For the end of the semester, we watched Twelve Angry Men. The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young man is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open-and-shut case of murder soon becomes a detective story that presents an unfolding of clues creating doubt, and a mini-drama of each of the jurors’ prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. All of the action takes place on the jury floor. My personal favorite scene is when one of the juror 3 gets so fed up he rips apart a picture of him and is son, and is furious with emotion. I was really touched by the emotion in this scene, because I’m sure it is very common for jurors in everyday life to experience their personal lives come out in cases. Overall, I really liked it and rekindled by love for black and white movies.
Here are the Twelve Angry Men looking angry!
To conclude this semester, I would first like to start off by saying thank you to Dr. Schlegel and my classmates for making this semester less stressful in this class. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs and hearing what they have to say. The thing I enjoyed the most about this class was the freedom to write about whatever I wanted. Yes we had topics, but I appreciate everyone, including me, getting very creative with their ideas for our blogs. I loved learning about these different mediums and especially during the election, it was really helpful to learn some of these tactics used by the media to get what they want. I have learned a lot about myself and how I work in this class, but most importantly I’m walking away with more knowledge about mediums then when I went in the class.
Just a few mediums we covered this year that I will forever look at differently because of this class.
It is no secret that we are being watched by our phones. We are completely spied on everyday, just not in ways you would expect. We obviously know there is an algorithm that social media uses to get to know your interests and you, to further recommend things you would be interested in viewing, buying, or doing. This way, the people in charge of monitoring you will are trying to get to know you, and overall the population on the app, better. I have a real problem with this. It completely invades my privacy, and I don’t want an app guessing who I am and what I want. Sure it is nice to have something pop up on my Instagram that I was just talking about needing, but does anyone else not see a problem with this?
A quick model of a social media algorithm.
Apps learn from us, and use that information for God knows what. I believe this information could be going somewhere big, and cooperation’s are using all this information to gather opinions about the public and how we react to things. Another example of how the media controls us is by simple manipulation through facts. The Corona Virus is the perfect example. We have been told plenty of information since it started in January basically, and still some people are in their own world of what it going on. People should be told concrete information about something as big as this, but we have now accustomed to not fully believing everything we are told face value.
A few networks that will brainwash you.
We are manipulated to give our full attention to the stories going on in the world, however when we take in this news as something true, we are confronted with the choice of ignoring the people who question it. It is true not everyone believes what they read online, but there are people out there that really do believe everything they take in. Those are the people who are easily taken advantage of y the media, and have trouble thinking for themselves. It is extremely important to have your own thought process to distinguish your opinions from what society is trying to get you to believe.
During our fall course of learning about the different media mediums and how they relate to American life, I took a particular interest in the week of music. We learned about how music was consumed over the years and how much of an actual business it is now. Music is very important to me and I have a very strong appreciation for the evolution of it. From strictly live music, to being on the radio, next to be recorded and put on records and cassettes, to eventually ending up on my computer on an app while I write this essay. I’m appreciative the love for music has not died out, or obviously it wouldn’t be as easy to access today. Music on apps for me, really takes away from the authenticity of raw recording. Don’t get me wrong, I love having almost everything I could ever want to listen to at my fingertips, but I kind of wish I went through the hassle of saving up change to run to a record store to get the newest album before it was sold out. I think by still having music on the radio, having records, CD’s and cassettes preserves not only the true sound of a song, but the time period it came from. It allows the listener to get the most realistic listening experience. It gives them the power to imagine more about the song and when it was made. It inspires its listeners or takes them to a feeling of deep nostalgia, if they were lucky enough to experience the music in its natural time. So, by still having the radio around, records and CD’s being produced, music from the past wouldn’t have as much of an influence on the music that is popular today. Old music would not be relevant and would be forgotten if people didn’t express a need for different mediums to consume it.
A few CDs to put you in the right state of mind.
First I’d like to say a big thank you to the Indie-Kid epidemic. To the kids that would go to the record store to take pictures and not buy anything, the people that wear band t-shirts yet know zero songs by the band/who they even are, and to the people that swear they were born in the wrong time period. As much as I despise that being a “trend” these people in my generation, along with the influence of my parents, made me get into old music. This isn’t a brag, or me trying to be one of those people, but I definitely resonate more with music from the 60s, 70s and 90s than today’s music. Of course EDM and rap are incredible and I do love both, but I find classic rock to be where it’s at. I wouldn’t be aware of the bands I love now if it wasn’t for cringey pictures on Tumblr or my sister pretending to love The Grateful Dead. People that made getting into old music a trend I think is a big reason why it’s still around today as big as ever. Our parents however, had the biggest influence on our generation to get into it. In an article written by Crystal Ligori, Jenn Chávez and Donald Orr titled “From TikTok To ’80s Rock: Teens Walk Us Through What They’re Listening To”, Maddie DeWeese said, “When I was growing up, my dad has always been super into music, and he’s always had a ton of records and CDs. They’re always playing in the background. My mom made specific CDs or playlists for car rides with the kids. My parents influence, I think, a lot of what I listen to”. I can definitely relate to this because my parents still have CD’s in their car with everything from their childhood to present. My dad has passed down his record collection filled with Bruce Springsteen, Bob Segar, The Doors, The Searchers, The Cars, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and plenty more. So I was lucky enough to have parents who passed down their passion for music to me, and I still listen to all of those records my dad gave me with my own record player. It’s a full circle, sentimental thing listening to those records because I know when my parents were listening to them, everything was different but the love for the tune stays the same.
The passion and love for consuming music through another way like records and CDs really hasn’t gone anywhere, either. In fact, in a Business Insider article “Americans spending more on vinyl records then CDs for the first time since the 1980’s” says “LP and EP sales totalled $232.1 million in the first half of 2020 — almost 80% more than the total revenue for CD sales, which stood at $129.9 million, according to estimates from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)”. This proves that people are taking advantage of records still being produced and really capitalizing on it. However, according to the article, “The plunging popularity of CDs, rather than a surge in vinyl buying, caused the change: Revenues from record sales only increased by 3.6% over six months, but CD sales plummeted by 47.6%”. It is understandable that if CD sales went down another way of consumption, records would be increased. I do know that people still love CD’s and use them, but it would make sense if they listened to older music or even very new music, records would be the way to do it. I don’t know that many people with a boombox still.
This is my favorite record store, it is in Laguna Beach, California. It is STOCKED with records and CDs, even band merchandise and art work.
Consuming older music over the radio also keeps its spirit alive. It’s nice to know people still listen to music over the radio, because what you listen to is in your control up to a certain point. Live performances used to be very popular over the radio as well. In Chapter 7: Radio of the book Understanding Media and Culture it says, “Although recording technology had also emerged several decades before radio, music played live over the radio sounded better than it did on a record played in the home. Live music performances thus became a staple of early radio”. My dad has memories of turning on the radio and listening to the live music, and I know those specific songs he listened to trigger very happy memories in him. I’m lucky enough to be able to view live performances online like MTV’s Unplugged versions. Live music does sound very different, but can be appreciated in its own way depending on how you take it in. It would’ve been very interesting listening to Nirvana’s Unplugged on a radio though. Not bad, just different. That’s why it is important to keep consuming music from not only the past but present music, through different mediums other than our phones. It keeps the spirit of the music alive, because that’s how the music came into this world.
This song is very dark, but this performance is really powerful. Every unplugged is just incredible.
Social media crept out of no where and has taken over the world. It has made a huge impact on how our society functions, and has given us another view on how we function as humans. I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, so I believer social media was destined to teach us something– not sure what that is yet, but we all know thew world has changed so much since it was invented. I’m sure we will figure that reason out when the time is right though. In the meantime, it is very fascinating to see how social media plays such a huge role in our lives. It is everywhere, always. We have full power of our consumption, which is pretty comforting, however I think abuse of social media is something we all can struggle with time to time. It is important we all remember that there is a whole real world outside what people are posting, commenting, retweeting, etc..
NOT FOR WATCHING MY EVERY MOVE AND USING SIRI TO FIND OUT WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.
It is hard to understand that sometimes, because it is easy for me to get caught up in the constant reward-like feeling going on social media. It gives me what I want, when I want it, and that is such a problem sometimes! Can anyone else relate? The algorithm is a very dangerous thing, and I curse Facebook for really creating that. Sorry not sorry. The article “Blue Feed, Red Feed” by The Wall Street Journal goes into some detail about how they conducted an experiment on Facebook where sources of articles that appeared on a “blue” on someone’s feed resonated with liberal views, and “red” sources would be conservative. I think this is really interesting to show how people who tend to view the same things over and over again that are backed by the same views, will most likely to continue to view those things when they aren’t even aware. In the arctlie it says,”Scholars worry that the social network can create “echo chambers”, where users see posts only from like-minded friends and media sources.” I think this a really important concept to recognize because messages could be held back and possibly manipulated from certain groups because of their algorithm that only provides them with the same kind of information over and over again.
This is a real fear of mine because I’ve seen it happen before to me. I don’t like feeling that monitored and someone predicting my next move that much. I think it is nice social media provides you with what you want to see, but sometimes I like the search! How does everyone else feel about the algorithm issue?
The internet has been an insane invention, and I’m glad that I’ve been apart of the generation to grow up with it. I have always been so in awe of the development over the years and I know it will keep expanding, because I don’t think it’s going anywhere. I think we have become so reliant on the internet that we are too far gone, meaning that without it I think our society would really suffer. We use the internet now for finding jobs, ordering groceries, finding love, literally everything these days. It would be really hard to go on with something happened to it. For example, if the internet crashed like the economy did during the corona virus crisis, it would put everyone’s lives at a huge halt.
This is a good portrayal of the connectivity of the internet across the globe. Through the sending and receiving of messages, the internet is a prime way of communications these days.
The internet is used in many different ways, and it can be best viewed generationally. Yes the internet came before social media, but I think without social media, the internet would be at a standstill. I think less people would be aware of the updates of the world, out of touch with each other and the trending topics of what they care about. My parents for example, who are 55, aren’t really into social media as much as my siblings and I are, who are in the ages between 24 and 19. They prefer to get their news on T.V., at a scheduled time. They sit down with their meals and watch the news together. Me however, I just read my news on my phone. I click links and watch videos for my news, whenever wherever. In our book, it states that, “Instead of relying on professional reporters to get information about a protest in Iran, a person could just search for “Iran” on Twitter and likely end up with hundreds of tweets linking to everything from blogs to CNN.com to YouTube videos from Iranian citizens themselves. In addition, many of these tweets may actually be instant updates from people using Twitter in Iran”, (chapter 11). I think this is a great representation of how my generation consumes on social media and how it plays a roll in our lives, compared to older generations.
This is a really interesting talk that discusses the importance of consciously consuming social media to protect your mental health.
In this weeks class, we continued to discuss how the role of television has progressed throughout the years. We talked about how the presence of women in television, specifically in comedies, transformed T.V. for the better. We watched an episode of Pioneers of Television called Funny Ladies, which highlighted these ladies like Carole Burnett, Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy, and Mary Tyler Moore. My parents absolutely loved Carole Burnett and watched her a lot growing up. Her humor was revolutionary for the time and she left a huge legacy for female comics to follow. Mary Tyler Moore and Lucille Ball held a high reputation as well for the humor they displayed. Women weren’t as respected as men back then in the business, so by having strong women leads who were actually funny, was a huge game changer. These women did an amazing job at breaking down stereotypes of woman at the time and helped pave the way for more independent women but also more realistic woman in the home.
I love their comedy styles so much.
We also discussed an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is an average girl who kills vampires, and this show was simply iconic. From the fashion to the characters, this show was a staple of 90’s culture. In class we focused on the episode called Hush, in which all the characters are forced to communicate in a nonverbal way because their voices are taken by monsters who invaded their town. Buffy, her friends, and all of us watching were reminded that speaking is not the only form of communication. Communication is the backbone of forming and keeping relationships, and if speaking doesn’t work, the want of understanding between people should be strong enough to force them to get creative on how they talk to one another. Everything about Buffy is post-modern, in the way that it has a strong female lead focusing on issues of her life which is more of a career, and thanks to people like Luciell Ball, we wouldn’t get those shows.
Buffy, pictured, has decided to communicate via whiteboard since her voice is gone.
In the reading called “Buffy the Vampire Slayer– Using a Popular Culture Postmodern Text in the Classroom” discusses the trend of shows in the postmodern era. Gender roles, what is deemed “funny” and genres all fall into this category, and shows from the postmodern era all reflect some kind of change in the norm that questions stereotypes. I can’t help but wonder what movement is next if we are done with the post modern era. The arts have been completely challenged at the beginning of the 20th century which brought on post-modernism, but what movement are we in now? Post-post modernism? What does that even mean? I don’t know what I would call the next movement, but I for sure see the arts becoming more unique and just fully embraced by society, or completely rejected. It’s fun to think about! What is your prediction for the next big movement.
The cast of Buffy was a cookie cutter layout for a post-modern female led show. With a male character sexualized sometimes more than the main female character, is a really good example of how gender roles are flipped and questioned in post modern TV.
The invention of the television is something I will be forever grateful for. It brings so many people into a world where everything is okay, and they can control the narrative as at the viewer. Our generation is truly blessed to be given streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix, because I personally would not be down to schedule my week around a show like people used to do since certain things only aired once a week. A lot of things were different back then, and I have a lot of respect for the people who had to deal with only a few channels. Since around the 1950’s, we’ve been able to experience the world from our living room. The television connects us all by giving us news and contrasting with other things like sports, sitcoms, etc. to take the mind off a hard day of living.
With the whole “fake news” stories floating around these days, this summer a real fear was instilled in me that solidified certain beliefs I had. There was a video I saw on Instagram that showed several news stations reporting the same exact story. they were all in sync like some chorus of minions and it honestly scared me! If that is a reality in multiple places, it’s just shows the recycled, one sided information that only the people in charge think you should know. I highly recommend watching this video if you have time. It might be old news, LOL, but I think it is still relevant today and will become even more prominent if we keep consuming how we are and letting these big companies take over.
I prefer to read my news now mostly, because television has become so corrupt (or has it always been). Even lighthearted shows piss me off now because they are all so predictable. SNL was always one of my favorite T.V. shows but all they do now is talk about political issues and type cast the hell out of their cast. I’m sure other people like it still, but their prime has passed in my opinion and ever since More Cowbell, it hasn’t been the same.
I got a fever, and the only prescription is more old SNL skits.
This week we covered the topic of Newspaper and the importance of credibility in news. I have always been fascinated with newspapers, which is totally weird, but as a kid I wasn’t super interested in watching the news or keeping up with the news in any way. When my dad or grandparents would read the newspaper though, I would always smell it (I know, ew) and really take in the texture of the pages. Something about the paper made me feel connected, to something I couldn’t comprehend. It made me feel older, to have all that information in the palms of my hands. Sadly, newspaper is hardly appreciated and valued as it once was. Information that you had to pay for that was highly consumed is now a has been compared to online news, social media, and television.
Citizen Kane wouldn’t be the masterpiece it is without the press involved. Charles Foster Kane, the man in the picture and the main character in the movie, plays a spin off of a news paper mougel who was injured charge of mass numbers of news paper companies. He controlled the narrative, and had power over his imagine, which many people with power over media still do today. I think a lot of people who strive to be rich, famous, powerful, and dominating all resemble a bit of C.F. Kane. Temper tantrums in bedrooms are included in that, I’m sure.
The episodes of The Wire that we watched in class really highlighted the harsh reality of the press. Reporting on true information, not just for story and talk, is so important. “Truth is the best defense against liable”, as we heard this week, means if things ever happen to get legal, truth is the only thing that will protect you. False information spreads like wildfire, especially with the change of mediums to consume it. We have everything we want honestly, just in the palm of our hand, so you can imagine that newspapers in a few years will really not be doing good. In my opinion I think magazines will always stick around, for places like waiting rooms, offices, nail salons and places like that. People would rather look at images in magazines than read in the paper, in my opinion. Do you think magazines for example, will fall out of style and demand similar to newspapers? Do you see them staying around longer?
Interview Magazine, my favorite magazine, I hope never goes anywhere. It has been around for so long and in my opinion captures everything someone needs to know about what is relevant to this time through average people, art, and people in the public eye. They usually print their magazines larger than average, which makes the experience of reading them so special. Can’t get that type of read over the phone!
Seriously, what would we do without the media? This medium is so beneficial and I’m so lucky to be growing up with it. I think it’s important to broaden the understanding of the different media outlets there are. For example, this week something that really stuck with me was the screening Out of Print, which talked about the declining habit of taking in information in a physically written form like books and newspapers. It talked about the transition that is expected of consumer intake from books and paper mediums to all online. This rings very true to me because I can see the change and remember when I personally shifted my focus less on paper and more on screen, not on purpose but times required me to do so, along with everyone else. Media outlets like books and papers are secondary compared to articles on your phone and media apps. Television, computors, and smartphones are also forms of how we consume media these days. In some ways this can be really bad– information can be spread falsely, everything is basically online for anyone to see and is quick to be received. This can promote laziness in consumers, therefore continuing the cycle of people taking the easy way out and opting for the online version of media.
Why not read a full New York Time’s article via someone’s instagram story? No matter what you’re doing, social media is there for you with doors of information.
This got me thinking about how I consume and why I consume the way I do. I really do love books, the way they smell, how each author presents a different style, and the history of them. I enjoy reading, I always have and I always will. However in middle school, we had this system called “Reading Counts” that we had to follow which pretty much ruined my reading habits for the next 4 or 5 years. We were forced to read a certain number of books, worth a certain amount of points, and at whatever level we tested for. It makes sense of course and I’m sure many people had a system like that, but man that was garbage! It forced students who enjoyed reading as a hobby, and turned it into an assignment worth a big portion of our grade. You may be thinking well Molly, if you liked reading, why was it such an issue for you to do that? Because I was FORCED. When someone takes one of your favorite hobbies, for example watching movies. Now I don’t mean just watching them I mean, taking a deep dive into the directors intentions, the lighting, camera angles and what they mean, etc., and then decided to put you through a series of tests to see what movies you’d be able to comprehend, then give you a list of around 10 you’d be able to pick from, and you’d have to fill out logs and take quizzes on them every week. You would quickly not want to watch movies anymore, and I guarantee that.
Red, I would rather read that book than another Series of Unfortunate Events book. No offense Lemony Snicket, your books deserved to be worth more points, no matter how Unfortunate they were.
I’ve grown out of my hatred of Reading Counts and have come to terms with it, and I choose to look at that as character development. It did force me to do something I didn’t want to do which is nice but, not when it ruins your hobbies. And I see situations like this (not exactly the same) that can turn people away from their good habits when they are forced to do so for a grade. Another problem with this is it gives people the option to half-ass their reading, further promoting comprehension issues and retaining true information.
This is been all of us at some point and if it hasn’t been you, know you’ve been blessed.
Culture also has a big role in the consumption of information and how we consume. Culture is fluid, and in my opinion the perfect media format for that is the internet. It is a direct reflection of our current reality and trends, so it is completely understandable that most people prefer online forms of media. I am one of those people in some areas of my life, I like doing my homework and writing online rather than writing it out by hand sometimes, and I love social media for getting incontact with people quickly and all of the constant inspiration. As culture changes we should be able to change with it, and that means accepting the new mediums we have today like social media and the internet. Do you think that we as a society are adapting well from old ways like print to the more accessible option of online?
This picture is such good model of how teens grow up today. Some people are in the back eating with no phones in site, enjoying each other’s company. In front we have two girls sharing a screen with one trying to see what they are seeing, and one other girl completely off to the side on her own phone. Intentionally or not, we have created more space between us then intended, when we are not aware of our phones being the culprit.
Hello everyone! My name is Molly Lawson, I am a sophomore and a communications major! I am really interested in PR and journalism so I hope to continue to grow my knowledge in those areas as well. I also really enjoy film and screenwriting. Some of my favorite movies are Midnight in Paris, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Inception, Death Proof, and Pulp Fiction. My favorite director is Quinten Tarantino if you couldn’t tell. I just love movies and the process it takes to create them.
I am from Orange County, California, but am originally from Berkeley, Michigan. I moved to California when I was 8 which was pretty tough, but I’m glad I’m in New York for college so I’m at least a little closer! I really enjoy this part of New York because it reminds me of home. Also its such a contrast from California so I’m very grateful I get to take a break from the heat and get actual seasons!
I also play softball, and I’m really lucky to be continuing my career. It was definitely tough last season with how it ended, especially for the seniors. We were in Florida for spring break when we had to pack it all up, but that trip will forever have a special place in my heart, for so many reasons.
Overall, I’m really excited to see what this class has to offer and I’m super receptive of this information! I think its really important for our generation to be learning as much as we can about the media because it’s truly all we know and how we are even communicating right now. I’m super excited for this semester!
Mass Media and American Life 