-19. Print.
Signs Conveying Difference: The Case of the Guitar
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| Gibson Firebird V Electric Guitar Source: Long and McQuade  Source: Long and McQuade |
This past week in lecture, Professor Michael Petit
was suggestive of three aspects encapsulated by the conception of signs (1 Oct.
2013). Though significance can be attributed the all three of the concepts, I
am going to focus upon that of difference. Professor Petit acknowledged that
anytime a sign gains a form of illustration, a linking process in reference to
different images is continuously prevalent “behind the scenes” (Lecture: 1 Oct. 2013). Take the case of the guitar:
the instrument’s design features extended strings, analogous in physical
conception to the violin, among a myriad of examples, and yet the agents of
differentiation centering upon the connection between the two musical tools are
what allows for the full and multi-layered grasping of them in their own
respects (ibid). In this conception, which provides an outfit of role-player
for both similitude and a lack of sameness (ibid), I am curious about which of the two
is more pivotal in the formulation of product, in this case the guitar: If the
instrument pays its greatest adherence to concepts of construction which place
it underneath the umbrella which also houses the violin, it indeed appears
painted in the light of a simply modified manifestation of stringed musical
tool (ibid).
Works Cited
Gibson Firebird V Electric Guitar. Gibson. Long and McQuade. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
Sunday 29 September 2013
Law and Cessation: Ott and Mack's Illustration of Slander and Libel
Focusing on another
aspect of governmental authority permeating the media industries, Brian L.Ott
and Robert L. Mack acknowledge that there are also prescriptions which have as
their objective the cessation of untrue discourse aimed in the direction of an
individual or group, while also enlisting the justice system’s muscle in correlation
(88). The forces suggested by Ott and Mack locate their strength while observing
the conceptions of society’s news, whether through our televisions or news
products on paper (88). In this context, Slander and libel are provided the
spotlight: the former speaks of an enunciated speech by a figure that that has
not relationship with the concept of truth and is indeed a comment designed for
strike, while the latter does its bidding in the realm of documents, such as
magazines, but carries with it slander’s aggressive characterization (Ott and
Mack 88). In a situational scenario which includes slander or libel in the
midst of its purview, there is a significance allotted to the justice system:
Ott and Mack suggest that the different aspects of legal practice whose
spotlight is shifted within the direction of these striking discourses has
great strength (89). This is certainly the illustration which the author’s wish
to incite by their suggestion that a detrimental economic hit is the reward for
media affiliates whose actions can be legally situated alongside the forces of
slander or libel (Ott and Mack 89).
 |
| Mats Sundin, Centre Source: NHL.com |
I recall being in my
grade 11 law class, when my teacher utilized the hockey player Mats Sundin to
paint the portrait of libel. He suggested that a reporter can write statements
about performance, perhaps suggesting that he is a mediocre athlete. On the
other hand, he cannot say that the previous evening, he saw Sundin at an
establishment engaging with alcohol, and acknowledge that such a decision
provided a hand in poor play, if the story is only relegated to the realm of
fiction. According to the words of Ott and Mack, it is the conception of legal
strength which will allow a cessation of attacking discourses to arise, which
is certainly an injection of positive assurance in media.
Works Cited
Mats
Sundin, Centre. 2008. Getty Images. NHL.com. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
Ott, Brian L., and
Robert L. Mack. “Pragmatic Analysis. Critical
Media Studies:
an Introduction. Malden:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 72-97. Print.
Everpowerful Opportunity: Media Industry Desires Complete Societal Discourse
Brian L. Ott and Robert L. Mack suggest that the
media has rules within it that are designed to disseminate the plethora of
viewpoints expressing voices within society, which are seen in the light of
allowing expression to materialize in the corners of all culture (84). The
authors acknowledge that those with a higher stance within society, which they
equate with the amount of money in their possession, have a simply easy time in
utilizing the media for a variety of purposes, an illustration of expression
that does not characterize the less advantageous (Ott and Mack 84). Therefore,
these stipulations pronounced by media industries are endowed with the ambition
that those who are not exceedingly wealthy can utilize aspects of media, such
as television, to express their beliefs and thoughts (Ott and Mack 84).
Providing an example, among others, Ott and Mack illustrated the equal time
rule, which postulates a schematic for the handling of commercials conjured by
politicians attempting a victory and position in office in the midst of
elections (85). Though the authors suggest a number of directives under the
rule’s umbrella, the one I will provide focus to is the idea that should a
political actor be granted, for any reason, a duration of time where they are
documented by a media outlet without the giving of money, a similar accommodation
must also be forwarded to rivals or opponents (85).
 |
| The Terminator (Widescreen) (1984) Source: Best Buy.ca |
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
having undertaken roles in action movies such as The Terminator and The
Running Man, came to manifest his life with the conception of politics in
2003, a move which provided a somewhat comical necessitation from television
networks: to disassociate their broadcasting choices with any semblance to an advertisement
with no cash exchange involved, they ceased any showing of the library of motion
pictures affiliated with Schwarzenegger (85). Thus, there could be no
accusation of fraudulent advertising, while also no proclamation of an
analogous mode of conduct for his competitors (85). I think this is an
interesting tactic, and one that illustrates the determination of media
industries to secure an arena of equality. Though I do not know if viewing a
film documenting a performance of the actor would necessitate giving a vote in
his direction, it is a calming and virtuous sight to witness a media industry
utilizing any tool they contain in their palm for the goal of sharing
opportunity.
Works CitedOtt, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. "Pragmatic Analysis." Critical Media Studies: an Introduction.
Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 72-97. Print.
The Terminator (Widescreen) (1984). Best Buy.ca Web. 29 Sept. 2013
Sunday 22 September 2013
Various Objectives: An Illustration of Copyright
 |
| Art of Money Getting - Golden Rules for Money Getting Title Page Source: Amazon.ca |
In chapter 4 of Critical
Media Studies: an Introduction, Brian L. Ott and Robert L. Mack focus their
discourse upon the conception of intellectual property. The authors begin by
shedding light upon the fact that instruments of legality are available for use
within the environment of the media to safeguard against malpractice concerning
different manifestations of artistry (81). One tool which conforms to this
explanation, indeed that which is illustrated as the most prevalent, can be
found in the conception of copyright, which the authors define as an instrument
which gives the creator the reigns so to speak, in relation to the artistic
project in which they brought to be a reality (Ott and Mack 81). Ott and Mack
then do something very interesting, which opened my eyes to the objectives of
copyright. My single-minded interpretation of the copyright tool extended to nothing
more than cutting off all choice pertaining to artistry to the conveyor
themselves, while the authors suggest another key element which is that the
expiry of an artist’s production will fail to come to fruition because of
copyright’s economic nature of securing profit for the artist by means of the
media’s activity with their creation (Ott and Mack 81). When I first read the
chapter by Ott and Mack, I believed that the lucrative viewpoint within the
discussion of copyright was too materialistic. To suggest that an objective of
copyright is to secure the noton I the mind of the artist that money will
continually reach them via the lifeline of their work is an economically driven
conception (Ott and Mack 81) but at the same time, the authors ask a
tremendously important question as well: if the media industry had no available
avenues of income for content producers, there would in fact be no
attractiveness for such a choice of career (Ott and Mack 81). Thus, the
acknowledgement made in the section is that income is a necessity that one
wishes to have delivered to them upon dedicating their efforts toward an
occupation, while this illustration sheds light on the fact that there is not
such a great world of difference between employment located within the media
and jobs outside of it (Ott and Mack 81) as was also mentioned by Professor
Petit during his lecture pertaining to organizational analysis (Lecture: 22
Sept. 2013)
Works
Cited
Art
of Money Getting – Golden Rules for Making Money Title Page. Droid Ebooks. Amazon.ca
Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
Ott, Brian L., and Robert L. Mack. “Pragmatic
Analysis.” Critical Media Studies: an
Introduction. Malden:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 72-97. Print.
Petit, Michael. “Organizational Analysis.” The
University of Toronto at Scarborough. The
University
of Toronto at Scarborough, Scarborough, ON. 17 Sept. 2013. Lecture.
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