McGlobalization

Globalization refers the recent phenomenon of connections across the world, and even more specifically, how this is evident in media of all types. Whether it's movies, television, music, or advertising, all forms of media are becoming global. One way this is seen is in hybridization. Hybridization is when two cultures mix to form something new. An example of this in advertising is the global food chain, McDonald's. When most Americans hear McDonald's, we think of the Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, or the oh-so-appetizing McRib. But as the company has developed around the world, they have realized that not everything sells the same in every country. For instance, their restaurants in Israel need to accommodate to the local Jewish culture. They recently opened up a chain of Kosher McDonald's in Israel with new blue-and-white logos to distinguish them from the regular chains. In addition to this, none of the McDonald's in Israel serve pork to accomodate the local culture. They've even made menu items to cater to the tastes of locals: the McShawarma and the McKebab. This is an example of the concept of hybridization: McDonald's plus Israeli culture equals Kosher McDonalds.

Subaru Advertisment

I saw this commercial for Subaru, by recommendation of a friend, the other day on YouTube. By the end of that minute, I was totally willing to buy a Subaru, right then and there. And I couldn't figure out why. Upon further analysis, I realized that this was a perfect example of the advertising Straubhaar talked about in lecture on Monday. There were many characteristics of advertising in this commercial, including imagining an audience and grabbing your attention. There were also appeals to sex, nurture, safety, and escape. But what I want to focus on is the appeal to nurture. This appeal basically makes the ad tell the audience that if they buy this product then they will be protected and cared for. This is obvious in the ad in several ways. The newlywed couple is on their way out to their honeymoon spot (driving in their mud-covered Subaru) and on their way there they are protected from a cow in the middle of the dirt road, which they have to avoid by driving around. At first you see the husband caring for his wife by his attention to detail in making this cute little camping area. Then as it starts to rain, the husband protects his wife by taking care of the tent-falling-down situation as the girl waits in the Subaru, protected from the rain. All these aspects of the commercial make the audience think that if they buy a Subaru, they will be protected from danger and that, since only extremely caring, nurturing people drive Subaru's (which is what this commercial implies), they will lead a fulfilling, happy life. I'll admit, I totally bought into it. And I have to say, the M. Ward song didn't hurt the buying appeal.

SPOILER ALERT: Black Swan

Black Swan, a movie recently released by Darren Aronofsky, is a perfect example of Hollywood's 3-act structure. In the first act, the main conflict is whether or not the protagonist, Nina, played by Natalie Portman, will be awarded the role of the Swan Queen. The risk continues to increase, right up until the casting list is announced and she receives the part. This happen at just about 30 minutes into the film, just as is expected. In the next act, Nina begins to develop into her roles as both the Black and White Swan. The climax of this act is when she lets herself go for a night and completely releases her need for perfection. Complete with drinks, drugs, partying, dancing (and much more), the crazy night out finalizes her surrender to the Black Swan (her dark side). This occurs about 75 minutes into the film; right on target between 60 and 90. The third act encompasses the actual performance of Swan Lake. As the risk builds to the greatest point of the film, things begin to become crazier and more twisted. Nina goes through a period of psychological turmoil during the performance of the ballet. The final climax of the entire movie occurs about 98 minutes into the 103 minute film. This is at the end of the ballet when the Swan Queen kills herself. At that final climactic moment, the true reality is revealed and her dying words end the movie on a "perfect" note.

TV on the...TV

In his lecture on TV, Colin Tait discussed TV as a self-reflexive and post modern medium. The post modern aspect of TV goes hand in hand with it’s self-reflexivity. Post modernity (in reference to television) is how often TV realizes what it’s doing when it references other current events or forms of media. Self-reflexivity is simply when TV is on TV. Often the family or group of people in any given TV show has at least some encounter with television. For instance, Tait gave the example of The Simpsons opening sequence, which is basically this family all trying to get home in time to turn on the TV. Now I’m not an avid Simpsons viewer, but one show that I do watch regularly is Community. Community is an NBC sitcom about a group of students at a community college. It is also often delightfully tongue in cheek. In addition to being a semi-realistic comedy about life at community college, it is also a perfect example of post modern TV and it’s self-reflexivity. In every episode, there is some reference to another show, form of media, or even it’s own plot and character development. One of my favorite characters, Abed, is a perfect example of post modern TV. Abed is an aspiring film student and he views his whole life as a movie. Which comes across to the audience as beautifully ironic, because we are watching his life as a TV show. Often he’ll say things like, “This is the part of the show where the principal busts down the door and yells ‘What are y’all doing?!’” The scene that he describes then proceeds to play out just as he describes. Scenes like this, examples of TV’s post modern aspects and it’s self-reflexivity, are one of the things that I still find entertainment in. I love being in on the joke and this is one way TV allows us to do just that.

(500) Days of Summer

In this unique scene from (500) days of summer, the protagonist, Tom, plays out his dream of what the night would be like ("Expectations") vs. the actual night ("Reality"). The first shot is an example of two camera angles Ramirez-Berg discussed, the close up (on the left) and the medium shot (on the right). In contrasting these two shots in one picture, the filmmaker is showing us the two different situations: the emotional bond between Tom and the girl, Summer, on the left, and the purely informational shot on the right, which lets the audience know that there isn't an emotional connection between these two characters here.

Later on in this scene, Tom's "Expectations" are shattered. The camera pans to a close up his face and then cuts to this close up. This shot of Summer's hand with an engagement ring on it lets the audience know why Tom is so disturbed. Rather than the emotional connotative meaning of the close up previously described, this close up is a denotative shot, giving us important details.

After his "Expectations" are no more, Tom runs down the stairs and outside. He is all alone and as he walks away from the camera, he places himself in a long shot, which lets the audience know that he is lonely, sad, and isolated.

Studio System - Genre

One aspect of the Hollywood studio system that I found particularly interesting is the fact that certain studios focused on specific genres. Universal focused on Horrors, Warner Brothers focused on Crime films, which eventually developed into Detective films, and MGM focused on Musicals. This focus on genres led people to expect certain things when going to see movies made by certain studios. It also provided studios an opportunity to concentrate all their efforts on a certain genre, so that they could make the best possible film of that genre at that time. Rather than spreading themselves thin and trying to perfect several different genres, they could focus all their energies in one place. An example of a film in this company-controlled genre would be MGM's musical, Singing in the Rain. Starring MGM's top dancing star, Gene Kelly, this is a perfect example of how genre shapes film. This film could not be made nearly as well, with the same quality stars, or may have not even been received as well, if it had come out under any studio other than MGM. Since MGM was known for their musicals and their star, Gene Kelly, was known for his dancing, going into this film, audiences knew what genre to expect and what quality to expect. MGM continued their Musical reign with other films, like An American in Paris and The Band Wagon among others. These films further solidified MGM's role as the Musical genre champion.

All in the Family vs. Modern Family

One of my favorite new sitcoms on TV is ABC's Modern Family. It's a hilarious comedy about the all challenges and opportunities that a family these days might face. So who is this modern family? The father of the family, Jay, who's divorced his crazy wife and remarried a younger, beautiful Columbian woman who's accompanied by a very mature young son from a previous marriage. Jay's son who's gay lives with his partner and they've recently adopted a baby from China. Then there's the more "typical" family of Jay's daughter, the responsible Mom trying to control her kids, the Dad who tries to be cool, the ditsy boy-crazy older sister, nerdy middle sister, and idiotic younger brother. It's a crazy cast and a crazy family, but the show puts a comedic spin on real issues that are important in today's society, just as All in the Family did in the 1970's. The show's styles are very different though. All in the Family was more of a typical sitcom, while Modern Family has been styled after many other current shows in the mockumentary genre. With this style, you get more of a personal perspective from each character rather than having to read into what they say or do to develop their character more, as in All in the Family. Although I'm not an avid watcher of All in the Family, from the episode we watched, the issue of homosexuality that they dealt with there was surprisingly similar to what's still a crucial part of shows like Modern Family. In both shows, the traditional father is struggling with accepting homosexuality, whether it's his son's friend, as in All in the Family, or his own son, as in Modern Family. But the issues being dealt with have definitely grown in variety since the 1970's. On current shows such as Modern Family, more issues that have become acceptable in society are discussed, like teen relationships, sexuality, and drinking, marital struggles and even divorce to name a few. But what goes beyond comedy and even the cultural issues in these shows is the overall importance of family. The beauty of a sitcom is that no matter what happens in the episode, usually by the end of the show the family has come back together as a unified group who still cares about each other.

Technological Development

Technology is always changing, developing, and growing. New ideas and inventions are constantly being formed, molded, and put into place. In the 1920s, as radio was beginning to be a main source of media in the home, one of the driving forces behind radio was the technological change that was occurring. As radio began, it was only for morse code communication. What first indicated that it might become a staple in the home was the invention of the vacuum tube in 1906 by Lee de Forest. This invention allowed the radio to broadcast sound, voice, and music. Although it didn't catch on right away, the idea came around again in 1916 with David Sarnoff's message. He predicted that within 10 years radio would be a "household utility" that brings music into the home. Without the development of this technology, radio might have never come about as a major form of media. Because of it's ability to be used as a tool of communication, education, news, and entertainment, radio became a widespread phenomenon. Technological change has continued to drive the development of radio throughout the years. Although it may not look anything like it did back in the 20s, with the invention of iTunes Radio, Pandora, and Satellite Radio, radio has continued to live on in the 21st century.

Objectification in Advertising

Objectification of women is rampant in our society. From advertisements to movies, throughout society you can see women being compared to things or even animals. The very act of comparing a woman to an animal or an object sends a negative message about what women should be and how they should view themselves. Despite the fact that objectification degrades women and crushes their self esteem, it also gives men the "right" to treat women as objects or even as animals.
The ad I've pictured here displays the concept rather bluntly. Although it's an ad for vegetarianism and it's supposed to be relating cows to something positive and attractive that you wouldn't want to eat, in the process it degrades women to nothing more than meat. It implies that women are simply another animal. As a vegetarian, I understand what the ad's attempting to state, but the actual effect of the ad I think is quite different (and much more negative) than what was intended.

Hegemony in Counter Culture

Hegemony is present everywhere. Whether it's the fashion magazines telling you what you're supposed to wear or the news shows telling you how to vote or what to pay attention to, it's there. And whether you admit to being subject to it or not, it's there. I find it interesting that those who try and rebel from the norm of whatever group is in control often succumb to the hegemony of some sort of "rebellious" style. Punk rockers, hip-hop fans, scene kids, and emo kids, even though they say they're against some sort of establishment, all still follow some rules about what is and isn't okay to like in each of their genres. An article I ran across one day while browsing the web really brought this to light regarding the new "indie" scene. It's on eHow called, How To Be An Indie Girl. I'm still not sure whether the article is serious or not, because it comes across as quite mocking. It ironically states, "Regardless of the fact that indie supposedly refers to a unique quality, it has quickly developed a stereotypical style...There's only a few simple steps standing between you, and a new, edgier, more artsy persona." Although it may be mocking the style, it really does make it clear that, regardless of whether we admit it or not, we do all tend to follow what some group says is "cool" to do. So I finish writing this blog post sitting in a local coffee shop that I biked to after my vegetarian lunch that I ate after playing my guitar for a bit, wearing skinny jeans, vintage jewelry, patterned flats, and listening to an Austin indie folk band. So I have to admit, I am a product of hegemony.

RTF 305!

I'm blogging this for Intro to Media Studies, which is a class I'm pretty excited about. I'm a Radio-TV-Film major and I want to work with some combination of documentary films, audio, and/or editing. But in order to get into those awesome upper-level classes I need to know the basics first. After a few trips to Africa and other impoverished countries, I'm really interested in the global affect of the media and how I can use my love for film to change the world around me. By the end of this course, I hope to have a greater understanding of all facets of the media, especially film, and a more concentrated focus of what I might be interested in pursing as a career.

And somehow I missed this the first time around...so a blog I follow is Anis Mojgani's blog. He's a slam poet and he posts new poems and other writings on his blog called The Piano Farm. I made a video/animation with one of his poems as the basis. Check it out.