Week 11: Mobilisation

In a world full of advancements, the mobile phone has contributed to societies reliance on being constantly updated by our contacts. Kate Crawford's journal article 'Noise, now: listening to networks,' makes the reader evident that our lives have changed rapidly with the constant bombardment with mobile devices allowing society to mix work life with family life. She argues that perhaps we do need spaces where the use of these devices is banned as accessibility has become a bit of an addiction. These devices allow society to check their Facebook, Twitter and Hotmail accounts anywhere and everywhere, in fact checking these devices and social networking sites can replace the 'smoko' break. 


Kate agrees with Agamben that infers that a desire for happiness is carried out on mobiles and alike devices (Crawford 2010, p 68) suggesting that we as a society are turning to these devices for happiness, which is easily accessible and not necessarily the right approach of a society.


Bibliography
Crawford, K., 2010, ‘Noise, Now: Listening to Networks’ in Meanjin Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 64-9.

Week 10: Networks

Fans have are able to willingly and eagerly participate in the creation of myspace pages for characters of their favourite television show or movie. Booth's article, 'MySpace Character Personas and Narrative Identification' reinstates how fans voluntarily have the opportunity to connect with one another and write out works of fan fiction based on the personalities that the television show or film has outlined. This expands fandom in a major way from conversation to online forums, to dedication websites to social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter. This notion is referred to as transmediation and demonstrate that the lives of these characters extend beyond the screen. 


A connection with other fans is also made reminding them of the next episode airing date and storylines as well as the opportunity to influence those casual viewers as they browse past the page online or shared via a friend. More free publicity is made using these online tools and free of charge too! The establishment of the virtual online world has many positive aspects and enables life on screen to be virtually role played online.


Bibliography
Booth, P., 2008, ‘Rereading Fandom: MySpace Character Personas and Narrative Identification’ in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 25, No. 5, pp 514-536.

Week 09: Othering

The article titled, 'Whiteness Epistemology and Indigenous Representation,' puts forward the idea that knowledge is white. According to this article, western society is responsible for the creation of knowledge. This article draws on the white dominance in the world as a majority whom do not see ourselves as different to one another and that our beliefs are taken for granted over others not of a pale skin complexion. This idea therefore positions those beliefs of the minority such as Aborigines to be irrelevant to our world and not a necessity or requirement for western society to consider adapting. Despite the culture established by the Aboriginal communities, it is not influential for western culture to put into practice. The statement, 'whites are not a certain race, they are a human race' suggests that the superior race of the world is of caucasian appearance and if you are of caucasian appearance classifying the outliers as objects 'as the known' (Moreton-Robinson 2004, p.75)

Bibliography

Moreton-Robinson, A., 2004, ‘Whiteness, Epistemology and Indigenous Representation’ in Whitening Race: Essays in Social and Cultural Criticism, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, pp. 75-88.

Week 08: Gazing

Advertising has become drastically sexualised and Merskin presents an examination of advertisements in fashion magazines and how the power of women is reduced. Also mentioning that advertising of this extent presents women as objects of the desires and sexual fantasy of men. Therefore indicative of the ideology of males as having power and desire over women. In this context, pornography is described as, 'material that depicts men and women as sexual beings with a purpose of arousing mostly male desire in a way that reflects and helps to maintain the subordination of women.'  (Merskin 2006, p 202.) Pornographic advertising aiming to sell the lifestyle attached to the product itself, uses the technique of gazing to include those viewing and persuade them and entice them over. The male gaze is used to describe this notion of responding to media texts of this style implicating the variety of gazes that take place. 

The article also demonstrates that pornographic or sexualised images to sell products are a norm in the media and these images are rather high art and a part of pop culture.  The author also states that these sorts of images affect us in mysterious ways normalising women as sexual, girls as sexually stimulating and the act of violence as exciting. (Merskin 2006, p 215) 

Bibliography:

Merskin, D., 2006, ‘Where Are the Clothes? The Pornographic Gaze in Mainstream American Fashion Advertising’ in Sex in Consumer Culture: The Erotic Content of Media and Marketing, ed. Reichert, T. & Lambiase, J., Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, Mahwah, pp. 199-217. 

Week 7: Watching

This article written by Foucault entitled, 'Panopticism' discusses his social theory about a ruling and monitoring of power. This theory is described to position a tower in the centre that watches and acts as a tool to refrain those around the tower for behaving inappropriately as those watching from the tower have the ruling power of discipline and punishment. Foucault also mentions that even though there is said to be someone watching from the tower the glass is one way where those outside the tower, of which could be criminals, are not certain if they are being watched at every moment, forcing them to behave in a particular manner. The effect of the Panopticon is 'to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power (Foucault 1977, p 201)

This theory was used to manage society during the seventeenth century at the time of the plague to minimise the spread and human interaction on the streets. (Foucault 1977, p 195). He also mentions that this design is suitable for experimenting on men, defining power relations in society, to supervise workers, to make beggars work, in the classroom. A note also can be taken that not only can this theory cement power however it also guides production to ensure that workers are in fact working and not loitering around.  

Bibliography

Foucault, M., 1977, ‘Panopticism’ in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by Alan Sheridan, Penguin, London, pp 195-228. 

Week 6: Speaking & Listening

The article 'The Virtual Sphere', discusses the internet as a domain for public opinion and a part of the public sphere. Written in 2002, this article refers to the idea that the internet could potentially be home to open public discussion and disregard hierarchy or positions in a society behind the responder.  As we are aware 9 years later the internet is having much more of a drastic input into our lives through sharing opinions online, which are constantly expressed on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, online petitions and an expression of our political opinions are even made clear in blogs. The article debates whether the internet is a part of the public sphere or the virtual sphere and it appears to reside mutual to both.

Bibliography
Papacharissi, z., 2002, The virtual sphere:The internet as a public sphere, New Media and Society, Vol 4, No.1, pp.9-27

Week 5: Mediating

The article ”Just Like a Movie”?: 9/11 and Hollywood Spectacle,’ suggests that the 9/11 attacks could be described as “Something from a movie” He uses the techniques of comparison of similarities as a persuasive tool in his article and refers to how our perspective of movies such as Godzilla, Independence Day and alike films which demonstrate the destruction of New York are viewed differently post September 11. King also discusses the  similarities, differences and ‘real and fiction’. This is achieved through the use of  the coverage of September 11 attacks on the twin towers.

The article also proposes that it has become more difficult to distinguish real with fiction, despite mentioning the difference between raw footage played as ‘breaking news’ in contrast to the unfolding of the events- of which a loose narrative can be created. King uses the example of the villain being introduced. Through the mediation of creating a character as the villain and presenting a bias the lines may be blurred between the factual event and a movie. A relation can also be with the impact of the raw footage in contrast to a movie, blurring the lines between fact and fiction. Also mentioned is the influence of September 11 and the perspective of the viewers when they view movies of destruction. 

I tend to agree with some of the points presented in the article and can clearly see the relation between film and fact, the differences through shaky camera work (for the raw footage) and dolly shots as well as how the perception of movies can be altered due to a sensitivity developed between the audience once aware of the tragic events of September 11. 

Bibliography

King, G., 2005, ‘”Just Like a Movie”?: 9/11 and Hollywood Spectacle’ in The Spectacle of the Real: from Hollywood to Reality TV and Beyond, ed. Geoff King, Intellect Books, Bristol, pp. 47-57.