Media Revelations

Media Revelations
4/18/08
Tristan Baribeau


1. Media is everywhere.

I mean, this isn’t any new concept or anything. I’ve always been aware that media is totally everywhere and in everything…but I guess I never really dealt with the degree in which it consumes us. Feed basically helped me come to the realization that we are living in a world based on bombardment. Soon our cell phones won’t just be Bluetooth compatible, but will simply be tiny wireless chips that we get implanted on the insides of our ears. “VERIZON WIRELESS AND COCA COLA PRESENT….” will be constantly pounding our ears, and like Violet in feed, there will be those who will do everything they can to not conform. All in all, I am absolutely more aware that everywhere I look, and everywhere I go, media as following.



2. The Government is behind it all.

I guess I could have seen this one coming. For centuries the masses have rallied in order to overcome corrupt governments and faulty leaders. Now, it’s harder than ever to rise above and beyond for what we the people think is right and just. It doesn’t help that propaganda and the media go hand in hand, run by those very governments. The video we watched in class, “Weapons of Mass Deception,” was really the turning point for me. It is absolutely crazy how profound the influence of the government is seen in modern day media.



3. Production is everything.

In learning how media works and how it is presented to the masses, it has been brought to my attention that production is everything. There are very specific rules in order to engage audiences in a specific message. In order to keep up with modern day society, advertisers, companies, and organizations alike have had to adapt to the ever changing and developing world of media. In doing this, there have been countless techniques and approaches in which media has stretched to make their audiences receive the message they are so clearly trying to relay. I guess I never really realized the breadth of these production techniques and how well they work to create a feeling or thought within the minds of the audience targeted.



4. Social Inequality Exists

As the world tries to convince itself that everything is good and well, and that we
don’t have differences or prejudices, it is clear that there is still a lot of ground to
cover. It never occurred to me that the media might even emphasize some of these
social inequalities even today. According to Media Society, the “comic negro”
began appearing as early as the 1700’s and “was cast in a familiar mold:
always singing nonsense songs and dancing around the stage. His dress was
gaudy, his manners pretentious, his speech riddled with malapropisms, and
he was played by white actors in blackface,” (204). This was the start of
stereotyping by race in the media.




5. The Media is Sexist

After viewing the short film Killing Us Softly, though some of the aspects of the film were a stretch, it is clear that the media is as sexist as it is racist. It all seems so unintentional, like the men and even women behind media production don’t even realize they are being sexist in a today’s modern society. I thought we were past all this. The film shows different aspects of women being targeted by men as sex symbols, shown in a light in which they are always thin and sexy, demanding that women everywhere buckle down to get in the same shape and mindset as the women in ads across the world. Again, some of the things presented in this film were a stretch and could easily be argued, but as a whole, the production value was there and it showed some serious sexism that could potentially be stopped if people were willing to make an effort.



6. Web 2.0 is where it’s at.

Yup. That’s all I can really say about this one. Web 2.0 has totally taken over our shiny little tool known as the World Wide Web. From Facebook and YouTube to various blogs, the world is at our fingertips for sure. It’s truly amazing how networking and allowing people to post personal pages, blogs, and videos connects people in such an amazing way. There are of course various pros and cons that come with the use of Web 2.0 websites, but as long as people are careful in what they are posting, it is a great way to establish ones self in a world that is nearly full.



7. Technology Changes Everything

Playing off of the whole Web 2.0 explosion, modern day technology is constantly growing with our modern day society. This allows the media to get into our heads even more, creating things like BlueTooth and the iPhone, which is the top notch of modern day media shenanigans. Much like “the feed” these instruments of technology and the media are, put simply, attachments to our bodies as human beings. Soon they will be part of us physically, like tattoos on our bodies. Scary. On page 368 in Media Society, a picture is shown of children in India watching a large 65” television, proving that technology is in fact changing the global community as it develops and expands to all corners of the world.




8. Media World vs. “Real World”

This all comes down to representation. There is a very clear line between the world the media portrays and the “real world” as we like to know it. People who are constantly watching the news and television, and on the internet, need to understand that what they perceive might not actually be the reality of an issue or topic. Education is the best policy in differentiating the real from the phony. Its just a matter of question. Is this a credible source, and/or what kind of dirt can I dig up on these guys? Questioning everything makes more legitimate opinions. Without questioning, we the people would be more pawns than anything else. Or are we already?




9. Ideology is constant changing.

The way the world works is constantly evolving, with different mindsets and beliefs acting on the forefront. As the world moves in different directions, so does the collective worldview on different subjects. With the addition of Web 2.0 and other technologies, the collective ideology that has been with us the past 10 years or so is ever evolving into a more modern, and more media run mindset. People don’t know what to do without the Internet. A recent episode of South Park mocked the fact that people are absolutely obsessed with the internet and go insane when it is not around.




10. We are the future.

The more I come to understand media and its grasp on the world, the more I understand that my generation is in fact the future of what is to come. We are the first generation to have things like cell phones, the Internet, and countless other technological advances, linking us across the world. It’s almost scary to think about, and this is where one has to understand the power that one wields with the click of a mouse or a simply blog post. Pretty exciting!

Mid Term

Tristan Baribeau
Contemporary Media Issues 215
Comparative Midterm Essay


The two films I chose to compare were Beyond Beats and Rhymes and Killing Us Softly, as I saw these two as the most comparable. Both films were similar in their persuasive techniques, as well as the ways the media was presented. For instance: the “reality” construct of both films showed a specific type of mentality being created, which was very effective in the delivery of the message. The reality was that the hip-hop culture is heavily based on sex and masculinity, and modern day advertising portrays women as sex symbols almost ten fold. These realities can of course be challenged, but the films were very persuading in their delivery. Both films also used a great deal of symbolic rhetoric. Particularly in Killing Us Softly, various symbolic advertisements were used as examples of how women are presented in advertising. Beyond Beats and Rhymes was a bit different in the symbols it used, showing mostly what young hip-hop artist today use to symbolize.

Both films used similar persuasive techniques as well. I thought the rhetorical questions that each of the films asks their audiences were particularly effective. Each directed the question in order to focus the thoughts of audience members, and it proved to work very well. “Plain folks” was also shown in both films, showing young men and woman much like my peers and I as the main focuses of each film. Beyond Beats and Rhymes showed use of the “Strength” technique, portraying the men of hip-hop as rough and tough guys with little reserve. “Beautiful People” were shown in Killing Us Softly, which focused mainly on the use of beautiful women as sex symbols in advertising.

The ideologies presented in both films were different from how the initial public might view see things. Namely, one might not notice the sexism presented in advertising today because they aren’t looking quiet far enough into it. By presenting the idea that there is sexism in advertising, the film is able to challenge the ideologies of society. In Beyond Beats and Rhymes, the idea that hip-hop music is based on masculinity is not readily available in the minds of Americans, but when looked at from the perspective the film presented, it is very apparent that it plays a huge part. Both films took a different approach to topics that the public might not necessarily think about on a regular basis, challenging the “normal” aspects of the subjects.

Overall, Beyond Beats and Rhymes presented a stronger argument because it looked deeper into a subject that people are already aware of. It presented ideas in a much more attainable way than Killing Us Softly did, where there were many stretches made to exaggerate a point. Both films did a good job getting their specific message across, but Beyond Beats and Rhymes was more successful.

Media in the time of War

My eyes were really opened up when viewing the short movie "Independent Media during the time of War," which was essentially Amy Goodman of New York City's Democracy Now!
discussing the effects of modern day propaganda within the media. Really a great short film. Here is a bit I found on YouTube with her discussing ideas very similar to that portrayed in the film.

-doc

Focus the Nation

Overall, this was easy to put together and flowed relatively smoothly. The hardest part was just clipping the different shots together into something that we were actually proud of and wanted other people to see. Other than that though, this was great fun and easy to do.

E-Trade Baby

Memoir

My media experience throughout my life has been one full of technology and the “latest and the greatest”. Ever since I was a small child, I remember being fortunate to have a computer to play simple games on, as well as full exposure to television and movies. There are numerous videos of me as a toddler being absolutely obsessed with watching commercials on the TV. As soon as the show my family was watching would come back on, I went back to my playing without a care about what it was…it was the commercials I liked.

At a little bit older, I was very much into reading various books. My favorite as a little kid were imaginative books, full of dragons and mystery, allowing me to go places even farther than the movies and television I was watching could take me. As I grew, my taste in books began to change and I became interested in thick and more intense books. Current events and contemporary books allowed me to know what was going on in the world, and I also became interested in reading various magazines and newspapers in order to keep up to date.

Perhaps my greatest exposure to media is through music. Even while I was in my mother’s womb, my father would put headphones on her belly and play me various songs by some of his favorite bands. Throughout my life, music as been a huge part of who I am, and I attribute that very much to my fathers influence. Through him, I have become a fan of all types of music, and have played in various bands since high school, wearing my influences on my sleeve.

Today, I am on the frontline of the media force. I am an avid blogger and keep a blog about music and current trends, sharing my opinions and ideas with the rest of the online world. On top of my blog, there are roughly 20 websites that I check every day, keeping in touch with friends and current events as often as I possibly can. I am the proud owner of a MacBook, which helps me easily do what I love to do. I also have some amazing music production programs, allowing me to turn what I love into a physical product that I can share with the world online as well. I feel like today, it is only necessary to ensure that I am up to date with the “latest and the greatest,” and I will continue to do so as long as technology keeps expanding.

Ahh yes...the Feed.

Upon reading the first section of M.T. Anderson's "Feed," I can't help but question whether or not something like this is going to exist in the near or distant future. Is the media world really going to go as far to invade our bodies with micro-cosmos in order to keep track of us and allow what information we receive? Something like this is scary to a radical liberal from the great state of Maine. Being a firm believer in doing whatever the hell I want, I think I would bail into the wilderness before letting something like a "feed" into my brain. But then again...things are already pretty bad...We are constantly bombarded with endless flows of media and messages, all of which we are taking in and comprehending on some sort of psychological level. It's just that we are so pre-occupied with everything we are involved in, we don't necessarily understand the capabilities of such exposure. Interesting...I continue to read...