The first person whose blog I analyzed was my pal Kelli! I looked at her first blog which discussed the importance of being media literate, and used specific examples from media texts. This is what I had to say.

Kelli, I really enjoyed this blog.  There were many captivating elements to it.  To begin, choosing the show South Park was probably the perfect example of how media can influence the way that we view culture. There is no show that exists that deals with controversial issues in such a controversial way as does South Park, and it really was a good choice.

HILARIOUS

The images you provide are also very good. The image of the flawless male was a perfect example of the way media influences the way people try and shape their image.

I completely agree with why you think it is important to be media literate. It is essential to understand media so that we can understand how it is subliminally shaping our perceptions.

Though I think it is true that some people are greatly influenced by the “perfect body” that the media portrays, I disagree that all men and women are distressed when they do not possess that image.  Media does show this image constantly, but I think that only a small amount of people actually struggle greatly to look like this, because most people probably understand that no one looks like that in real life.

All in all Kelli, this was a great blog. The visuals were great, as was the content. It was very entertaining, and I loved the South Park reference!

The second person whose blog I decided to critique was my friend Kayla. Her blog focused on semiotics and Coca-Cola commercials. This is what I had to say…

Kayla, this was a great blog. To begin, the choice of using semiotics to analyze this Coca-Cola video was excellent. The in depth analysis of the specific colors used was fascinating. To be more specific, it was very impressive how you analyzed the meanings of the colors red and white, and how you incorporated them into the feeling that Coca-Cola wishes to inspire in the consumer. Well Done.

Tasty....

I never thought about Coke in that way before. However, after your analysis it makes perfect sense that they would choose that swirl of colors to represent their product.

I like that you are able to identify Coke’s main advertising message over the years, that Coke inspires happiness.  It is impressive that you are able to make the direct link between Coca-Cola’s advertising semiotics and the meaning of all of their commercials.

The content of this blog is great. The only thing that lacks a bit is the visuals. They are a few there, but they are a bit boring. Also, the paragraphs are a bit long. You could probably space those out a bit. I have had both of those problems in my previous blogs, so I’m right with you.

All in all Kayla, great job. It was fascinating to see how clever Coke can be!

The final person whose blog I viewed was my group member Nick! His blog had to do with how Disney consumer culture possesses children at a young age, and molds them into consumers of Disney culture. He focuses on this topic as a political economist would.

This is what I had to say….

Nick, this is darn good blog, full of information. You start out by introducing the role of a political economist, and you explain their role in great detail. This is well done. This sets the blog off well.

You have shocking statistics that add credibility to your argument. The fact that last year children spent 700 billion dollars though their parents is incredible, and really supports your view that advertisers do target kids!

You have a great point that materialist culture is forced upon young girls through the images of beauty depicted through the Disney princesses. I agree with you that young girls definitely subscribe to that dominant ideology without even realizing it.

Just your typical American girl.....?

You make another great point that women’s roles are misrepresented in Disney movies. It is true that they are always relying on men to save them, and this is absolutely part of the ideology that men are stronger and in charge.

There are a few things you could do to improve this blog. The first would be to make your paragraphs a little shorter. I have struggled with this as well. Also, there are a few punctuation mistakes, so I would just read it over before you submit it. Other than that…great job!

This is my first time ever making blogs. It is not my greatest strength, but I am thankful for this class teaching me how to learn the basics of efficient blogging. It is a whole new world of writing that I am not used to. However, thanks to this class, I am now!

HECK YEAH!

All in all, the blogs in this class have been enjoyable, as well as a challenge. It was a great skill to learn, and I’m glad that I got that chance to develop this important skill!

So….back to ideological criticism. Now that we understand what an ideology is, we can understand the purpose of ideological criticism. This method of analysis first looks at a text. However, it then interprets how dominant hegemonic ideas are perpetuated through these texts, and how these texts serve to benefit the dominant elite. Ideological criticism is so much more that just looking at a text, it is about being able to understand how norms and ideas and hegemony are perpetuated through these texts. This awareness allows us to understand the working of the world today, and makes us more open-minded and less susceptible to being socialized.

Hegemony is particularly embedded in advertising towards youth today. Political economy is the concept of buying and selling, and embedding hegemonic ideologies into American culture. By doing this, advertisers are able to effectively implement a consumer mindset into buyers, enabling them to want to purchase certain products that companies sell. To explain this concept further, we will discuss the film “Consuming Kids- The Commercialization of Childhood.” This is essentially a film about multi-billion dollar companies schemes to implement their consumer agenda on children as young as age two.  The film takes interviews from child professionals and explores the specific ways that companies are able to impose their tactics on kids at such a young age. Political economists seek to understand how these advertisers work, and use ideological criticism to help them understand these marketers strategies.

For this exploration, we will use ideological criticism to understand some of the key concepts in the film that political economists would be concerned about. The first issue in the film that should be discussed is the idea of deregulation of marketing to children. The film explains that, in the seventies, the FTC attempted to ban all advertising targeted towards children. This was in response to deceitful advertising from toy companies and, especially, sugar cereal companies. However, the companies went to Congress in opposition to this ban. The companies used the argument that a capitalistic society should allow citizens to “take care of themselves,” and that regulation would be a violation of capitalist and constitutional rights.

Lets stop right there for a minute. What part of this segment would a political economist be most concerned about? Well, if one was to take an ideological approach to this text, the response by the companies would be the one to be analyzed. On the surface, it seems correct and rather simple to agree with the argument of capitalism. However, if we look deeper, we see several results of this motive. First, we see the idea of the  “free market” openly taking advantage of people, especially young children. By using this concept of capitalism, the corporations were able to perpetuate the idea of the free market American value system in order to continue their agenda of lying and deceit.

Secondly, we see the American value systems being corrupted. The concept of working hard and making a way for yourself is the American “Dream.” It has served as inspiration for Americans for hundreds of years. However, the ideologies of large corporations seek to use this concept as a way to disguise and perpetuate their agendas. These hegemonic views are hard to separate from in American culture, so it made it quite difficult for Congress to oppose the capitalistic corporations.

What we see through this deregulation of corporations was a continuation of the hegemonic ideas placed in American society by these dominant elites. By using the concept of American capitalism, these companies were able, and still are able to deceive young children through advertising.

Deregulation, completely finalized in the 1980′s under the Reagan Administration, opened up a whole new world to marketers. They were able to do anything that they wanted. There were no restrictions as to what these corporations could do to market to children. As a result, movies were made just to be able to sell children toys.

According to the video, George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, referred to himself as a toymaker, not a filmmaker.

Essentially, marketers are now able to produce any kind of advertising that they want. This is a sad state of affairs for children, who have no protection against the constant stream of advertising media being hurled at them from every direction. In order to better understand the type of advertising thrown at children, let’s examine one of the advertisements discussed in the film.

Let’s use the example of Spongebob Squarepants. Needless to say, he was pretty huge with young kids a few years back. Many items were personalized with his face, but for the sake of this assignment, let’s use the video’s example, lunchboxes, shirts, and backpacks. From a kids perspective, he/she needs this apparel. Everyone at school has it, and the TV is showing it everywhere. As a result, the child is brainwashed into thinking this apparel is a must, and he/she loses that individuality by struggling to conform to what he/she sees on a stupid television show. From the outside looking in, advertising appears pretty harmless. This is not what a political economist would say. A political economist would look at the effects of this marketing on children, and would see startling results.

Kids lose their individuality. They struggle to conform. They are socialized into consumers for life, simply by being conditioned to constant advertising at such a young age.

  Why is this so important to study? Well, if we don’t, then the advertisers have won. This deregulation will be allowed to exist without any opposition, and this problem and mindset will be perpetuated throughout American culture for years to come. On a more personal scale, awareness of this type of marketing makes us more aware, and enables us to resist the hegemonic mindsets that are perpetuated throughout society. Marketing is a dangerous tool, we gotta be smarter than them.

If you read the bottom left hand corner, the caption reads “In town, car accidents don’t just happen to cars. Slow Down.”

The meaning behind this advertisement is simple, and straight to the point. The message is to slow down when driving. If you do not slow down, your going to kill someone. However, when one looks deeper, it is clear that their is more meaning behind this visual image. Why do they choose to use a little girl? There are many questions that can be answered, and many deeper meanings can be interpreted. It is true that this is a very disturbing image. This is the first time that I have seen myself  a warning to slow down that is as disturbing as this. It is definitely powerful, and there are probably many reasons the creators of this visual image chose to use this graphic idea.

There is a particular audience that this is directed towards. This is obviously pointed towards anyone who is driving. However, it is probably aimed more towards aggressive drivers, due to the fact that it is aggressive drivers tend to be the ones who kill people in accidents. The genre is probably advertisement, despite that fact that it is not selling an item. However, this would likely still be classified as an advertisement due to the fact that it is advertising a particular message, which is to slow down!

To analyze this text, semiotic structuralism will be used to identify the deeper meaning behind this text. There are three assumptions of Semiotic Structuralism that will be discussed. The third, which explains the syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis, will also be considered, though there are many aspects to the analysis. However, syntagmatic analysis will be the one used, because it works quite well for this visual.

The first assumption that we will use is that structure is created to make some type of meaning, and a sense of wholeness. This in a way, is kind of the basic way of analyzing a visual text. If we are to use the example from class, we would say that it is liking watching a race from start to finish. We see the visual, and we, in our minds, connect the dots. How would this assumption apply to our text? Well, it is obvious that the first thing we notice when we look at this ad is the innocent little girl with a dent in her head. However, upon closer viewing, we see that the dent looks like metal. We then shift our gaze down to the left hand corner, and read the message. This message tells us that we should slow down. After viewing the text, we realize the meaning from the visual. It then becomes even more disturbing. This assumption demonstrates that the structure of this ad is beneficial to our understanding of it, because we realize the whole meaning of the text, and the message is clear. We are able to interpret a meaning through these random signs and create a powerful and meaningful message.

The second assumption is very similar to the first. It states that these structures that we derive meaning from operate in many levels of perception and experience. There are two approaches that could be used here, and these are artifactual and familial. Artifactual is very similar to that of the first assumption, in that it takes the structure of the image and turns it into a chain of events. In this case, the chain of events would be something that many people could relate to. After reading the text and viewing the picture, the viewer could play the whole scene in their mind. They could envision themselves driving down the road to fast, then accidentally taking their eyes off the road. All of a sudden, they hit someone. Maybe someone as innocent and young as this little girl. This chain of events structure allows the viewer to relate and understand this piece, because it allows them to envision this happening to them.

Familial is important because it allows us to find the relationships between texts. This is something that probably is not considered by someone who just briefly examines this ad. However, as media critic, it is essential to identify these relationships, because they give us the deeper goals of the advertisers.

In this case, we will use the visual of the damaged little girl. To start, let’s examine her face. It’s sweet, innocent, and unaware. Why is she portrayed as so sweet? One reason could be because it endears the viewer to her. No one wants to hurt someone as sweet as her. She is also wearing overalls, which many people would find an adorable outfit. Essentially, this little girl is about as cute as a button. However, the drastic change occurs when we notice the huge gash dent on her face. This drastic change from the sweetness of her provides an immediate shock of disgust to the viewer, and it is very unpleasant. Essentially, the relationship between the image of the little girl provides a harsh reality to the viewer, and the designers of this ad most likely intended the viewer to interpret this relationship, all the while being disgusted by it.

Finally, we will analyze this text through syntagmatic analysis. This is a sign, signifier type of an analysis.

The first signs we notice are the little girl. We then see that she has a gash on her face, and this signifies that she has been hurt in some way. We then read the test, which is a sign. However, this signifies that the reason this little girl is damaged because of the fact that she was hit by someone driving to fast.

In conclusion, it is important to be a critic of media, because it allows us to find deeper meaning, and understand why advertisements are what they are, and how they apply to our lives. Being a critic allows us understand, and will ultimately make us more open minded, and to view media subjectively.

It is extremely important to be critical of media. The power off mass communication and media in the world today is astounding. It is the most persuasive form of communication in existence, as well as the most prevalent and widespread. Mass communication has the power to shape our opinions and motives. Not just personally, but on a global level. If people are not able to effectively look at media messages and understand the deeper meanings, then it is easy for media to deceive them to support media’s goals. Mass media has the power to enforce concepts such as hegemony through subliminal messages. In order for people to understand and combat negative effects of media, they must be media literate.

Media is not only negative. So much of mass media is positive. It shapes our world, keeps us connected, and makes our world a better and stronger place. This is another reason why it is so important to understand media. We can always better mass media, but we cannot do so without understanding it and critiquing it.

To better illustrate the importance of developing media literacy skills, I would like to introduce the concept by using a television example. I would like to use the show the biggest loser to illustrate my point. I am not a huge fan of this show. It is a good show, it just doesn’t really appeal to me. That is probably because I am not overweight. Nevertheless, this program speaks volumes when it comes to our nation. However, I do not think that people would think that if just viewing the show for entertainment purposes. Let me elaborate. At first glance, the biggest loser appears to be a show about people losing weight. The visible “moral” of this show is that with hard work, the pounds can and will come off. However, on a larger scale, this program directly addresses an obese nation, as well as their family members with a strong message. That message is to start being healthy. If these people could do it, then so could you. The effects of this program are large. People have been inspired by this show. Many have lost weight because of the influence this show has had. I think that many people would view this show as simply “entertainment”, something fun to watch to see how well a few obese people do. However, a media literate person views this program quite differently. Someone who is media literate is able to look past the visible concepts of the show and see the effect on a national society. A media literate person is able to analyze the effects a program like this will have on people, and a media literate person would also be able to speculate on what purpose the creators of this show had in mind when they first created it.

It is so important to be media literate. We are able to understand the global influences that shows like the Biggest Loser have. Being a critic of media helps us to effectively disregard a class and hierarchical structure when it comes to media and entertainment. Being a qualitative media literate student means that we can see more than just the narrow and general views that most people would see. It opens a whole new world that would not be discovered if media was simply used for “entertainment.”

In conclusion, I hope this blog, (which is my first ever!) was somewhat informative and insightful. I hope this information and examples have helped illustrate the importance of understanding and being a critic of media. Though facts and quantitative research have some value, it is important to think subjectively when dealing with media. No facts could capture the idea of the biggest loser sending a positive encouraging message to an obese nation. There are countless meanings that can be derived from any type of entertainment. It is essential, however, that you look if you want to find them.