Globalization

     Globalization can be quickly and simply defined as growth to a global or worldwide scale. In involves the deep connections formed between nations, cultures, and people across the globe. Globalization increases world communication through various means that allow people who have perhaps never met or nations that are miles apart  to interact in an easy and timely way. Commercialization, digitalization and overall growth in all markets are just few ways that globalization occurs. Media plays a big role within this globalization as media content and technology is able to be shared and as people of the world can easily consume this media.
     Cultural imperialism involves an imbalance of global power in terms of direction and volume, meaning certain nations, cultures or people have more power within global realms than others. For example, a limited number of media conglomerates are the dominating forces within global media flow, and most of them originate in the United States. This creates an imbalance of power with the US much more heavily represented in the global market. US culture pervades other cultures and American media is more frequently shared and consumed. In this way, a non-American teen might be just as familiar with Friends or The Office as the average American. American TV shows, music and movies are easily accessible across the globe, diminishing the need and desire for large non-Western media sources by global citizens.

Old Spice Ad

     Recently, the series of Old Spice ads is one that everyone has noticed, making in particularly effective in the realm of promoting (and selling) the men's deodorant. The advertisements feature a buff, somewhat cocky man who encourages women to get their men smelling like real men (like himself) by buying them Old Spice body wash and other Old Spice products. The man's witty and fast-paced monologues are highly memorable and capture both the male and female audience: men who can buy the product for themselves and women who can buy the product for "their man."
     Undoubtedly, the Old Spice ads are using sex to sell their product. In this instance, the sexiness of the ad is toned down by the comedy, but the shirtless man is what catches the viewers' eyes first and foremost. Using sex to sell a product is a technique that has been used since the dawn of advertising and will be used until its end. Sexy men or women featured in ads are used to draw in buyers by showing them what they could have or what they could look like if they simply buy a certain product. The "sex sells" mantra is tried and true and won't likely be abandoned any time soon.
     As previously stated, the "sex" used in the Old Spice ad is a bit different from, say, a photo of a lingerie-clad girl lying sensually on a bed to sell perfume. This is due to the commercial's comedic tone. Many people will certainly be attracted to the shirtless man and wish their own man was more like him, but his overly masculine approach to things a man should say/do/wear are more humorous than alluring. In this way, the Old Spice ads have a satirical nature, parodying the innumerable other sexy ads on the market.

The Three Acts of Edward Scissorhands

     In Hollywood's classic 3-act structure, we see three distinct acts within a film, each with its own rising action and peaks. Edward Scissorhands is just one film that epitomizes this structure.
     The first of the acts is the introduction, a less-than-thirty minute section providing audiences with basic information about the characters, setting and plot. It essentially starts the story and sets the stage for the next two acts. In Edward Scissorhands, this first act is composed of Kim (seen as an old woman) setting up the story she is about to tell for her granddaughter, as well as the opening scenes of that story, aka Edward's story, in which Peg Boggs, Kim's mother, seemingly rescues him from his decrepit castle home and brings him to town with her. Kim's storytelling within the movie is forgotten until we see her old self again at the end of the film, but it provides context for the setting and her relationship with Edward. Peg's initial encounters with Edward give us insight into his shy, innocent, and detached nature. Also in the first act, we see Peg's neighbors getting nosy about the Boggs' new visitor. The action peaks when the housewives of the neighborhood barge in on Peg and insist that she hold a barbeque to introduce Edward to the world. The barbeque is held and almost everyone falls in love with Edward.
     In the second act, the complication, we do in fact see Edward's time in the neighborhood becoming increasingly complicated. This act runs about 30-60 minutes long (in this case, it is on the longer end) and introduces the plots conflicts. All seems to be going well for Edward as he is now admired for his hedge trimming, as well as his artistry cutting both dogs' and women's hair. He has plans to open his own salon and has become quite the local celebrity. However, not everyone is an accepting fan of Edward. A superstitious neighbor, Esmerelda, pegs him as a product of the devil, and, more importantly, Kim's boyfriend Jim constantly throws insults Edward's way and becomes increasingly jealous of Edward's obvious affection for Kim. Kim resists this affection initially, as well, but she opens up to Edward over the course of their time spent together. Jim remains firm, however, and it is clear that he is out to get Edward. In an effort to steal from his own father at the peak of this act, Jim uses Edward and his unique hands to pick the locks of his own house. During the process, the alarm sets off, Jim and the other teens escape, but Edward is left trapped in the house, unable to open any doors. He is subsequently arrested and the neighborhood begins to turn on him, seeing him as twisted and unstable, seemingly confirming Esmerelda's beliefs.
     Finally, the third act, the resolution, wraps up the film. It is less than 30 minutes long and contains the film's climax, an intense fight to the death for some of the characters. While Edward is carving a beautiful ice sculpture during the Boggs' Christmas preparations, Kim comes outside to dance below in the "snow" he has created. It is a peaceful moment until Jim approaches, causing Edward to turn and accidentally cut Kim's hand. Jim is naturally enraged and causes Edward to leave in a fit of frustration, storming through the neighborhood. During this time, he also accidentally cuts Kim's younger brother's face while trying to shove him out of the way of a drunk driver. The whole neighborhood turns on him at this point, with only the Boggses still on his side, and everyone wants to find him. When the police come, Edward flees back to his old mansion home where Kim follows. Jim comes shortly after and attacks Edward who refuses to retaliate until Jim turns on Kim. At this point, a brutal fight, the climax of the film and this act, ensues in which Edward eventually stabs Jim and forces him out of a high window to his death. In an effort to protect Edward, Kim claims to the neighbors that the boys killed each other in the fight and shows them an old scissorhand she finds in the mansion as proof. The story then wraps up with Kim as an old woman telling her granddaughter she believes him to still be alive because it still snows in the neighborhood below the mansion. Following the plot of Edward Scissorhands through its various peaks and valleys shows that it perfectly represents the class 3-act structure of Hollywood film.

The Sitcom Story

     The TV sitcom is episodic, as discussed by Colin Tait in his guest lectures. This means that throughout the course of a sitcom's run on TV, it will tell story upon story; these stories are fairly standalone and require no extensive background knowledge of the characters or overreaching sitcom plot. Each episode has its own individual narrative structure with all the basic qualities of a plot, easily broken down into a beginning, a middle, and an end. On occasion, there may be large relationships or character situations that will change and develop over the course of a season or a series' run, but individual plots are placed into easily-understandable 30-minute episodes. These episodes neatly wrap up at their ends and leave viewers satisfied. The largest cases of actual cliffhangers or unanswered questions occur within rare "To Be Continued..." episodes or the occasional open-ended series finale. With this set up, viewers are able to watch sitcoms at their own discretion. It frees them from intensive commitment, not forcing them to watch every week to understand the plot, and they are able to pick up at any time in a sort of mindless state, without having to remember what has previously happened. Viewers will easily understand the episode's individual plot with its beginning, middle and end. This set up also makes sitcoms re-watchable and allows for reruns to populate the airwaves.

     A classic example of the sitcom genre is Seinfeld, the ever-famous "show about nothing." In the show, each episode takes on a new, seemingly menial topic and infuses it with observational humor that everyone can relate to. Because each episode tackles something new, each episode is standalone and wrapped up within that 30-minute time frame. The show focuses around four main characters (Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer) whose interactions comprise the plot of each episode. An episode might introduce a guest star or a character who plays an integral part in the episode itself, but that new character will likely only be seen one time. Occasional relationships between characters may spring up, but viewers are unlikely to be thrown by their appearance in an episode. For example, George is engaged for a while during the series, but his fiancee can either be disregarded until she is needed for a George-centric plot line, or else her presence in the non-central lines of the episode will be quickly understood, without need for explanation or background info. Each Seinfeld episode also follows the basic "beginning, middle, end" plot structure. For example, in the infamous episode titled "The Contest," viewers watch the main characters compete in a battle of will to see who can go the longest without masturbating. In the beginning, George is caught masturbating by his mother; this then sparks the idea for (and start of) the contest when he tells the tale to the others at their signature diner the next day. Throughout the "middle" of the episode, we see each character's trials and tribulations in their quest to stave off. Kramer is the first to go, with the others quickly beginning to fail and follow in his footsteps when tempted by various means. You also have the characters on a quest to find dates since they can't get what they want by themselves under the rules of the contest. As the episode wraps up in the end, we see a complicated web of everyone's dates (or attempted dates), including how some of them react to the knowledge of the contest. At long last, it is implied that there was no true winner as they all give up at once after trying for so long. Seinfeld is the perfect sitcom to watch for some laughs and 30 minutes of entertainment - it doesn't matter where you pick up or leave off, each episode will give you everything you need in a neatly wrapped package.

Camera Shots

     Because I've been in a Halloween mood lately, I decided to look at the shots in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Although it may not be at the pinnacle of Oscar-winning cinema, it still holds all the basic examples of camera angles and shot progression, as discussed by Professor Ramirez-Berg. The examples I found all occur within one scene, but do not follow the in rapid succession with the long shot, medium shot, close up ordering. However, their purposes are clear regardless.

     As Brad and Janet arrive at the castle and come into contact with two of the Transylvanians, Riff Raff and Magenta, director Jim Sharman gives us a perfect example of a medium shot. It gives us a quick synopsis of the characters in the scene and their relationship to one another. Based on their closeness in the middle of the shot, as well as their style of dress, we know Brad and Janet are one of two alike couples. Riff Raff and Magenta exist as the other couple with their dark clothes and presence in the outside of the shot, circling Brad and Janet. No one is likely to confuse the relationships of these characters, even if their knowledge was based solely on this scene.

     Next we are given a close up as Brad and Janet enter the ballroom and become even more aware of who and what is waiting for them in this strange castle. In this shot, their emotions become quite clear. Viewers may have seen their nervousness in their movements in previous scenes, but with a closer view of their faces, their fear becomes even more apparent. There is no mistaking the stunned looks of terror and worry on their faces. 

     Finally, we are given a long shot from the opposite end of the ballroom into which Brad and Janet have entered. In this shot, the couple is barely visible past all of the Unconventional Conventionalist partygoers. This shot perfectly demonstrates how a long shot can show just how alone characters are in a scene. Brad and Janet might not be alone in the conventional sense of there being no one else in the room, but they are very much alone in that they are utterly out of place and unrelated to the other characters. Even as far away as they are within the shot, their dress and stature make them easy to pick out of the crowd.  This series of shots gives us insight into our characters and quickly shows us that Brad and Janet are in for some trouble on this stormy night.

Star-Studded Studios

     Old Hollywood studios operated in a much different way from those of today, one important difference being that stars were tightly attached to a certain studio. Major star vehicles were often the selling point for movies, so studios contracted as many big stars that they could (one example being MGM's advertisement of having "all the stars in heaven"), creating a "Dream Factory" that could churn out more movies in a shorter amount of time than any of today's studio could imagine, much like the concurrent development of car companies, namely Ford, to use a quick assembly line process to rapidly produce cars.
    Such a system of stars being deeply connected to a certain studio greatly affected the movies studios would produce. Stars often had a special talent or a genre they were best at acting in, so studios would cater to their talents and produce films accordingly. For example, someone like John Wayne who was generally associated with the Western genre would cause his studio to increase their production of Westerns. Similarly, those stars who could tap dance would find themselves in dancing scenes regardless of the movie and signing stars would be the main vehicles for studios' musicals.
    Studios also relied on intra-studio promotion. A great example of this lies in a scene in which a young Judy Garland, an MGM star in an MGM film, sings a love song to Clark Gable, another MGM star. In ways like this, studios kept their stars within a tight-knit family and promoted their stars and films in subtle ways.

Archie Meets Raymond

     Upon its inception in the 1970s, "All in the Family" quickly became one of the most influential family-based sitcoms in America. Unlike those before it, "All in the Family" boldly tackled controversial issues such as racism, women's rights and homosexuality while keeping a comedic and likeable tone. One of many sitcoms for which "All in the Family" helped paved the way is "Everybody Loves Raymond." While Ray & Co. may have left the airwaves several years ago, I have chosen "Everybody Loves Raymond" as a show that I watched heavily with my own family during its years on the air.
     Both shows center around a "man's man" patriarch and his interactions with the rest of his family, as well as with a few buddies here and there. In both sitcoms, Archie and Raymond tend to be the character at fault within a given episode, be it based on a malformed opinion or bumbling actions. While "All in the Family" was willing to take its fatherly satire to more extremes than "Everybody Loves Raymond," both shows tackle issues of family and social matters. In the episode of "All in the Family" that we viewed, you see Archie displaying intense homophobia, whereas you might find Raymond being chauvinistic and criticizing his wifes stereotypical behaviors of taking too long to get ready or not allowing him enough time to play or watch his favorite sports. Both shows are satires in which we eventually see that the main man is in the wrong and his family members are the ones who have it right.
     However, while "All in the Family" was one of  the first in its class to truly take bold steps to heavily satire controversial issues, "Raymond" takes a step back and never goes as far in Ray's one-mindedness or in his use of possibly offensive terms or jokes. Ray is a lighter character than Archie; by episode's end, he tends to concede to his wrongdoing and take what is actually his less powerful position in the family structure. The shows are also different in how the wives are portrayed. Both are housewives, but Debra (Ray's wife) is a much more powerful feminine figure than Edith (Archie's wife) who is lampooned as a complete airhead. Also, in "Everybody Loves Raymond," you actually see Ray's father, Frank as a crasser figure, displaying some of the older prejudices and stereotypes of an earlier generation, one more in tune with Archie Bunker's time.
     While both "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "All in the Family" are satirical family sitcoms, "Family" took controversial issues than any show before it, and likely farther than any show to come. Networks today tend toward political correctness, knowing that even in issues of satire in which opinions stated in the show are meant to be viewed as wrong rather than right, people would more likely be offended than amused. "All in the Family" took nearly every social issue of its time by the horns, using Archie Bunker as a vessel to spread what can be seen as hate on the show, but what is actually a step toward acceptance in the real world. Shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond" don't go to these extremes, but family sitcoms and satires will remain a major form of television media for years to come.

Radio Control

     In the 1920s, the advertising industry merged with that of radio, forming a powerful bond that remains intact today, forever affecting what we hear and the choices we make when it comes to radio media.
     Advertising is an incredibly strong industry that has grown from the 18th century to the modern day as a seemingly natural part of our media-consuming experience. Its force has long influenced all parts of American society, forming a large part of our culture. In today's world, ventures can hardly last without an inclusion of advertising; for example, new websites can only last so long as homegrown, unaffected entities before they have sidebars of ads to fuel the economy and media consumption of all forms. This was no exception in the 1920s as radio was booming and becoming a weighty force in American society. Ads soon seamlessly entered the world of radio, altering it and making it what it is today.
     Advertising's marriage to radio began in 1922 with AT&T's station WEAF. As AT&T began charging content providers a fee for the use of its stations, advertising in radio began to evolve. These fees turned into manufacturer sponsorship to advertise their goods, which then turned into the now commonplace concept of advertisers paying the station to play their ads. Ads alone may have changed radio, but the advertising industry altered radio even farther as paying advertisers began nudging radio stations to better suit their own interests. Advertising agencies knew they needed a commercial audience to fully cover the range of customers they wished to reel in, so radio stations began focusing more on entertainment radio, rather than on news or education, areas that only draw in limited audiences. So, as radio itself became more widespread and more influential, so did the advertising industry affixed at its side. The two remain tightly joined today, ever changing our culture and society.

Why do you tweet?

     The uses and gratifications theory states that audiences actively choose to consume media that suits their specific needs. Media can meet needs in all aspects of life, from the acquisition of new knowledge, to social interaction, to simple enjoyment and diversion. Various factors play a role in determining what media an audience consumes and what needs an audience is meeting when doing so. One important factor is time, a variable that can greatly affect media consumption as new media is developed and as the audience's life situation changes. Depending on when and what is needed, media is sought out in different and constantly fluctuating ways.

(twitter.com)

     Twitter, a micro-blogging site used heavily by both everyday citizens and public figures, perfectly demonstrates the uses and gratifications theory of media exposure. Like any form of media, Twitter started small, but it took the world by storm and became a viable way for people to satisfy their media needs. On the outset, Twitter is clearly a means of social exchange between friends, providing an easy way to exchange brief thoughts and replies. However, people can also access Twitter to satisfy their needs for information and pure entertainment. Nearly every major news source is now linked to Twitter, giving users a one stop shop for all the headlines (and links to longer articles) they could ask for. In the entertainment spectrum, there is no doubt that celebrities provide a daily dose of diversion for countless Twitter users. Whether they are promoting their latest movie or simply being themselves,  for all the world to see, celebrities on Twitter can certainly give less prominent users a break from their day. Some may use Twitter to satisfy all of these needs in one blow, while others may keep to Twitter to satisfy one need and seek out different outlets to satisfy others. It's up to the individual person to decide how to use it, but Twitter is certainly a place to obtain media of many forms in day to day life.

Hegemonic Power

By providing examples of how commonplace female objectification is in the media, “Killing Us Softly 3” perfectly demonstrates the concept of hegemony. Advertisements featuring women in various states of undress or weakness hardly seem shocking in today’s society simply because they are so routine.

(photo credit: shapingyouth.org)

Hegemony exists when a certain ideology becomes the unquestioned norm in society. When a group of people willingly accepts a set of dominant beliefs and customs, a hegemonic culture is created. Often, people do not realize this process is occurring, simply because the dominant views are so deeply interwoven into the core of society. Alternate views are then seen as “unnatural” or “wrong” simply because they differ from the overwhelming majority.  Through hegemony, an idea or belief can sweep across a nation with hardly any resistance. This process has been a main source of racism, sexism, and oppression of the weak throughout history.

Although hegemony can be achieved through violent or otherwise forceful means, it tends to be a passive process that most people might not even notice.  This is certainly the case with the assortment of ads shown in “Killing Us Softly 3.” Because we see advertisements that are often particularly sexist toward women on a daily basis, they hardly seem out of the ordinary. When viewed individually and when dissected via commentary, such as that of Jean Kilbourne in “Killing Us Softly 3,” the negative nature of the ads is exposed, but on a day-to-day basis, no one takes a second look and peers into the deeper message. Simply thumbing through a modern day magazine teaches our society that women are solely weak objects of a man’s desire. Not only does this promote the subjugation of women, it shows young, impressionable girls how they “need” to dress and act in order to fit into the norms of society. Once again, this is a hegemonic process that may be unnoticeable at first glance, but that is in fact quite a powerful force in American society.

"Why RTF 305?" you ask.

I am taking RTF 305 this semester purely because I find joy in the world of media. I have already taken a course to fulfill my visual and performing arts requirement, so, as an Anthropology major, this course has no direct effect on my degree. However, I've long been intrigued by the Radio, Television and  Film department and hope this course can show me if RTF is an area I want to sink my teeth into even more as the years go on, perhaps even adding it as a double major, or at least taking a few more classes down the road. I can't wait to learn how the various aspects of media have developed over the years and to see everything the media world envelops.

One of my favorite blogs is On No They Didn't!. It's got all the latest gossip on upcoming movies, music and other media, plus enough celebrity foolishness to get me through the day. I must also say that I'm a glutton for any of the blogs in the I Can Has Cheezburger cannon. After all, who can't relate to this tired cat come finals week?

(photo credit: icanhascheezburger.com)