Today, teenagers are the largest generation, even larger than their parents; the baby boomers. Teenagers are willing to spend all their money on the latest trends. They have more money than ever before, thanks to their parents, grandparents, and high school summer jobs. Parents don't get to spend as much time with their teen as they would like anymore, due to their busy schedules, so they give their child what is known as "guilt money". Parents today are lending out their credit card to their child and letting them buy whatever they would like. Teens today are very lucky; 1/3 have a personal computer and spend an average of two hours per day on it, while another large portion own a television in their bedroom. Years ago, this was unheard of. Today, it's unheard of to not own the newest technological advances.
Teenagers are always exposed to marketing messages and process approximately 3,000 discreet message a day. Without knowing it, we are being exposed to different brands just by walking down the street. However, it is frustrating for firms because teens are unresponsive to brands. They only respond to what is "cool" at that moment, and "cool" is constantly changing. "Cool Hunting" is the search for "cool", where experts are hired in search for kids who are trendsetters and influencers. A correspondent is a person who finds teenagers who are leaders within their group and who are different from others their age. These type of teens are difficult to find because everyone wants to fit in with the latest trends. By the time marketers find the latest trend in teens, it's already gone and moved onto the next cool thing. Marketers have come up with a new way to market their products--using "anti-marketing" campaigns. Marketers search for ways to become cool themselves, so that teens will accept them and admire their product. Sprite paid "cool" teens to come to a rap concert and act like they are having a fun time, for their commercial. Sprite is now the number one selling soft drink.
Viacom, one of the big five of media corporations, made a billion dollars in profit off of the well known teenage channel, MTV. MTV is a youth marketing empire and commercial concept. The channel is a constant advertisement, between artists selling their records and hit songs, to upcoming movies, the trendy clothes worn, and commercials in between shows. MTV is geared towards learning about what teenagers want to see everyday when they come home from school. MTV producers visited fans at their homes in order to gain insight of their homes, family life, peers, relationships, and even their style of choice. "The Mook" is a character created by Viacom which includes Tom Green, Jackass, South Park, the Man Show, Howard Stern, and the spring break frat boys. "The Mook" is popular throughout teenage boys, along with professional wrestling. Males ages 14-24 are the largest target market for professional wrestling. It is played 15 hours a week on five networks, seen by 15 million people, mostly teenage boys. On the other side, the "midriff" relates to teenage girls. Pop icon Britney Spears was known for her flamboyant stomach and dance moves. Loyal fans, made of teenage girls, want to become models and look like the stars they watch on TV.
Shows such as Dawson's Creek and 7th Heaven raised the sexual stakes for teenagers, along with Undressed on MTV. Teens are consumed with sex on a daily basis. Movies such as Cruel Intentions and I Know What You Did Last Summer raise the issues of sex and violence. However, this is what teens want; they are not satisfied with PG13 movies, they want the blood and guts. They want to act and feel older than they really are. When MTV would host Spring Break, this portrayed teenagers acting completely out of control. Kids at home would watch and expect all college spring breaks to be wild and crazy like the show. Teens on Spring Break would flaunt themselves and perform sexual acts with strangers.
So, the major question to consider is if the media is reflecting the life of teenagers. Media watches teenagers and sells their image to them. Teenagers watch these images and want to be that image. Personally, I feel like the media has a huge impact on teenagers and their everyday lifestyles, and always will.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Product Portrait
For the media usage picture of myself, I incorporated all of the products I use on a daily basis. I put Dasani water near my throat because I drink it. I put Dove deorderant near my body, and I put my lap top on my body too, because it is closest to my hands which is what I type with. I put Colgate toothpaste over my mouth, and my cellphone, the LG Dare near my mouth. I put Maybelline foundation, Cetaphil moisturizer and ProActive face wash on my face because they are all products that I use on my face every day. I put Rouge by Christian LaCrouix perfume on my nose because it's the perfume I use and it smells good. My IPOD touch is over my ear because I listen to music with it. My Conair curling iron and Wet to Straight hair straightener are on my head because I use them to either curl or straighten my hair.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Chapter 3 Synopsis
Chapter 3, in the book Understanding the Media, by Eoin Devereux, is called Media Ownership: Concentration and Conglomeration. This chapter focuses on the ownership and control of the mainstream media. Ownership can be non-profit, public, or private. Community-based media includes local radio, blogs, or newsletters, organized on a non-profit basis. They attract small audiences in a community and are run on a modest budget. With the continually growing concentration of media ownership, alliances and the merging of media and other companies into larger conglomerates has raised serious concerns for many media scholars. Media ownership is now characterized by concentration and conglomeration. Conglomerates operate at the local, regional, national or transnational levels. They are controlled through allocative control and operational control.
Concentration is described as being vertical or horizontol. Vertical integration is the process by which one owner acquires all aspects of production and distribution of a single type of media product. Horizontol integration is the process by which one company buys different kinds of media, concentrating ownership across differing types of media rather than up and down through one industry. In media conglomerates, synergy is the core in maintaining a position of power or dominance where as parts of the company work as a whole and are worth more than the sum of its parts acting alone.
The political economy theory is concerned with investigating how the capitalist class promotes and ensures their dominant position and focuses on the relation between the economic structure and dynamics of media industries and the content of media. According to this perspective, concentration and conglomeration have seious implications for media content and media audiences. Casualization of media work has increased but the scale demand by the media oligopolies has resulted in job losses. In order to understand media content, we must examine the ownership and control of the media industries in relation to other political and economic groups in society.
German sociologist Jurgen Habermas developed the concept of the public sphere, which informs thinking on how media organizations operate. There are three types of spheres in our society; the private sphere consists of family and economy, the sphere of public authority consists of state and judiciary and the bourgeois public spehere. Habermas' public sphere stresses the importance of political discourse among citizens and plays a crucial role in ensuring the continuation of civic and democratic society. The Internet is a media based public sphere because one can search for information and engage in on-line discussions about endless lists of topics or communicate through forums and blogs. The Internet is dominated by mass media conglomerates and oligopolies, who own and control the most widely used Internet Service Providers.
In conclusion, this chapter stresses the importance of media ownership through conglomerates and concentration which have placed an emphasis on different culture industries.
Concentration is described as being vertical or horizontol. Vertical integration is the process by which one owner acquires all aspects of production and distribution of a single type of media product. Horizontol integration is the process by which one company buys different kinds of media, concentrating ownership across differing types of media rather than up and down through one industry. In media conglomerates, synergy is the core in maintaining a position of power or dominance where as parts of the company work as a whole and are worth more than the sum of its parts acting alone.
The political economy theory is concerned with investigating how the capitalist class promotes and ensures their dominant position and focuses on the relation between the economic structure and dynamics of media industries and the content of media. According to this perspective, concentration and conglomeration have seious implications for media content and media audiences. Casualization of media work has increased but the scale demand by the media oligopolies has resulted in job losses. In order to understand media content, we must examine the ownership and control of the media industries in relation to other political and economic groups in society.
German sociologist Jurgen Habermas developed the concept of the public sphere, which informs thinking on how media organizations operate. There are three types of spheres in our society; the private sphere consists of family and economy, the sphere of public authority consists of state and judiciary and the bourgeois public spehere. Habermas' public sphere stresses the importance of political discourse among citizens and plays a crucial role in ensuring the continuation of civic and democratic society. The Internet is a media based public sphere because one can search for information and engage in on-line discussions about endless lists of topics or communicate through forums and blogs. The Internet is dominated by mass media conglomerates and oligopolies, who own and control the most widely used Internet Service Providers.
In conclusion, this chapter stresses the importance of media ownership through conglomerates and concentration which have placed an emphasis on different culture industries.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Magazine Cover Replication
This is the original magazine cover that I chose, of Emma Roberts, an actress.
A picture of a half built house is definately something you won't find on an Elle magazine cover, but I chose it because when I think of makeover ideas, I think of a makeover to someone's house. I didn't want to put make up or fashion on the cover because that is what you would typically see on an Elle magazine cover anyways. So, a picture of a home make over seemed to fit the captions on this cover.
I chose this picture as a magazine cover because it is really pretty, yet its a picture you wouldn't normally see on a magazine. It's a picture of a body of water, so the reader could possibly wear one of the "35 sexy swimsuits" seen on the cover to a place like this.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Modernity- Chapter 3
Synopsis:
Chapter Three, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge focuses on the interrelated ways of looking at images, through spectatorship, gaze, and viewing. Spectatorship is the practice of looking, while the spectator is an individual who looks. Gaze refers to a look, or the act of looking. It can sometimes mean looking long and intently with affection, awe, wonder, or fascination. It plays a role in the concept of looking and spectatorship. Viewing, according to the author, is “a multimodal activity that involves a range of active elements besides the individual who looks and the image at which he or she looks” (103). The viewer becomes interrupted by the image and comes to recognize himself as among the group of subjects for whom the image’s message is intended towards.
Modernity, which the chapter is named after, refers to “the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions related to the Enlightenment: the rise of industrial society and scientific rationalism, and the idea of controlling nature through technology, science and rationalism” (95). It is “the belief that industrialization, human technological intervention in nature, mass democracy and the introduction of a market economy are the hallmark of social progress” (95). We use the word modern to mean present, recent, or contemporary, yet scholars believe that there are many different meanings to it. It is the transition from old to new, or the increased movement of populations from rural to urban cities. Art Deco is a form of modern art, which is referred to as “an ornate style of modernism that evokes a machine aesthetic and was originally conceived as functional design” (97)
The author incorporated a lot of philosophical examples to portray his message. Key figures such as Rene Descartes, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Jacques Derrida, to name a few, were mentioned and explained their views of modernity and gaze. Lacan is known for his mirror phase, which involves the process where an infant gains motor skills in order to venture away from the maternal body and comes to understand his separation from that body. According to Lacan, the human subject becomes aware of itself not at birth but during the period of self awareness that occurs between age six and eighteen months. The process of identification is how we respond to images through identification with them and the objects in the image. Men are usually seen as masculine and as objects of gaze, while women are portrayed as sexual images or nudity.
Photography is used to identify the difference between normal and abnormal, and used in the law of evidence. The main function of photographs is to establish difference. The photographic image produced surveillance and camera surveillance has become significant in our everyday lives, in stores, elevators, or parking garages. Photographs are also highly evident in advertising, and present an image to a targeted audience. Today, advertisements are digitally enhanced to give the photo an airbrush feel in order to create beauty and perfection. Cinema is another type of photography in which the darkened theater and mirror-like screen invite the viewer to undergo a childlike state and identifies the powerful position of bodies on the screen through fear, memories, and fantasies. This theory links the spectator of the movie to an infant in Lacan’s mirror phrase.
In conclusion, the main purpose of this chapter is to develop an understanding of gaze and looking, and how we portray these images. Images are central to the concept of modernity. As spectators and subjects of images, we engage in the act of looking and being looked at.
Assignment:
A.) The advertisement with one person is a Dolce and Gabbana ad of Gisele Bundchen. In the ad, she is modeling a tailored blue suit. She seems to be unaware that she is the main subject of the photo because she is looking away from the camera. She looks like she is dazing off, and in her own world, or is waiting to make eye contact with someone she is looking at. The way that she is posing shows that she is relaxed and confident, and doesn’t look like she is aware of a camera taking pictures of her. The concept of gaze comes into play in this ad because Gisele is looking at something but doesn’t realize she is being looked at by an audience.
B.) The advertisement I chose with two or more people is a Burberry ad of Naomi Campbell. The subject in the advertisement who has the most power is Naomi Campbell, the African American modeling the bathing suit on stage. She has all the power because everyone is looking at her and taking her picture—all their focus is on her. However, the older woman in the left hand corner looks like she wants all the attention because she is looking back at the camera with a stern look on her face. Naomi doesn’t realize that the photographer is taking a picture of her for the advertisement because she is looking back at the fans that are adorned in Burberry clothing and accessories.
Chapter Three, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge focuses on the interrelated ways of looking at images, through spectatorship, gaze, and viewing. Spectatorship is the practice of looking, while the spectator is an individual who looks. Gaze refers to a look, or the act of looking. It can sometimes mean looking long and intently with affection, awe, wonder, or fascination. It plays a role in the concept of looking and spectatorship. Viewing, according to the author, is “a multimodal activity that involves a range of active elements besides the individual who looks and the image at which he or she looks” (103). The viewer becomes interrupted by the image and comes to recognize himself as among the group of subjects for whom the image’s message is intended towards.
Modernity, which the chapter is named after, refers to “the historical, cultural, political, and economic conditions related to the Enlightenment: the rise of industrial society and scientific rationalism, and the idea of controlling nature through technology, science and rationalism” (95). It is “the belief that industrialization, human technological intervention in nature, mass democracy and the introduction of a market economy are the hallmark of social progress” (95). We use the word modern to mean present, recent, or contemporary, yet scholars believe that there are many different meanings to it. It is the transition from old to new, or the increased movement of populations from rural to urban cities. Art Deco is a form of modern art, which is referred to as “an ornate style of modernism that evokes a machine aesthetic and was originally conceived as functional design” (97)
The author incorporated a lot of philosophical examples to portray his message. Key figures such as Rene Descartes, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Jacques Derrida, to name a few, were mentioned and explained their views of modernity and gaze. Lacan is known for his mirror phase, which involves the process where an infant gains motor skills in order to venture away from the maternal body and comes to understand his separation from that body. According to Lacan, the human subject becomes aware of itself not at birth but during the period of self awareness that occurs between age six and eighteen months. The process of identification is how we respond to images through identification with them and the objects in the image. Men are usually seen as masculine and as objects of gaze, while women are portrayed as sexual images or nudity.
Photography is used to identify the difference between normal and abnormal, and used in the law of evidence. The main function of photographs is to establish difference. The photographic image produced surveillance and camera surveillance has become significant in our everyday lives, in stores, elevators, or parking garages. Photographs are also highly evident in advertising, and present an image to a targeted audience. Today, advertisements are digitally enhanced to give the photo an airbrush feel in order to create beauty and perfection. Cinema is another type of photography in which the darkened theater and mirror-like screen invite the viewer to undergo a childlike state and identifies the powerful position of bodies on the screen through fear, memories, and fantasies. This theory links the spectator of the movie to an infant in Lacan’s mirror phrase.
In conclusion, the main purpose of this chapter is to develop an understanding of gaze and looking, and how we portray these images. Images are central to the concept of modernity. As spectators and subjects of images, we engage in the act of looking and being looked at.
Assignment:
A.) The advertisement with one person is a Dolce and Gabbana ad of Gisele Bundchen. In the ad, she is modeling a tailored blue suit. She seems to be unaware that she is the main subject of the photo because she is looking away from the camera. She looks like she is dazing off, and in her own world, or is waiting to make eye contact with someone she is looking at. The way that she is posing shows that she is relaxed and confident, and doesn’t look like she is aware of a camera taking pictures of her. The concept of gaze comes into play in this ad because Gisele is looking at something but doesn’t realize she is being looked at by an audience.
B.) The advertisement I chose with two or more people is a Burberry ad of Naomi Campbell. The subject in the advertisement who has the most power is Naomi Campbell, the African American modeling the bathing suit on stage. She has all the power because everyone is looking at her and taking her picture—all their focus is on her. However, the older woman in the left hand corner looks like she wants all the attention because she is looking back at the camera with a stern look on her face. Naomi doesn’t realize that the photographer is taking a picture of her for the advertisement because she is looking back at the fans that are adorned in Burberry clothing and accessories.
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