FAKE FEMA

This blog entry by Shelly Wood.

The story: "FEMA Meets the Press, Which Happens to Be . . . FEMA"

The analysis:

It is fairly well know that FEMA has a bad reputation because of their lack of efficiency during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. This past week’s fires in Southern California offered FEMA a chance to redeem themselves to the information hungry public. According to this article, FEMA had their reputation in mind when deputy administrator, Harvey E. Johnson, released their first press conference. They alerted reporters fifteen minutes prior to the briefing. This was not enough time for reporters to be present, so they had FEMA staff members act as reporters. The various Media outlets could obtain the briefing through a listen only 800 number. The real reporters were never given a chance to ask questions. The only questions answered came from within the organization. When this staging became known, Johnson claimed that they used the questions that reporters would have asked. It just seemed odd that legit reporters would steer the questions in a direction that allowed FEMA to portray themselves as efficient.

Hurricane Katrina made a mockery of FEMA. Their lack of efficiency was public discussion. This week’s fires were the first major natural disaster since the hurricane. FEMA deemed importance in looking good in the eyes of the public. Thus they staged their first press release to prevent uncomfortable questions that might make them look incompetent. Mass media has a reputation for releasing misleading information to benefit controlling political institutions. Yet this time, the various media outlets were not on their side. If FEMA really wanted to fool people, they should have done a better job of covering up their agenda. It was fairly obvious that the situation was staged, and the Media loved its opportunity to make FEMA look inadequate again. It follows the public’s expectations of FEMA.

Rather than discuss what FEMA has actually done to help in this disastrous situation, all current coverage pertains to this press conference incident. It makes for more interesting news than the relief they are actually providing. FEMA did this to themselves, yet they are also helping the media with more a more interesting story. The public is fairly uninterested in the assistance that has been provided. The staged news brief is what the public takes away from the incident. Furthermore, it lives up to the publics expectations, or lack there of, of FEMA.

DRESSING UP

This blog entry by Yutaka Iwakiri.

The story: "The Hottest Sexy Halloween Costumes for 2007"

The analysis:

I found this article at Yahoo Finance. The article is about Halloween costumes. It talks about how adults in greater numbers than ever before are choosing sexy over spooky costumes. In addition to that, it discusses how Halloween has become more and more of an adult holiday rather than just a holiday for kids as has been the tradition in the past. Why did this happen?
The reason why I chose this article is because simply that this is the Halloween season. Plus, when I read this article, I thought media and companies associate sexiness with Halloween costumes and deliberately manipulates consumers to make them buy more costumes.
These days, it is apparent that Halloween costumes, especially for women are very sexy. Not only are their costumes sexy, but also people started to accept that sexiness is a symbol of Halloween. Since I was born in and grew up in Japan, the first time I saw Halloween in Hollywood was a few years ago. I even thought that to wear sexy costumes is the norm of Halloween in general. However, it is not. Halloween is traditionally a holiday for kids. It is a special day for kids to wear spooky costumes such as witches or monsters and visiting houses to go trick or treating.
How does this transformation; spooky to sexy, occur? One of the reasons we can think of is the influence of advertisement. As we studied, advertisement, particularly the advertisement of women has been changing over the years. Today, women have more sexual liberty, and thus, media and advertising companies market more sexy images of Halloween costumes to make more sales. Anther perspective we can think of is sexual fantasy. According to the article, most costumes buyers are women buying sexy costumes, but also men have been getting more elaborate and sexy costumes as well. This means we can guess both men and women are buying those costumes not only for Halloween, but also for their entertainment.
I personally do not care if the Halloween is spooky or scary since I do not celebrate it anyway. However, to make Halloween too sexy might causes controversy related to sexual equality, increases the possibility of sexual assaults and also creates debate about what costumes are appropriate for children and teenagers.

UPCOMING READINGS, WEEKS 8-10

These readings cover material for the next three weeks of class:

• Starr and Waterman: "The Minstrel Show"
  
• Cullen: "Moving Images"
  
• Strinati: "Film Noir"

TV ON THE INTERNET

This blog entry by Annabelle Carino.

The story: " Network Starts to Offer TV on the Web"

The analysis:

The music industry lost a lot of money with the introduction of the Internet downloading and sharing. Now, the TV industry is afraid that soon consumers will also start relying on the Internet for their television fixes. Fewer and fewer people are watching television each year, 77% of viewers are opting to watch shows over the Internet instead of prime time. ABC, NBC, Fox and CW are offering full-length free on-demand episodes online with very minimal commercials. "Techies" have even come up with JOOST, where users can download shows and put it straight to their iPods. Viewers can now download their favorite show and not have to watch commercials.

I chose this story because it relates to a lot of us today. Because everyone now has access to the Internet and are so busy, instead of watching prime time TV they just wait until it comes out Online on the websites. I'm one of those people that has stopped watching TV on its regularly scheduled time. It's just more convenient for everyone's busy schedules now to watch shows Online. Also, because everyone is carrying around iPods that are capable of playing videos, they enjoy downloading their shows to take it with them to go.

It's important because it has to do with the power relationships between the consumers and the industries. The TV industries already saw what can happen when music downloaders use the Internet for music instead of going out to the record stores and buying CDs. TV industries are now trying to accommodate the growing fad that consumers are adopting to stay on top of the game. It goes to show that the consumers are the ones who hold the most power because the TV industries want to satisfy their audience so they'll stick around.

DUMBLEDORE WAS WHAT?

This blog entry by Jessica Nedjat-Haiem.

The story: " Dumbledore is gay, 'Harry Potter' author reveals"

The analysis:

As I opened up the yahoo page to check my mail, the first thing I saw was in bold writing, "Dumbeldore is gay 'Harry Potter' author reveals." I looked for the article later on and found it on the CNN website. The article stated that, after a short reading by the author done at Carnegie Hall, she then took questions from the audience. One of the questions was, does Dumbledore find "true love?" The author answered "Dumbledore is gay." The crowd was very shocked and the author went on to explain what direct quotes from the book were her intentions of showing the hint of his homosexuality and love interest of another character from the book.

I chose this story because it's so interesting to see sexuality where you would never even question it. For the people who have read the books, or at least watched the movies, who would even think about Dumbledore in a sexual manner? I personally have yet to read all of the books, but I did enjoy the first two that I have read and I'm getting through third as we speak. But, from my perspective and others (who I have asked from) that have read the whole series, no one really questioned the characters sexuality at all. I think this reveal of sexuality is very interesting for so many reasons and is also very important to popular culture. The fact is that in movies and popular culture in general, how often do we think about an older man and what their love interest might be? We question other younger characters or even characters in there older ages, but not much an old man (at least I don't). I had thought of Dumbeldore as an intelligent, nice, caring, asexual old man. A gross thought popped up into my head as I realized this fact that Dumbeldore was gay; is it possible that he was in love with Harry this whole time? Disgusting! The reason why I felt this thought relevant to this subject was because I think many people would assume or question any gay old man as being a younger boys' mentor as something suspicious.

For the most part I really like the fact that J.K. Rowling brought this subject up at all. I think it's important to not just make assumptions about everything and just go along with your immediate thought. When things like this come up and surprise you, it forces you to question things more often. It also forces me to look deeper into the messages that are being given out into popular culture. It makes me realize that older men are sexual people as well. They have certain love interests and their libido doesn't necessarily shut off as they get older. I also like the fact that the author brought this up because it's bringing up more unexpected homosexual characters into popular culture. People have a certain stereotype in their mind of what homosexuals look and act like. Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series certainly does not fit into that category.

LEBLANC AND BEST READINGS

I re-upped the LeBlanc reading and tried to DL it myself; should be no problems.

Here is the Amy Best article, "Cruising Slow and Low."

This reading is from both the Best and LeBlanc readings - the two selections focus on the research methods used by both authors.

MAN LAWS NO MORE

This blog entry by Greg Gonzales.

The story: "No More Man Laws"

The analysis:

After searching many articles, the article I finally chose is about a Miller Lite commercial. A while back Miller Lite released an ad campaign focusing on manly behavior, and listed a set of rules for men. These rules were pretty much guidelines on how to be a “real man”. Those rules were as follows; no man shall mute the t.v to answer his wife or girlfriend, no man shall garnish his beer with fruit, and finally no man shall put two rival beers in the same cooler. With that being said those were only a few of the laws voted on by men. When advertising their commercials they only used celebrities known for being “manly men” such as Burt Reynolds, Jimmy Johnson and Triple H from WWE. In these ads they discuss unacceptable manly behavior such as never wearing diamond earrings because they are a women’s best friend, and leaving your food or your seat for more than five minutes constitutes fair game for others.
In Byron Hurts documentary on hip-hop he discusses masculinity as one of the important social scripts. Being a manly man not only applies to hip-hop, but to most the male population as a whole. One of the rules was to never to garnish a beer with fruit. This was an obvious homophobic remark because drinking a fruity drink or even garnishing a manly beer with fruit is considered “totally gay”. I personally work in a restaurant and when I have a male order a pina colada or any fruity drink, I find myself wondering why they did not get a beer. Are they gay? Are they a wimp? These tend to be my initial thoughts. Then I start to wonder why I would even think such ridiculous nonsense. A guy orders a fruity drink and that’s considered a sign of weakness? Gender roles obviously start at a young age because from the minute I started drinking alcohol if you weren’t drinking beer or hard liquor you were considered a “pussy”.
I chose this article because I find it very interesting how corporate companies market their products to us. In this campaign it is obvious that they are attacking a male’s masculinity to sell a “manly beer”. “If you drink a fruity beverage then you might be considered a sissy, so show your strength and drink a Miller Lite”. That should be the perfect slogan for any beer company, wait …it already is!

DEATH OF THE FEMALE FILM?

This blog entry by Chimy Trinh.

The story: "Warner Bros. Responds to "No More Female Films" Rumors"

The analysis:

Browsing through entertainment news and gossip columns, I came across this very interesting story of outright gender discrimination committed by the Warner Brothers movie studio president of production Jeff Robinov on rottentomatoes.com. According to many movie/blog/gossip/etc. sites, Robinov declared "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead". Well now, that created major controversy which in turn has Gloria Allred jumping on the horn screaming ‘Boycott!’ faster than Britney heading off to the Peninsula Hotel before dropping off her kids to K-Fed. Damage control ensued immediately by a publicist from Wanrer Bros. movie studios stating that this incident was a total fabrication. Sounds familiar, but why would someone make a serious allegation to damage the prestigious image of the Warner Bros. movie studio?

Well, for one thing, regardless of the statement being true or not, this issue is not uncommon, nor is it surprising to me. First of all, after the Gina Marchetti’s reader and watching Byron Hurt’s “Beyond Beats and Rhythms” the entertainment industry does not look like it is going to do a paradigm shift anytime soon. There are major proponents to keep acts of misogyny on the screen, in the music, in advertisements and other avenues of society. As for movies with female lead roles, I enjoyed most movies with a female lead (minus Pam Anderson’s Barbwire). For instance, many video gamers can recall female-lead roles such as Resident Evil and Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider as successful video game to movie translation with the roles fitting snug like a toasty sweater out of a Whirlpool dryer. Although these examples are not produced by the Warner Bros. movie studios, the movies were successful.

The main reason for Robinov to make the alleged comment was three female led action films bombed at the box office. Those movies were “The Invasion” starring Nicole Kidman, “The Brave One” starring Jodie Foster, and “The Reaping” starring Hilary Swank, all released within this year. He said he is giving the green light to many female led roles in upcoming projects such as Cameron Diaz, but we will have to wait to see what type of movie it will be. Although Robinov has dispute charges of him being misogynistic toward female led movie roles, in my opinion his intentions are still there, which is to not use female leads in action movies. I guess Robinov’s rationale of the situation is that many women (if not all in his case) cannot carry such a role for such a “macho” genre, more or less look good brandishing a gun while talking tough, and above all, bringing in the big bucks which an audience of overwhelming majority of males invest their money to watch this movie genre. Overall, if Robinov does not plan on using females in action flicks in the future, which I might think he will do, or at least have sparing use for, this decision would continue to put females in objective roles as the love interest, the damsel in distress, and no higher than sidekick status in action-adventure movies. Bottom line, it could be looked at as a profit issue or male insecurity. I think Robinov is just pissed he could not look that good on screen like the females mentioned above.

BRITNEY'S BLUES

This blog entry by Monica D’Onofrio.

The story: "Losing kids may be just what Britney wanted"

The analysis:

I found this article on MSNBC. It is about Britney Spears and the judges decision about having custody of her kids. From this article we come to find out that Britney Spears loses her two children to Kevin Federline. The article begins to say that she got what she deserved and possibly exactly what she wanted. The article exposes a few of her faults, for example, keeping her children out past ten o’clock p.m. and not showing up for parenting classes and drug counseling. The article suggests that Spears believed that she was above the law just because she is a celebrity and felt that she could do what ever she wants. Also, it suggests that she is absolutely, without a doubt an unfit parent, without an ounce of common sense. The article depicts her as being immature and not ready to be a mother and blames Britney Spears’ family and friends for not helping her.

What I think is astonishing is the sole fact that this article is even on MSNBC.com and that there are people out there that actually want to read about this junk; obviously it is up there for a reason. The story in my opinion is garbage and I believe that this article is merely a distraction to all that read it. It is extremely depressing to see this on, not only the internet but on every news broadcast from early in the morning until late at night ; lets not forget magazines. There is a demand for this and with this demand these types of situations involving Britney Spears are gaining more and more recognition and has made its way as a reoccurring, popular theme in on our televisions, computers, and magazines.

Also, what I find interesting is the fact that the writer of the article tries to give advice about what Britney Spears should and should not do and makes her look like she’s the worst kind of mother out there. In reality there are mothers and fathers out there raping, beating and neglecting their children. These things are far worse things to do to your children then anything Spears has done to her own. It might be just a slight bit more productive to shed light on those types of parents then on a celebrity that has the right to choose whether she wants her kids up past ten o’clock. Yes, I know she had a drug problem, that was all over the news as well, but she went to rehab for that and she did get better. I don’t see her as a big threat to her children, for all I care she can keep her kids up until one o’clock in the morning. People need to learn how to avoid articles like this and become distracted with more important things.

STUCK IN RUSH HOUR?

This blog entry by Nelson Nailat.

The story: "Jackie Chan No Fan of 'Rush Hour' Series"

The analysis:

In this news article, the martial arts professional and movie star director/actor, Jackie Chan, criticizes his most successfully acclaimed American box office movie trilogy, Rush Hour, to be a disappointment as he disagrees with the directing of the action scenes and comedy of the movie, deeming it to be too "Americanized" as well as badly fluffed with "American humor."  It is said that Chan was persuaded to make and act the first sequel to Rush Hour due to the fact that he was being offered an "irresistible" amount of money, while the third film was made to satisfy Rush Hour movie fans.  Even though Rush Hour and several other American-made movies helped Jackie Chan gain recognition over American audiences, he could not help to admit he personal opinion of how he felt of the particular series.

I chose this article because it shows that even an artist, such as Jackie Chan, whom is skilled in different martial art styles, can create and choreograph his combative work and be able to honestly opinionate his achievements even when his opinion is different amongst his fans.  In this case scenario, it is the masses that are in control of "popular culture" as they praise Chan's work on his three films while Chan deliberately serves the masses with further sequels of action and entertainment. If Rush Hour was not as popular as it is in the states, then the producers would not have offered as much money as they had and Chan would not have acted or choreographed in the sequels. It is possible that if Jackie Chan was passionate of the Rush Hour series, he would have made it into the film he would have wanted it to be, however the biggest factor to achieving such a goal relies heavily on the director. The fact that Jackie Chan cannot direct a movie that he stars in reinforces the fact that “art is a collective action.”

Jackie Chan has been known for directing and starring in his action-packed films; however, this does not go without mentioning that he stars in other director films as well. The fact that Chan does not have control of a movie’s plot, motive or direction reinforces the fact that “art is a collective action.” Making a movie can be timely completed when it is comprised of people who divide the labor of producing art with different jobs that reach the same objective. In Jackie Chan’s position, he contributes to the film as the actor that follows the director’s intentions. When the movie is completed and released to wide audiences, his acting skills and talent is reflected upon the viewers’ opinion, which may either harm or praise the skillful actor’s image. However, Chan’s acting skills are not the only factor to his reputation. The movie’s plot, produced by the director, writers and other staff members, is a critical factor as it provides an essential storyline to the movie’s theme. Even though the movie’s plot and theme may appeal to various audiences, it does not conclude that the actor will support the movie’s accomplishment due to various factors such as an actor’s goal and or opinion.

WHAT PRICE FOR MUSIC?

This blog entry by Stephen Horn.

The story: "Radiohead generation believes music is free"

The analysis:

I found a link to this article on google news and I wanted to share this story with the class because I found it fascinating. I’m already a huge Radiohead fan, but the fact that they are standing up to the music industry, made the choice for this article a no-brainer for me. The article is about a recent decision of the U.K. band Radiohead to release their upcoming album in rainbows as a free media download. The band decided that the consumer should set the price of the album, and the band directly receives all the proceeds. Some have decided to pay full price, others just a few pence, but they do allow for option of nothing to be paid in order to receive the download. The album can be preordered at www.radiohead.com, with the release date of October 10th 2007.

Radiohead broke off from their record label attachments in 2005 and decided at that point that they could do it better, make more money, and make the music the way they want to. Not mention that they could rest easy knowing that they would no longer be feeding the industry that has dictated the music industry for far too long. Furthermore, without a recording label to answer to, the band is free to produce whatever kind of content they want to directly to the public, without having to be censored or filtered by a record label that is out to make a profit not music.

I thought that this article would go well with our in class discussion on the “Pop Culture Structure”, being that Radiohead is attempting to find a simpler and more direct path to their audience. It will be interesting to see in the next few weeks the full ramifications of these actions to see how all this will shape the industry. This decision to cut out the middleman hopefully will cause the industry to wake up and smell the 21st century and maybe even cause other bands to follow the example that Radiohead has made for them.

ART OR PORN?

This blog entry by Alissa Puccio.

The story: "Art or Porn? Elton John's Photos Seized"

The analysis:

The article I found was from ABC News involving Elton John and a legendary artist. According to reports Elton John defending a sexually explicit artwork created by photographer Nan Goldin that people are describing as pornographic. The photograph was seized from the gallery by British authorities after receiving a complaint about the photograph. The picture named “Klara and Edda Belly Dancing” depicts two young girls, one of whom is lying down with her legs spread open. The New York artist is well known for her sexually provocative and explicit work usually involving family, friends and children. Legal observers in the United States say that while the courts have tried to limit protection of artistic photographs or moving pictures featuring nude children or sexually explicit images of young people, prosecutions have been infrequent. John has been collecting photography since the early 1990s and is considered to own the largest private collection of 20th century photography. Nan Goldin is a friend of John's and the British singer has patronized her work for many years.

I chose this article because I feel that the only reason there is such a controversy about this photograph and it is discussed in the news because Elton John is publicly commenting on his disapproval of the removal of the piece of work. However, I do agree with Elton John in the fact that this photographer’s work has been published all over for years with no questions asked and with one complaint, British authorities cause a scene and seize the photograph. I feel that if it was any ordinary person fighting for this artist’s right, nothing would be published in the news. But since it is someone famous defending Goldin, everyone wants to hear his opinion. This article clearly shows how much celebrities influence the media. Famous celebrities like Elton John control what the media does and does not publish. I feel that this article is rather unimportant and uninteresting to have been put in ABC News as a headline, but because Elton John wants to publicly announce his feelings on the matter, it becomes an important matter.

A REVERSE GLASS CEILING?

This blog entry by Becky Brubacker.

The story: "Does the reverse glass ceiling exist?"

The analysis:

I found this article on msn.com. It poses the question of a ‘Reverse Glass Ceiling.’ The ‘Glass Ceiling’ is a term used to describe the many barriers women must face when entering the workforce. Especially in male dominated fields, such as finance or law. This article asks if there is such a thing for men who enter women dominated fields such as nursing or marketing. As time goes on, more and more men are taking an interest in these fields. A couple reasons were given. Now that most families are dual-income, men no longer have to have a job based solely on how much money it can provide for them. They can find something they have a passion for, and enjoy it, even if it pays a little less than a typical ‘male’ job. And, men want to have a career in which they can have plenty of free time to spend with their families. Fields that tend to be women-dominated allow for that a lot more.

I thought this article was a perfect one to write about for this class given our recent discussion on women and advertising. We talked a lot about gender stereotypes and assumptions, and how times have changed for women throughout the decades. This article shows just how much times have changed. Women are out in the workplace, and there is always the question of how hard it is for them to succeed. But they have succeeded so much, especially in certain fields, that now we must ask the question of how hard it is for men to succeed. You often hear so much about how women hit these barriers in the workplace because of the fact that they are female. Now discrimination against men based on the fact that they are male is becoming an issue. An example was given of a male travel agent who said he feels he doesn’t get proper respect and recognition, and there is a definite ‘girls club’ that is hard to break through.

It is also just interesting to think about why certain fields mentioned tend to male dominated versus female dominated. An argument was made in the article that public relations is a very social and nurturing field, and that is why it is occupied more by women. The same can be said for nursing. While finance, for example, uses more logic and numbers, and that is associated more with the strengths of males. With these gender stereotypes, its no wonder men and women can encounter a ‘Glass Ceiling’ when trying to succeed in a field not typically thought of for them. People already have the assumption that they do not belong there. Women are scrutinized for trying to act like a man, while a man’s masculinity can be called into question. Those are hard issues to face for both genders. It would be amazing if people could just do what they had a passion for, and a ‘Glass Ceiling’ would be non-existent.