12 Angry Men was a masterpiece ahead of it’s time in my opinion. Almost everything detailed or inferred in this movie is still relevant and can be applied today. Taken at face value this is a movie about doing your due diligence and saving the life of a wrongfully convicted boy. Breaking it down I saw each juror involved in the deliberation of the case as representations of the different social groups and individuals we currently see in our country. I found it very interesting to see the thought processes and reasonings behind each juror compared to their occupation. Overall it was a pretty great movie and i’d love to look at it more in depth and learn the persuasion techniques used throughout the movie.

One of the biggest things that stuck out to me over anything was the way that the judge pushed the case onto the jurors. It didn’t seem like he gave the case too much thought and didn’t even care. What we’ve seen over this past year is how broken and corrupt our nation’s justice system is. There are thousands of people all around this country wrongfully convicted every single year. There are thousands of people being punished for crimes others walked away free from.

Throughout this semester I have further strengthened my political approach and broadened my outlook. Throughout this semester I really enjoyed analyzing the media and how/why the operate. The most interesting things that stuck out for me were the communication theories, as they contributed the most to my growth. This was one of my first non engineering/math/science courses since my freshman year so it was a really nice opportunity to step away and learn things that I tend to enjoy more. I have hardly had the chance to write essays or even a blog these past 3ish years so this was a fun experience that I missed from high school. Overall this semester and this year have been very rough on me, as I assume they have been with everyone else. I really appreciate the positive atmosphere you always brought to class and your approach to teaching. I absorbed more information that I expected out of this course and am very happy with having taken this course.

Thanks for a great semester and thanks again for all of the understanding and help you’ve given us during this pandemic! Happy Holidays!

Over the past moth we’ve analyzed a number of media theories that attempt to justify and explain the media’s impact on their audience and vise versa. This past week we went over the Uses and Gratification Theory and were also tasked with watching Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary and Jaws WeMake 45th Anniversary Tribute. These two selections are great examples of what this new theory embodies. The Uses and Gratification theory is based around an active audience and is an approach to understanding why and how people use media. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs outlines four basic reasons/needs for someone to use the media and can be simplified and applied to this series as; Information, Personal Identity, Personal Relationships, and Diversion.

One of the main aspects that we focused on in this theory was the idea of fandom, or personal identity driving you to use media. When you are a fan of something it is part of your personal identity. Part of this theory discusses how part of the reason we use media is to reinforce your own values or interests. Whether you are a huge fan of Star Trek or Jaws there is always more people out there like you who want to build relationships and talk to others with the same interests. No matter if it’s sports, food, or politics, I can see how this theory affects our day to day lives.

Galaxy Quest was a 1999 parody film originally created to celebrate the fans of Star Trek starred by many familiar faces. It follows the story of the cast of an old Star Trek like series who are visited by aliens who view their series as an accurate documentary.

Hardcore Star Trek fans, widely referred to “Trekkies”, have been one of the most widely known groups of cult media followers. This parody is generally loved by the community as it was directed towards the fans themselves and their own personal values.

The same can be said about the 45th anniversary of Jaws and their cult like followers. These communities of people are all drawn together by similar interests and these remakes/parodies are used to unite and attract these specific people and others who haven’t found out how interesting it is yet.

Knowing that we are psychologically drawn to people with similar values, beliefs, or interests, do you believe that is is morally acceptable to use this information to your advantage? Referencing Facebook/Google using an algorithm to track everything you do and use it to generate ads and recommendations to “further advance your experience”.

This weeks reading and viewings revolve around the moral and ethical responsibilities that go into media reporting. Chapter 14, “Ethics of Mass Media” begins by discussing the freedoms of the press and any concerns that might arise when reporting controversial stories in regards to the publics right to privacy. In my opinion there should never be any government affiliation with the media in terms of suppression or choosing what is to be aired. There should never be a story that the media is lawfully prevented from airing as long as it is entirely truthful. However, the media should also be held accountable for the types of stories they air and how. In the current political climate the media is one of the major reasons for all of our current division. On all sides there are concerns of intentional disinformation, or rather the intentional omission of key facts to help push an agenda. Is it ethical to even take a side in the news? Wouldn’t you rather receive all of the facts and make your own conclusions?

In the pilot episode for The Newsroom Will McAvoy is seemingly pressured into speaking from the heart as he realizes how sick and tired he is of the current state of the media. He utters a very controversial speech followed by words of hope and encouragement that doesn’t seem to take well for anyone. It seems that Will has a pretty bad relationship with his staff and is unpleasant to work for. When his current EP leaves him with most of his staff it seems like he has nothing. As Will prepares and is trying to figure out how to proceed for the future, his old EP, Mackenzie, was hired.

One of the most important parts of this episode follows right after Mackenzie returns is when the news alert pops up for the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, right off the coast of Louisiana. At first glance his old EP wants to run what seems to be a pretty generic story of this explosion despite being informed of something bigger unfolding in real time. They end up going against what the old EP advised and we were shown the thrills and real time research and journalism as they uncovered a different story than what every other station reported on. They took the time and did their own due diligence rather than take the easy and convenient side of the story. It was very interesting and really opened my mind further as to how complicated and fast paced this industry can be. Overall it was a pretty great episode and I’m definitely going to be watching more.

One of my favorite things that is very pervasive in our country is the media’s use of the many different theories that we reviewed over the past week. We have seen first hand the effects of constantly watching the news during the pandemic and the fear it instilled in our family and friends. Without downplaying the effects of the virus, it’s obvious that the media’s constant fear mongering was just heightening our fear in general. This theory can also be seen in many other different aspects of life whether intentional or not. Everyone should normally think for themselves but when the same idea is being displayed over and over it generally makes you think the worst. Coming off of this theory we had the Agenda setting theory which in my opinion is HUGE. No matter your political beliefs it’s obvious that each side has their own agenda and their own checklist of things to say so that people will hop on board and support them. For a lot of people these things are subjective and rely on their emotions to influence their decisions for them. Without going any further into it it’s just very important to just stay objective throughout life.

I personally really enjoyed the two viewings we had this week “The Human Behavior Experiments” and “The Mean World Syndrome“.

The psychology behind what makes people act indecisively and inhumanely in various situations was very interesting. It was crazy to me watching some of these situations and just trying to understand what was going through these people’s minds as they obeyed these insane instructions. Moreover I just recently watched The Stanford Experiment, which was touched on in this video, and it escalated scarily quick.

Touching on what was mentioned above, The Mean World Syndrome goes into depth about how the media makes us believe the world is much more dangerous than it actually is. I’ve been pretty aware of all of this going on for the past 3-4 years as I became interested in politics. I generally do not make an opinion without having enough facts to convince myself it is true or it is worth supporting etc. So having the media use these techniques on me has been pretty useless as I just do my own research and make my own conclusions (which may ultimately agree with the message). It’s just tough to see how negatively powerful the media is when it could be one of the greatest tools created if we used it right.

I thought the films “A Decade Under The Influence” and “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” went together very well and it was upsetting to miss out on the conversations we may have had on these films in class. They both touch on the topic of what is appropriate and for what audience it is appropriate for.

The 70s can be looked back as more of a revolutionary renaissance when it comes to just about anything. It was a time where people wanted to express themselves and live their lives how they wanted to. At the same time they wanted films to express current issues and relatable things. This also opened up the acceptance of sexuality and gore in movies and ultimately loosened up the ratings. They film makers were getting some very edgy films compared to what they were before and had to understand what was happening in the world around them when they went to make their ratings. It seemed like these critics just like the rest of the country at the time started to open their eyes and approach this realistically. Coming from a period of recent change in the African American community and amongst women this was a time for them to truly shine and express themselves. Before there were not a lot of young or even female directors readily accepted and it was very hard to earn a name in the film industry. In the late 60s and 70s they basically opened the doors to all of these new and highly motivated film makers and directors and some of the greatest movies came out of it.

“This Film Is Not Yet Rated” delves into the world of film rating and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and some of the more behind the scenes deals and bias influencing a movie’s cautionary rating. In some ways I don’t really mind how the board wanted to be anonymous but we need an understanding of who is rating our movies the way they are being rated and why. As it has been said before they are playing God with nobody to hold them accountable. I feel like we all used to take movie ratings for granted. This film has opened my mind up to the bias and secrecy behind movie ratings but also to how hard their job must be. Although we have a current movie rating system there is no consensus as to what is appropriate and what is not when you get down to it. It’s obvious that everyone views the world differently, and some people might find sex to be less of an issue than violence and vice versa. Especially in this world we are experiencing a change in the social acceptances of many different things as we grow and begin to understand them for what they are. I feel like we’ve experienced something similar back in the 70s as well. At some point we are going to realize and come to terms with the reality of todays world and what we are expected to accept and be comfortable with.

I think that some of this all comes back to appeasing the majority rather than the minority when it comes to movie ratings. If we can hold the MPAA accountable and assure quality and consistent movie ratings across the board with clear communication to the public about any changes in policy there can be a lot of good done for the film industry, but mainly for the quality/experience the viewer takes away from the movie.

There’s a lot that you need to ask yourself as you go to think about movie ratings in terms of how we are progressing as a society. One of the first questions I asked myself while approaching this new topic was “should a movie with scenes of homosexual sex receive a higher rating than that of the same movie but with heterosexual sex scenes?” but another question I feel that should be asked is “do either of these scenes make you more uncomfortable than the other, and should that affect the movie rating?”

Throughout my life I rarely took the time to watch movies until this past year. It was partly because I rarely had/have free time and when I do I am doing other things than watching a movie. My girlfriend however loves movies so I have probably watched more movies this year than in the past 4 years combined. My parents have also always been very big movie fans and are watching a movie weekly. Although I haven’t seen very many movies at all, I have seen some pretty great movies from all decades.

I am from a town called Newcomb in the Adirondacks. I am located about 45 minutes north of Lake George and an hour south from the closest place to view a movie. Compared to most people I know today, going to see a movie was a slightly bigger deal than it should be because we had to leave the mountain. It was always a fun and special occasion with my family and friends because we had to make a day of it every time. It all felt different back then. It was a time before any type of streaming service and before any kind of cable recording was possible. I feel that we often take going to see a movie for granted and the traditions behind it but I don’t necessarily see a problem in it as well. Technology has advanced to the point where we can experience the same things from the comfort of homes or any place we choose to watch a movie.

Since the early 1900s movies have morphed into a form of entertainment and escapism. If the movie is well made, they can really pull at your emotions in a way that text could not. The combination of the visual effects, the atmosphere, suspense, and anything else prominent in movies all play very important roles in tailoring a specific experience for the viewer. Cinema viewing originally began in 1891 with Edison’s kinetoscope after celluloid roll film was introduced in 1885, and have rapidly evolved to what we have today. Early cinematography began with stop motion pictures, live action films, and 2D animations. Silent films set the foreground for all movies to follow after and sparked the creativity and exploration into cinematography, creating what we see today. These films forced you to pay attention and used music and sounds to influence how you watched and felt during the movie. One of the most interesting things about film for me is how music and sounds are created and used to stimulate certain feelings or emotions in movies. Music is able to create suspense, anxiety, fear, sadness, love, etc. for a wide array of movies. Without music or sounds scary movies would not be scary at all and basically any movie would be extremely bland and uninteresting. Now we have some of the most mind blowing technological capabilities when it comes to CGI and other visual effects like 3D animation stimulated by a computer.

At what point will the film industry reach its technological peak and how close are we to achieving this right now? Will we ever surpass 4K 3D cameras and cloud based technologies?

Ever since Facebook became public in 2006, billions of people around the world are now able to connect and share their lives with each other. The NYT article, How Facebook Warps Our Worlds talked about the general impact social media companies and specifically Facebook can have on their user’s experiences and browsing habits.

Presumed to be safe and harmless, the majority of these people continue to post and send private messages not knowing they are being tracked. Even people that are aware of this have no other place to turn to or fear of missing out on connecting with their friends and families. Every click and every post is being monitored by an algorithm and is machine learned in order to tailor ads to the user and generate money for the parties involved.

To add onto the constant monitoring, people’s opinions and facts have been being suppressed across social medias. As of this past week, thousands of Facebook and Twitter users were censored and prevented from sharing a factual NY Post article. There have also been hundreds of users on both platforms that are being unjustly locked out of their accounts and shadow banned as well simply for having a different opinion.

Do you think social media companies should be punished or prevented from doing this despite having their own freedom of speech?

Social media in its ideal form would be one of the most positive things we could experience on this Earth. It is too bad that it has succumbed to shady practices and the hidden key board warrior toxicity we see every day. The “spiral of silence” has become more widely used than ever these days because of social media. It is sad to see something so promising being manipulated.

Even though it is slightly out of date, the information presented and discussed in the PBS documentary, Digital Nation, still holds true today. Over the past 20 years we have seen social media and the internet change almost every aspect of our daily lives. Since this video was made we have seen the impact of this technological crutch that we call the internet. It has slowly became the primary source of communication over the years and is changing how we do our work, how we learn, how we study, how we socialize, and how comfortable we are with ourselves. For most people the first thing they do every morning is check their phone and the last thing before they go to bed is check their phone.

The internet was initially a result of the need for more secure and standardized communication through a decentralized source, in turn allowing for safe and effective communication. Now every single keystroke and movement you make on your computer is recorded and stored by the government, companies, and people around the world as they are trying to learn from this information and use it to their advantage.

The documentary opened my eyes to how addictive and detrimental increased screen time can be if you don’t have self control. It showed us the reality of how much control the internet has on us through multiple perspectives. One of the biggest criticisms I’ve heard is that the internet is making our generation and the newer generations dumb. While being a firm believer of Social Darwinism, I don’t necessarily blame the internet for any negative problems it may have on generations or individuals but I blame the generations and individuals themselves for letting anything bad happen to them. We all have the opportunity to become aware and think for ourselves. The internet has been one of the greatest innovations of all time and will only continue to inspire and produce more innovation as it continues to get better and better.

The creation of the internet was the start of a new intellectual and innovative era in my opinion. Almost everything we know as humans is accessible on the internet. At the click of a button you can search through millions of articles and books to find what you are looking for. At the click of a button you can send a message across the entire country only to receive your reply 30 seconds later. It has created an efficient flow and passage of knowledge across the world that we’ve never seen before. We are capable of more than every because we now get to waste less time searching for an answer or learning something than before.

But at some point you may ask, how much internet is too much internet? How has it began to affect us as a society or as an individual in that society? What can we do to adapt and overcome the negative aspects that come with the internet?

The greatest thing about television and media is that helps you find yourself in this world and understand that certain things can be an achievable reality. It helps you gain a perspective on life and develop a sense of self beyond what you are accustomed to. One of the greatest things we have seen since the 60s is the increasing amount of women and people of color on tv.

In a society that still exhibits inequality amongst its people, lack of representation is one of the biggest issues we can face. While many people do not see the full picture and importance of having more representation on the television it comes down to giving someone a perspective and a chance at what they deserve and what is realistically achievable. It gives people a voice and a chance to spread that voice and inspire.

One of the videos we watched this week was from Pioneers of Television: Funny Ladies and it talked about just this. Since the 60s we have seen the image of women in our country change and morph into what it always should have been. It proved to the entire country that women are just as capable as men in every single way shape or form and should be looked at no different.

Another video we were tasked with watching this week was Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Hush. This episode basically had a group of ghouls called “The Gentleman” steal everyone’s voices completely, leaving Buffy and the gang to save everyone silently. This was my first experience with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it was definitely a good one. As expected, everyone completely freaked out at first. As they began to accept being silent, they started communicating physically and assumptively and ultimately figured out how to save everyone’s voices and defeat “The Gentleman”.

It really goes to show the creativity and our ability to adapt and overcome almost any situation thrown at us as long as we work together.