Blog Post 5: Malcolm in the Middle & All in the Family

While All in the Family depicts an older family mainly revolving around Archie Bunker and his introduction to controversial issues, Malcolm in the Middle portrays a family of chaos from the perspective of Malcolm and the affects that his and his brothers’ behavior has on his parents and society.  All in the Family shows depicts the desensitizing of controversial issues from the perspective of Archie who is unwilling to accept change; however, Malcolm in the Middle presents controversial issues from an advocate’s perspective through Malcolm.  The generation gap between the 1970s, the time period All in the Family is, to the 21^st century in which Malcolm in the Middle is a major reason for the differences in perspective and means of conflict, but the issues in which the two shows explore has remained relatively the same.  The 1970s had much less tolerance for rebellion, thus affecting the means by which new ideas and perspectives were presented while the 21^st century began to indulge in as more commonplace for civil disobedience and protest; however, the issues in question remained remotely similar. 

Both shows are set in a comedic genre that is relatively assertive on dealing with issues relevant to their times, and balance the between bringing up sensitive topics in both a comedic tone while at times still being able to shift gears to a declarative demeanor about a certain issue to prove a point or subtly open society’s eyes to something that would otherwise be left unaddressed.  The family setting of the two sitcoms is also somewhat irregular in that they do not necessarily portray a typical family dynamic: All in the Family having an older couple, one far set in his ways and one understanding of the new, along with an adult married daughter, and Malcolm in the Middle is a family of temperamental parents and four unruly brothers.  By both shows having such specific the audience is able to view the ambiguous ideas the families deal from a third party perspective while simultaneously identifying with the character that personifies their respective view on the issue. 

A major difference in the two shows is the scope to which issues are addressed.  All in the Family tackles many issues by addressing them in terms of the whole idea and from a relatively distant stance while Malcolm in the Middle typically has the issues thrust into the mix of their family chaos.  One has a more theoretical approach while the other deals more in a sense of practicality. 

While All in the Family dealt more with issues of generational shifts, Malcolm in the Middle addresses more issues about acceptance and cooperation.  The dramatic issues addressed from All in the Family had a stronger degree of focus on the morality of the respective issue, such as racism and homosexuality, while Malcolm in the Middle addressed more subtle issues, such as common high school problems of acceptance and fairness, in a less universal sense but rather a fast paced direct cause and effect fashion. 

Blog Post 4: Audience Demand

Audience demand, although subtle and relatively overlooked as a major component, was perhaps the strongest driving force in shaping the formation of the radio industry in the 1920s, and it is still a major force of its ever changing influence.  Although radio at the time was on the cutting edge of the media diffusion curve, it is still the preservation of the population’s partaking in the new media that ultimately dictates whether or not its incorporative longevity will sustain. 

The concept of audience demand is simple and obvious; it is what people want to see, hear or know about.  The media take this effect into consideration and base the production upon the response, because if the audience is not interested in the message being presented they will not watch; therefore, the media must internalize the demands of the audience into the message and not portray a message unrelated to those demands.  It is the targeting tool of the media that determines what will be presented to sustain an audience to ultimately make money, the reason the media appeals to an audience in the first place.  The audience decides the course of the media, not the other way around.

Media now provides a perfect example of this form of incorporation during the 1920s and after.  The integration of comic book heroes such as “Superman” and pulp-fiction westerns like “Riders of the Purple Sage” shows how common themes that interested audiences, previously via alternative media, were transmitted to the radio to conversely transfer the audience along with them.  The radio also began to branch away from just producing news and music to playing popular attractions such as “comedies, variety shows, soap operas, detective dramas, sports, suspense, and action adventures”.  With the presentation of a much larger spectrum of allures, the number of target audiences increases.  With this foundational groundwork, radio was able to capture an audience that would ultimately become the future audience of later technological advancements, such as television, that would have otherwise not indulged in such media; thus, the power of audience demand is to be regarded as one of the most influential aspects of the shaping of the radio industry as well as its future.

Blog Post 3: Catharsis

One of the most subtle tools of media is catharsis, an indirect means by which people may act out, indulge in, or fantasize about what underlying desires may be permeating about within their minds.  Whether or not this form of supplementary indulgence is a just practice within society is still a matter of debate; however, the effects are, especially within the youth of society, unquestionable.

Catharsis itself, the release of emotion toward an acceptable outlet, is an act that has been present for years since the time of Aristotle; however, it is the recent induction of violent and questionable media that has subjected the matter to intense deliberation.  With the release of Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games, children and teens, the most affected demographic, are living out simulated environments filled with crime, sex and violence.  There are claims that this kind of over exposer to simulated malicious material serves as a catalyst toward actual violent acts as described by this article on babble.com.

http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2010/09/15/72-percent-of-parents-support-banning-sale-of-violent-video-games-to-minors/?author=31

While some view the overexposure to violent video games as a direct means toward the increase of actual violent behavior, there are some who explain, as defined by this article from techliberation.com, how “exposure to violently-themed media helps to gradually assimilate us into the realities of the world around us”.

http://techliberation.com/2010/05/26/video-games-media-violence-the-cathartic-effect-hypothesis/

It is still a major debate as to whether or not catharsis is justified as a release of emotions or whether it is the first step of an eventual crime to play out similar to the one portrayed by the video games, but as the these two articles show it is something that is dramatically affecting the population one way or the other and is a greatly viable portion of the media not to be overlooked.

Blog Post 2: Hegemony

The concept that the consensus of the population is more powerful than any one individual is the way in which hegemony is able to function with great effect.  The market targeting body image in accordance to what society views as acceptable is an example of hegemony in one of its most effective genres.

The use of hegemony takes on many strategies to influence the public:  advertisements, movies, and even the consumers of a product adding to its standardization within the society.  Advertisements present ideas for the public to accept or deny and the ones that are accepted become standard, thus the market gains control of public opinion through its dedicated consumers.  Movie stars give a dramatic example of hegemony by acting as lightning rods for consumers to flock upon and imitate.  Once an idea has become standard those who have not yet conformed are subjected to mockery, discrimination and exile, although it may not seem as though in all cases the subtle hints are still nevertheless present.  Through these and other tactics, media use hegemony to control the population by subtly controlling the thoughts of the people within it, not merely through forced acceptance. 

Hegemony allows for a concept to be twisted and construed exemplifying the disproportionate positive aspects of a product while simultaneously masking the all so present detriments.  Throughout nearly every mall in America it is almost impossible to go even a single step without being bombarded with a salvo of overly fantasized images of both men and women boasting immaculate figures, most of which are retouched at that.  These figures are allocated to every marketing niche they can effectively be used in, and society eventually falls under the impression that this form of biological perfection is commonplace and that the average person is the minority.  By enforcing this monopoly of public image, the media are able to force the idea that image is the most important thing and by purchasing their product that image can be obtained.  What is not presented to the population is the fabrication of these deities and the detrimental effects such an image can have.  Most of the models used to advertise to the public starve themselves and are over zealously modified to produce such an image which hardly ever has an actual correlation to the product.

Examples of these uses of hegemony are seen in the following advertisement for perfume which couples the idea of a perfect commitment between two attractive individuals with a perfume product.  In this example the producers of this media are presenting the common high standard of a perfect body and relationship as an effect of using the perfume.  This is a classic example of hegemony that constantly affects the thoughts of the consumer.  While many people claim to be unaffected by advertisements, they will still have the standard presented to them and will still be subjugated by the public for not trying to meet that standard. 

http://adland.tv/files/promesselarge.jpg

The media also presents subtle images of the hegemonic standard through film  Movie actors and actresses seldom stray from the common image of perfect bodies and stunning features and constantly urge the public to follow their example.  Even in the newly investigated genre of animated films people, or human-like beings, are presented as having the standard muscular body for men and the slender silhouette for women as the images of the characters from James Cameron's Avatar exude.

http://lisapaitzspindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/neytiri_jake1.jpg

The first RTF post: why RTF 305? hmm..

Ever since I was a super tiny baby I have been fascinated with the creative magic of the cinematic realm.  My overly zealous appreciation spanned from the overdone fight scenes of mortal combat to the simple nuances of Saturday morning cartoons, or maybe I just watched too much TV.  Needless to say, I did enjoy my TV and have there since had an underlying desire to be a movie or film director, producer, writer or something smoldering in the back of my mind.  I am not an RTF major, but I wish to pursue this dormant passion of mine and not simply let it go to waste.  A switch of majors is most likely breaching upon the horizon for me, and I am using this class as the determining factor as to whether this is truly a serious passion or just a simple hobby.

I don't really do blogs or ream them but I have watched TMZ so I guess their blog at http://www.tmz.com/ is pretty cool.

:)