Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GOShDs4FI&feature=related
Part Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls33-GM2GxY&feature=related
As soon as I read today’s passage about media criticisms and effects, I immediately thought of a Boy Meets World episode. Strange. I know. But I think it works.
Throughout my study of media and in reading these 11 pages, I’ve seen that media critics are constantly trying to fit media texts into one confined simple box. But how can we confine something that has integrated itself into every aspect of our lives? From topics so crucial like how we define gender in our society to something as mindless as the post-elimination water cooler conversation, the American public has let media permeate into virtually, if not literally, every aspect of our lives.
Because of this infiltration, it has become a hot topic of study to say the least. However, each person seems to find their own unique take on it. Not just in the scholarly schools of thought, but even viewers find an individual way of looking at each element of media.
In my brief study thus far of media, and just by reading in these few pages, I can see that there are endless ways of critically looking at media. There is the political sense of how the media industry works: who should be cast in movies to guarantee success, which conglomerations will ensure popularity in society, and what topics will be controversial enough to attract attention without being pushed aside. The content itself can actually be studied not only as a numerical sense but also in a qualitative sense as to what is on television or in movies and what that means in our society. Then, it can be looked at from the audience’s perspective and how they react to the media stimuli that are coming at them. However, there is no right way to look at media.
In this episode of Boy Meets World, Mr. Feeny proposes a problem that does not have one right answer, or even a several right answers, but rather no answer. I think from this episode, it makes sense how all these elements of media studies and its effects on culture can be right to some degree. While Minkus spends the entire episode searching for one exact right answer, it becomes clear, as Mr. Feeny so wisely says, “in life, the right answer is that there isn’t one.”
There is no one way to look at media as there is no one way to look at Feeny’s word problem. As he says in the beginning, it’s all about how you arrive at the answer.
The reading gives an excellent example on pages 15 – 16 about a woman’s perspective female gender portrayals in media. Some women will be empowered while others will be offended by the stereotypical role that they have once again been placed in. While neither answer is right, neither answer is wrong either, because “the right answer is that there isn’t one.”
Thanks for another great lesson Feeny!
1 comment:
that's a really perfect example of what was explained in the chapter. There is no right answer because every interpretation can be different, but the way we get an answer is important because a number of factors must be taken into account.
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