Posts Tagged ‘electracy’
Responses to “Wii like Michael (Rhetoric # 2)” by Aryn Haynes
Word count:103
Responses to “Cultural Myth (Figure 1)” by Daniel Ramos
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This cultural myth seems that it has been a part of ours society since the first professional suit was tailored. In a sense, we have enforced the importance of a good first impression, which has no negative connotations however. Like you said, we are a visual society and that we are influenced by what we see. We can then ask this question, if we were to create a new image of what professionalism was or even facilitate some of the other forms of professional dress, would the same myth be enforced today by our society? Probably, but we as a society have come such a long way, so may be now we can afford to be a bit lenient.
Word Count:119
Repsonse to “Old Spice metaphor (Rhetoric)” by Betty-Ann Townsend
I do agree with you that this commercial seeks to attract a particular audience or consumer, ie. the average woman who wants her man to be “all of that” and then some. Old Spice has utilized signifiers in our everyday lives to influence how we formulate our very own interpretations. There might be some more signifieds that we could consider. It could be that there is not much of a deeper meaning but if we take into account the other signs within this commercial and make the connections between them, intertextually, then we can come up with more answers as to why Old Spice may have used these signs versus using other signs that could potentially give the same effect, semioticly.
word count:121
This season on Food Network Star, the competitors and judges seem to be more critical about how they are perceived by their “at home” audience. As noted in past seasons, there has been quite a few changes to the direction the show is heading. Yes, Food Network is aiming at keeping the show interesting and exciting as the seasons progress. However, one might argue that the show is becoming a reality tv show, focusing more on the drama that comes along with competing to be the next Food Network Star. But has there ever really been a genre associated with food related television shows? Did we, being the audience, ever really thought about where the specific conventions of this type of television show might be placed? By examining different parts of the show, we can pick out a few elements that can be categorized into various genre types. Overall, the show is a regular food television show with a side of reality and drama.
Another element of this type of television show that we can take into consideration, is the idea of whether or not the actions of the cast or rather the competitors are influenced by the cameras being present. Do they react in certain ways because of what they think the audience would see or are we formulating our own perceptions based on what the cameras are showing? Yes and no because whose to say that the competitors actions are being influence or whether what is happening is more so reality. It is understood that the cameras are meant to assist us in how we perceive things and function as our eyes. As we look at the show and all the rhetorical and conventional aspects of it, we can realize that there is more to just what we “see and read” . We would have to focus on other elements to come to a conclusion, if possible of how they all function.
Word count: 323
Food Network Star is a show on Food network, that puts a group of professional chefs up to the challenge of becoming America’s next Food Network Star. At first glance you would imagine that this television show was just like any other food competition, bragging right and title holding show like, Hell’s Kitchen, Top Chef, etc. However, the interesting element about this show is that it is very similar to a reality tv show, in the sense that contestants become so caught up in the show and how their lives become affected by those who they are competing against. Most certainly, the average viewer would recognize that this show is slowly becoming a reality tv food drama. The contestants are strategically coming up with ways to get “knock out” the weakest and strongest competitors each challenge. The competitors seek to prove to both the judges, their fellow contestants and America that they are worthy of claiming the title of th next Food Network Star. During the process, we see the true intentions of the contestants, some may encourage their fellow competitors to keep up the good work, while others seek to be on top regardless of who they step on. ‘Its a dog eat dog kinda thing’ most people may say however, when did Food Network Star become such a reality show. Seasons before didn’t have this much drama and rivalry among the contestant. Is this what the Food Network show was aiming at this season? If so, they have hit it! Claws are beginning to come out, people are being put to the test by their fellow competitors and true intent is becoming more and more evident.
This show allows us to think of the conventions of “reality” television shows. Are they only to be viewed as “reality” tv or should we label other shows, very similar to others within the same genre, as reality tv? This show in particular strays away from the narrative conventions of typical food competition shows. It’s not longer about the food and the competition, its more so now about who can “knock down and knock out” their fellow contestants at all cost. Like crabs in a barrel, only the best of the best will prevail. Sad to say but we can consider how this show is unconventional in this way.
Post #13- 7 pounds (Narrative)
Posted on: June 10, 2011
The Film 7 Pounds by Gabriele Muccino starts off with the story of Ben Thomas played by Will Smith, who causes a car accident while texting and driving. The accident kills six individuals and his fiance. He tries to redeem himself for what he did by saving the lives of seven people. He will determine who gets his organs based on whether or not they were worthy of receiving them. He donates his organs to six strangers and his brother. However in the end he commits suicide by placing his pet box jellyfish in a bath tub filled with water. His friend Dan ensures that hios vital organs are delivered to their rightful new “owners”. This film follows the conventional cinematic film style, it has characters, a plot, specific setting and narrative. The genre, however of this particular film is not very “cut and dry”. The film is just seen as a drama of some sorts. Its story line and plot appears to be that of a drama.
The trailer begins in first person narration, with Ben (Will Smith) being the voice over. This allows the audience to relate to the narrative at a personal level. We, as viewers, are able to placed ourselves in “his shoes”. However, as the plot is being told in the trailer, the narration shifts from first person to third person. Other characters in the film tell the story through their own narration. This aspect of the narrative is very much conventional.
If we look at the film itself and the narrative that the film has, we notice that there are multiple interpretations and signifiers (along with their signified) the audience have formulated. With relation to the interpretations, one may think that this film is just another “saving the world” drama at the expense of the main character. Others may argue that this film as a mystery film; the audience may not know what the main character is up to, what will he do next, what his motives could be. One thing that I took note of was that the film had a similar idea of Shakepeare’s Merchant of Venice (man who pays his debt by giving a pound of his flesh).
Word Count:363
This line from the text, “The photographic and filmic codes
are relatively arbitrary and employ a level or realism that simulate perceptual
cues in the physical world (Nichols 1981, 35;cf. Messaris 1982 and 1994)”
on page 165, explains quite a number of things relating to how we
“read” visuals and what interpretations we make. Films consist of
both visual and aural, perceived by ear, codes. The camera, music and motion
assist the audience in reading films. The camera seemingly becomes our eyes, a
way of seeing the film as if we were there. As it relates to the advancement of
technology, 3D films have given audiences the ability to be “a part”
of the scenery and the story. By doing so we can formulate interpretations of
what is occurring through the eyes of the camera. Film images seems to not
require much decoding, we interpret what we see based upon what the character
or scene is depicting. Since we have internalized these codes at a very young
age, we become conscious of their existence as we watch a film or analyze a
photograph. A shot from a film can mean so much more than it just being a shot.
Consider this clip from the Pixar animated film, Wall-E. The clip is about MO, the Microbe
Obliterator; as his name suggests, his job is to clean foreign contaminated
substances that objects may carry on the ships observation deck.
This version of the clip, at first glance, has minimal verbal
language that is very unfamiliar to the audience. It is, for the most part, a
silent but subtle film about MO being involved in Wall-E’s adventure. While
watching, we formulate some interpretation of what is taking place, similarly
to what this person did with this clip.
Now, this version was revised based upon a person’s
“reading” of the particular scene. They offered an interpretation of
what MO does for a “living” and what is happening in that particular
space in time. Initially, the first clip opens up a way for us to analyze and
formulate our own interpretation. The second clip is merely a representation of
what someone else thought the message was from that clip.
Word Count: 360
After watching the film The
Cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney, it was somewhat difficult for me
to make much sense of what was taking place in the film. There were quite a few
things happening in such a short space of time. However, after much
consideration, I observed some signifiers and their signified to formulate some
understanding. Signifieds in this film are very much reliant upon the cultural
codes and conventions that exist through the society’s culture. Upon first
viewing the film, the levels or “degrees” appeared to be stages in a
person’s mental development. The first degree with the Apprentice and the women
in the bathtub resembles the stage of a person as a child, care free and
innocent. The second degree that had the female dancers dressed as lambs,
indicate the mental stage in a person’s life when they feel compelled to be a
part of some group or become a part of a particular identity. There is not
individuality being expressed. The third degree appears to be the mental stage
when a person is aware of whom they are as individuals. They are no longer
conformed to things that may have been forced upon them. In the film, this
degree had a rock band playing in the scene, signifying another meaning that
with becoming individual, one can be rebellious. At this degree the Apprentice
must find the tools need of the next degree is in a puzzle in the form of a
crucifix. The crucifix being the signifier relates to the signified: at this
mental stage, a person seeks religion and utilizes the life tools necessary for
the next stages in their life.
As the Apprentice moves to the fourth degree, he encounters this
paraplegic woman who becomes a cheetah when she bites him. The perspective that
I drew from that degree was that as a person experiences the next stages in
their mental development, they can be deceived by their environment. The woman
appears very beautiful and trustworthy; the Apprentice then allows this to play
upon his emotions, causing him to trust her enough to confront her. “Not
all that glitters is gold” meaning that, we can be easily deceived by what
we are influenced by, however over time, what we see may not be as it appears.
The cheetah woman didn’t have the Apprentice’s best interest at heart, just
like some people may not. At the fifth degree, the Apprentice encounters a
plastic statue of some animal in the picture above. This degree indicated the
mental stage of a person trying to put the pieces of their life back together
or finding the missing links. The fifth and final degree housed a masked man doing
Vaseline and metal work. This degree explains the mental stage of someone who
has found their set level of stability, or at least it “appears to be
stable”. “Appearing to be stable” in light or the Apprentice
having to start all over again; quite of few people have to go back to the basic
when life takes a toll on them.
However, what I took most note of while watching the film was, why
did the lady in the third degree have a free mason symbol on the back of her
head dress? It could be that she is the representation of free masonry in the
society.
Word Count:555
Cultural myths were developed based upon the events that are occurring in a society’s culture. Roland Barthes, according to the text, talks about how they came to be via the bourgeois society and how they utilized myths as a means of asserting their values. One might ask then, why did these myths become so common place? Who allowed these myths to be upheld to this day? Well, society has a lot to do with how popular, “truthful” and the duration of these myths. We, as members of the society, are capable of controlling what becomes a myth and what is “truth”. One cultural myth that is quite common in the American Suburbia is “American are addicted to driving”. I can agree that this myth may only seem plausible in Suburbia because not all Americans like to drive, whether it is in their daily commute or just travelling to various places. Members of Suburbia are seen by the rest of society as being “car happy” because of the hustle and bustle of their daily schedules. In all actuality, Americans aren’t addicted to their cars; it’s merely a tool for getting tasks completed at a faster rate. If you look at any city, you can see that cars are the dominant mode of transportation. Living in Suburbia doesn’t necessarily mean that you like driving your automobile more that the next person. It’s just out of convenience.
The function of this myth is to placed or rather, categorize citizens living in Suburbia as “car happy”, associating that signifier with its signified as the population of people who own multiple cars as being addicted to them. The same concept can be traced back to how the bourgeois utilized myth. The signifier being car relates to a specific signified: Suburbia is “car happy”. However the bourgeois would make the connection to a new signified of being wealthy or in a negative sense, cars being an addiction. This idea then, becomes naturalized and is viewed as being the truth. This is how myths have been upheld for such a long time.
word count:345
shawn20009 
The example of the ad that you used was pretty funny because this game has recently become one of my favorite games of all time. Aside from the technology used to make this gaming system so advanced and interactive, most people would not pay much attention to the advertising conventions being utilized in the commercial; we are more considered about the fact that Michael Jackson, famous iconic symbol is on the cover and is the person in the game itself. Honestly I agree with you that there is not a particular age group that they are attracting because The Experience can be enjoyed by all people. I like the last line of you post because it appears to be what is already happening.