24K Magic

this week, I decided to watch the music video, 24K Magic, by Bruno Mars. (Mainly because he has the best dimples and well, baby face.)

The most obvious role the men play in this video are that they are well off, can provide a good time, and spend money lavishly, as it takes place in Vegas.

The women's role in the video is not really much, other than being sexual objects. They are there to surround the men, dancing in small bikinis and shakin' their asses.

I would have to agree with Sut Jhally when he insists all music videos tell a story about male and female sexuality. The men in the video are represented as more superior to the women as they are the ones who will be providing for everyone else. Examples such as showing up to vegas in a private jet, hosting a party, and gambling.

The women's sexuality is portrayed through their physical appearance. They are all dolled up, wearing bikinis and being objectified sexually.

This music video reinforces stereotypes because it is feeding into what "success" or what a "good time" is supposed to look like. It allows those who view it to believe if they had money, girls will come in twenty-four packs all dolled up and shaking their goods for champagne.

Adolescents watching videos like this one may learn some groovy dance moves, but for the most part, they are learning that once you are successful, you should expect to have a party lifestyle and women will absolutely be included for your indulgences.

Split

I decided to go to the one and only, Target, to take a look at how the company markets their toy section to boys and girls.

I of course walked away with more than just pictures. (I bought something unnecessary. But, it would not be a normal trip to Target if I hadn't so, may as well continue the streak!)

Back to the topic.

The first thing that I noticed between the "girls" isle and the "boys" isle was the color scheme. The girl section was booming with pinks and purples while the boys section was blues and reds. Below are some of the pictures I took which I'll go into some detail on my thoughts.

The girls:

Here is the girls isle which has the pinks and purples, dolls, and cute outfits for your dolls.

Then theres and entire wall dedicated to Barbie.

And across from the Barbie wall, it's filled with princess gowns. The sign reads "Dream Big, Princess"

And now the boys:

A lego Star Wars wall of goodies for the boys.

An entire section for cars.

NERF GUNS!!

This is Targets attempt to have both boys and girls toys on the same shelf. Maybe someone there is catching on, that boys AND girls like to scoot!

To point out the obvious, the girls toys are geared towards getting dolled up, while the boy toys are more adventurous. I get that it may be positive to place a girls section and a boys section for the sake of being organized, but I can't really blame Target for the negative aspects of splitting the toy section. I feel it falls more onto the toy makers and them purposefully targeting either boys or girls. even though boys and girls can play with all toys, they toy companies aren't really making them gender neutral. 

Images

Tom Ford

In this advertising image, the reality is women are there to serve men, they are a sexual object, and if you choose to wear Tom Ford, you should expect that women will take off all of their clothes, gaze at you sexually and do your chores. (But don't you dare show the nipple, because that's just TOO much, haha). One thing I noticed about the worldview this advertisement is portraying is that women are expected to do house chores, while men are supposed to be the educated, smart ones. In my opinion, this is a sexist advertisement on gender roles.

March 13, 2017 Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle (Ga)

In this journalistic image, it is depicting our government as being incredibly invasive, by being able to hack into our personal data and "watch us". Although, I do believe the message the journalist is trying to get across is the fact that we put so much information about ourselves and our daily lives online, that the government doesn't have to search too hard in the first place if they wanted to check on someone specific. One thing I noticed about this image is that they are all, of course, mostly white men sitting around the table. Go figure. 


On a side note, this quote instantly makes me think of Instagram and how deceiving people/places/and things are:

"Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that we were moving into a time when the image would become more important than the object itself, when appearance would be preferred to reality, and it would be ever harder to know the truth. He should see us now." 

No one, "just woke up like this". 

on a side, side note: the hash tag #wokeuplikethis was used 646,548 times. WHAT. NO YOU ALL DID NOT. 

[end rant]

Happy Violence

In my opinion, happy violence is glorified and projects a highly unrealistic view of what the consequences of those actions would actually be in the real world. The best way to explain what happy violence is, is to show it through examples. A recent movie I have seen that portrays happy violence is, "Deadpool". It is full of violence, but packed with witty writing and provided lots of laughs. While the character, Deadpool, is in a gun battle, I found myself laughing at the hilarious comments written in the movie, which distracts me entirely from the violence that I am watching.

Deadpool has made "killing bad guys" so nonchalant with the commentary and selection of music during violent scenes. Below is a link to the movie trailer that portrays happy violence. About 50 seconds into the trailer, selective music begins, and evidence of "happy violence" begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xithigfg7dA

Regulators

Well. It's safe to say I had no idea what media conglomerates owned what. Not only was I unaware of what specific media they owned, I did not even know who the actual conglomerates were. I am seriously surprised that at age twenty-seven, I am just now learning this. Um, hello? Why am I just finding out? Truth be told, I was not really interested in finding out. More so, I didn't think to think about it. Looks like the media really did a number on me didn't they? Well, Isn't that their intention anyway? To heavily influence what you think you should be interested in?

Okay, so. With that being said, I decided to take a closer look at what I am interested in down the rabbit hole. One show I enjoy watching is called, Suits, which plays on USA. But, when I watch it, I buy the season through my apple T.V. I do this because I cannot commit to watching it when it plays because my schedule is always all over the place. I get to choose when I watch it, so for some reason, that sort of makes me feel like I am winning. But in all reality, I am not. For one, they are taking my money double time because we pay to already have cable, and then pay AGAIN for the season just to accommodate my schedule. Who is getting my money though? Apple is definitely getting some. Charter is definitely getting some. WHO OWNS USA? Who else is getting my money? Show your face.

(First column: GE  First orange word: Comcast)

USA Network is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the NBC Universal Cable division of NBC Universal, itself a subsidiary of Comcast.-Wikipedia


Well, there's that answer. Hi GE, nice to finally know who takes my money, I am Caitie, a poor college student.

Going one deeper... Jeffrey Immelt is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of GE. He was selected by GE's Board of Directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch following his retirement. Previously, Immelt had headed GE's Medical Systems division (now GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO.-Wikipedia

Hey, Jeffrey! 

Here's how he felt back in August 2016: 

http://www.businessinsider.com/ge-ceo-jeff-immelt-calls-trump-comments-on-muslims-and-mexicans-unacceptable-2016-8

GE HAS THEIR HANDS FULL O' STUFF:

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/jeffrey-r-immelt

The Allegory of the Cave

While reading the "Allegory of the Cave", I came across an instance where it may help us understand media and media influence. An example that stood out to me in the text was, "tell me do you think that these men would have seen anything of themselves or of one another except the shadows cast from the fire on the wall of the cave that fronted them? How could they, he said, if they were compelled to hold their heads unmoved through life?"(1963, p. 747). In my opinion, this can help us understand media and the media's influence because we often times act as though we have been compelled to hold our heads unmoved through different bias opinions. The internet, specifically, has the tendency to do this to us. With all of the factual and not so factual information out there, often times I have come across people who cannot turn their heads to another opinion because of all the *excuse my language* bullshit that is being put out there. The media can be so influential, yet it can also pose a threat to what is considered true. So many false statements are being made in our media, and unfortunately, people have the tendency to not be able to decipher a factual statement from a false one.


References:

Plato: The Allegory of the Cave, P. Shorey trans. from Plato: Collected dialogues, ed. Hamilton and Cairns, Random House, 1963.