Inspiration through Evaluation

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

-Winston Churchill

We are innovators, we are explorers, we are originators. We are creators. The world is brimming with infinite information; through paintings, through songs, through words, this information is depicted from billions of different perspectives. No two people are the same; therefore their expression of the same idea will never be articulated identically. In order to develop a multiperspectival view of the world, it is essential to gain insight from the work of others, and absorb their knowledge into your own. Even the most talented artists, musicians, and journalists seek inspiration from their peers, and offer their own stimulation in return.

In journalism, news, opinions, and information about the world come from many different points of view. Understanding issues through the minds of other people allows you to approach topics with a well-rounded view. On another level, the simple act of reading other people’s writings, noting their strengths and weaknesses, gives you the ability to hone your own writing skills. The attention to thoughts and words prevents an overall stagnancy that can develop in uninspired writing.

Through reading the blogs written by my peers, I was granted the opportunity to see a variety of approaches to the same topic that I had written about in my blog. Each blog had incredibly strong points, in addition to aspects that I would elaborate on or phrase in a different way.

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“Disney- Is it as Magical as We Think?”

– Arielle Barry

I found this post to be immediately successful in terms of interaction with the reader. Your friendly tone and questions such as, “how do you feel?” effectively maintain the attention of the reader, while provoking them to think at the same time. In the same vein, when you describe how Disney movies make you feel, you reveals something personal; this is a brief moment of intimacy with the reader.

You transition neatly into Disney through the perspective of an adult, and I really enjoyed your examples of ideologies that a political economist would pick up on. Although I watched Mickey Mouse Monopoly too, I didn’t absorb as much about the barbaric details in Aladdin. It was fascinating to think about the opening song in a completely different manner. Your solid grasp on Consuming Kids was evident through your excellent insight about children living in a culture of consumerism. An especially strong point was that “the consumer market right from birth targets children making them believe in the ideology ‘you are what you have.’”

I would recommend a little more information about political economy and why the political economist would “know straight from the beginning that Disney is portraying Islamic views and religion is a way that is not correct.” This interview with political economist Edward S. Herman, who produced the propaganda model with Noam Chomsky, would be a great article to read and summarize for your readers. This blog post also needs a good proof-read, because minor grammar and spelling mistakes, such as “lets” instead of let’s,” “Disney” instead of “disney,” and “fist” instead of “first,” slightly detracted from the overall fluidness of your blog.

“Picking Apart the Kardashians”

–Dayne Buttafuoco

The first thing I applauded while reading your blog was the way in which you directed readers to your first blog as well. Your enthusiasm for the topic shone through your words, engaging the audience ever more. As a person who is not a fan of the show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” I had never taken the time to consider the signifiers that attract fellow members of society. Your brief background of the family kept a clueless reader in the loop, while providing links to further information on each member of the family; I found those links to be an immeasurable strength.

Through your fluid analysis of the signs in the Kardashian’s Christmas photo, I could really tell that your grasp of semiotics is deep-rooted. You ties the symbols in the photo with information you knew from the show; this is important because it allows us to see the personas that they strive to emulate. Your analysis is detailed, and mentions everything from the fact that, “all of the guys are behind the women,” to the mom of the family, “definitely pulling herself apart from her family as to say, ‘I’m the leader,’” to the arches representing “hierarchy” and “a sense of power.” You point out details that the naked eye would not see upon glancing over, or even studying this picture, and I found myself scrolling back up to the picture after you had made observations that I had missed.

Although your understanding of semiotics is clear through the analysis, I think that your definition of the term could use a little expansion. A reader who had never heard the word semiotics before wouldn’t necessarily understand the depth to which “production of meaning is constructed through a system of signs.” This website clearly explains the way that signs are produced and how they affect our culture, and would certainly aid you in expanding your definition of the process.

I was also not a huge fan of the headings that you used to separate the blog into sections. I think that rather than “Introduction,” something such as “Meet the Family,” would be more engaging for a reader. “Introduction,” seems too explicit, and is often associated with the beginning of an outline. The headings should also all be formatted as bold, since the ones that are not don’t stand out.

“Breaking Down Breaking Bad”

– Eric Arditti

I was immediately interested in this blog because I am a fan of Breaking Bad as well, and I was interested to learn about the show from a different perspective. Your overview of the background and themes of the show offer just enough information for a reader who has never seen the show, while keeping the summary short and to the point. The fact that you note the ambiguity of the show, by saying, “different people get different meanings from the actions of the characters,” is a strong example for why people should understand the effect of the show’s story through Narrative Criticism.

Learning about the Aristotelian and Visualist approaches used to create Breaking Bad was unbelievably eye opening. I had never thought about the juxtaposition between Mr. White’s professional language and Jesse’s slang, and how this reflects who their characters are. Nor had I noticed the way different camera angles gave me a different perspective into the actions onscreen.

Though you gave a clear explanation of Narrative Criticism, you didn’t offer any further links for readers curious about the approach. This outline would be a great link to provide to readers; the simple structure of the page would enable their understanding without being overwhelmed by a lot of reading. I also wish that you had delved into more depth about why people interpret media in different ways. Although you touch on its arbitrary nature at the beginning and again at the end when you say, “You may have 5 different people watch the same show, but they may have taken that show in 5 different way,” you never goes into any detail about the different points of view that would lead to this ambiguity. For example, discussing how a police officer watching the show differs greatly from a drug dealer watching it. I think adding a few sentences in reference to the factors that influence the audience would add a lot of strength to your blog.

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Examining these blogs with a constructively critical eye allowed me to turn that same eye to my blogs. There is a vast difference between turning a paper in to your professor, and posting the paper on a forum that anyone can access; the latter means that the utmost consideration should go into the expression of your thoughts. This is a sliver of your mind that you are sharing with the world, and therefore a heightened awareness of the clarity of your words is vital. By reading the blogs of my peers, I learned how to read my own blogs with fresh eyes, stepping into the shoes of a reader, and tailoring my blog to adhere to the utmost level of understanding. The feedback I gave to them essentially turned into feedback I could apply to my own writings as well, and this fresh inspiration is unparalleled.

What Shaped You?

“Ideology has shaped the very sofa upon which I sit.”

                                                                                 -Mason Cooley Although it is the nature of an individual to invest him or herself in the concept of originality, the truth of the matter is this—there is no such thing as a truly original thought. All that we are has evolved from what we absorb from our surroundings; even as a child we identify ourselves with the place of others in our world. I know that I am Annie Plowman, because I am not the girl sitting next to me in Media Criticism class, I am not the woman standing at the register at my work, and I am not my best friend who lives in the room next to mine. I am also not the table upon which I am doing my homework. I am not the soup heating up in the microwave, nor am I the microwave. And so on, and so forth. Since I am not all of these things, I know I am me.

Seems obvious, even infantile, does it not?

This clarification does not stem from condescension, but rather from enlightenment. I want to take you to the root of the idea that we are shaped by our surroundings. When you step outside of the comfort zone that you occupy on a daily basis, it is shocking to realize how influenced we are by our culture.

Let us consider some basic questions; questions that perhaps you have never had the opportunity to consider.

How do you know what is right or wrong when faced with a difficult decision?

Why did you buy the specific clothes that line your drawers and your closet?

What is it that makes you seek companionship from an intimate source?

As a female, do you feel an innate sense of longing for a man to take care of you?

As a male, do you feel as though your masculine place in this world is that of serving your wife and your family?

The list could truly continue into an infinite future, but I will stop there and let you chew on those thoughts, while I introduce you to the radical definition that explains how all of this has come about; this is the concept of ideologies.

Ideologies are a set of ideas that serve as the instrument for hegemonic forces. The dominance of the elite over the masses is solely effective due to the consent of the dominated. Often, we do not even realize that as a society we are being dominated, and this is where ideologies come into play.

Through various texts, concepts and ideals are expressed to us, and we absorb those concepts in the same way we absorb the context of the world around us. Through insight we find in the media, we identify aspects of our reality in accordance with that which we have observed and absorbed. And finally, through this identification, the ideologies expressed in the media begin to seem like common sense; we do not question what we are seeing, but rather recognize aspects of our own life in the texts.

The majority of ideologies thus remain unchallenged, because as a society we do not realize that there is anything out of place in the texts. What we are hearing, viewing, and reading seems to be reflective of our reality, rather than the root of our reality. There is a direct correlation between the media texts that pepper our lives, and the way we associate ourselves with the ideologies of our culture.

This leads us into the Political Economy Theory, which helps us understand how the ownership of media helps shapes its progress of distribution. Which hegemonic forces are determining the impact of ideologies on the economy? That’s what this theory helps us identify. There is an undeniable link, one that is perfectly exemplified in the form of Disney and its multitude of movies. Let us now consider the work of Disney…

A flawless example of ideologies comes from absorption of media at a young age.  This fact is not a coincidence; children are still in a delicate state, during which they are molded by their surroundings. They become a product of their environment. And when their environment involves Disney movies, we begin to see the evolution of certain ideologies.

We live in a culture of consumption, which means that we are constantly influenced by advertisement and marketing in media, even when it is not a blatent advertisement that we are looking at. Not sure what I mean? Here’s an interactive exercise for you:

Consider any Disney movie. Have you seen a Barbie of the main characters? A Halloween outfit for a little girl? A lunch box? Clothing with the character’s faces on it? Again, I could continue forever. And yet this does not seem out of the ordinary, it seems to fit in flawlessly with the way our society operates. From a young age, children want more and more, and the adults are perfectly willing to give that to them. The way is paved into adulthood; a road upon which consumption and need are not only an emphasized ideology, but an encouraged one as well.

In Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, as well as in Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Child, and Corporate Power, it is brought to light how susceptible children are to the power of ideologies and consumption through what seems to be innocent sources. And the children are not the only victims of this—after all their parents are the ones buying the movies and the products, are they not?

After watching Consuming Kids, I cannot imagine one parent who would not dive across the room to turn off their child’s television. Sexuality, violence, and overall manipulation of malleable minds are rampant throughout the media we find natural in our culture. Nothing is independent, rather everything is interconnected, and surrounding our children in a web of ideologies that we are unaware they are even absorbing.

In Mickey Mouse Monopoly, we see ideologies run wild in movies that defined the children of my generation, and children to this very day. Princess’s swoon in the arms of strong, handsome prince’s who hurt the bad guy in order to save them. At least one parent dies, leaving an evil step-parent in their wake to make the innocent protagonist’s life a living hell. Caucasians are the stunning majority, leaving Asian representations to obnoxious Siamese cats, and African-American representations to hyenas and crows. Women are rewarded and supported for finding a husband, and looked down upon for independence.

It is important to understand how ideologies shape our culture, and understand the theories of political economists. From a young age, we soak in concepts that shape our identity as adults, and the cycle repeats as we pass those ideologies on to our children.

It’s time to take a step back, and identify yourself as an original, not as a product of this overpowering monopoly. It is one thing to appreciate media, it is another to become yet another product.

Semiotics and Sexual Spirits

“The transference of culture in time can, in large measure, be described as the conservation of sign systems serving as a control on behavior.”

-Doris Bradbury

As a college student, living in an alcohol saturated environment is relatively inevitable. Without generalizing the personal choices of individuals, it is safe to assume that the years between youth and adulthood, during which time the legal age of consumption is reached, are the years in which alcohol is most prevalent.

Therefore, although alcohol needs little advertisement, individual brands are in a constant battle of recognition among the elite drinkers.

 In my print ad research, I stumbled upon a string of Evan Williams Bourbon Whiskey ads, all featuring two side-by-side pictures, one of a conservative, awkward girl, the other of a curvy, sexual woman

Although there were a plethora of examples to choose from, I decided to focus my analysis on this specific one:

            On the left side, we see a girl who would most likely be described as “cute.” In what seems to be a black and white school photograph, she is wearing a dark sweater layered over a white turtleneck, so that only a sliver of her neck is showing. Her smile, almost hesitant, features slightly gapped front teeth, and her rounded glasses graze her cheekbones. Her hair is stick-straight and parted close to the middle, framing her slightly bushy eyebrows. The photo captures the top of her head to the middle of her well-covered chest, and the caption says, “Before Aging.”

On the right side of the picture, under the caption, “After Aging,” we see the colorful image of a woman framed from the crown of her head to her midriff. Her hands rest on her hips, with her thumb brushing the waistline of her skirt. Her entire stomach and chest are bare; a white top with a plunging neckline is tied up just underneath her breasts. She wears a simple silver necklace around her neck, and her dark hair is wavy and tousled, although still stylish. Her lips are pursed in a cheekbone-defining manner, and her perfectly plucked eyebrows are arched as she stares down the camera.

Between her bellybutton and waistline, there is another caption written in smaller letters: “The longer you wait, the better it gets.”

At the bottom of the page, between the two pictures, is a bottle of Evan Williams, with the stamp that says, “Aged 7 Years.” In the bottom right corner, another caption reads, “Evan Williams. Aged longer to taste smoother.”

After absorbing the basic images of this advertisement, I put on my trench coat and picked up my magnifying glass and began investigating the underlying meanings expressed through the symbols in ad. This text-centered analysis, called semiotics, is a way in which we interpret signs in media in order to understand our socially constructed reality. As we flip through magazines, zone out during commercials, and drive past billboards, we are often oblivious to the impact that these signs have upon our interpretation of our world. However a deeper analysis of the ingredients poured into a media text offers eye-opening insight into how affected we are by even the smallest details.

That is to say, we are often mistaking obliviousness for absorption. The details are so engrained in our society; we don’t even realize the associations we are making until they are spelled out. This is where semiotics comes in to play.

The basic idea of semiotics boils down to the relationship between a signifier, the image or word, and the signified, the concept. Media texts are brimming with signs and codes that are common in society, although they may be interpreted in a variety of ways. Some signs are symbolic and offer an ambiguous connection to the meaning, while other signs express exactly what it is that they stand for (iconic). Since meanings can vary in texts, based upon the context and the person, it stands to reason that advertisements attempt to reach a wide variety of understanding, especially for a product such as alcohol.

Understanding signs can be separated into two separate categories: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Syntagmatic looks at the sequence of signs to form a whole, which paradigmatic analyzes the deeper layers of the sets of signs in terms of their common meanings.

For a more in-depth look at semiotics, click here or here.

            Upon researching semiotics in preparation for analyzing my Evan Williams advertisement, I used “The Maiden With the Snake,” a semiotic analysis of a perfume ad, as a source of inspiration. The intricate way in which every detail of the picture was picked apart and explained helped me focus my mind upon the intricacies in my analysis. For example:

“The warm colors. The ad shows a yellow orchid in the woman’s hair and full red lips and fingernails. Red is commonly used to suggest passion.”

As I began picking apart the details of my advertisement, I chose to use this method in which to clearly separate and understand each sign, breaking each aspect down into a table comparing the two sides of the photograph in both syntagmatic and paradigmatic fashions.

	“Before Aging”	“After Aging”
Color	Black and white image gives the feel of an old-time photo. The image is pixilated and slightly grainy, giving the impression of a photo that is reminiscent of an older time. The black and white also reminds the viewer of black and white television, which is another implication towards an older time period.	The image is in color, which shows us that it is a photo from a more current time period, in addition to the fact that the quality of the image is much clearer. The teal background matches the background of the bottle on the bottom, implying that they are much more aligned that the “out of touch” black and white image.
Clothing	Conservative and multi-layered. If you were to take off the top sweater, there would be a second sweater, and then a turtleneck after that. The clothing acts as a protective padding between her and the world around her. The high cut of the turtleneck gives off implications that she is a “prude” and very far from promiscuous.	The promiscuous top she is wearing is a stark juxtaposition to the turtleneck. Not only does the shirt reveal most of her well-toned body, but V-neck and shirt ties form the shape of an “X,” implying explicitness or “X-rated” activities are to happen with this woman. Her bottoms are skin-colored, allowing the eye to skim over it and the mind to believe that she is wearing nothing.
Eyes	Her eyes are hidden by glasses, which have been associated in pop culture with nerdiness. Although it is becoming an extinct insult, we all know what it means to be called a “four-eyes,” and we know that glasses are not associated with sex appeal of any kind. In addition to this, her eyebrows are slightly unruly, and she doesn’t seem to be wearing much makeup.	Her gaze, which can be described as nothing other than seductive, beckons the viewer into the scene with her. Her gaze is dark and mysterious, and although she doesn’t seem to have on a ton of eye makeup, her eyes still stand out against the neutral background of her face. Also, in stunning contrast to the black and white photo, her eyebrows are perfectly plucked, and consequently arched in a questioning, enigmatic gaze.
Smile	You can almost hear the photograph counting, “1, 2, 3, Smile!” as you look at her smile. It is calm, controlled, and relatively emotionless in terms of reading any more into her thoughts. She seems to be smiling sweetly for the camera, without much emotion behind the upturn of her lips. The corners of her lips turn down, reflecting innocence, and the slight gap between her teeth screams that she is a young girl.	The pursed lips give any man viewing this woman the impression that she is unattainable. Although her lips aren’t plump or parted (images of sexuality), the tight corners and slight protrusion, feeds into the aura of mysteriousness that she is emulating.
Body	We see virtually nothing of her body. Although she is very covered up based upon what we can see, the camera also doesn’t allow our minds to even run free, since it cuts her off at mid-chest.	In comparison, this leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Her cleavage, which prompts images of sexuality and is consequently a turn-on to men, is the focal point of the image. Her bare midriff, emphasizing her curvaceous, slender waist, is cropped off by skin colored bottoms, leaving little to any active imagination. This body screams “woman,” and not only that, but it screams, “woman who knows how to work her body.”
Hair	Her hair is straight, dark, and relatively plain. We don’t see much of it, but we see enough to know that it doesn’t have much of an impact on her overall image.	Her hair is tousled and sexual, giving the impression that she just finished rolling around in the bedroom. The waviness highlights sexuality and the darkness framing her face illuminates that ideal.

All of these signs lead to one final point by Evan Williams. While their advertisement seems to circulate around the juxtaposition between these two women, it also highlights a larger picture. Through their use of signs, the woman on the right is more sexual, more beautiful, and more appealing to males, the gender more likely to be associated with bourbon whiskey. The coded message in this advertisement is this: drink this bourbon whiskey, and end up with a woman like this, it will be worth the wait. Although this may be a highly unrealistic comparison, as a print ad it is a genius construction of the correlation between sex and alcohol.

It comes down to this (am I talking about the woman or the whiskey?): don’t you want a taste too?

Media’s Chokehold

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”
 –Malcom X

The absolute avoidance of interaction with media texts is nearly impossible today. Billboards litter our highways, Pandora radio plays commercials intermittently between songs, and magazines generate most of their profits through advertisements. Even in situations where media absorption is not our goal, it stubbornly seeps into our unconscious.

Media in our lives.

My name is Annie Plowman and I am a senior at Towson University, working towards a degree is Mass Communications and a degree in English. One of the stepping stones towards these degrees is a Media Criticism course, in which we learn to decipher the signs we receive from media text, and understand these signs in relation to the way our culture is shaped. My generation is consumed by the media, bombarded by the connections formed through such an extensive variety of channels.

If you are sick, it is important to understand what is causing the sickness in order to acquire the medicine to fix it. If you are pursuing a degree, it is critical that you understand all aspects of the subject you seek to become an expert of. As with any consuming force, it is important to understand it thoroughly in order to maintain control over its influence.

Enter Media Criticism, from stage left.

Under every amusing plotline, behind each relatable character, there lies a constant flow of messages that work to entertain, inform, persuade, and educate us. We are molded by the implications of popular culture, and the fact that media saturates almost every aspect of society means that immunity is close to unachievable.

Are you immune?

Think about it.

Women, when you watch a television show, do you notice the haircut of the beautiful blonde protagonist? Make a mental note of outfits that you’d like to try later? Stifle unrealistic jealously for her passionate relationship?

Men, do you subconsciously notice characteristics that you find attractive in fictional characters? Take note that beautiful women seem to fall head over heels for Axe deodorant? Immediately search for new memorabilia as your favorite sports team hits a winning streak?

These are a fraction of the signs cascading from the media texts and infiltrating our minds, and thus, our culture. Without realizing the depths of the assimilation, we act in unconscious accordance with many values picked up from the media.

Prior to this class, I had never looked below the surface of my favorite television show, American Horror Story. The first season of this series began last fall, in October 2011.

The pilot begins with parents, Vivian and Ben, and daughter, Violet, moving into a new house with hopes for a fresh start for their fractured family. The viewer quickly realizes that ghosts walk alongside the living in this haunted house. This show doesn’t dabble in the paranormal, but blurs the line between reality and insanity and dissolves the permanence between life and death. Realistic characters, unforeseen plot twists, and well-timed flashbacks make this show so addicting, I rearranged my work schedule to ensure that I would be able to watch the new episode every Wednesday night.

Although the plot seems supremely unrealistic, the bare bones of all the issues addressed are surprisingly normal to our society.

American Horror Story

Vivian has a miscarriage, Ben has an affair, Violet takes a razor to her arms, Vivian and Ben want to rekindle their sex life, Violet falls in love with a boy her father hates, their neighbor has a daughter with Down Syndrome: these are all examples of emotional and physical pain we associate with in our society.

On a broader scale, American Horror Story tackles issues such as school shootings, illegal abortions, institutionalization, high-profile murder cases such as the “Black Dahlia,” and rape.

It certainly says something about our culture, does it not? These topics are not astonishing to us. The school shooting triggers our mind to think of event such as Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings. Ben’s infidelity is nothing new to us. We don’t avert our eyes in embarrassment upon viewing passionate sexual scenes.

Our ambivalence while watching gruesome scenes and highly immoral acts is largely due in part to our television intake. American Horror Story is not the first, nor will it be the last, TV show addressing actual horrors in our society.

In one scene, Ben and Vivian have heated sex after dissecting the void between them since her miscarriage and his adultery. The glamorous depiction of friction in a relationship plants seeds in society’s mind as to what is normal.

         Thus, the more that something is portrayed as normal, the more seamlessly does it become the perceived norm.

Understanding this concept is the first step towards the appreciation of thorough media critiques. Television should be enjoyed as unadulterated entertainment, as long as it is understand that TV occupies another level: a text through which values and ideas are infiltrated into our society.

I look forward to having a better grasp of my absorption patterns through media. This class is shaping up to be an eye-opening experience, so follow along with me here and enjoy the insightful ride!