In terms of ideology, which is defined as the study of ideas or common sense, this Flash game offers players to test their skills in "common sense" male bathroom etiquette. Perhaps for women, their preferences are different, but I did score better than I anticipated. Not 100% but scored rather well for a woman pretending to think as a man. This Flash game assumes to declare the official correct ("common sense") choices for men when it comes to deciding on which urinal to take when there are other men present using a urinal as well (and in different "challenging" scenarios based on the location). The reasons/answers the game provides after each click (whether correct or wrong) function under hegemony, which is defined as the establishment of general agreement/common sense. The way in which the reasons/answers for each scenario are worded function under hegemony because the player can understand or generally agree with what is said. Ideology is pushed by hegemony and is therefore part of hegemony. The hegemonic view consists of acceptance of the power system (dominant) or people in authority which in this case are the views/opinions of the creators of the urinal Flash game. These views are ratified by common sense. The player can accept or rebel these views but either way, the player is reacting to and sustained by hegemony.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
4. Discuss the implications of the following image for cultural studies and the process of signification (semiotics)
Media studies and cultural studies study ideology, or in other words common sense/ the study of ideas. More specifically it is interesting to investigate cultural ideology - that is how specific cultures make sense of things, in this case images. The media shapes us and we shape the media. Culture is constantly moving but myths tend to be a cultural constant. Myths include symbols, imagination/fantasy, images of leadership etc.
Semiotics is the study of how words are signs of something else. For example, the word "table" means physically a flat surface with about four legs holding it up. However, the word "table" can mean something very different depending on the culture. Barthes talks about the myth and how there are millions of cultural mythologies. Take for instance this image. The words underneath say "This is is not a pipe" in French. The artist is connoting a message that there are many ways of interpreting this image because all cultures have different "signs" that bring different "signifiers/signified" images.
3. Discuss the ways in which race is portrayed in these two videos.
There are many similarities as well as differences between the two videos "Ghetto Delta Airlines" and the "Everest College" advertisement found on You Tube.
First of all the main element that brings these two videos together is the aspect of race, particularly the African American race. The exercise of race is very obvious. I am not committing authorial fallacy because there is proof by the presence of African Americans in both these videos. Both are addressing to an audience of color other than white. Both have the stereotypical speech of African American people highly exaggerated/ emphasized. In the Everest college ad, the black man is talking as if he is telling one of his "bros" to get up and go to school. The Ghetto Delta Airlines video has the white man talking as if he were black, which is a sign of connoting race (perhaps not in a negative way but definitely pointing out the culture in general). The speech also kind of slurs as if both (speakers) are not so educated. Both videos are also trying to get their audience to "get up" and try out what they are talking about. Both videos also implement an idea that black people are "lazy" by referring to "you'd be back at your crib" (showing a clip of a black man sitting on his couch watching t.v.) or "you're sittin' on your couch watching tv..." etc. (which proves this similarity).
The differences: The Ghetto Delta Airlines video has a white man speaking as a black man talking to a black audience (using the black couple as an example). The Everest college ad has a black man talking to an audience of color (perhaps). The Ghetto Delta Airlines video is way more stereotypical of "blackness" than the Everest Commercial. The white spokesperson talks like a "homie" and even points out "east coast and west coast" with a picture of himself in each as a gang member for each side. The Everest ad points out education needs whereas Ghetto Delta Airlines points out luxury as a need.
First of all the main element that brings these two videos together is the aspect of race, particularly the African American race. The exercise of race is very obvious. I am not committing authorial fallacy because there is proof by the presence of African Americans in both these videos. Both are addressing to an audience of color other than white. Both have the stereotypical speech of African American people highly exaggerated/ emphasized. In the Everest college ad, the black man is talking as if he is telling one of his "bros" to get up and go to school. The Ghetto Delta Airlines video has the white man talking as if he were black, which is a sign of connoting race (perhaps not in a negative way but definitely pointing out the culture in general). The speech also kind of slurs as if both (speakers) are not so educated. Both videos are also trying to get their audience to "get up" and try out what they are talking about. Both videos also implement an idea that black people are "lazy" by referring to "you'd be back at your crib" (showing a clip of a black man sitting on his couch watching t.v.) or "you're sittin' on your couch watching tv..." etc. (which proves this similarity).
The differences: The Ghetto Delta Airlines video has a white man speaking as a black man talking to a black audience (using the black couple as an example). The Everest college ad has a black man talking to an audience of color (perhaps). The Ghetto Delta Airlines video is way more stereotypical of "blackness" than the Everest Commercial. The white spokesperson talks like a "homie" and even points out "east coast and west coast" with a picture of himself in each as a gang member for each side. The Everest ad points out education needs whereas Ghetto Delta Airlines points out luxury as a need.
2. Why do we avoid what I call "audience fallacies" and "authorial fallacies" in our writing?...
Keeping in mind the Hypodermic model of communication (media --> person --> action/interpretation), when we write, it is important to avoid "audience fallacies" and "authorial fallacies". "Audience fallacy" means assuming action or interpretation of an (your) audience. "Authorial fallacy" is saying your view is the dominant view (most common or favored view of an/your audience); when writing, you should never encourage this because this is biased thinking and an inaccurate approach. For example,(regarding "authorial fallacy") you can say an ad is encouraging this kind of thought but is NOT what the ad says. An example of "audience fallacy" would be "this ad makes its viewers feel like out-castes because of the use of race and class in a negative way" -- this would be committing "audience fallacy".The significance of these writing "fallacies" is that it makes writers aware that when they write, they must express themselves as appropriate and as accurate as possible. A small change in word usage can give a sentence almost an entirely different meaning.
1. Why do cultural studies theorists separate words with capital letters from those without...
Cultural studies theorists separate words' structure by using either capital letters or lower case letters to connote differences between real and conceptual views. By exercising what these letters stand for, readers can understand what side is being talked about (what point of view or what value the word has). For example: "women" are the real individuals, the ones who actually exist in society. Whereas, the word "Women" suggest the level of symbolic within culture delivering concepts of "Women" not necessarily real but rather views placed within discourse through cultural connotations. The upper case letter makes the word a proper noun, and it "elevates" it from the word to the concept and the ideological construction of that concept. We do this to point out the differences when we are talking about something. Whether the first letter is upper case or lower case gives it significance for its valuable approaches and demonstrations. It seeks to point out how reality differs from created cultural concepts.
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