Module 15 - Zombie Narratives

I will be analyzing module 12. This module contains the popular culture of zombies. We were assigned to watch one of the earlier movies. I choose to watch the movie king of the zombies, produced in 1941. I will also be dissecting the subject through the lens of race. Although slavery of the African-Americans was outlawed, that does not mean they were culturally accepted immediately. This was displayed in the movie on several occasions. One occasion was when the Mantan Moreland, who played the character Jeff. Jeff and his white associates, seem to be on good terms, but Jeff remains a subordinate as he is their valet. The portrayal of an African-American during the filming of the movie would hold African-Americans to a secondary role. Both actors and the characters that were portrayed would generally be secondary characters. This is affirmed as all of the entire servants of the Dr. Sangre were only of color. Jeff is casted as a comedic relief for the movie, making little jokes and talking about with smart remarks. At one point, Jeff asks to spend the night with his white associates, who were a portrayed as a more prestigious role such as a pilot or a colonel in the military. Even the main evil antagonist was a white actor as well. The portrayal of the servants in the movie shown that they were happy and content with their position in the cultural hierarchy. Not interested in talking back to their master or achieving more. At one point, the slaves notice one of Jeff’s associates was slacked and converted into a zombie. The servants were surprised because they have never seen a white zombie before. This does not seem normal to the servants, but because of the circumstances, the Doctor has to kill one of the associates to prevent further snooping. Eventually, Jeff and his remaining associate manage to escape the island and return to the mainland. Although strides and changes have been made as popular culture constantly changes, a good example of this would be Star Wars. They have successfully casted a minority, as well as a female lead. Despite a few major movies recently, representation of women and minorities in movies are still bleak or unchanged (Bahr, 2017)

CITES

King of Zombies. Jean Yarbrough. Perf. Dick Purcell, Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor. Distributor, Sterling Productions inc. 1941. Film. 
Bahr, Lindsey. "People Want to See More Diversity in Movies, but It's Not Happening Fast Enough." Business Insider. Associated Press, 31 July 2017.Web. 26 Apr. 2018.
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Module 15 - Cultural Hegemony (Module 9)

Domination of one social class or a group in society describes hegemony. As of lately, hegemony has become a strong part of mass media, in the news particularly. For my example of, I chose to write about hegemony and how it is involved with the news. Each news station is viewed as something that is independent or differing from other news stations. What many of the viewers do not realize is that many states require news channels to cover certain parts of the news, and leave other parts out for the sake of the state ultimately controlling what the public knows and does not know, or trying their best to at least. Many stations are required certain topics, and are held accountable if they do not report on the proper things, as the state has the idea that by controlling what the viewers see, naturally they can control what they viewers think about said topics depending on the presentation of those topics. Often times, you may notice something that is portrayed in the news as a positive thing although in your mind you know it isn’t a positive thing, like framing the raising of tax percentage by providing pros to the topic and leaving out the cons, for this topic specifically the con would be ultimately needing to pay more in taxes, which is more money coming out of the tax payers pocket at the end of the day to go towards doing something that may not necessarily benefit all tax payers. By using the framing technique, media often controls the crowd by making an idea or thought seem ideal to the viewer when in actuality it is affecting them more than helping them.  

 

Where is the love? - Module 14

For this post, I chose to write about Where is the Love? by The Black Eyed Peas. Where Is the Love? has a viewpoint from a Pacifist prospective. I appreciate this song as it is an anti war / violence song. Throughout the song, there are many different issues discussed including but not limited to US government, terrorism, war, racism, greed, and intolerance. I chose to write about this song as it was the first song that came to mind when trying to think of a song to write about for this post. This song talks about issues in society such as the negative effect that the media can play on society:

"Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema"

This line leads to believe that the youth are effected the most from things they see in the media as it portrays ideas as to things they believe are right and just, and things that they should be doing. The song also makes references to racism:

"But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah"

This song was written post war time, and makes references to hate, race and discrimination. Although this song has a strong representation of anti - war, I chose to write about it as it has main focal points about society and the effects that negative situations such as war can have on a culture.

Starcraft 2 Fandom - Article Analysis

Huang, Jeff, et al. "Master Maker: Understanding Gaming Skill through Practice and Habit from Gameplay Behavior." Topics in Cognitive Science, vol. 9, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 437-466. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/tops.12251.

Starcraft 2 is described by Huang as a fast-paced strategy game where players armies fight each other.(Huang 438). Huang also mentions the game is played competitively and there are numerous factors affecting players and their ability to play at their highest level, such as tactics, and reaction time. (Huang 438). A real time strategy game usually consists of a player, being able to both build a strong economy as well as the ability to maintain an army while attacking or harassing the enemy player at the same time. A strong economy or a strong army both have to be maintained as well, even if the player is being attacked. This requires the player to be able to think quickly and react otherwise the damage dealt to their economy or army might prove too damaging to recover from and may cost the game. Huang mentions that StarCraft 2 data have been studied to identify which characteristics explain a player’s skill level (Thompson, Blair, Chen, & Henrey, 2013). The study mentions the "perception-action cycle" and APM (actions per minute). Christine Byrd describes perception-action cycle as "Humans learn through this same basic process throughout life -- not by being told, but by doing. We’re hardwired to learn by interacting with the world around us and then perceiving the results. Neuroscientists call this simple yet powerful system the perception-action cycle."(Mindresearch.org). APM or actions per minute is the key presses or mouse clicks per minute. Professional gamers can be seen pressing up to 200 keys per minute or more (Huang 452). This is very true because real time strategy games are generally very stressful. It is difficult to multitask and even considered impossible. But with constant practice of the perception-action cycle and being able to think under tremendous stress or grief while maintaining a high amount of actions per minute, you are able to wage war while maintaining a strong economy to support your troops. Huang describes expert players being better at remaining composed and sustaining group battles. (Huang 464). I agree with this because the player is under tremendous stress while trying to be successful in both an economic war and a military war. This game is played both casually and competitively by millions while holding the spotlight in the e-leagues of gaming championships where tens of thousands of fans attend to watch. A major attraction for fans are the more known Blizzcon in California which holds the WCS (World Championship Series) for Starcraft 2. It is a global event where players from Korea to Canada to the US all attend to play for a chance to win the prize pool, which can range anywhere from $100,000 to even $700,000. (Esportearnings.com)

Huang, Jeff, et al. "Master Maker: Understanding Gaming Skill through Practice and Habit from Gameplay Behavior." Topics in Cognitive Science, vol. 9, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 437-466. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/tops.12251.

Byrd, Christine. "What the Perception-action Cycle Tells Us About How the Brain Learns."MIND Research Institute Blog. N.p., 13 June 2017. Web. 22 Apr. 2018.

"StarCraft II Prize Pools & Top Players - ESports Profile :: E-Sports Earnings." Prize Pools & Top Players - ESports Profile :: E-Sports Earnings. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2018.

Wichita and Little Rock

For this week’s assignment, I chose to watch Zombieland. Zombieland came out in 2009 and is based around a group of strangers who survive a virus outbreak that turns everyone else into zombies. Throughout the film, these strangers must do what they can to survive from the zombies. Using survival rules and killing strategies, the group does what they can to make their way to Los Angeles, the safe haven from murderous, brain eating zombies. For this post, I will focus mainly on feminism. The movie opens up with the two girls, Wichita and Little Rock pulling a stunt on a worker at a gas station. From this point, the girls are showing that they protect each other’s back. Further into the movie, the two play a trick on the male protagonist lead acts, convincing them to hand over their gun and ultimately their “power”. This stunt shows that the girls are not damsels in distress, but rather two women that aren’t afraid to do what is absolutely necessary when they need to be ruthless.  

Ripley's Believe it or Not!

Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Issue No.1 September, 1953

The first story is about a vision a ship captain had that ended up saving two ships from being shipwrecked. Then there are ‘unbelievable’ facts and optical illusions. The second story is about a boy who won a chess game and requested mercy instead of monetary gain, who turned out to be Thomas Paine. Then there is a spread about the mystery and wonder of Africa and different tribes. The third and final story is about a ship during the war that got bombed by their own bomb. 

In the spread “Africa Explored”, Ripley’s Believe it or Not! was respectful, for the most part in 1953, of their portrayal of Africans. They didn’t use blackface, to depict them and provided amazing examples of their different cultures. As opposed to how African Americans were portrayed as goofy and lacking actual culture. The Africans were shown as individuals within a community rather a laughingstock or influenced by white people. However, throughout the comic, there were no other depictions of Africans or African Americans at all. This was reminiscent of the notion that black people were not necessarily a relatable people that were to be included, rather only through study, should they be acknowledged. Given that the comic was published in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, the race relations between African Americans and whites was tried anyway. But the comic reinforced the association of African Americans being from these foreign places and not actually a part of American society.  

Comic: https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=11931&page=1

Image: https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=11931&page=2

Cowboy Vigilantes

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=16967

After reading and reviews Four Favorites 001 by Ace Comics, I can tie it in with a few different learning modules from this semester. Four Favorites Comics focus on superhero’s as the main characters. Consistently solving crimes and fighting bad guys, the superhero’s portrayed in each comic differ in ways, but ultimately push the same idea. In some cases, the superhero’s could be portrayed as cowboys. These superhero’s do different things to fight bad guys in a way that may not be looked at as right or safe, but do what they can to protect civilians and themselves. While they are referred to as superhero’s, not all cowboys wear cowboy hats. In this case, some may wear capes. The idea of a superhero’s such as Batman in modern day comics / movies brings the idea of a vigilante or “cowboy” in reference with superhero’s in general. Someone who does what’s necessary at all costs to protect something or someone, regardless of rules and regulations. 

roy rogers and trigger comics #99

https://archive.org/details/RoyRogersAndTriggerComics99


In this comic we see deputies roy rogers and Pat Brady attempting to catch thieves who are stealing meat from local farmers. Roy Rogers and Pat get in to a shootout with the criminals and the criminals fell. After they use their dog to track the criminals down and end up apprehending them and bringing them to jail. To me this comic was most similar to our section on cowboys and westerns. Roy rogers and his partner are portrayed as two white men bringing justice to a town through any means necessary whether it is killing or arresting the criminals. It plays in to the idea of the cowboy and how they were seen as bringing justice to unlawful places, these two men apprehend the criminals and "save the day'  through their use of violence to catch and apprehend the criminals.

Module 11 - Comics blogs

Phantom Lady Feminist Viewpoint

The blogpost i will be writing about this week is about the "Phantom Lady" series, #23. Produced in April of 1949. The link will be provided at the end of the blog itself. In this comic, the senator is traveling to India. The people there worship tigers, that is all they know. The senator is mislead by a spy to lure him to a trap while they organize to steal oil from the "Tiger people". Unfortunately, the senator and his son both get caught and the phantom lady has to save the day. She eventually free's the two and goes back to the "Tiger People" and convince them to stop praying to the tigers and fight the invaders, which they do and repel the invaders. From a feminist viewpoint, i personally feel the fact that they have a heroin with her own comic during the time period a strong step forward as there aren't many female heroes period. Most often, female characters in comics are sidekicks or the wives or part of the "Ms. Pacman" culture. Where the females are essentially the female versions of the male super hero, such as Batman and Batgirl, or Superman and Supergirl. Unfortunately, the portrayal of the Phantom Lady could be better. She goes into battle with a skimpy top showing maximum cleavage and a super short skirt. This could be possible that this is apart of her super powers and that she can go into battle dressed in practically nothing and still come out unscathed. Another thing is the front page of the comic, which shows her bound against her will and once again, at maximum cleavage. This also shows the "male gaze" where a man would stare at a woman. This is important as many argue that it objectifies women. Andy from the conservationist mentions "The “male gaze” invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women. In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire."(Theconversation.com). This also shows the typical damsel in distress on how so many women are portrayed in every aspect of entertainment. Once again, attempting to make sales or better entertainment at the expense of womens' suffering.

CITES

Phantom Lady :23 1949 = http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=12188

Loreck, Janice, and Andy Simmons. "Explainer: What Does the 'male Gaze' Mean, and What about a Female Gaze?" The Conversation. N.p., 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 08 Apr. 2018.

http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486

Postmodernism

The video is about how the television show The Office illustrates postmodernism. Starting with a brief history about the documentary genre of film and how “mockumentaries” are a rearticulation, via the single camera filming, the talking head interviews, and a general concept that a real story is being told. “Mockumentaries" take the idea of a documentary and puts an ironic and humorous spin on the style. They are hyperaware of the confines of documentaries and contain intertextual references of other popular culture, which is characteristic of postmodernism. The hyperawareness produces conditions of an ironic knowingness with the audience as viewers notice and recognize the references  within the show’s world. Postmodernism is portrayed through the show’s website, which is a commodification of the show. There is relentless commodification on the website, including character blogs, music videos, pictures, games, an episode guide and more content that adds to the complexity of the show. There is even a fake website for the company that is not just realistic, but it is regularly updated to keep up with character development on the show. Different things on the website in relation to watching the show, allows for niche interests to be met. The Office embodies postmodernism with intertextual popular culture references, mockumentary style, and the large range of media related to the show on it’s website.

The idea that postmodernism being the simultaneity of competing forms of rearticulation - the already said is being constantly recirculated in different perspectives, made me think of attending AfroPunk this past summer. From their Facebook, "AFROPUNK is an influential community of young, gifted people of all backgrounds who speak through music, art, film, comedy, fashion and more. Originating with the 2003 documentary that highlighted a Black presence in the American punk scene, it is a platform for the alternative and experimental. Remaining at the core of its mission are the punk principles of DIY aesthetics, radical thought and social non-conformity. AFROPUNK is a voice for the unwritten, unwelcome and unheard-of." AfroPunk is a music festival, at its core, but it celebrates blackness as a culture. The website for the event is based by a blog featuring different posts about artists, musicians, authors, notable events, and more. The Instagram has pictures of attendees, showcasing their fashion, art, and self-expression. It also has the festival's lineups for the different locations in Paris, Atlanta, Brooklyn, London, and Johannesburg. There is also an App, a Twitter, and a YouTube. All with the same information, for the most part. Each social media platform offers interaction surrounding the event and its ideals. The redundancy in content is postmodernism and the identity taken on is gained from the exposure to this part of popular culture

POSTMODERNISM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjcrdBvGNqw&index=4&t=0s&list=PL8YtsooGljrlPkr7Ija54C6TtpCElse9j

I chose to use the video “Postmodernism in Advertising Explained” to write my post about. This video goes in depth about how postmodernism is shown in modern day advertisements, with two prime examples. The video refers to two advertisements, one for mend cologne, and another for clothing. In both, the symbol being portrayed is unclear to the viewer if they are unaware of what the advertisement is for. In other words, the cologne advertisement could be a reference to many different things, as it features tan well toned men covered in oil feeding grapes to each other. Is this a grape ad? Is this a gym ad? Upon first glance it is very unclear as to how the advertisement is trying to capture the viewer’s attention. An example I found in a similar situation is an advertisement I found for Levis jeans. Although there are jeans in the photo, it is very confusing as the person holding the jeans is a mermaid. In other words, someone who does not necessarily wear jeans (the mermaid) is promoting a pair of pants. In my opinion, this is to attract viewers in an effort that is different than other jean companies. People who appeal to the idea of mermaids may buy the jeans as they correlate the jeans and the mermaid in their mind. Although this attracts the viewers as it is different than “normal”, it’s still a weird approach when there are so many different advertisements constantly appearing in places we look on a day to day basis such as social media, the news, search engines, emails, promotional mail and so on.

Postmodernism video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjcrdBvGNqw&list=PL8YtsooGljrlPkr7Ija54C6TtpCElse9j&t=0s&index=4


In the YouTube video "Postmodernism in Advertising Explained," postmodernism is defined as "The state society is in now." This video explains how postmodernism is tied into advertisements such as Dolce and Gabbana or Chanel advertisements. While these companies try to portray a certain modern age by selling products or services, customers are left confused by what the company is actually selling or producing. Some of these companies have unclear advertisements which is why advertising as a whole is highly related to postmodernism.  In many ways this relates to the current modern age where digital advertising and social media throw so many advertisements and promotions at consumer that it is very difficult for us to digest all of them. This leads to uncertainty and ambiguity and only promotes more confusion among consumers. Although this type of advertising may be making us more efficient because we learn how to digest the information faster it does not necessarily lead to us learning more about the products or services being offered.

Module 9 - Hegemony

Cultural hegemony refers to the power that a specific person or thing holds in social institutions. By having this strong representation in culture, hegemony tends to rule the culture, by first holding a strong spot in culture and then spreading it throughout the culture. An example of cultural hegemony I would like to use is the strong representation that fast food/ franchises hold in the world. Similar to the video “Cultural Hegemony” it is defined as something that has a dominant society, with something made up of that society such as people and places, with something added that may be considered radical/ dangerous. In my example, fast food franchises would be the radical or dangerous aspect of cultural hegemony being added to the dominant society, weakening it. The changes that fast food can have an effect on would be making people reliant on quick service fast food options, often not being the healthiest of options to consume but rather the more convenient option. Rather than spending time shopping for ingredients and preparing dishes to eat, the convenience of stopping somewhere where you can have food prepared for you in a quick way and delivered to your finger tips makes it easier for the consumer, often times adding to the laziness of the average American. Similar to the effect that having a smartphone (computer) attached to your hand at all times while you’re awake, it makes the consumer reliant on something which would cause mass confusion if it were to be pulled from the consumers. 

Hegemony and Modeling

With the 20+ cycles of America’s Next Top Model promoting different and culturally inappropriate bodies through the scope of super modeling, the idea of cultural hegemony is prevalent within the culture of modeling. Today’s models are almost always white, thin, and generally under 30. The public’s call to change these statistics is barely acknowledged, with hopes for a better future In Fall 2016, less than 25% of all models attending Fashion Week were people of color. There were designers that didn’t even feature any models of color at all. Body diversity was even rarer at Fashion Week. Out of all of the shows in New York, Paris, Milan, and London, there were only six plus models in Fall 2016. Moreover, of the six plus sized models, not one was over a size 12. As far as age, only eleven models were maturely aged, meaning they were over 40 years old.

To battle these kinds of facts, Tyra Banks and America’s Next Top Model have had cycles where they opened casting to plus sized models and waived the age restriction (which was 27 years old) to be more diverse and open. The show has produced 9 non-white winners out of 22 cycles. None of which that are plus sized or over 40. But there was a white, plus sized winner and a single contestant that was 42, who placed 6th overall.

Taking all of that into consideration. The show’s success and diversity have had some type of impact on the fashion model industry. But only minimally. Many of the designers at Fashion Week that chose to be inclusive, did it minimally, which doesn’t necessarily do anything about the bigger picture of people of color, plus sized, and older being underrepresented in the fashion world. Since opening the castings in cycle 3, there have only been 6 plus size models on the show. So with insignificant attempts on a show that is supposed to promote diversity in the modeling world, the fashion world has responded with a slight nod, not really changing anything.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/685109-runway-diversity-report-fall-2016/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/fashion/americas-next-top-model-deconstructed.html

Photo: https://www.buzzfeed.com/norawhelan/theres-more-than-one-plus-size-model?utm_term=.qb6VzgyA79#.eflr1z3GDW

Gun Control - Hegemony

Although Im not quite sure the debate over gun control and gun laws can be defined as popular culture, in the past years it has clearly made it's way in to the spotlight and most recently after the school shooting in Florida it has become a huge topic of debate. Now it's difficult for me to distinguish dominant and subculture with this one. To me the dominant culture is people who are against gun control laws (although the media will never make it seem that way). The recent March for Our Lives movement comes very much in conflict with basic American ideas and even the ideas set forth in the constitution allowing Americans to own guns. The NRA has become a focal point of the pro gun movement and everyone is quick to place blame on them for mass shootings claiming that they are responsible. However in my opinion it is difficult to place this blame on a single group or organization that doesn't even sell firearms. This current March for our Lives movement has come in to severe conflict with people who support the second amendment, the NRA, and people who advocate gun rights in general. However although they are getting their voice heard, I do not believe they will be able to make the significant change they hope for. Calling for gun control in American where part of our culture is having the rights to own weapons is a very difficult hill to climb. The are essential calling for our rights a citizens to have guns to be taken away due to these school shootings. While I think something needs to be done in regards to the mass shootings and killings that are taking place I do not believe this is the correct way to do it. Creating significant change and more gun control is effectively taking away some of our rights as Americans which is why i believe this significant change they are pushing for will not occur.

Module 5: Eminem

        Eminem is an individual who has been breaking racial stereotypes his entire career. For almost two decades now, he has created such a difference in rap culture. Rap culture being predominantly black, it was unheard of to have such a successful white rapper in the rap game. At the start of his career, Eminem was an underground rapper who was ridiculed by black people and called "rabbit". Black people called him "rabbit" because he was white and all primary public bunny figures were white rabbits such as the Easter Bunny and Peter Cotton Tail. Another stereotype this comment "rabbit" contributes to is that Eminem could be considered a white feminine man because it is a stereotype that white men in the rap game are more feminine.

   

      He has mentioned numerous times in his songs the struggle of being or becoming a rapper as a white man in the industry. For example, in his song "Without Me" he states, 

Though I'm not the first king of controversy

I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley

To do black music so selfishly

And use it to get myself wealthy

Hey, there's a concept that works

Twenty million other white rappers emerge

But no matter how many fish in the sea

It will be so empty without me

These lyrics show how others used to or might still see him as using black music to make money. Similarly, as referenced in the lyrics, Elvis Presley's hit song "Hound Dog" was originally sung by a black woman. Both Elvis and Eminem used black music to further their career. Eminem despite the criticism he received, continued to write and perform music, and above all break the stereotype that only black people are able to be successful rap performers. No matter the criticism he received/receives, he's always been very favorable in his craft and is a bestselling artist. 

Starbucks

Coffee is something that people worldwide consume. While Dunkin Donuts is a crowd favorite in New England, Starbucks is a crowd favorite worldwide. The Starbucks logo is a familiar coffee symbol. the green and white logo represents a familiar expensive cost/ taste associated coffee brand. Similar to that of the trendy Whole Foods Market shopper, often times customers will ask for a bag from Whole Foods Market with the large logo to signify that they have the money to shop at a high end, expensive grocery store. Many customers go to Starbucks not necessarily because they are fans of the coffee itself, but the image that carrying the Starbucks cup gives them as being trendy. The signifier for Starbucks would be coffee, and the signified can be explained as cool, trendy, and taste that comes along with the purchase of a Starbucks coffee. While the logo symbolizes the company, its also a reminder, or a symbol known in modern day society as “coffee”. When looking at this symbol, many don’t think “Starbucks” necessarily, but the caffeinated beverage they will be purchasing there. Starbucks is looked at quite often as superior to competitor coffee shops. Part of the reason for this, is amongst social media platforms as well as in public, we see celebrities drinking out of the Starbucks cup setting a trend. Similar to products like Apple, it’s more of a name or brand recognition rather than a quality thing. Although Starbucks is considered to be one of the leading coffee names, it’s interesting to see that they don’t seem to have a strong presence in ads or commercials. By becoming available to people throughout the world, rather than just one country, Starbucks is building their branding, the myth that Starbucks is the best of the best coffee. Over the years, the logo hasn’t changed much at all, which helps to keep the name and the brand recognizable throughout many different cultures.

McDonald's Worldwide

This week, I chose the the McDonald’s “M”, known as the golden arches, for my sign. It is signified by two yellow arches in the shape of an “M”. It signifies McDonalds, the fast food restaurant, the drive through, hamburgers, fries, and broken ice cream machines. The myth surrounding McDonald’s is immense. At the surface, it is seen as fast food, fulfillment, happiness, nostalgia, and satisfaction. Deeper, it is seen as a revolution for the way McDonald’s expanded their business all over the world. Due to its universal appearance and consistency in product, the golden arches are an example of the importance of assigning a brand to a specific logo. It creates thoughts that tie directly to the product and symbolize the globalization of the brand. 

I found it most interesting that the symbol has changed through the years. To me (and most of the world) the golden arches will always be recognizable, but there has been many changes, additions, and subtractions to the arches since their unveiling in 1968. I think the evolution of the arches is a little way for the brand to say ‘hey we’re still at the top’. There isn’t a need for change, as McDonald’s is and always will be the leader in global fast food.

 

https://www.wisdells.com/member-media/rest/mcdonalds_01.jpg

Semiology - Apple Logo

The Apple logo is something that is recognized worldwide. It's a very simple logo just an apple with a bit taken out of it but it represents much more than just that. The signification is Apple as a company, it represents them as a company but also all of their products and services. The signifier is the picture of the apple with a bite taken out of it.  The signified is apple as a forward thinking company and leader in technological innovation. Apple is thought of as the premium provider of laptops, tablets, and cellphones. Although there is not a huge amount of different between their products and other companies their products are still seen as superior to other PC's. This is also part of the myth surrounding apple - that their products, software, and services are premium quality and that why consumers are willing to spend so much more for iPhones and apple computers compared to other laptops and phones. It's interesting how Apple has always had a sort of mystique surrounding their products and services. Since their first computers and cellphones they have always been thought of as superior to their competitors and because of this, able to charge much more for their products.

Music (Week 7)

Music

This week I decided to look at music as an example of the culture industry and the way it has developed over time. There is definitely an abundance of music in all different forms. There are also a few ways to interpret the word “form” here. Form could be used to describe all of the different genres, or it could be used to describe all of the different ways there are to listen to music. The way people listen to music has developed over time. It began just being live, moved to record players, radio, cassette tapes, CDs, and now with the internet, streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. 

It continues, year after year, to produce new versions of itself. Genres evolve, and the technology to access music evolves. Music can definitely be considered a distraction from real world change. A lot of music does not talk about the news and things going on in the world, which is good because it acts as an escape from the news and the drama it brings.

I think music is something that will definitely continue to evolve and that’s why it stays so relevant as a part of the culture industry. It keeps people invested into pop culture, and there are ways for people to experience in whatever way they like.

Fashion

Fashion is something in modern day society that is changing frequently, almost never staying the same for longer than a few months time. In popular culture, fashion refers to terms like purchase of clothing, marketing, changes in production, and more. Fashion is constantly evolving, as it is a competitive business. Throughout fashion, strong celebrity names hold a strong presence in not only the fashion world, but popular culture in general. Fashion role models such as Jay Z have progressed the world of fashion throughout his career, often times being noted for the way he dressed.
Fashion can show up in different parts of society, from boutiques to runways, in clothing shops as well as on the streets. Continuously producing new versions of itself throughout different channels, fashion is a competitive business between designers, often times fighting for the most popular celebrities to "promote" their styles and fashions to society. By doing this, designers are marketing their products, to go along with and follow a certain type of consumer fashion style that is currently popular. By having a specific type of fashion, designers and brands often times grow their follower base, cementing people in society to specific cultures. Often times, designers and big name clothing brands will use a point person, or marketer such as professional athletes to promote their products, most of the time being able to control what current fashion statements are considered popular or "in" at the moment. Fashion plays a big part of popular culture as it is something that will always play a role in society, and it is constantly evolving. By constantly evolving, and becoming "better", fashion creates a self - perpetuating reinvestment aspect within popular culture.

Baseball bats

          In this post I will be discussing baseball bats. I played baseball almost my whole life, and one thing that immediately stood out to me in this section was how it almost perfectly applies to the production and use of baseball bats.  Over the years undoubtedly production methods have made baseball bats better. They’re more comfortable, have larger “sweet spots," and higher exit velocities than previous generations. However year to year all companies continually produce newer versions of the same bat from the previous year with little to no difference among performance. They may have different color schemes, different names, possibly even a different weight distribution throughout the bat but otherwise they are all relatively the same thing. To me this is especially true since baseball leagues now have to stick to a BBCOR standard for all bats. This is meant to level the playing field between hitters and pitchers and make metal or composite bats more comparable to wooden ones. This also had an effect on decreasing exit velocity as well as making sure if bats did break they would not splinter and hurt any players. However although these bats are fairly similar hitters always have a certain type of bat they feel more comfortable with or “hit better” with. If a hitter uses an Easton Stealth bat for a year and has the best year of his career hitting, then he will undoubtedly keep using that bat, regardless of whether the bat made any difference or not. Eventually however baseball bats do wear out, and after they do you can be sure there will be a newer model of the same bat that somehow improved upon the last one in some way that companies are able to market it as better. We can spend all the time we want looking through bats, other peoples opinions on them, whether to use a two piece or one piece bat. In the end however the amount of work put in by the player will have a much greater effect on his performance than the bat ever will.

Apple Products

On the subject of Apple products there aren’t too many choices or variations of the Apple brand. Of course there are the basics iMac, Macbook, and iPhone, but their only real branch off of these products are the Apple Watch and the iPad / iPod. Within these products each model is almost identical to the last, with the exception of the first generations. The only real difference, however, between the first gens and now is the size and materials they are made out of. Other than that they are basically the same thing. Not to mention it used to be years between new models or generations or upgrades, whatever you would like to call them, but now it seems like every 6-9 months there is a new and “improved” version. Having been around since 1977, with the Apple I, Apple has been keeping a select group of people in the “know” with their versions of computing. Compared to PC, Apple has a huge disadvantage when it comes to computers, but is one of the top companies for cellular devices and tablets. Unfortunately it is because of the constant production of newer models that people tend to be more worried about being the first one in line then they are to know what is going around them. For example on September 25, 2015 Volkswagen had taken on Matthias Mueller, former head of Porsche, in order to get them out of the emissions-test cheating scandal. This scandal involved over 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide giving off false emission readings to falsify the tests and ensure that Volkswagen would be rated number one in emissions-testing. This obviously backfired (no pun intended) and was hidden in the shadows of the release of the iPhone 6S Plus. There are countless historical happenings or even just regular local news that people have missed out on because they were waiting in line for a phone. However, with every new Apple product that hits the market, people become more entranced with their social medias, music, photos, or whatever else they are in to, because Apple has a knack for making their products geared toward a specific audience. 

Click this link if interested in more events that happened during the release of the iPhone 6S Plus:

http://theweek.com/10things/575011/10-things-need-know-today-september-25-2015

Click this link to see the “differences” between models of iPhones:

https://www.lifewire.com/compare-iphone-models-1999430

Culture Industry and Sneakers

Culture industry is a theory that an industry is jeopardizing culture and society. If you look at sneakers, there are only a handful of big brand names, but almost every shoe brand has tried an athletic shoe design. In this case, the price isn’t necessarily as important as the product, but it does play a factor when comparing between social classes. Those in the lower class will save up, borrow, or steal to get the latest pair of sneakers, just to have them. The average price of Nike Air Max sneakers, for example, is about $150. If you have the means to afford spending $150 every week or so on shoes you are going to wear once in a while, fine. But if you don’t have the money, it puts a strain on your other responsibilities and things you need to pay for. 

As far as design, while there are different color combinations and ‘uses’ for the shoes, they’re ultimately all of the same thing. There aren’t many professional runners in the world, but there are hundreds of people that have multiple pairs of seemingly different running shoes. Also, this culture industry cements people to their popular culture. People that collect sneakers often have no real use for them and they collect because its cool and something to do. It doesn’t take them out of their element or open their eyes that these shoes are often made in third-world countries where people are being exploited for their work and are usually not making livable wages to produce these shoes. This has to do with the exchange value being off. The cost of production is less than what the product is worth. Therefore, it brings looking at the sneakers as ‘what can they be sold for?’ over ‘how much are they worth?’ 

In March, there over 30 different Nike designs being released. There is a shoe for every day, with a few to spare. The different designs create a self-perpetuating reinvestment in the culture because in order to support your favorite basketball player, you need to buy his shoes. But you can’t wear them because they won’t look good for long, so you at least need another pair to wear everyday. 

These ideas and actions are the enslavement in capitalism. Within the culture, there is a false sense of need made up, consumers are willing to overlook their true needs to fulfill their false needs, as the false needs are met new forms of false needs are made, the purchase power makes people believe they are buying happiness, the consumption further enslaves them because they cannot fulfill their true needs with the way capitalism works. So there is a constant reinvestment in capitalism because as long as people will keep buying new sneakers, they’ll keep making them.

Industry culture - shoes

Industry culture - shoes

SHOES ! We all have a pair, even more than a single pair. Individuals have several at a time, and this can be considered normal. We all have shoes, whether if it’s for walking, or running, or working, and so on. I myself have my normal walking shoes, a pair of steel toed shoes for work, a pair of winter boots, and finally a running pair. My wife has more shoes than I’d like to mention, I can’t necessarily say they all have a purpose. Shoes are always improving, whether if it’s the material they are made with, or their intended purpose. This can include shoes or boots for sports or rock climbing, or hiking and so on. We always seem to need a pair of shoes for specific events. This also creates its own subculture within the shoe culture, as I mentioned things such as sports or outdoor enthusiasts. We are even told we need a new pair of shoes at about every six months. We even have shoes for the elite culture too. Although some would argue the release of Jordan’s are not necessarily for elites but at a price tag of $400+ for a pair of limited editions, I could not afford this. Everyone seems to need to have them though, whether if it’s for collecting or wearing. Our popular culture loves shoes as for the most part, we can all afford a pair, and we all usually have more than one. Some even light up, which appeals to the younger generations in our shoe culture but whose to say it’s limited to them. We are always feed the idea that we need shoes for just about everything, and surprisingly we do own several pairs. We just do not think about it too much because this is considered normal in our culture at this point. 

We are forced fed by culture industry that we need the latest and greatest. For the most part, we willfully give up our hard earned money just to keep up with the industry as it’s always changing. These changes can be compared to the iPhone. As in Lance Eaton’s blog for this learning module, he mentions the changes between different generations of iPhones are all superficial for the most part, while functionality remains the same. The changes between all the new shows as well can be considered superficial as well. Most of these new releases, between shoes or iPhones are part of the culture industry, as capitalism and telling us we need this new product. Whether if we do need it or not. Once again, this can go hand in hand with all the other subcultures releases within the culture industry as well. As I mentioned previously about the ridiculously expensive Jordan’s that individuals collect. Not necessarily to wear but just to collect it due to the rarity of the shoe, even though it’s production costs are at the expense of sweatshops across the world. We as culture industry are willing to exploit others to have the latest and greatest because we are told we need it or we will not up to societies’ standards. Another point is that if everyone else has it, you should too. This gives the false impression that you need to spend all your money just to keep up with the constant culture industry, even in 4 weeks, another pair of shoes will be released that you suddenly need. Even though you have survived just fine with your current pair. 

feministfrequency

 

In this video the 'feministfrequency' analyzes the hunger games and the roll of Jennifer Lawrence and how she is portrayed in the book and movie. She explains how Catniss is a strong smart responsible young women. feministfrequency explains how Katniss is not "reduced to her gender" and is not sexualized nor objectified in the book. She focuses on how Katniss is a strong female and breaking hollywoods stereotypes of women, saying she holds "many feminists values."

After watching this video it definitely opened my eyes. Feministfrequency made me aware that hollywood typically does sexualize women and reduce them to their gender. When she said "reduced to her gender" it showed me that a lot of movies do this and strip a lot of women's characters down to stereotypes about them. I agree with her in some of these areas but I also think she can be over analyzing in other areas. I think all throughout Hollywood there are stereotypes even within men. This video definitely made me more aware that all movies have characteristics like this which embellish certain stereotypes to get points across.

Module 6 - Hunger Games

This video comes out approaching the way women's sexuality is displayed in the film, The Hunger Games. Contrary to other female lead movies, this film approaches women and the way their sexuality is displayed extremely well. She also points out that Katniss is not symbolized as a female sex symbol, but rather, a leader. Like mentioned in this video, the female lead is actually displayed very respectfully, not extremely sexually like other female lead movies. While sexuality seems to be the main focus of this video, I did notice that she talked a lot about the limitations of race, ethnicity, and skin tone for the female lead role, which also ties to this weeks learning. the role calls for a woman with dark hair and olive skin, but the casting call strictly asked for Caucasian females. In comparison to the book, the film does a great job of showing compassion with the lead role, as it comes off much stronger in the movie than it does in the book.

Module 6

In the videos Tropes vs Women in Video Games by Feminist Frequency the discussion of females being reduced to nothing more than an object for the plot of the game is the main theme of these videos. Talking about how almost every video game involves a “damsel in distress” and where it all began. Beginning with the story of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from a gnarly sea monster and how it slowly became a very frequent retelling throughout various pop culture characters. These types of character development or lack there of in this case has become a bit of a cliche being used over and over in various video games. There are hundreds of different comparisons throughout these videos as to how female characters are belittled or reduced to a mere prop or plot device. I feel this is something I never would have thought about had it not been for taking this course. It truly was amazing to find out how often this formula for a damsel in distress is used or slightly changed from game to game. I think that this was more eye opening that I was expecting and would highly recommend watching any or all three of the videos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toa_vH6xGqs&index=2&list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjImnqH_KwM&index=3&list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61

Module 6 - Resident Evil

This post is going to discuss a popular movie series as well as video game, and comic series.For this post I'll be talking primarily about the movies as the story lines for each do differ somewhat. The main character Alice plays a different role than typically seen from women in modern day movies. The movie series centers around a deadly virus sweeping across the globe turning people in to the "undead" or zombies who quickly bite or eat people, either turning them in to more zombies or killing them. Alice is humanities last hope, she was created by the Umbrella Corporation, the same corporation responsible for the deadly virus that was killing people. However when exposed to the virus she did not turn but instead it changed her it to a lethal killer. We see her take on the protective role for the people she is with and she is the one tasked with saving humanity from the virus as well as the plans of the evil corporation. This portrayal of a woman being humanities last hope and savior while also being the protector is something that is not seen as often. Typically movies such as superhero movies or movies such as Taken or 007 feature men who's job is being the hero. However in this movie we see Alice being the only one who is able to take on the threat facing humanity and save the human race from the virus killing everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfby7XwoBl0

Module 6 - Feminist Frequency

Feminist Frequency - "Glee, GQ and the Sexualization of Young Girls"

I chose to watch this video because I watched Glee throughout middle school and high school, so I was most intrigued by it. In this video, the woman is discussing a cover of GQ featuring some characters of Glee. The actresses on the cover and throughout the spread are seen in a school setting, wearing little clothing, and basically portraying the "school girl" fantasy. The woman, Anita, talks about how in the show Glee the females are portrayed as high school students so it is inappropriate to have them displayed as sex symbols. 

I don't think this video really influenced my thinking a lot. The topic of the sexualization of women has been very prominent lately and I already have my own opinions on the topic. I absorbed her opinions and I can definitely see where she's coming from, but I also see the other side of the argument. These actors and actresses are not their Glee characters outside of the show. They are adults and if they do not think it is inappropriate to do this photo shoot, that's their right. If the actresses are not uncomfortable and do not feel sexualized, then they should be free to do what they want.

Succubus and Incubus

Succubus and Incubus

This blogpost will be covering Tropes vs Women and specifically "The Evil Demon Seductress" made by Feminist Frequency. While I do agree that when not properly told and given development these types of characters can be flat and mostly for eye candy see the shapeshifter Decepticon Anita mentions. My biggest problem is an overlooked fact by Anita in researching the origins of these types of character she cites an 1886 scientist named Leland Ossian Howard for the as one of the roots for this trope. When in fact besides the nickname Preying Mantis it was already an established type of character by this point one such character who are the origin of the main name for this trope are the demon types, Succubus and Incubus. The most popular of the Succubus and Incubus are Lilith and Satan themselves though for simplicities sake the basic concept is that the Succubus would seduce human men to acquire semen to be given to the Incubus to impregnate human woman to create more demons.

The Evil Demon Seductress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VeCjm1UO4M&t=0s&index=4&list=PLBBDFEC9F5893C4AF

Module 6 - Tropes vs Women in Video games

Tropes vs Women in Video Games

I am writing this weeks blogpost about women in video games. A good source of my information will be coming from personal experience in the digital world. Most of these points i am going to bring up, will more than likely seem normal to most of us. I admit it, it did not seem too sexist or misogynistic until the points by Tropes, from feministfrequency on YouTube mentioned it to me. This does not mean she is creating an issue out of nothing, but more-so bringing it to light or our attention. She has an entire YouTube playlist and it would too overwhelming to write about the entire channel. One of our reading/watching assignments this week is Tropes mentioned the Ms. Male Character. How creators or developers of video games, would make a female counter-part of the male identity. Ms. Pacman was used as a good example, as Ms. Pacman was one of the first icons in this Ms. Male identity. How a simple pink bow was used to identify Ms. Pacman was a female. Nothing in of itself of the bow, or the color pink is considered feminine, but because of our society's culture, it fit the stereotype that almost anything wearing a bow or pink would be considered feminine. Another is Damsels in distress, where female characters always need to be saved by a strong male. Not necessarily locked to video games only, but also in movies and books and so on. Without trying to sound like too much of a angry blog post about the female portrayal in video games. I am going to talk about some of the more positive things in recent releases. Horizon Zero dawn, a modernly futuristic retro game. It is about a protagonist who happens to be of the female sex, living in the future where robots have evolved into essentially animals and the protagonist and her clan live in a hunter/gatherer society. Everything from her clothes to her appearance signify that she is a "feminine" protagonist. Another more popular game is also Tomb Raider. Lara croft is in no way "feminine", or at least fall under the gender stereotypes of what is considered feminine. She gets down and dirty and gets into plenty of adventures and fights on her own. She breaks and shatters the female stereotypes of being a damsel in distress and so on. Earlier in society, we created many stereotypes of the female gender, but now that we are aware of it. We are able to effectively play and produce video games that are less offensive to everyone, while still having female protagonists.

YOUTUBE PLAYLIST LINK - 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61

HORIZON ZERO DAWN - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQDqurZJNk

TOMB RAIDER -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-1Xn0hZsIw

Feminism and Tropes

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is described as a supporting character brought into a story only to rejuvenate a fallen hero. The phrase was first used by Nathan Rabin a film critic to describe the role written to help the straight, white, male character loosen up and enjoy life. The job of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is solely to support the uplifting of the males life. Most often, men are portrayed as great protectors, creators, and heroes. 

This is all perpetuates the the myth that women are caregivers and enforces the myth of women being a muse for the tortured male. Falling under the theory of liberal feminism, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl displays unequal representation of women in media and popular culture. If women were the heroes, having a male supporting character would be the opposite of what is portrayed in mass media. The symbolic representation of women under this trope, is that as people they are only in existence to support, encourage, and fix males.

Most romantic comedies contain the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. Her convenience makes a great story, but it takes away from women’s depth and complexity as individuals. It is consistent to the subservient yet romantic role women play throughout most of mass media. Books, movies, and television shows contain the idea that a woman’s purpose is to be a passive entity.

Module 5

After doing some brainstorming on characters who have broken the stereotype that their particular race/ethnicity has tagged with them. I decided to go with John Coffey from the movie "The Green Mile." I picked this character as someone who breaks racial stereotypes because he is a large black male who was found guilty of murder  and is seen as a murderer black man. There was no doubt about his accusation because of his stature and skin tone, it is easy to see him as a villain.

In reality John Coffey is actually simple minded, and shy man who did not commit the murders that he was accused of. The large african american man who is so easily seen as a villain is very sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of other around him. He uses his powers to heal Tom Hanks and this shows that John is really a good person deep down. John is also viewed as "one of god's miracles" something an african american had arguably never been portrayed as in american popular culture in the 1900s.

This character is initially portrayed as a stereotypical african american murderer who without a question committed the crime. Throughout the movie through Tom Hanks eyes he becomes viewed as a godly figure and a good man. To compare to the readings of this weeks module the idea of King Kong comes to mind. John Coffey being a large black male who is accused of raping and killing two young girls is being portrayed just like king kong a large ape going after white women. John breaks this stereotype by being extremely caring, soft and not a murderer at all!