We Love Media Criticism

I learned...

2009-12-15T16:29:00.002-05:00

-that I need to wake up earlier for class.

No but seriously, as everyone else said, I learned a lot from this class. Semiotics was hard and not terribly enjoyable, but after running away from it since high school media studies, its nice to feel as though I have some sort of a grasp on it now.

I learned a lot about how to analyze texts to see the underlying ideologies, and postmodernism. Oh my goodness, after writing my final paper on it if I never hear that word again it'll be waaay too soon.

And Dominika's reminder that Alice told us our friends wont be able to stand our constant critiques of media: so true. My roommate and I both took Media Crit this semester and now nobody will watch TV with us.

What I learned...

2009-12-15T03:37:00.002-05:00

What I learned for this class...

I learned that now I am incapable of watching a television show without seeing it through a gender lens, especially that of a feminist one. This is especially difficult when I am watching like a tv series from Hong Kong, where it is OBVIOUS that it was a MAN who wrote the script... Further, after learning that women are under represented, both back stage and in the spotlight, of the entertainment industry, it really cleared up a lot of things.

Walking down the street, I feel like New Yorkers peg me as a tourist because I am always looking around, at both architecture and the advertisements on the streets. I can't help but analyze them through with semiotics.

I also learned brand new things that I was never aware of, such as the Slasher girls and queer reading. Seriously, everything has a queer reading now that I now what it is.

Oh, learning about postmodernism is the best because I totally told someone that they misunderstood the meaning of it. HA. What's the point of learning something in class when you can't use it to throw it in someone's face?

What I Learned In This Class

2009-12-15T02:37:00.004-05:00

I learned a lot of things from this class. Because the majority of the articles that we read tended to focus on familiar television shows and films, I was able to learn more about what these media texts were really saying. I was especially fascinated by the articles that focused on HBO, Disney films, American Idol, and The OC.

I also learned a lot of terminology that I feel will really help me with future media studies classes. It was good to get some clarity on terms regarding semiotic analysis, and I also appreciated learning more about postmodernism, which before was a term that didn't really mean too much to me.

Overall, I appreciated developing a 'critical eye' when it comes to media texts. I remember that at the beginning of the semester we were asked to describe what things in the media bothered us, and I was unable to come up with anything. Now, I can come up with lots of examples...

Lessons Learned

2009-12-15T02:05:00.003-05:00

I have to say that although Intro. to Media Crit. was a bit of a struggle for me, I honestly learned the most from it than any of my other classes.

It gave me insight on just how complex different media are. I loved learning about semiotics and the different ways to analyze images. Although it might have seemed over-interpretative at times, I realized that one can never overlook seemingly unimportant details in any form of advertisement. Every element has a purpose that collectively adds up to form the general meaning of a text.

I feel more knowledgeable about the different methods in looking at media. I enjoy the different readings about races, and I find myself looking for those familiar stereotypes whenever I watch a movie or a show. I find myself viewing music videos differently as well. For example, the upward angle in the opening shot of Miley Cyrus' video for her song "Party in the USA" creates a sexualized image of her because it emphasizes her legs, hahaha. Another example: I was watching "The Office" and the character of Oscar defies the typical, gay stereotype and that Michael Scott, the head of the company, is the biggest buffoon.

Race and gender stereotypes also made me realize just how oppressed certain ethnic groups really are. The Asian texts that we read were really interesting and made me realize just how offensive some of the portrayals are. Mr. Yunioshi, I will never forget you now.

Also, because of this class, I have come to the conclusion that stereotypes will never be eliminated. I have learned that humans instinctively classify others through different lenses, whether it be class, race or gender. We go by stereotypes because they are so reinforced in society, and although most are negative, we use them because they provide us with an easier and more generalized way to view the world's complexities.

What I Have Learned

2009-12-15T01:59:00.003-05:00

After taking this course, walking down the streets of New York City will never be the same. I find myself wanting to engage in a discussion with my friends about what connotations can be made about Eva Mendes seductively grabbing onto Jamie Dornan in the new Calvin Klein ad or if the rockin' six-pack bods featured in the Abercrombie and Hollister billboards are "queer." While Intro to Media Studies laid down a solid foundation of the basics of media criticism, this class has equipped me with a more analytical and scholarly perspective. The strong influence that media has on society and culture is astounding and no longer will I ever take its power for granted.

Learned A LOT

2009-12-15T00:34:00.002-05:00

This semester I not only learned the fundamentals of semiotic analysis, representation and all tools related to media criticism, but I learned them in a fun and stimulating way. I felt like the real representations and the relatable readings really added to the effect of this class.

As a reflection, I think the most important thing that I got out of this class is that there is always something more that you can discover about something. We can always read further into things and create meanings that we once overlooked. The process is never-ending and it is almost maddening, but it forces us to look beyond the superficial and stretch our minds.

Overall, learned a lot!

2009-12-14T22:51:00.004-05:00

What have I learned this semester? Well, obviously not time management, as I'm writing this post on a break from my final paper.

In more sincerity, specific terms and concepts aside, I've learned that almost anything is applicable for analysis, and the tools and training exist to perform them in coherent, verbose, academic formats.

In studying scenes for my final paper, I'm amazed at how many details emerge upon repeat viewings. That said, I wonder how many of them are due to intentional planning, and how much is apparent because of my desire to find something new, as a justification for watching the same thing for the eighth time.

some last words....

2009-12-14T22:28:00.002-05:00

seriously.. cannot believe that the semester is OVER?! I still think we just started it... maaan, time flies way too fast.
It was definitely an interesting semester. I have to say that not only have I reviewed a lot of material from my earlier communications classes, but I also learned new things as well. I think that I absolutely agree with the statement that Alice made the first day of class: "By the end of the semester, your fiends will not be able to stand you constantly critiquing the media that you're exposed to together." AMEN to that. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical at the beginning, and didn't really believe that this would happen, but it most certainly did. I repeateadly find myself looking at media from ways that I never thought I would. I mean Disney?! I loved it always, and it was my childhood. But now... I don't think I can look at it the same way:( And not only Disney for that matter.. any childhood memory... you guys, Smurfs?! Never really thought of it until I took this class, but Smurfette was the only chick in that village... any inappropriate images coming to your minds?! I mean.... media crit has definitely taught me to look at the surrounding media in a more critical way. Yeas, of course I knew it before, and that everything shouldn't be taken for granted. But i think it is with this class that I actually fully got it, and maan.... my viewing abilities are screwed forever;) I don't think I will ever again be able to just enjoy something without actually looking at it from the critical point of view.
But at the same time.... Thanks for that, Alice. I believe that you gave me something that will make my life experiences that much more interesting and true. Although I might start over-analyze certain things, I definitely know now that there are oh so many ways to read things as. I truly appreciate your teaching abilities to not only engage us in the subject by giving us fun and interesting assignments that are easy to relate to our everyday reality, but also teach us a new view of the world.... a more critical and careful approach to the constantly changing and growing world of media. For that, I truly Thank You.

Dominika<3

What I've Learned...

2009-12-14T21:16:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the semester is over..it went by way too fast! But yayy for christmas :) Media Crit is truly one of my favorite classes from my college experience. I feel like I really have a solid understanding of how to critique media and also enjoy it in so many more ways. I really enjoyed all of the topics that we covered throughout the class. But moreover, I really liked how we incorporated mainstream media into our studies. The fact that I could tell my friends I was writing a paper on a tv show character was pretty sweet. I think what i'll take away most is that you really do use all of our critiquing skills, if you will, in our everyday lives and whether it be in the media or opening my eyes to new perspectives and ways of looking at things in my job experience, I really feel prepared and well equipped to move forward. It's been a really great class and I can't wait for break ahhhhhh

What I've learned

2009-12-14T20:44:00.002-05:00

I learned some of the basic ideas from Ted Magder's Intro to Media Studies, but the concepts were developed further in this Media Criticism class. Perhaps that's an obvious statement, but I definitely learned more concepts from all the readings and discussions in this class especially when I applied them to our paper assignments--which may not have reflected too accurately, but I assure you, it's true. Now I look, listen, and read everything critically. Disney is not so innocent anymore, racism isn't dead, vids aren't always just random fan mash-ups, and suddenly I'm "queer-reading." And to think, it all began when we analyzed the 3DDREAMGIRL ad...

What I've Learned in Media Crit

2009-12-14T18:05:00.003-05:00

I know I have learned a lot in this media class because I can't watch a television show, movie, commercial, music video, anything without analyzing the underlying themes, representations, or meanings. Although the terms were confusing and overlapping at times, I felt that they helped me distinguish between the different aspects in media criticism. I especially liked learning about queer theory, and realized that it is a central part of much our mainstream culture. Now I can find any hint of queerness in so many texts that I would have never noticed otherwise. I also really liked how we used examples from current media texts to examine the topics we would discuss such as the picture of Mark Wahlberg in a suggestive underwear advertisement. Without reading the Doty and Jagose I never would have noticed the ad's queerness.

The biggest thing I learned in this class is how great of an influence the media is on our society. Media substantially fosters the creation of ideologies, especially stereotypes. Studying stereotypes also allowed me to see how different groups are marginalized, especially minority groups and women. I can now recognize different racial stereotypes and the repeated patterns media uses to portray them. Even the amount of gender stereotypes in the media surprised me, I had never realized how many depictions of female characters were stereotyped, and as a result, has deep effects as it creates our society's ideological perspective.

What I've learned this semester

2009-12-14T15:05:00.000-05:00

I definitely feel that I have come away from this class learning a lot; I have definitely gained a much greater understanding on how to analyze and critique various forms of media, whether it may be advertisements, a television show or a movie. I’ve learned about the how texts can be analyzed through various perspectives, such as class, gender, ideological or semiotic lenses. I’ve also learned about the different ways characters are presented in film due to their race, gender, and class; oftentimes “the other” is reduced to stereotypes or shown as being submissive through binary codes and other ideological representations. In fact, I’ve learned a lot about the use of stereotypes throughout the history of media and how they are still extremely prominent in movies/television nowadays, revealing that society has not made that much progress in defying stereotypes or including a more accurate racial representation in the media.

I’ve also learned about hegemony, which is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others. This directly affects the types of media that are created and shown to the public and can be used to explain why subaltern texts so rarely make it into mainstream media. Furthermore, I learned about the prominent role which ideology has in reinforcing myths in society and affecting the way one’s perception on reality. After taking this class I now also know the important role which narrative and genre play in the structuring of films. Various narrative techniques, such as light, costuming, casting, sound, music, color and composition, are used to elicit different emotions and responses in viewers and genre is an important mode used to attract viewers.

What I learned...

2009-12-14T14:17:00.003-05:00

I do feel like I've taken a lot away from this class. Most specifically how to write better papers. My thesis statements are much more detailed and scholarly, and I feel that I have had a lot of opportunities to practice writing techniques and learning how to incorporate our readings with fun things like television show characters and advertisements. I appreciate all the one-on-one help and I know I will be able to take what I've learned as far as getting feedback on papers so that I can excel in other media classes.

I also feel that I am a better critic of media in general because we have looked at media through numerous lenses- the obvious ones such as race, class, and gender, but also the not as obvious ones such as postmodernism and psychoanalysis. This proves that there is no one correct way to critique media but rather that it is important to back up your points with proper sources so that really, you could argue anything and still be making good points.

I've also tried to learn time management because our lengthy assignments, such as the final group paper and presentation, have really forced us to work ahead and stay focused because it's very stressful trying to get everything done, and getting it done well.

Evaluation

2009-12-10T16:54:00.003-05:00

Oh no! I just realized that there was an error and my blog post never went through. Let's try this again. Sorry..

Things I liked:

- Alice, you rock. You always had an eloquent, well thought out answer to all of our comments and questions and never made it seem like you were talking down at us. You were able to create an environment that wasn't intimidating but that was still conducive to scholarly learning.

- I loved the Blog; great idea. Having a space where we could interact outside a classroom setting was awesome and allowed us to form a sort of scholarly community.

- The use of present day examples in media

- Discussion based

Things I didn't like so much:

- 2 blog posts per week could have been dropped down to just 1 per week.

- Classroom set up. I didn't like that we were sitting in rows and couldn't see each other.

- I would have liked to spend more time on post-modernism and vids

- Wish we had more time for final

Looking Back Looking Forward

2009-12-10T04:05:00.000-05:00

It’s after four, so this might be a little short. But hopefully (if I wake up tomorrow) I’ll expand on this. Despite my reservations about the class in the beginning of the semester I have come to learn a great deal about a subject I would otherwise have only anecdotal knowledge of. What has been so interesting is the classification of principles and practices I only knew intuitively. This process has been equally enlightening and disheartening as, one of hand, I can articulate myself with greater ease and, on the other, my insight into media and culture has proven to be unimaginative and highly predictable.

But for something the class could use? I do wish we had spent a little more time on the book. There were several chapters we did not go over in depth that I would have liked to. And, not too come off as lazy (thought I often am) I did find the readings at time to be a bit lengthy and cumbersome (in addition to the weekly blogpost)..I often found myself skimming through readings (and missing important points.) Perhaps a fewer number or more condensed readings would have better. That having been said I think the weekly blogpost was an excellent component of the class and did a phenomenal job of keeping me engaged and on track.

One of My Favorites

2009-12-09T23:56:00.001-05:00

This class this semester was truthfully one of my favorites. The way the class was designed with discussion-based learning was really beneficial and efficient. I felt that this kind of environment was very stimulating and challenged me to think outside of the box.

I really enjoyed that instead of following power point presentations each class, we used visual texts that embodied the materials that we read for class and were talking about that day. I thought that this was an innovative and interesting approach to teaching that kept us entertained as well as engaged.

The readings, although some were lengthy and boring, were for the most part interesting and were very relevant to our discussion. They covered interesting topics and many of them included examples in the media that I had either seen or head about.

The papers and assignments were challenging, but I never felt like they asked too much of us. We were given an appropriate amount of time to accomplish each and you made yourself very available to answer our questions and guide us in the process.

I know this sounds like a cop-out and lazy answer, but I don’t think that anything really needs to be changed about this class. You did a great job presenting the information in an informative manner while making the classroom fun. I never minded coming to this class even though it was at 9:30!!

wrap-up

2009-12-09T23:40:00.002-05:00

I definitely enjoyed this class. I have to say that it was one of my favorite classes this semester, and definitely one of the favorite classes that i took while at NYU.

some things that I liked:
-i really enjoyed the atmosphere that was in the class. it wasn't super formal and official, yet it wasn't completely laid back either. perfect balance!
-Alice Marwick, as a professor: funny, honest, helpful, and eager to make the class as fun as possible
-PowerPoints: not too much of them, just as the background resource for the lecture
-lectures: they weren't simply read from the paper; it was a conversation between the Professor and the students.
-the way that the class was constantly related to the everyday, known media pieces
-the blog: muuuuch better and more effective than blackboard posts, or writing responses on paper
-the documentaries: super interesting, and they taught as many important facts as the lectures; they gave a historical context to the class

some negatives:
-a lot of repetition of things that we already know: gender, race, class
-some of the readings weren't interesting, and many of them (especially for Thursday) were too long
-not enough time for the bog posts between Tuesday and Thursday
-not enough time to write the last two papers
-assignments were due the same time that other classes (although this cannot be altered I think)
-certain topics, such as race and gender, were given too much time, while others such as postmodernism and psychoanalysis were not

Overall, I think that my memories and experiences of this class would be very pleasant. I had a great time this semester, met some cool and interesting people, and was lucky enough to pick Alice as the Professor: she made the class that much more enjoyable. Thanks!

It's already December?!?

2009-12-09T23:04:00.005-05:00

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed myself in this class, and learned a whole lot too. And this is most likely an echo, but the class blog was a great idea for a number of reasons. Unlike Blackboard, it's not difficult to work with and it doesn't go down when you need it the most. So I really appreciated that. I also enjoyed reading everyone else's blogs. After awhile, I could start reading someone's blog, and based on their style of writing, I would know who authored it - is that creepy?

Anyways, I think having two blogs a week and requiring people to write two comments a week is a good idea - another class of mine this semester used Blogger, but it was a weekly thing, and no one really interacted, so it was a bit boring. This class blog is also a good tool for an introverted person like myself who doesn't really talk a lot in class. Through the blog, I was able to say what I had to say without actually saying it. :)

And speaking of class discussion, I thought Alice did a great job of mediating it and making sure it stayed on track. A lot of classes I've been in have often strayed off topic and tend to go in circles, but I felt that discussion in this class never did that.

As far as assignments go, I thought the paper topics given and the grades we received were fair. However, I think more time to work on the final project would be more beneficial - this time of year gets pretty crazy for everyone. And as much as I love talking about black people vs. white people in the media, I think that more emphasis could be placed elsewhere - for example, I was really interested in the postmodernism unit that we just finished. Doing more with that would be cool.

Oh, and the documentaries! I enjoyed all the documentaries we watched, because they were the most able to compare different media texts - so maybe if there are more like those that relate to the topics of discussion and are available online, it could serve as an assignment for future students to blog about?

List Form!

2009-12-09T22:10:00.002-05:00

Good things:

-engaging discussions

-use of both text book definitions and modern examples to teach concepts

-the blog instead of blackboard

-alice's availability outside of class for questions and help

-relaxed atmosphere of class that let people be comfortable voicing their opinions

-really interesting articles for the most part (I think the only one I didn't like was the Sex and the City and Consumerism one)

- the way the class was conducted and the interesting and the relatable issues we addressed made the class highly HIGHLY enjoyable and was probably my favorite class of the semester.

Not so good:

-how the articles we had to read for Thursday classes always ended up being the long ones.

-9:30 am start time (but thanks for excusing my perpetual lateness!)

-small amount of time to write the thursday blog posts

-we spent a lot of time on some topics (race, representation) and very little on others (postmodernism)

-amount of time given for final paper/presentation (my stress levels are bananas right now)

All in all it was a great class and I would 100% take another class with Alice as the prof!

I'm Sad that this Class is Drawing to an End

2009-12-09T21:41:00.001-05:00

Not to be a kiss ass (excuse my language), but this class ties with History of Architecture for my favorite class this semester. Of my three years at NYU, I have never had a class this early in the day and I am still amazed at myself for not missing a single class.

What I think contributed to this class being AMAZING is that Professor Marwick is pretty kick ass (again, excuse my language). I have never had any professor who knew about pop culture and mass media as extensively as Alice. This made the class extremely relatable. Further, it made me excited to go to class, knowing that I will be able to contribute to class discussions.

I really like our discussion driven class. I like that I learned new things from my classmates, like the art scene from Dylan or the music scene from Jonathan and Caroline just posts really cool things. Everyone in class is really pretty cool. I also like the presentations that Alice has prepared for us because it really drove the discussions home with the technical aspects and methods of media analysis. This class really opened my eyes about the relevance of pop culture and mass media on an academic level. It made me think about popular phenomenon in a different way; that there might be social relevance as to why Gossip Girl is so popular, etc. I have never thought of myself as a scholar, but this class sparked my interest about pursuing graduate level in this field.

I am not sure if I like the blog or not. On one hand, it is infinitely better than boring and technically problematic blackboard where you cannot attach relevant media. On the other hand, I sometimes found it difficult to post a blog on some of the readings and almost felt the pressure to have to post some sort of media to back up my entry because everyone else was doing it. Further, I have always found posting for the Thursday reading very difficult. I guess a big part of it is my poor time management. And I think the whole 2 comments a week thing is a bit forced. I think good comments are generated from actual readers’ interest, not from requirements.

I absolutely hated reading Chandler’s Semiotics for Beginners. I definitely think that Sturken & Cartwright explained semiotics infinitely better. I also felt most of the readings constructed themselves too much against the identity of black or white. Like with class, it was the class differences with the whites and with masculinity, it was really white masculinity. I don’t like bell hooks. Nothing personal, just scarred from reading her writings in Writing the Essay classes in freshman year.

I really like all the assignments so far. I mean, who can really complain about writing about their favorite television show? However, I find this last assignment problematic. It is worth more than the previous two essays, but we don’t get to pick what we want to write about. I think presentations would be a lot more interesting if people got to pick which movies they want and then collaborate. I also find a problem with the films that are subtitled because it is hard to write about their cultural context since we have limited understanding.

Regardless, the awesomeness of this class clearly outweighs the minor problems. Further, the problems are mostly preference problems and have nothing to do with the success of this class. I would just like to end this feedback with the fact that over this semester, I have proven that you can explain every aspect of media criticism with Mean Girls. Mean Girls can definitely serve as the bible (I mean, if bibles are done in form of a two hour film?) for this class.

Criticisms of Media Criticisms

2009-12-09T14:30:00.002-05:00

I'm proud of that.

I really liked this class because the discussions and topics covered were really very interesting. Although I must admit that some of it went over my head which further confirms my belief that I am not nor will ever be a scholar (ughh), I did my best to understand everything and comprehend the concepts and ideas elaborated upon by the different readings. I liked the professor a whole lot; she's relatable, intelligent, and very engaging. I liked the discussion-style of the class as well the as students in the class. It felt like one of those things where we fed off of each other.

I didn't like the heavier focus on some topics like race and less focus on other topics. Also, for the papers, I feel like there was too much asked for in the first paper especially but not enough guidance....? And also, I felt that 2 blog posts was a bit too much... I thought one sufficed per week.

critique

2009-12-09T14:18:00.002-05:00

As a transfer student I was nervous to start my first semester at NYU. Being a communications major I have taken other media classes at my previous college, but I must say that this is the first class I have really enjoyed when it comes to analyzing media. I mean who get's to say that my assignment is to write a paper about a TV show. It's pretty nice.

I really like the topics that we covered throughout the year. I felt like some of them got a little repetitive, such as always talking about blacks and whites. There was some including of other races, but a lot of it was centered around blacks and whites. I really like our textbook. I think it's really current and very easy to understand. Also, I really liked our conversations about daily media news that was happening throughout the semester ...aka LADY GAGA :) I liked posting on the blog. I thought it's a really nice way to interact with the media as well as our class and is greatly reflective of what we were learning in class. I also liked the films that we saw in class, although some of the older ones were a little boring. Many of the readings were interesting. Some were too long, but you get those in every class. I really feel that the techniques that I've learned about media criticism will truly be utilized in my later career.

Thanks Alice for a great class!!

Critique

2009-12-09T12:56:00.003-05:00

As a required introductory course, I really enjoyed this class. I found all of the readings and lectures to be very interesting. The class covered a broad range of topics that fall under media and I really liked how each topic related to everything else we had learned up until that point. I also found the blog to be really beneficial to the class. I love how we were able to interact in an informal way but we still discussed the lessons and readings from each class. I had never written on a blog before and I am really glad that we were required to do so for this class because it will definitely help me in the future.
The downfalls to this class were limited. I wish we had some sort of feedback from you on our blog posts because I did not know what standards you held and how you will be grading them.
Other than that I really enjoyed your class! It was fun, interesting, and I feel that I learned to look at media in an entirely new way.
Thank you!

2009-12-09T10:49:00.003-05:00

As a Gallatin student, I had no idea what to expect from this course. I chose it because of subject matter that seemed interesting, plus timing that fit my schedule perfectly. However, "intro to media criticism" was seemingly deceptive, at least to a non-communications major. Prior to receiving the syllabus, I was expecting a course on written criticism in the context of reviews (which come from critics). In other words, an introduction as to how and why critcs formulate their reviews in certain ways. Needless to say, I was taken aback by much of the material being covered, but this course was probably more educational for me than one closer to my original idea would have been.

I'm definitely a fan of the blog format, especially after having been in multiple courses which required posting to and reading from Blackboard, a system which seems to be down as much as it's functional anyway. Especially in a media course, where images and links are so crucial to the subject matter, this is definitely the way to go. However, since blogging seems more informal than writing a formal response to something and posting to Blackboard, I've found that the blogs have sometimes been treated as such, something that's perpetuated by minimal authoritative responses to postings. It must be impossible to find time to read and comment on 30 blog posts weekly, but a little more feedback would have been useful. It also seems awkward to expect equal level posts on Tuesdays (when we've had four days to read) and Thursdays (when we've just had one day)--perhaps Tuesdays can be lengthier or prompted posts, while Thursdays can be briefer or free of a prompt?

The absence policy works well, and I used them sparingly and only when truly necessary, rather than trying to come up with a legitimate excuse, or having to worry about whether or not a valid excuse sounded legitimate enough.

Part of this may have been the terrible acoustics of the classroom, and part of this may have been the gradual waking up seen within a 9:30 class, but I would have liked to have seen and heard more from my classmates. Especially in such a conversation based class, a reconfiguring of the seats (perhaps circular?) would have been useful, and we could have used the conventional seating arrangement for powerpoint lecture or screening days.

I feel somewhat rushed now to produce an excellent presentation and final paper (which are weighted more heavily than our other assignments), with very limited group time. Perhaps you could assign the groups slightly earlier in the semester, so that initial screenings take place outside of class prior to the end-of-semester crunch, even if all concepts haven't been fully covered yet?

All in all, though, definitely an interesting and educational class, one I would recommend, and one I'm glad to have regularly woken up for.

my comments

2009-12-09T01:10:00.010-05:00

I liked...
-blogging (versus printing &/or Blackboard)
-comments/interaction
-Professor Alice Marwick
-being given 3 days of unquestioned/excused absences
-the flexibility & freedom of discussions
-the current, relatable examples in addition to good oldies
-the new things I learned from class/reading
-the structure of 3 assignments
-the amount of PowerPoint lectures--few but good for introducing a new topic

Sorry, I didn't like...
-not getting blog feedback from Professor
-talking about race but not really all races (much on white & black)
-the seating arrangement because it doesn't allow me to hear/see fellow peers, esp since we discuss most of the time
-being given little time for the final (honestly, Thanksgiving did not count as potential group-meeting time), but at the same time, it's only because everything is due on the same day.
-making this post at the end.

But thanks for making this one of my favorite classes this semester!

Class Critique

2009-12-08T21:48:00.004-05:00

Well, it's safe to say, "I LOVED MEDIA CRITICISM!" Haha I really did though. I have to agree with "Bob," underneath me who said this was the best class to go to if you have to take a 9:30am class. I enjoyed how the class had, for the most part, a free and relaxed atmosphere. Sure things got stressful during the weeks we were writing papers, but we were given all our assignments well in advance, and I think had ample time to finish everything and produce a worthy piece of media criticism. I, personally, spent a lot of time in office hours, so I am very thankful for Alice being so available to help outside of the classroom, as well as promptly answering emails on line. Furthermore, I enjoyed class time the most because it wasn't a boring lecture the entire time we were there, but rather some examples from the previous night's blog, a power point, and then some open-ended discussion. This kept the class from getting boring because we never focused on one thing for too long and were able to cover a variety of topics. I think the blog was a very innovative idea, and I think I speak for the entire class when I say that is is SO much better than posting on blackboard. It still makes us have to do the readings because we obviously have to blog about it but I think it facilitates learning even more because we are able to dig up examples and read/watch other people's posts if we don't understand something. The only thing that I didn't enjoy as much were the readings that were more lengthy, definition-filled pieces such as the Hall article(s), but I found myself going back and using those kind of readings the most in my papers, so they are pretty essential. The readings on Sex and the City and The Hills/Laguna Beach were my favorite because I'm obsessed with all those shows and it was interesting being able to learn something constructive about them in school, too. All in all, it was a great class and I hope my stress levels decrease the closer I get to finishing this final paper... haha. Thanks again!

Media Crit

2009-12-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this class this semester and it definitely made going to class at 930 slightly easier. My favorite thing about it was definitely the class blog, I’ve never used it in any of my previous classes but I think it is such a creative and novel idea! Writing blog posts is so much more engaging than using blackboard and this should really be continued in future classes. The layout of the blog is just so much more aesthetically pleasing than blackboard and it facilitates student interaction as we can comment on each other’s blogs. What made the blogs so interesting to read was attributed to the fact that all the readings and subjects we touched upon in class were so informative and extremely relevant to every day life. I specifically enjoyed the readings on stereotypes in the media as its interesting to note that the stereotypical portrayals which have dominated the media since the beginnings of television still continue to exist today. I also found the readings on queer theory as well as the video on transgenders very intriguing and it was unfortunate that we didn’t get enough time in class to finish it.

However, I do feel like there were some weeks when the readings were a bit much and it was hard to finish the readings as well as write a blog post (specifically for Thursday classes). Also, there were a few times when I was totally at a loss as to what to blog about and found it helpful when we were given distinct topics to help steer us in a certain direction. Furthermore, there were a couple articles which I felt were a bit dull, such as Chandler’s Semiotics for Beginners Article and Arthur’s Sex and the City and Consumer Culture. In addition, even though I found the articles regarding crime and the way it is presented in the media highly fascinating, I didn’t really feel like it pertained as much to what we were studying in class. I know it would be really hard to reduce the readings from Tuesday to Thursday for future classes so maybe students could write a longer blog post on Thursday to Tuesday instead of writing two shorter ones throughout the week.

Do it Yourself Viding

2009-12-08T08:46:00.002-05:00

These post reminded me of a promotional site TBS launched a few years back in an attempt to brand themselves as a "comedy network." The TBS Department of Humor Analysis (which never garnered more than a few hundred visits a day) was to be a kind of absurdist attempt to equate humor to a science. But one of the interactive components on the site "funny movie maker" allows you to essentially make your own vid. Using one of three visual tracks, musical scores and a variety of inserted sound effects, you can mix and match to change the context, and content of the videos. It's kind of lame, but certain combinations are pretty funny.

THIS IS THE BEST ONE!!

2009-12-08T03:44:00.001-05:00

If you guys know the character of Toby on The Office, then you will find this video to be really funny and very-well done. Toby, in this trailer, is made out to be a bad guy, but in the show he is the one that is bullied and constantly made fun of, particularly by Michael Scott.

David Lynch's "A Goofy Movie"

2009-12-08T00:32:00.002-05:00

To add to the other examples of vids that recut movies to create alternate trailers that are humorous because they make it seem like the movie belongs to a completely different genre, I give you The Goofy Movie as directed by David Lynch. The video creator takes strange scenes from the original movie and adds strange, dissonant music to recreate the type of atmosphere that is common in Lynch's movies.

The Various Functions of the Remix Culture

2009-12-08T00:02:00.004-05:00

McIntosh and Coppa both claim that the art of 'fan vidding' is used to send critical messages about specific media texts. We are living in a digital age that provides the ease access to technological tools that allows active fans of various television shows, musicians, and films to draw comparisons, highlight critiques, and get laughs through the mashup technique.

This particular example of the remix culture does not serve to highlight any dominant ideologies or demonstrate any deep seated elements of stereotyping or generalizing. I just think it's funny and well done.

You, Me, and E.T. - funny revamped movie trailer! - watch more funny videos

Vidding can also draw comparisons between differing media texts in order to show similar patterns:

Overall, videos such as these place content control in the hands of the active viewer, leading them to recreate their own interpretations for others to see. The remix culture will most likely increase in the future with the added amount of material, technological devices, and passionate yet critical fans.

Mrs. Doubtfire from Hell

2009-12-07T19:43:00.003-05:00

Remember the heart-warming movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, about the father who, after losing a custody battle over his kids, resorts to dressing up as an elderly, Irish woman in order to spend as much quality time with them as possible? Well, take a look at this creepy recut trailer:

Robin Williams is no longer presented as the victim who loves his children so much that he is willing to dress up like an old woman every day just so he can see them but rather he is a maniacal stalker who tries to weasel his way into a family's household with ill intentions. This recut trailer is so well done that it actually left me laughing out loud; It's very similar to the Pretty Woman recut trailer since it's transforming the story into the complete opposite.

2009-12-07T18:43:00.001-05:00

After the cliff-hanging season 2 finale of the O.C. where Trey (Ryan’s brother) dies, many spoofs emerged. One of the most famous skits was found on SNL known as “Dear Sister” where members of the cast recreate the famous scene set to its powerful music selection, Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek”.

From the SNL parody came many others in its wake including this one from Disney’s Pocahontas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhszXnuT7TM

By inserting the Imogen Heap song (imbedded with intertexual suggestion), the scene from the movie is transformed from something frightening/serious to something humorous. By setting a lighter mood, the entire meaning of the scene changes.

'Tis the season...

2009-12-07T17:26:00.002-05:00

So as everybody has already mentioned in their posts, Coppa's article talks about the vids that are clips from the movies, put together, and edited with a specific soundtrack that directly reflects on the action that is happening on the screen.
But I wanted to take a slightly different approach to this topic. Although Vids are very popular, especially on YouTube, we all know about re-makes of the movies, so that if they were originally a horror, they were re-cut in order to appear as a comedy, for example. There are also mash-ups that combine clips from two or more movies in order to create a whole (here I was actually even thinking of entire movies such as "Not Another Teen Movie" that in its entire plot is a mash up of many teen movies).

So since 'Tis the season.... we all know that we will soon be able to see Home Alone on TV, especially during the Christmas Week. And so I thought that it would be a funny thing to see how Home Alone would look like if... it was a horror. So check it out below... (nobody get scared now:) )

Now... I also wanted to show you guys a mash up that my classmates and I made last year for our History of the Universe project on Interplanetary Matter. It is a mash-up of two movies: "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact," and the final outcome that we wanted to show in our presentation's video, is supposed to show the real danger of a huge asteroid striking the Earth. Hope you like the mash up (which took way too long to upload).

Spartans on a Dancefloor

2009-12-07T16:12:00.002-05:00

According to Francesca Coppa, vidding is a form of grassroots film making that which puts together scenes from either movies or television and sets it to music to create a commentary on a particular viewpoint; essentially they are "visual essays." I really enjoyed the Buffy Vs. Edward vid; in the midst of the media's Twilight's obsession, it's refreshing to see Edward playing a role that is less favorable and domineering towards girls.

I found a video created by Luminosity, who has remixed and reinterpreted many other movies and television shows to create a message. This clip has been cut from the movie, "300," the paradigm film of the macho mentality as it emphasizes and exaggerates male masculinity. This vid is set to Madonna's song "Vogue," which is about letting your body "move to the music" highlighting that "beauty is where you find it." This vid reverses the role of the gaze and demasculinzes the epic battle scenes in 300 to a frivolous dance party. The first 40 secnds cut to shots of Leonidus looking at Xerxes, which in this particular context suggests an underlying sexual tension.

Pretty Women: The recut vid

2009-12-07T12:14:00.004-05:00

Before this reading, I had never heard of a “vid” before, nor am I sure I am aware of what the term actually means. However, in Francesca Coppa’s words, “a vid is a visual essay that stages an argument.” Coppa calls Star Trek the first narrative where vidding really became developed, and through the use of of vids, Star Trek was able to impel female fans to take on not one, but two positions of a role: the desiring body and the controlling voice of technology.

We see a lot of “vidding” in mainstream culture today, specifically thanks to the website YouTube. The article discusses a lot about how vidding is used specifically with women so I wanted to find an example that illustrated that case. Take the “recut” trailer of Pretty Women:

The vid opens up with darkness and prostitutes working the street corners automatically evoking a dangerous emotion within the reader. Julia Roberts is portrayed as a prostitute who does drugs and in apparently in so deep that she is willing to do ANYTHING for money- and Edward pulling up in his car is the guy to make her do this. Instead of asking for directions because Edward is lost, we simply see Julia Roberts stepping into his car looking for "a good time." The vid is recut to make Edward out to be the bad guy who is "making her stay with him," when in the regular clip we know she WANTS to because he is so sweet to her. Roberts' screams of happiness here are cut to seem like screams of agonizing pain and horror. Where there is usually happy and uplifting sounds, we hear suspenseful music and horrifying music. Although there is no impending danger or scary acts in this movie, this video is cut to evoke different emotions and hence, a very different portrayal of this female character. It's very interesting- check it out!

Celebratory Vidding

2009-12-07T00:11:00.003-05:00

After reading in Francesca Coppa's article that most " vidders make an infinite variety of arguments about the television shows and films they love—theorizing about characters, fleshing out relationships, emphasizing homoerotics, picking apart nuances of plot and theme—these arguments frequently articulate alternative perspectives, particularly in terms of gender and sexuality" and seeing that statement exemplified in the buffy/edward vid, I remembered a vid I had seen before that didn't quite fit into Coppa's defintion of subverting the usual oppressive way women are seen in specific shows, but rather showcased the women on television who are portrayed as strong, independent and really freaking awesome. While the vid may not be offering and alternative view, its still commenting on and celebrating female characters on television. This video probably has 50 or so different fandoms represented. Fantastically, I might add.

Find more videos like this on BAM Vid Vault

Toy Story Requiem

2009-12-07T00:08:00.002-05:00

I found another well done mash-up, of (Pixar's) Toy Story with (Darren Aronofsky's) Requiem for a Dream by Mike Hindes. And it's not necessarily a commentary on one or the other, but it's intense and pretty cool.

(Click image above or here to see video since embedding was not permitted)

The Notebook, re-cut

2009-12-06T23:05:00.018-05:00

First of all, that Buffy vs. Edward video was amazing and very smart. The vid artist did an excellent job on juxtaposing Buffy, the strong independent female lead, to Edward, whose character has fallen for a very submissive girl; gender roles are definitely key elements in making the two videos work together. Coppa's article also explained vidding as arguments regarding female oppression and other tensions in a way I never perceived mash-ups/vids.

In the same light, I found this The Notebook re-cut on youtube created by Fatima Pineada. In case you are not familiar with the original movie, The Notebook (see below, below) is a sweet love story about a guy who loves the girl from the beginning all the way to the end, through separations and Alzheimer's. Basically. In a slightly similar idea that makes Twilight fangirls go crazy for Edward Cullen, a striking fellow (Noah) pursues the main girl (Allie) in The Notebook and does all kinds of cute things for her (although for Twilight, watching a girl sleep without her knowing is creepy in my book), but Allie's parents do not approve of their relationship due to socio-economic differences. In the end of the movie/book, their love prevails all.

However, in this mash-up, Allie looks like a stalker because of her undeniable love for Noah. This alternative perspective is interesting because a guy going after a girl despite her saying "No," like in the beginning of this movie, is not seen as psycho at all.

As Radway says in "Reading the Romance," the "romantic fantasy is therefore not a fantasy about discovering a uniquely interesting life partner, but a ritual wish to be cared for, loved, and validated in a particular way" (265).

If you remember, Noah dangles on the ferris wheel, demanding that Allie go out with him.. and that's not crazy.. Really, you should re-watch the original The Notebook trailer:

Harry Potter

2009-12-06T22:31:00.003-05:00

After reading Coppa’s article, Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding I must say that I was honestly quite surprised. I had no idea that vidding had begun as a response to the oppression of women in mainstream movies/shows. In the past, whenever I would come across videos which applied music to various scenes from shows/movies I always found it kind of silly. However, I was impressed by the Edward vs. Bella vid, and definitely gained a greater respect for vidders as it seems like a time consuming and tedious process. I liked the point which McIntosh was trying to convey through this vid as he was trying to resist gender stereotypes by portraying women as being powerful, strong and independent.

However, I do not feel that all vids are as intellectual and deep, and in fact most of them are trivial and serve to reinforce gender stereotypes. For instance, in this Harry Potter vid, the vidder attempted to create a new trailer for Harry Potter by reconstructing scenes in order to make it appear as though Harry Potter and Hermione are in love with each other and about to start a relationship. Thus, vids such as these serve to reinforce the subjugation of women in romance texts.

In the opening scene Hermione seems flustered when she sees Harry Potter, reducing her to a disempowered subject when she is in the presence of a male figure. In the second image she seems distressed then jumps into Harry Potter’s arms portraying her as a dependent female who needs a dominant male figure as support. Later, the scene of her walking down the stairs in a pink dress reduces her to an object of the male gaze.

Now That's a (Sasha) Fierce Vid.

2009-12-06T20:33:00.007-05:00

In our final (!) reading, Coppa describes vidding as: "a form of grassroots filmmaking in which clips from television shows and movies are set to music...fannish vidders use music in order to comment on or analyze a set of preexisting visuals, to stage a reading, or occasionally to use the footage to tell new stories." With that definition in mind, here's one of the best examples of vidding in recent history.

In 2007, someone decided to use DJ Unk's "Walk it Out" as the soundtrack behind a Bob Fosse (one of the most iconic choreographers of all time) routine: "Mexican Breakfast." Shockingly, the contemporary song and dated performance mesh together quite well, and the clip was embraced and turned viral by many people in the dance, music, and theatrical industries--I was e-mailed the clip by over a dozen separate individuals.

Watch the performance, which was featured on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969:

Does it seem at all familiar to you? It should.

Beyonce saw the clip online, and was inspired to try it herself--it's a classic example of a vid resulting in a cultural phenomenon.

The two performances have definite similarities: three women (one lead and two backups), a very similar style of choreography, and both have one continuous take (albeit various camera angles)--neither group of women had the luxury of having someone make them look good in the editing room.

The performance works just as well live as it does on film, as seen in the following clip, which comes from a benefit I assistant directed at the Gershwin Theatre (home of Wicked) earlier this year. Yes, those are men in front of the curtain.

Also worth noting, this was performed on a raked stage. If you don't know what that is, pay attention to the slant of the floor. It's at an angle, rather than being level--this makes the performers more visible from the audience's perspective, but is hell on the performers, who need to stand at an angle in order to give the appearance of standing upright.

Can you think of any other vids that have resulted in new creations or controversy?

Lady Gaga vs. Christopher Walken vs. Cartman

2009-12-06T18:00:00.002-05:00

In Francesca Coppa's "Theory: Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding," she defines vidding as "a form of grassroots filmmaking in which clips from television shows and movies are set to music." While this "Lady Gaga vs. Christopher Walken vs. Cartman" video is not necessarily the best example of vidding because it does not use the "music in order to comment on or analyze a set of preexisting visuals." However, this video does contain visuals of Cartman from South Park and Christopher Walken from the Halloween special on BBC1. This video commentates on the (perhaps) ever expanding influence of Lady Gaga's music.

Further, perhaps shows like South Park, are functioning the same way as vids are in that they too use "music in order to comment on or analyze." In that particular South Park episode, Cartman then changes the lyrics of Lady Gaga's Poker Face to reflect the Whaling industry.

Here's the video:

Queer Housewife Bethany

2009-12-04T23:40:00.002-05:00

So after watching the "horror" version of the trailer for Pretty Woman I found a whole bunch of vids that were made using other pop culture. One that I thought was really well done was the queer housewife. Bethany's character on the desperate housewives is a single successful woman. She is strong headed and a tough cookie, if you will to be with. She has noted throughout the show that she suffers from daddy issues, which is one of the contributing factors as to why she has so much trouble with men. However, this vid portrays her in a new light. I found this remix to be successful compared to some of the others I had watched. Knowing her background story and how her relationships with men always seem to falter (although now she is pregnant and engaged), you could possibly see her experimenting with her sexuality and becoming a part of the gay community. What do you think?

Double Vision

2009-12-04T11:20:00.004-05:00

One of Will Ferrell's most well known characters during his time on Saturday Night Live was Alex Trebek. As Trebek, he hosted a parody version of Celebrity Jeopardy--he was the straight man (in comedic terms), surrounded by moronic celebrity contestants.

Come Ferrell's final episode on the series as a regular cast member, there was a special end to the sketch, which can be seen from roughly 6:00 on in the embedded clip below.

This is disconcerting, for we've become used to a world of accepting these characters as "real," albeit within a humorous characterized world. When the real figure appears, this serves as an immediate reminder of the SNL version being nothing but a comedy show. Ferrell may do a wonderful impersonation, but it's only that, which makes the final minute of the clip somewhat awkward, since he's still in character.

Our reading included: "postmodernism is, in some of its manifestations, about citation or quotation both in terms of referencing other texts and in terms of putting things in quotes to indicate a kind of distancing irony" (Sturken and Cartwright 321). The SNL clip does just that, by pulling the rug of reality out from under us.

Mia Thermopolis to Princess Mia of Genovia

2009-12-03T08:10:00.003-05:00

I really enjoyed the reading on Postmodernism because I found that it was something that our generation can easily relate to. There are so many great examples of this in media, specifically in movies today, that I was happy to finally put a name to what I've been watching all these years. Anyway, as Sturken and Cartwright explain, the goal of Postmodernism is for the audience to look at values that "underlie all systems of thought and thus to question the ideologies within them that are seen as natural." What I like about this goal is that postmodern ideals are looking for audiences who are media savvy, meaning that they are not easily fooled by society's techniques of propaganda- so their audience is typically parents. However, I did find a great example of Postmodernism that is targeted to children AND parents. Take the movie, The Princess Diaries.

Disney infuses postmodern ideas in the movie, The Princess Diaries, because it portrays a character, Mia Thermopolis, a not very attractive, unpopular, band geek only until she receives the news that she is going to be the next princess of her father's country, Genovia. Thus, we begin to see an extreme transformation in Mia's character as her grandmother, the Queen of Genovia, gives her a total makeover. As soon as her classmates and the public gets news of Mia's princess status, Mia becomes extremely popular at school, as she finally gets the attention of the hot guy she used to drool over, and cameras film her as she steps out of her grandmother's limo before walking to class. Mia has achieved an entire new identity while making this transformation from ordinary school girl to beautiful, celebrity, princess. This is an exact illustration of how Disney adopts this changing identity. Mia is not born with this beautiful confident persona, (therefore, it is not innate- postmodernism) it is only until she adopts the ideals of her grandmother, which are closely innertwined with the ideals of society, that she becomes truly confident.

The Malleable Image and Identity in Postmoderism

2009-12-03T02:04:00.002-05:00

In this postmodern society, we have adopted the idea that “the body is imagined to be easily transformed” (Sturken & Cartwright 326). This correlates also with the idea that the modern “notions of identity as innate” is no longer reliable (325). I think these two ideas are represented in Hollywood movies where agents go through reconstructive surgeries to adopt. An example is Get Smart where Anne Hathaway’s character, Agent 99, completely changes her face because her previous identity was compromised. However, her character changes as she adopts her new “identity.” I feel that this bolsters the idea that in postmodernism, “the surface is understood to be a crucially meaningful element of social life and not simply the illusion put over the real” (325). Identity is not definitely innate; it is structured by social elements and the changing of appearances.

Couldn't find the image or clip of Agent 99 before her transformation, so here's a trailer from the movie for fun:

Hyperrealism

2009-12-03T01:45:00.003-05:00

According to Sturken and Cartwright, "A hyperreal text is one that seems to be saying, "this is real, take note of that!"

The above picture is me holding an ice cream.... or a picture of an ice cream cone. It is hyperreal in that it invites the consumer to simulate holding the actual product.

Those OnStar car commercials are also a great example of hyperrealism. Another example would be the Geico commercials that have celebrities with non-celebrties. These commercials give the viewer a sense of realism because they involve non-actors, thus giving the viewer more room to trust that the products really do satisfy everyday people. The use of non-scripted advertising is an effective way to create hyperrealism.

Walt Whitman Wants You To Buy New Jeans

2009-12-03T00:44:00.009-05:00

By discussing Cindy Sherman's photography, Sturken & Cartwright mention that "nostalgic references to other historical periods is another hallmark of post-modern art" (256).

Have any of you guys seen the latest Levi commercials? If not check these out.

Instantly, we hear the scratchy recording of someone's voice reciting a voice. In both commercials, the poems "Kalliope" and "Pioneers! O Pioneers" by Walt Whitman are being used to successfully set a nostalgic tone that the Levi's campaign is clearly aiming for. These two commercials also embody polysemy since there doesn't seem to be one clear meaning. Are we supposed to go out and start a revolution...while wearing Levi jeans? Or perhaps there's a stronger social commentary?

What do you guys think?

One more!!!

2009-12-03T00:44:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I finished my other blog post and put on this Xeno and Oaklander CD I bought today, and HOLY CRAP is this not total pastiche sounding-like-1983-up-in-my-headphones right now. This was just released, like, Tuesday, but it was made specifically with vintage synths on analog equipment. Anyway, just thought I'd share some sick modern music with you guys too..

Their Myspace.

Also, really great clip of them playing last year:

Alter-Modern and The Return of The Real

2009-12-03T00:41:00.002-05:00

Recent discussions about the state of post-modernism have struggled to determine its relevance today. While several theorists and historians contend that it has run its course, it is still widely excepted as the dominant ideological epoch. The frustration concerning the end of post-modernism centers primarily around its formal structure, which unlike its modernist predecessor, is formed defined in negative terms (constructed in contrast to modernism.) This logic suggests that the only feasible end of the post-modern era will come at the re-birth of the modern one. That, anyway, was the premise of art historian and theorist Hal Foster's 1996 book The Return of the Real. Though the subject of its own criticism, Foster's critique of post-modernism provides on of the earliest and most substantial post post-modern propositions.

Another text that has recently revived the debate over post-modernism, is the French curator Nicholas Bourriaud's Altermodern, which for better or worse attempts to brand work being made in today's global context as a reaction against standardization and commercialism. Rather than failing back on modernist principles, Bourriaud describes his new aesthetic era in terms of cultural hybridisation and translation explaining:

"Artists are looking for a new modernity that would be based on translation: What matters today is to translate the cultural values of cultural groups and to connect them to the world network. This “reloading process” of modernism according to the twenty-first-century issues could be called altermodernism, a movement connected to the creolisation of cultures and the fight for autonomy, but also the possibility of producing singularities in a more and more standardized world."

As a curator, Bourriaud's primarily interest is in visual art, but it's not difficult to see how his assertions, if you buy them, can be applied to any other sect of visual culture.

Switched On Bach

2009-12-02T23:35:00.003-05:00

One work (of course from me, a musical one) that I was reminded of while reading the Sturken and Cartwright chapter was Wendy/Walter Carlos' Switched On Bach from 1968, which I was just listening to on the way to class Tuesday. Although it is an early example of these ideas of postmodernism, the record (in which Carlos, creates elaborate interpretations of well known Bach pieces with early Moog synthesizers) fits more into the postmodern ideas of remake and pastiche than the standard practice of classical re-recording. The sounds of the synthesizer were highly uncharacteristic of classical music at the time, and were highly experimental, but the whole record has a playful feeling to it. Many of the pieces were sped up, making them sound a bit like electronic circus music, and the timbres used can also sound comical during some of the faster pieces. Carlos is playing with, morphing, prodding the music of the past to create something seemingly new. This requires, as was said in the text, a rich knowledge of media, which in this case is the history of music.

The record is also a great example of Sturken and Cartwright's assertion at the beginning of the chapter that we are not entirely in a postmodern world. Although Switched On Bach can be seen as postmodern because of its relationship to the past, it is also fiercely modernist because it was also a demonstration of the power of the Moog synth, which was extremely new at the time. The idea was that this is the future of music, and that this progress was going to lead to a greater understanding of sound in relation to composition. Although many other composers were more modernistic in terms of their experiments with electronics (Xenakis and Stockhausen especially), it was the mechanical nature of Bach compositions that was built into the music that made it such an important example of the power of synthesized sound.

This album is really amazing, and highly recommended by me. Wendy has done a lot of soundtracks including the soundtracks to A Clockwork Orange and Tron. Below is the only example form the record I could find on Youtube, and it is of one of the very short pieces, but there are clips available on iTunes and Amazon and such.

Girl Talk & The "Remix Culture"

2009-12-02T23:06:00.006-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright claim that "postmodern styles have emerged...through a redefinition of authorship and the relationship of production, distribution, and consumption that has been enabled by changing technologies and new cultural practices" (334). Various media texts exhibit postmodernism by disregarding "modern" marketing and copyrighting practices. In this manner, postmodern works are able to "rely on style for its expression"(335).

Girl Talk is a popular musician widely known for 'borrowing' copyrighted material and mixing popular songs together in order to create hybrid recordings. Like Radiohead's "In Rainbows", these recordings are made available online for fans at a price that they determine.

Here are a couple of his songs - the videos are fan-made but are pretty well done...

Anyways, you get the idea, but overall, Girl Talk exhibits postmodernism not only because of his distribution tactics, but also through using the strategy of pastiche, in which artists incorporate other texts into their own work to the point of legal complication. If anything, he is quite literally an example of the "remix culture", which is propelled by postmodern thought.

Postmodern Body & Pop Icons

2009-12-02T22:46:00.003-05:00

In this chapter, Sturken & Cartwright refer to the "issues of identity and the postmodern body," (p.326). They claim that the body is easily transformed through a number of different ways. With this the postmodern body is "integrated with contemporary concepts," (p.326). Their examples with transformations of identity is easily seen with pop icons such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Madonna is known for her many personalities and appearances throughout her career. Obviously, Michael Jackson took on a more physical change with his appearance rather than character and style. However, I'm interested in who they are calling the new Madonna, the only and one Ms. Lady Gaga. Clearly Lady Gaga is not afraid to speak her mind nor is she afraid to express herself through costume or performance. She is truly one of a kind. Struken and Cartwright say that "body and identity become infinitely malleable in a culture in which the image is the ultimate register of experience," (p.326-7). Lady Gaga's is the ultimate example of revealing her body and identity in unique and innovative ways. In a recent interview with Ellen Degeneres she says, "the whole point of what i do, the monster ball, the music, the performance art aspect of it, I wanted to create a space for my fans for them to feel free because I didn't fit in in high school," (Lady Gaga on Ellen). Lady Gaga is known for her outrageous costumes and her crazy performances, so what will she think of next? Will she be the next Madonna and create new and different identities with each album? Only time will tell...Lady Gaga and Madonna were on SNL a couple of weeks ago doing a skip playing up the so-called "rivalry" between them. It's funny, check it out

The Post Modern Body

2009-12-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright discuss the postmodern body in Chapter 7, and how it is one that can be easily transformed. The post modern body has definitely become one that can be easily “resculpted into new shapes and forms.” Besides conventional, cosmetic surgery, doctors are now providing facial reconstructive surgery for people who have been in terrible accidents or have severe disfigurements on their face, allowing them to alter their facial structure completely. Furthermore, new discoveries regarding stem cells which develop into various tissue may soon provide amputees with the possibility of getting their limbs back, which is probably the ultimate form of human malleability.

Due to the accessible nature of plastic surgery “the loss of identity” has definitely become a severe side effect as everyone strives to attain the conventional, ideal form of beauty.In Asia, it is increasingly common for girls to get plastic surgery according to the same formula; they all want double eyelids, pointier, higher bridged noses, smaller faces, and sharper chins. In the future everyone will probably have the same features, reducing the authenticity of the appearance of the face.

I don’t know if the ability to change one’s appearance is a positive or negative phenomena; it is positive in the sense that it allows one to raise their self esteem but it is negative in the sense that it places so much more emphasis on the importance of beauty. I found Orlan’s work extremely fascinating as she is actually defying the conventional standards of beauty and disfiguring herself in order to highlight the extreme degree “to which we have taken choice and self fashioning to a limit that has surpassed notions of self unity and the rootedness of the human subject in the natural and biological body.” She even put implants in her forehead to emulate horns. Here is a picture of her:

Thoroughly Modern Cindy

2009-12-02T20:49:00.006-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright mention photographer Cindy Sherman as an example of reflexivity--a style in modernism which is the "self-awareness of one's inevitable immersion in everyday and popular culture" that leads modern artists "to produce works which reflexively examine their own relation to the artwork or the artwork's institutional context" (old textbook 254).

I went to the International Center of Photographer during the break and Cindy Sherman was one of the artists that was part of the Triennial show, so I appreciate that it was mentioned in our reading. Though she stars in her photos, Cindy Sherman does not create self-portraits because she is not herself but rather is playing a role to make a statement. Her position as both artist and subject "invites us to think reflexively about subjectivity and gendered processes of identification, cultural memory, and fantasy in postmodern visual culture" (256).

In this photo, Cindy Sherman is playing all 4 women, having fun at a party with red cups at hand. There are only minor details among the women, in their makeup, hairstyle, and outfits, speaking to the "herd mentality that ironically pervades an industry celebrating individuality and personal style." In this photo, Sherman makes a statement on the irony of wanting to be both part of a group and being individual, concluding with an inevitable result of being a replication. This idea of reflexivity in modernism is actually ubiquitous that even/esp street artists such as Banksy use it in their art.

PS

2009-12-02T19:02:00.002-05:00

I just remembered this website that has a bunch of 30-second parodies of well known films..re-enacted by bunnies. They are pretty funny.

http://www.angryalien.com/

10 Things I Hate About You Parody

2009-12-02T16:37:00.002-05:00

While reading Sturken and Cartwright's discussion of parodies in chapter 8, I immediately thought of Not Another Teen Movie, a 2001 parody on the Teen/High school movie phenomenon that was very popular in the early 90s. The film is a perfect example of postmodernism, as Sturken and Cartwright point out that "postmodernism has been characterized by a kind of fatigue with the new and the sense that everything has been done before." (p. 328) This pastiche, or the artistic work that imitates, remakes, and parodies films such as Bring It On, American Beauty, She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, and countless others.

The particular scene that I have chosen is a parody of the film 10 Things I Hate About You, starring Heath Ledger and Julia Styles. Heath Leadger's character, Patrick, is trying to win the heart of tough-girl, Kim, by publicly serenading her in the middle of her soccer practice. In this film it comes across as cute because the song is "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." In Not Another Teen Movie, the scene is remade and the context is somewhat similar, Jake is trying to woo Janey. However, to add a comical element to Jake's act, he sings, "Janie's Got a Gun" which is not so cute because it causes everyone around her to freak out in fear that she has a gun. Unfortunately, she gets tackled by security and tazered. Not so much of a cute serenade after all.

Nikki S. Lee

2009-12-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

I am a big fan of the artist Nikki S. Lee, who's profiled in Chapter 7 (pp. 324-325). She's an NYU alumn and, by the way, does NOT identify as Korean-American- she's Korean. Here's an excellent article on her work and all its complexities in the NYT.

Here's a (kind of cheesy with cheesy music) YouTube video with more of her work.

And here's another image from the Hispanic Project:

The Lesbian Project:

Zero To Hero

2009-12-02T14:47:00.001-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright explain that the goal of Postmodernism is to look at the “values that underlie all systems of thought and thus to question the ideologies within them that are seen as natural” (313). Media forms that embody postmodern ideals, therefore, require audiences that “will not be fooled by techniques of propaganda and illusionism, [people] who will get the reference, who [are] media and image savvy” (316). In most cases, these target audiences are parents.

The Disney movie, Hercules, is a great example of a media form structured by postmodern ideas. In the movie, Hercules emerges as a hero through his acts of bravery and displays of strength. As his acts of bravery spread throughout Greece, Hercules achieves “celebrity” status. Along with being well-known and receiving constant praise, Hercules becomes the face of everything from sandals to water bottles. Turning Hercules into an obtainable commodity is Disney’s attempt to parody the capitalistic and materialistic society that we have become as well as our unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Hercules can therefore be seen as a satire of the Western world wrapped up in a conventional fairy tale.

The non-reunion reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm

2009-12-01T17:44:00.002-05:00

The chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture" shows that there is no definition for postmodernism that can be summed up in a few short sentences. But while many people (including myself) may not be able to attach a strict definition to the word, most can point it out when they see it. As popular culture continues to develop, certain texts begin to show recurring themes. Texts that demonstrate postmodern characteristics often play with convention using irony (Sturken & Cartwright 315). They acknowledge themselves as texts and products and are aware of other texts as well as their own production (314-20). In essence, postmodernism is less about creating meaning and more about rearticulating existing meaning (330-331).

In the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David playing Larry David is trying to have a Seinfeld reunion in order to win back his wife. Now in real life, Larry David has always said he won't have a Seinfeld reunion because its stupid, and that this is not in fact a Seinfeld reunion. On the show, tv Larry David goes to all the Seinfeld stars, playing versions of themselves, and tries to convince them to do a Seinfeld reunion when in real life they've already agreed to do a real reunion by appearing on the show, even though real life Larry David says its not a reunion. Confused? Well thats postmodernism for you....well maybe.

Gazes of Lady Gaga vs. Farrah Fawcett

2009-12-01T08:33:00.005-05:00

What struck me the most out of Sturken and Cartwright's chapter entitled, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge, was the concept of “gaze.” Gazes are widely used reinforcements dominant ideologies and hegemonies placed within our society. Yet, the chapter discussed how more and more gazes are being challenged by these ever-changing ideals of society.

I would like to present a photo of Farah Fawcet:

This gaze or "world of meaning” adheres to society's once dominant ideology of the ideal woman. This picture is an example of how women used to be "objects of the male gaze" as Farrah Fawcett is photographed here in a red bikini, with long blonde hair, a big white smile, and big breasts hanging out. She is really all that society's typical man would want to be offered because she is timid, happy, and sexualized. Here Farrah is the "object" of desire in the photo, not the subject. This photo revokes sexual desires specifically from other males in society.

However, times are changing as you can see in this contradictory photo of Lady Gaga. I would argue that Lady Gaga represents the changing fields of society because as a woman, she represents much more of a "subject" now than Farrah Fawcett does. Instead of being an object, Lady Gaga exemplifies warfare and hard-core ness (sorry for the lack of a better term) as she is performing in chains but is still lively and somewhat dangerous, much different than Farrah Fawcett's timid smile and calm pose. There is nothing comparable in these photos besides the fact that both of these women are famous and idolized. Yet, Lady Gaga's dark hair, fierce stance, and off the wall attitude do not take away from her fame. This exemplifies how society's "gazes" are constantly changing and something we thought was sexual and desirable in Farrah Fawcett's time is completely different than what society accepts as desirable today.

The Gaze and the Other

2009-12-01T01:17:00.004-05:00

Nowadays, the “other” is still highly represented in the media, specifically in advertisements where “ads attach notions of exoticism to their products through images of places that are coded as distant and outside the world of consumption.” Asia and Africa are often construed as “exotic” places and women of biracial/African/Asian decent are highly fetishized.

In fact, a few weeks ago, America’s Next Top Model had an episode where the contestants had to adopt two different ethnicities for a photo shoot. Tyra said she wanted them to adopt biracial identities because they were in Hawaii, which is home to people of various ethnicities. Thus, the contestants were asked to portray ethnicities including, Mexican and Greek, Tibetan and Egyptian, Moroccan and Russian, Native American and East Indian, Botswanan and Polynesian, and Japanese and Malagasy. Here is a picture of one of the contestants after getting a lot of make up done to blacken her face to make her seem as though she is Batswanan/polynesian:

I personally think that this photo shoot reinforces racial stereotypes by making these various races appear more “exotic” and “foreign”. The fact that this contestant was asked to adopt a different race and was made to look darker and thrust into a setting that looks primitive and tribal reinforces notions of the other. The gaze is “commonly regarded as awarding more power to the person who is looking than to the person who is the object of the look.” Thus, the fact that Tyra is making these models adopt various ethnicities that are going to become objects of the look reinforces the idea of the “other” and the fact that they are subjugated in the media.

One Hour Photo

2009-12-01T01:16:00.002-05:00

After reading about the gaze and voyeurism, I instantly thought of the movie One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams. Williams plays a film developer at a local convenience store. He is obsessive, in particular a family which he has been following since their child was born. Through his multiple cameras, he stalks them and their daily lives. He knows where they live, what they do, what they eat, when they sleep, all because of the snapshot.

Williams' character says, "According to the Oxford English dictionary, the word snapshot was originally a hunting term." And that is precisely what he does to this family, hunt them down.

I remember one distinct scene in which he goes in on the couple having sex, and he makes them act out certain feelings and make them do what he wants them to do.

This is voyeurism and the concept of gaze at its finest. Williams feels he is a part of their lives because he has no life for himself. In a way, he livs through the pictures that he develops. He ruins it all when he crosses the barrier and actually uses his knowledge to invade the family's privacy.

Voyeurism and the Gaze

2009-12-01T01:03:00.005-05:00

This was an international ad for contact lenses, with a not so subtle message as the selling point--in order to participate in voyeurism, one must be able to see clearly, and that's difficult with fogged up glasses. Where might one be when their glasses fog up? Well, hot and steamy areas like showers, saunas, and changing rooms, for starts.

"The Steamy Room" was a large campaign, with both print and television advertising. Thus, it came as no surprise that something like this was created:

However, the second part of the ad campaign was shocking to me. I expected it to simply feed into the male gaze. After all, attractive women were featured in the commercial, and one can be seen through a foggy lens in the print ad.

The powers that be in charge of developing this campaign decided to do so evenly, and objectify men just as much as they did women--rather impressive, truth be told:

Would dinosaurs be considered the other?

2009-12-01T00:41:00.001-05:00

The Gaze and the Other

2009-12-01T00:34:00.001-05:00

In Sturken and Cartwright’s Chapter 3, “Spectatorship, power, and knowledge,” they define that the gaze “helps to establish relationships of power” (111). When I read about Orientalism, which is “the tendencies of westerners who have fetishized, mythologized, and feared the cultures, lands, and peoples of Asia and the Middle East,” I think of the Hollywood movies that Jackie Chan ahs been in (113). Particularly, Shanghai Knights comes to mind.

The Orient, as depicted in the movie, is definitely “a European cultural construction” (113). It is depicted as how the west sees China, especially when depicted alongside the British culture, which partook in Imperialism. China, and its women, are portrayed as exotic in this movie. Roy, played by Owen Wilson, is attracted to Chon Lin, who is Chon’s (Jackie Chan) younger sister. The movie has fetishized the appeal of Asian women. Further, Chinese were also depicted as barbaric and evil in the movie. The whole plot of the movie is centered around the Imperial Seal of China that was stolen from Chon’s father, the seal’s keeper. Wu Chow, the illegitimate brother of the emperor, is plotting against his own country. This whole movie embodies Orientalism, as a cultural construct of European and Western views.

(Mis)use of the Male Gaze

2009-12-01T00:03:00.003-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright describe the gaze as an element of photography constructed by the artist that allows the viewer to "make the subject appear to himself or herself as lacking". Ever since mass media took off, the male gaze has been widely present and dominantly in various works of classical art, advertisments, and films, influencing the way that both male and female viewers position themselves against the subject in question, and, more unconsciously, how they evaluate themselves.

Recently, Newsweek featured Sarah Palin on its cover. On it, Palin is posed with her hands on her hips, wearing shorts and a sweater. The magazine drew heat from both feminists and Palin herself because the photograph depicts Palin not as a "serious politician", but as a mere subject of the male gaze, a role she has consistently had to separate herself from ever since she gained publicity.

This photograph is supposedly taken out of context and was supposed to be used for a magazine titled Runner's World.

All political views aside, this photograph serves to reduce Palin's legitimacy as a female politician, and does so by manipulating the gaze of the viewer. Elements of the male gaze and binary opposition are used to connote Palin's inadequacy as a successful, strong female worthy of political power. So, while the authors are correct in noting that the male gaze has been more commonly critiqued and abandoned in current media texts, it is still largely present.

More info on the controversy: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/11/17/official-statement-on-newsweek-s-sarah-palin-cover.aspx

Subverting, Unpacking and Reverting the Authoritative Gaze

2009-11-30T23:41:00.006-05:00

The section in the reading concerning CCTV (video surveillance) paints a dismal picture of surveillance technology. While the use of surveillance in the wake of the patriot act might give footing for Cartwright's pessimism, there have been steps (though few and far between) to try and reverse the effects of authoritative technology. In thinking about the various artistic interventions and activist activities aimed at dismantling our surveillance society I'm reminded of three project which come to mind in regards to the text's Foucauldian notions of regulatory and authoritative systems:

1. The Institute for Applied Autonomy, iSee
For this project, the (h)activist group created an interactive map of all the known (and in many cases unknown) CCTV surveillance systems in place throughout Manhattan. The software included with the map allowed users to chart out "the path of least resistance" (the route containing the fewest number/ or no surveillance footage. This project, understandably generated much controversy both for its potential as a tool for criminal activity and (from the left) for their condemnation rather than re purposing or democratization of surveillance technologies.

2. Jill Magid, System Azure
A more whimsical approach taken by the Amercian artist Jill Magid, who was able to convince Dutch officials to contract her fake company (System Azure) to decorate the the city's surveillance systems with rhinestones. Though this project was more symbolic than utilitarian, it was successful (for better or worse) at defusing the symbolic authority that the image of the surveillance camera holds.

3. David Brin, The Transparent Society
Lastly, the most explicit argument for the repurposing of surveillance technology can be found in Science fiction writer David Brim's novel The Transparent Society. Though more than twenty years old, the novel predicts much of the surveillance society in effect today. The book, set twenty years in the future, imagines a city (much like ours) where surveillance is ubiquitous. But rather than being monitored by an authoritative body "every citizen could access an image of every street corner." Brin goes on to address issues of privacy by proposing "cameras, both individual and state owned would be banned in certain public (and private) places, but not in the police stations where they would be ever pointed inwards." Brin's city is one built on trust rather than control and while its implementation is strictly utopian, it provides insight into the potential usage of certain technologies.

Taylor Lautner Redirects the Gaze

2009-11-30T19:41:00.001-05:00

The Sturken and Cartwright chapter titled, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge, focuses on the concept of “gaze.” Gaze is defined as, “a field”, or “a world of meaning” (103). These gazes, Sturken and Cartwright explain, adhere and reinforce dominant ideologies and hegemonies. However, more recently, these gazes have been challenged and have been turned on their head.

The original concept of gaze is built upon the notion of the women as “objects of the male gaze” (123). However, like in the movie, Thelma & Louis, females have become more and more in control of the camera, “belying the dominant view that women are objects, not subjects, of the gaze” (130).

This Thelma & Louis structured gaze is also evident in the newly released movie, New Moon. The movie features Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) as an extremely buff werewolf with a nasty six-pack. Prior to the opening on the movie, tabloids and entertainment shows hyped up the actor’s body so much, that it became a major reason for viewers (mainly teenage girls) to buy tickets. By doing this, Summit Entertainment effectively challenges the old idea of a male-dominated gaze and reinvents it to attract its female viewers.

Frank Miller's Gaze

2009-11-30T18:03:00.007-05:00

I'm sure you're all familiar with the stereotype that girls don't read comics and how totally inaccurate it is. So if girls are reading comics just as much as boys, then why is that the majority of comic book writer and illustrators are still writing/drawing comics according to the male gaze. In Practices of Looking, Sturken and Cartwright speak of the male gaze (first introduced by Laura Mulvey in 1975). The male gaze is described as "the patriarachal unconcious, positioning women represented in films as objects (124). The male gaze is one of power and works to "disempower those before its look" (125). When applied to comic books, the artist makes the assumption, consciously or not, that everyone looking at the image is a heterosexual man,who objectifies women just like him. So, what we see in comics is presented through the man's view.

Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin is the perfect example. Here's the cover of the third issue, showing how Batman is seen and how Black Canary is seen:

In another issue of the comic, we are graced with the lovely presence of Vikki Vale's butt:

Looking at this image and the script Frank Miller sent to co-writer Jim Lee (see below) it's easy to see how the male gaze is employed in comics.

When Frank Miller says, “We can’t take our eyes off her” he is speaking directly of an audience that he presumes to be male, and the following “Especially since she’s got one fine ass” says loud and clear that her sexualized portrayal is for the pleasure of that heterosexual male viewer. Viki Vale is the quintessential example of being watched by male watchers: the writer/director (Frank Miller), his artist, and the presumed male audience that buys the book.

The female Gaze

2009-11-30T15:49:00.005-05:00

Sturken and Cartwright describe the Male Gaze as portrayals of women as sexual objects. Women's bodies were "posed so that her body is on display for the viewer's easy appreciation." Furthermore, a majority of the images of women portray them as passive, indirect, and submissive. The message from these depictions of women being sent is that, according to Sturken and Cartwright, "men act, women appear." In other words, women play the gentle damsel (though not necessarily always in distress) while the men play their knight in shining armor. Not until the 70s and 8os did portrayals of men in art and advertisements also objectify their body. Men are depicted with sculpted and chiseled bodies and are deemed "aesthetically pleasing" by women. However, the majority of these depictions also play into the "men act, and women appear" idea. They are often portrayed as the strong and assertive hero. The image posted below is a clear example of this.

The product is pads for women. The pad is represented as one that will provide confidence and comfort for women due to its comparison to the male model. The ad depicts the man as a strong and secure figure in a woman's life, and is further objectified with his buff body. It is clearly a "cultural commentary on male sexuality, glamour, and body norms and ideal." (p. 129) Even his stance portrays him as a strong male... you can see that he's closing a safe, further establishing him as a secure figure. Even the message of money as security is sent in this ad.

On a side note...I found an interesting ad from a magazine in the UK from the 80s that pays homage to Gloria Steinem's "If Men Could Menstruate"

check the website to see a bigger picture of it and to read its explanation.

http://www.mum.org/drwh85.htm

1984

2009-11-30T00:21:00.002-05:00

Foucault's concept of panopticon has always fascinated me. I actually learned about it for the first time in my freshman year of NYU, during my writing class. Foucault's argument in this case relates to the fact "how we participate in practices of self-regulation in response to systems of surveillance, whether they are in place or simply assumed to be in place" (Sturken & Cartwright, 107). In simpler words, Foucault debates the human action in a situation that is controlled by the gaze of the entity in power, versus the human actions in a situation that is not obviously being controlled, but that might be in some way. he wonders whether or not people self-regulate themselves when they know they are being watched and whether or not they do it when they think they are being watched. In the words of the authors of our textbook, :we could easily say that the camera is used here as a form of intrusion and policing of our behavior" (p. 107).
Foucault's concept can be applied to many instances across our society: surveillance cameras are just one of the many examples. It is interesting to see the difference in people's actions when they know they are being watched versus when they think they are not watched.

But the entire debate reminded me of my favorite book from high school that we read one time. I'm talking about George Orwell's "1984" of course. The book is a brilliant dystopian fiction that tells a story of a man named Winston Smith who works for The Party that controls the lives of all the people living in Oceania, through the use of constant surveillance in the form of telescreens that constantly show the face of the ultimate ruler, The Big Brother. I absolutely love the book, and I think that it is a great fictional novel to read for all those of you who still haven't. It tells a crazy story with a crazy and unexpected ending, and it leaves you wanting more. Below, I allowed myself to paste a trailer for the 1984 movie that came out in ... 1984. :) Hope you enjoy.

Oh the gaze..

2009-11-29T23:47:00.002-05:00

After doing this weeks reading, I thought a lot about advertisements and images that we see in the media and how we perceive them just visually. When we flip through a magazine, it's the provocative ads that catch our eye and make us take a second look, so what is that saying about how we see things and whether or not that extra difference shown in the ad represents in our society. Foucault recognized the use of "docile bodies of the modern state" - otherwise known as the "perfect look, the perfect body, and the perfect pose," (p. 110-111). These images that we see in advertisements are conforming to the ideologies of sex and gender and being submissive to the so-called beauty norms of society. As the reading continued, it talks a lot about the gaze and how this concept "establish[es] relationships of power," (p. 111). Advertisements today represent these ideas of power and dominance of class, sex, race, otherness, etc. And it is the photographs that we see in our everyday media that demonstrate these power dynamics to us. These concepts have both social and cultural meanings and directly respond to the time/era we are living in. American Apparel is a very successful clothing line. We see their ads all over and they are becoming more and more popular. However, if you take a look at their clothes, they couldn't be more of a simple design, yet the advertisements make the clothes as well as their models to be extremely sexualized. The "normalized gaze" according to Sturken and Cartwright is being displayed with these sexual images as the beauty norm for the time. Here's an example of a simple ad for American Apparel gone "wild"...

Screen Tests

2009-11-29T23:10:00.002-05:00

While thinking about the gaze and how much power it can have over a person, I would like to share with you a few videos from Andy Warhol's Screen Tests. Warhol posed over 500 hundred subjects (poets, singers, factory visitors, art curators, drag queens, socialites, critics) in front of a movie camera for three minute "screen tests" which were silent, black and white, close-up film portraits. The subjects were told to stay as still as possible and not to blink while the camera was running.

These film portraits were not filmed with the purpose of actually testing or auditioning actors, even though Warhol told them that these tests were performed in order to gauge how much potential "star" quality an individual had.

At first, the films may seem silly, as you wait for something, anything to happen. But as the seconds and minutes pass by and the subjects continue to maintain eye contact as they stare into the faceless lens of the camera, immobile, it's easy for the viewer to become uncomfortable because it's almost as if you feel like you are invading their privacy; watching a part of them that they did not intend anyone to see. In a way, the viewer is experiencing voyeurism since we can see them in their most raw and unembellished states without them being able to see us, however after a while, this sense of "power" and "pleasure" we get quickly transforms into discomfort. It's amazing to see how squirmy and uncomfortable a person becomes as soon as a movie camera is pointed at them for an awkwardly long duration of time.

These film portraits were made in 1964-1966

Edie Sedgwick: This one is not supposed to have music in the background but someone added it. I would recommend watching it on mute.

Bob Dylan (again, there should be no music):

Panopticon and the invisible eye

2009-11-28T20:25:00.003-05:00

Foucault's concept regarding the relationship between power and knowledge is something I feel like we deal with everyday. Because "citizens willingly obey laws, participate in social norms, and adhere to social values," the "functioning of power in modern political states is less visible" (Sturken and Cartwright 96). We know how to behave in different setting, so without coercion, we cooperate in a society (96). For example, knowing that it is wrong and against the law to steal, people will not take items out of a store until it's paid for. I'm sure we all have thought at one point how easy it would be to walk away with an unpaid for item, but we won't, if we have the guilty conscience not to, at least. There are consequences that aren't worth it.

This is the theory that brings about Foucault's Panopticon, an "architectural model, originally for a prison" in which "a central guard tower looks out on a central set of prison cells," and this regulates behavior whether or not there is a guard in the center because they "feel that gaze upon them" (98). As this chapter in Practices of Looking mainly deals with different kinds of looking, I feel like the Panopticon is a very real and interesting concept. It's true that we won't stray from normal behavior because we fear others judging us or if it would be wrong.

In 2009, the movie Look was released. It's a film shot from surveillance cameras, inspired by the acts we are tempted to do when we think no one is watching. I haven't seen it, but it seems really interesting. Yes, it's a scripted movie, but it's true that we are under surveillance cameras more often than we imagine...

What If You're Not Sure What To Come Out As?

2009-11-26T14:00:00.005-05:00

A prime example would appear to be 2001/2's "Kissing Jessica Stein."

This film features two women, roughly thirty years old, grappling with their sexualities and love lives. Neither truly identified as gay to that point, but their frustration with men led them to start searching for women, and ultimately finding one another. Of course, one is more into it than the other, and the storyline's drama deals with Jessica's initial decision not to essentially come out of the closet and bring Helen along as a date to a very public family occasion (a wedding).

This is a new "queer," a type seen elsewhere (i.e. Sex And The City, among other areas in pop culture), where the homosexuality stems from boredom or frustration rather than a conscious choice or desire for women in the first place. Surely, this could be seen as offensive to "true" gays and lesbians, for it perpetuates the myth that homosexuality is a choice, or "novelty," as mentioned in Ciasullo's article.

Both women are attractive, and the film was embraced by fans and critics alike--however, "Making her (in)Visible" raises a good point. If these were less conventionally acceptable women, I don't know that the film would have received such a positive reception. Those represented would probably have enjoyed seeing themselves on screen, but it probably wouldn't have been able to transcend that demographic into a widely acceptable and successful film.

Desexualized Will

2009-11-24T03:14:00.002-05:00

Will and Grace is a groundbreaking how in that many consider it to be the first successful gay sitcom in network television. A pluralist program such as Will and Grace succeeds in equating the minority group of LGBTQ individuals with the white, heterosexual, middle-class norm. This is evident in the character of Will Turman, a young, successful, attorney living in NYC with his best friend Grace Adler, a heterosexual interiror designer. The show is set in a heteroseuxal world with Will as the male lead character and Jack McFarland, a supporting haracter in the show, going about their daily lives and both of whom are openly gay. But despite Will's status as an openly gay man, his character seems not developed enough in that he could fit into thr white, heterosexual norm.

Will's storyline is less focused on his identity as a homosexual individual and in fact, the gayest character on the show is seen through Karen Walker, an over-the-top rich socialite. The relationship between Will and Grace also seems heterosexual because it satsfies narrative and social conventions. Although their relationship is queer or gay, the writers make it seem like it is heterosexual.

Will and Jack are extreme opposites in terms of how gay men are represented on television. By making the character of Will sexually mbiguous, the producers of Will and Grace are not overusing the gay agenda and succeeds in appeaing to differends kinds of audiences.

adam lambert

2009-11-24T02:26:00.001-05:00

Here's what happened..

Three To Tango

2009-11-24T02:09:00.004-05:00

The film Three To Tango exploits many of the elements of the gay man/straight woman relationship that Shugart points out. In the movie, Matthew Perry is Oscar, who is mistakenly identified as gay by his boss. His boss then asks him to spy on his girlfriend Amy (played by Neve Campbell)by befriending him. Oscar instantly falls in love with Amy, but is unable to reveal his true identity because of his professional goals. Therefore, Oscar and Amy begin hanging out and take on many of the qualities of the gay man/straight woman relationship.

Because Oscar isn't really gay, their relationship especially exemplifies a texts that "satisfy heteronormative desires that posit heterosexuality as unambiguous and constant, and homosexuality thus becomes the discursive practice by which heterosexuality is renormalized" (76).

My Best Friends Wedding

2009-11-24T00:34:00.002-05:00

When reading Shugart’s piece I found myself to be very familiar with many of the popular film and television titles referred too, especially the films. The majority of the movies used as examples of relationships between homosexual men and heterosexual woman are romantic comedies. This is interesting to consider due to the fact that you expect when this genre comes up to have the main characters both be heterosexual and tell a story about their relationship. However, Shugart points out that the stories between homosexual men and heterosexual women demonstrate similar stories because the gay male role is generally portrayed in a heterosexual light. One of my all time favorite movies is My Best Friends Wedding. Julia Roberts plays the heterosexual lead, Jules while Rupert Everett plays the homosexual male, George. The film creates a romantic storyline for Jules and George in an attempt for Jules to win back the man she actually loves. What’s interesting is in my opinion even when George is seen as her fiancé, he still carries a lot of the homosexual tendencies for me and in my opinion it really feels like he is playing the act of the homosexual man as intended as opposed to other films mentioned such as Object of My Affection or shows like Will & Grace. Shugart claims that even if they gay men are involved in homosexual relationships, they are not as successful as their relationships with the heterosexual women indicated that their “gay identities are ambiguous and potentially pliable,” (p.76). Also, these roles “satisfy heteronormative desires.”

You Go Glenn Co Co!

2009-11-23T23:24:00.002-05:00

One of the main topics that Shugart discusses is the gay best friend. When taking a look at Mean Girls (shout out to Kim! haha), we watch as Damian assumes the role of the flamboyant gay best friend. As Shugart mentions, he is contrasted with the high school heart throb, Aaron Samuels.

"the relationship between these men and their heterosexual female best friends is coded as romantic, and the lead gay male characters are contrasted with highly flamboyant, outrageously stereotypical gay male characters who function as foils against which the leading men emerge as more traditionally masculine and, thus, more consistent with mainstream tropes of heterosexuality" (Shugart, 72).

As the gay best friend, Damian is not put in a romantic situation and only serves as the "sidekick" or the one to give advice. However, at the end of the movie, him and best friend Janice share a kiss at their school dance, as if to test Damien's gayness incase they really did like each other, however a look of disgust instantly appears across their faces as if to say "what were we thinking?? you're gay!"

Ellen the "butch" and Portia the "femme"

2009-11-23T22:52:00.005-05:00

In response to Ciasullo's article, I wanted to find an example of a lesbian celebrity couple portrayed throughout mainstream media. I really liked the part of the article where Ciasullo discussed the different between the two lesbian roles of either the "butch" or the "femme." It was very interesting to read because it showed that there is not only stereotypes and social norms that we have for roles played in heterosexual couples, but now there are even stereotypes for gay people.

Ellen and Portia are an excellent representation of Ciasullo's argument because anyone who knew anything about the butch and the femme could point out who's who in these roles. Ellen, on the left, is obviously the "butch" in this lesbian relationship because she is the more masculine of the couple. She wears masculine clothes, as she is pictured in a suit and tie above, she is protective, as she is seen holding her wife close to her side, and she is tough, part of which we see because she is not smiling in this photo and also because she is a very successful woman who brings in more of the money in her and Portia's relationship, which one would argue is another dominant, masculine quality. Additionally, Portia is the "femme" because she represents the lesbian identity in a completely different manner. She is very feminine; she wears dresses, does her make up, and has long hair. Ciasullo would argue that this somewhat normalizes the heterosexual image of what it means to be female because if someone did not know Portia was a lesbian, they would never be able to tell because she dresses in society's typical image of the blonde, beautiful, heterosexual female. However, Ellen gives off many social and appearance cues that she is dominant and masculine, which are typical lesbian qualities. It's interesting to me how there still has to be a more masculine woman coupled with an extremely feminine woman in order to meet society's expectation of the typical lesbian couple. But why can't both women be equally "femme" like Portia? Why is there always an established "male" in a lesbian/gay relationship?

Tim Gunn fits neatly in the box of heteronormative conventions of masculinity?

2009-11-23T22:48:00.002-05:00

In Helene A. Shugart's "Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media," she asserts that the homosexual man portrayed in the mainstream media is quite sanitized and conforms to the "Heteronormative conventions of masculinity" (73). So, in the fashion world, I suppose there is more or less a stereotype that most of the guys in the industry are gay and/or effeminate. I suppose Lifetime, and previously Brave, are not necessarily mainstream, but they too conform to the neat little box created for the "new gay man."

Take Project Runway for example. And to be honest, I didn't even know Tim Gunn was gay until maybe the second season. He definitely fit the gay man that is portrayed by mainstream media. First of all, he exhibits traits that are given to male leads, such as being "handsome, ... and physically fit" (74). Furthermore, Gunn serves as the "wise gay man" as he is the guru that gives advice to all the contestants of the show (83). They need his advice for the show's plot to be driven forward. His comments are important in helping the viewer negotiate the outcome of each episode. Also, Tim fits under the criteria of the gay serving "as straight enlightenment" (70). Again, he is the guiding light to all the sometimes clueless contestants on the show. It also seems like his only purpose on the show as well.

Here is a photo of Tim Gunn in a comic!

movies for the final assignment

2009-11-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

So these are the trailers for the four films we will be analyzing as part of the final project. Send me your picks in order (e.g. 1) City of God 2) Our Song or whatever) and I will do my best to give everyone their first or second choice. We'll watch these tomorrow as well.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Our Song (2000)
Link to Trailer (couldn't figure out how to embed)

Maria Full of Grace (2004)

City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002)

All movies are at Avery Fisher / Bobst.

My "Gay Husband"

2009-11-23T16:05:00.001-05:00

Shugart’s article rendered that the media employ gay characters to legitimize and stabilize male heteronormative ideologies. On of the ways they successfully do this is through the common coupling of the straight female and the homosexual male.

This straight female, gay male pairing is depicted in the ever-expanding and popular series, The Real Housewives. In the Real Housewives of New York City, housewife Jill relies on the help and advice of “gay boyfriend,” Brad. The relationship that the two characters have is comedic as Brad assumes many of the roles that a traditional, heterosexual husband would minus the physical attraction. In calling Brad the “gay husband,” Jill reinforces Shugart’s claim that the homosexual, “function[s] as foils against which the leading men emerge as more traditionally masculine and, thus, more consistent with mainstream tropes of hetereosexuality. (72)”

http://www.15minutesmagazine.com/images/Society/soc_0903-02.jpg

Positioning Brad in this way not only strengthens the masculinity of all the other heterosexual male characters on the show, but also further downplays Brad’s expression of gayness. The fact that he is never pictured as coupled with another male and is only ever seen when next to Jill reveals a sense that his homosexual relationships are “lacking in comparison to the easy simpatico characterizing their primary relationships with [Jill]- these depictions render the male characters’ gay identities as ambiguous and potentially pliable. (76)” This again, renormalizes heterosexuality.

"An Ode to Gay BFFs"

2009-11-23T13:45:00.004-05:00

As I was searching for examples of gay best friends in Hollywood, I found this video that perfectly pokes fun at the gay best friend stereotype. Films make it very desirable for women to have gay best friends because they can offer fashion advice, will gossip with you, and understand your emotions without any strings attached or questions as to what your relationship is. The clip gives examples of gay best friends "playing for the other team" and acting as substitute romantic partners for their women best friends. In "My Best Friend's wedding" George provides suppoert for Jules as " her confidante, and she reveals herself emotionaly as she does to no one else." (Shugart, 74) He even posed as her fiance and performed grand romatnic gestures in order to impress Jules' friends, and are deemed the "perfect" couple. By the end of this movie, I was secretly hoping that George and Jules would somehow end up together, even though that isn't really a possibility. However, these are all clearly stereotypical traits that objectify them. In one clip (0:16) in the video from "Head Case," the therapist, Dr. Elizabeth Goode "We're going to need to find you a gay. You get to go shopping, you get spa days, you travel.." She speaks as if they are a purse or new shoes that create a woman's image. Furthermore, the stereotypical gay best friend serves as a contrast against a female's heterosexual romantic partner, giving them a more macho image. This portrayal puts gay men as "the other." Are there any films about gay men who have romantic troubles and their straight best girlfriend is there to help?

Gay for Pay?

2009-11-23T13:20:00.004-05:00

If the 90's brought lesbianism to the forefront of media attention only to popularize the construction of the "femme" lesbian and blanket the "butch" lesbian, then the 00's served to further complicate lesbian representation with the emergence of the "faux" lesbian trend. This faux lesbianism seemed to be a means for girls and women to get attention, often from the opposite sex. It stemmed from the fetishization of lesbians by the media. One of the most notable examples to come out this trend was the Russian pop duo t.A.t.u (as previously mentioned by Dominika). The lesbian image of the girls was created to hone in on the public's fascination with both lesbians and teen girls. So while the two were instructed by their manager to hold hands, pose for touchy-feely photoshoots, sing songs about loving girls and respond questions about their so-called relationship with vague broken English answer, their boyfriends were kept out of public view. Eventually reality interfered with their image a little too much, and they fell out of the spotlight when the public could no longer pretend that Russian singers were actually together romantically. Here's a video of their 2003 performance at the MTV Movie Awards in which they ran through the audience in skimpy outfits, and brought up about 50 dancing girls in schoolgirl uniforms, all of whom eventually stripped down to tank tops and mens briefs and proceeded to make out for the duration of the song. Oh and then MTV decided to zoom in on Ashton Kutcher and P.Diddy giving them a standing ovation and clapping wildly.

AMA's

2009-11-22T23:31:00.002-05:00

OK.. on a note that does relate to the topic of homosexuality and queerness....
Have you guys seen Adam Lambert's 2009 AMA's Performance?
Lambert is openly gay. He came out after the season of American idol ended.

now.. there's a ton of different sexual and (for that matter) queer references in this video. But I was SHOCKED when 0:32 came up... Really Adam Lambert?!

What do you guys think?

The Nun's Litany

2009-11-22T22:43:00.003-05:00

Hey guys, not really a post for Tuesday, but I just love this song, and this performance definitely relates to some of the ideas we have been talking about relating to queer theory. Mr. Merritt here is going into character (I'm assuming he's the nun), and I think the reversal of gender when speaking about sex might be a good example of some of the stuff we've been discussing. Anyway, he's my favorite songwriter, so I thought I'd share it. The interview is also quite funny.

The Latest Show on Earth - 02/19/08 - Part 2 - Watch a funny movie here

Lesbians??

2009-11-22T20:31:00.003-05:00

So I was reading the Ciasullo article, and I was linking it to our class discussion on Thursday. Remember, on Thursday we looked at some print ads, and we found possible queer connotations to them? And then as I was reading the article that Ciasullo wrote, which I loved, I sort of thought of the same thing, but in regards to lesbians.
Ciasullo talks about two predominant lesbian images that are evident throughout the mainstream media. She mentions the "butch" and the "femme." The former, she argues, is the stereotypical image of a lesbian, wearing male clothing, no make-up, and erasing all traces of being a female. She appears to be tough, strong, almost like a male. The latter description, Ciasullo argues, represents lesbian identity in a different form. it "normalizes the heterosexual" image of what it means to be a female, and even though a woman is a lesbian, she looks like a woman, and there is no correlation with being the stereotypical "butch."

So I was looking through many ad campaigns for designers, and I came across couple of images that might be interpreted in a similar way that the ads we analyzed on Thursday did.

The Versace Fall-Winter '08 Campaign
And here is the Marc Jacobs Fall-Winter '08 Campaign.
(it is actually worth noting that this campaign used the two singers from the group called TATU, who made their career by making their lesbian relationship public, and a part of their group).

Gay guy and straight girl

2009-11-22T19:41:00.003-05:00

Helen Shugart discusses the gay man/straight woman relationship in different layers, but essentially that gay men play roles that would still be fitting for a straight character except there is the necessary conflict where she and he could never be together because their sexual orientations don't attract; that is, the genre is of "wannabe partners whose sexual orientations are at odds" (73). Other points she brings up are the paternal characteristics and the unilateral sexual access gay men have to their heterosexual female friend (80). Her examples were spot on to demonstrate these tropes, and I only thought of the relationships between the TV characters of Marc and Amanda from Ugly Betty or Eric and Jenny from Gossip Girl (plus they're step-siblings).

Obvious but I'll state it: Amanda is the straight girl and Marc is the gay friend. They're a great duo and team up to insult Betty and plot together for anything. When Amanda was upset over finding her real father or was conflicted with boy problems, she would always talk to Marc and he'd be reasonable with his paternalism (85). Otherwise, they're just silly together.

In this clip, Amanda and Marc kiss in order to reenact a scene Betty describes that happened to her and a guy, but they really get into it. In the end, a few seconds later, they don't address or think anything of it because he's gay and she's into guys.

It's not actually a big deal, but to audiences it might be slightly confusing. Ultimately, I believe their relationship doesn't have the potential to reverse his homosexuality, like Shugart's article examples suggest: to be in love with someone "like you, only straight" (74). After last week's reading on Queer Theory, however, I'm starting to understand that gay and lesbian characters are not as simple to define.

When Boys Will Be Girls

2009-11-20T17:49:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the multiple posts, here's a really fascinating article about trans-gendered students that was in the New York Times Magazine last year (accompanied by a series of beautiful portraits.) The article not unlike the Sundance series we watched in class follows the lives of a number of trans-gendered students, but while the television show looks at a range trans-gender students, this article is specifically focuses on FTM trans-students at women's colleges and some of the issues they present (social, emotional and bureaucratic)

Hard Targets: Homoerotiscm and Sports

2009-11-20T17:30:00.006-05:00

Here's some info on the show I brought up in class yesterday. The exhibition, Hard Targets, which was on view earlier this year at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and explored images of masculinity (and homoeroticism) in profession sports. Here's the exhibition statement (courtesy of LACMA) and the picture above (Shaun El C. Leonard's Self Portrait (Promotional) courtesy of the artist), if you're interested there's more information and a wonderful essay by Christopher Bedford here:

Mark Bradford, Harun Farocki, Brian Jungen, Shaun Leonardo, Collier Schorr, and Joe Sola—the six artists included in Contemporary Projects 11: Hard Targets-Masculinity and Sport —all work to revise the time-honored archetype of the male athlete as an aggressive, overtly heterosexual, hyper-competitive, and emotionally remote subject. Instead, they offer opposing views of masculinity and sport, and of the entire theatre of athletic play, including the rituals and accoutrements that surround this intimate, male dominated world. Each examines the way masculinity is characterized and performed in a sporting context, and each suggests the existence of complex systems of desire and identification that accompany the way we view and consume athletes and sporting events

Lesbian and Gay Representations

2009-11-20T14:09:00.005-05:00

I think lesbians have definitely attained a much more prominent position in the media and there is a much wider representation of them. In the past the media was mostly concentrated on portraying “femme” lesbians who were “white, middle class, and more interested in make up and clothes than in feminism” (pg. 595). In Ciasullo’s article she discusses the appearances of two lesbians who appeared on the cover of Newsweek, "although the image on the cover of Newsweek might be characterized as defiant, the fact remains that Etheridge and Cypher are presented as conventionally attractive women, and their attractiveness has the potential to ‘soften’ that defiance for mainstream audiences. The position of the women’s bodies indicate some intimacy, but they do not indicate sexuality. Newsweek was careful to present bodies that are sanitized yet attractive, clean of any homosexual residue” (pg. 586). I think the media has become a lot more liberal in their portrayal of lesbians; for instance on the show, “A shot of Love at Tila Tequila”, (a reality T.V. show where both women and men vie for a shot at love with Tila Tequila, who is bisexual), the lesbian contestants consist of both femmes and butches. Ultimately, a butch lesbian makes it to the final round; she is “manish, but not at all stylish and at the same time she is definitely a woman. [She] fails to fulfill heterosexual ideas about what is attractive and sexually appealing in women” (pg. 600). Furthermore, Tila does engage in sexual contact with the women on the show, including the butch lesbians. Tila and Dani:

However, even though the media has made a huge leap in its representation of homosexuals in the media, it definitely still has its limitations. For instance, Tila ultimately chooses a male over the lesbian in the final round, succumbing to the more conventional form of heterosexual relationships. I’m not sure if she really did like the male contestant more (doubtful), but I think the producers must have told her to pick the male as it might have been too controversial if she picked the female contestant. Furthermore, recently there has been controversy regarding Adam Lambert’s portrayal in the media. In a recent magazine interview he had with Out Magazine, his own publicist actually told the editor of Out magazine not to make the interview come across as too gay, even though Out magazine is specifically catered to a gay audience! Lambert on the cover of Out Magazine:

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

2009-11-19T11:41:00.000-05:00

Here's the entire "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" documentary, about hip hop and representations of masculinity. The video quality isn't so great but it's free! It's also at Bobst / Avery Fisher on DVD.

Transgeneration

2009-11-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

If you liked the doc we watched today, most of it is up in bits and pieces on YouTube. Here's the second part of the episode:

It's also on DVD at Bobst, in Avery Fisher (DVD 4362).

THe Shift in Association

2009-11-19T02:37:00.003-05:00

In both articles, the idea of queerness appears to mean a lot of things. From Queer Nation’s definition of being “politically radical and ‘in-your-face’” to Annamarie Jagose’s definition of “the focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire.” To me, it was hard to follow the two articles because there are many definition of queerness, not to mention what it is: an identity? A political stance? A man? A woman?

However, Doty, in his book, does use the word queerness to relate to “any expression that can be marked as contra-, non-, or anti-straight.” What is interesting to me is his exploration in the shift of how gay men view the (idolized) women in their lives. Throughout history, feminine gay men had idolized women star and Doty refutes that this is because of “envy, jealousy, misogyny, and cruelty” (qtd. in Doty). He asserts that as we moved into the 80s, Madonna becomes a gay icon and she is not like past idolized starlets because she is “not a vulnerable toy.” I don’t want to start any controversy by saying that Lady Gaga is the new Madonna. But I can associate Lady Gaga with the idea that she too is not vulnerable. Furthermore, while Perez Hilton is not really a effeminate gay (well, I guess I have seen photos of him in a dress, does that count?), he is at the forefront of the gay community in his support for Lady Gaga, who he calls his “wifey.” From his blog posts, you can tell that he truly appreciates her work and his invested a lot of his time promoting her (whether out of love or of business opportunities, I don’t know). My point is, he is quite obsessed with her.

Here is a photo of him dressed up as her for Halloween:

Further, Doty expresses that gays are now “directly expressing desire for male images on screen.” This is a shift from previously expressing desire through women stars. Perez Hilton, on his blog, also exemplifies this point. He always write blog posts about the up-and-coming male stars who he deems as “cute” or “hot” and expressing his wish for them to be his “boy toy.” For example, one of his current “boy toy” obsession is Zac Effron.

Perez likes to draw hearts around Zac Effron and pronounces that he is "seksi:"

The Queer King of Liberty City

2009-11-19T01:12:00.002-05:00

I should preface this by saying I know little about video games and even less about the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but still this commercial (which has been in heavy network and cable circulation this fall) struck me as a little odd.

The latest installment of the successful series follows the rise (and fall) of a prominent nightclub owner Anthony Prince better known as "Gay Tony." Despite his overt homosexuality, Tony is widely considered the king of Liberty City, both feared and envied by his competitors and enemies.

From what I have encountered, videogames are rarely progressive and characteristically limited, so this new installment caught me as quite a surprise. Especially GTA, which has been characterized since its inception for its poor representations (beating up hookers, ect.) Given the games controversial history and questionable ethics, I'm not sure what to make of a central character like Gay Tony (for whom the latest game is named.)

Any Thoughts?

Pat(ricia/rick?)

2009-11-19T00:31:00.003-05:00

Just thought of another example...

Remember Pat from SNL?

We never do find out if the adrogynous character of Pat is a boy or a girl or a hermaphrodite or transexual which makes him (her?) a good example of someone who is queer.

The "Lesbian Narrative"

2009-11-19T00:09:00.004-05:00

The chapter "I Love Laverne and Shirley" talked about the existence of a "lesbian narrative", which Doty defines as a "contra-heterosexual, women-bonding narrative" (40). These narratives commonly portray female main characters as strong and loving, while male characters remain in the background or completely nonexistent. Doty attributes the criticism of lesbian narratives to the "patriarchal heterosexual culture", which tends to justify strong women roles by labeling these individuals as lesbians.

While Doty's constructs his analysis using television sitcoms, I found that this argument is relevant in other areas of mass media. It seems that many contemporary lesbian narratives use comedy in order to downplay criticism received from shows such as I Love Lucy. In one example, the film Baby Mama involves two strong female leads. Similar to the sitcoms that Doty analyzes, the movie "finds its happy ending in the work, friendship, and love between two women" (40), which is a key aspect of the lesbian narrative. The "lesbian" jokes in the film seemingly put the viewer at ease as they are simply able to laugh off the tension.

I also believe that Doty's aforementioned theory can be expanded to include public figures. There have been many powerful, smart, and successful women that have been in the public eye that are often depicted as lesbians in the media - Doty himself states that "these misogynistic and homophobic public discursive and media tactics are nothing new, of course" (41). It can be argued that our patriarchal society is threatened by these women who exert these "masculine" qualities, and must therefore justify or inhibit their existence by critiquing them in this way.

Overall, both Doty and Jagose present definitions of "queerness" that go beyond the general use of the term. It will be interesting to see if in the future their inclusive definitions will be accepted by the general population.