Pre-class blog 11/19

“Another reason for the heavy weight given to official sources is that the mass media claim to be ‘objective’ dispensers of the news. Partly to maintain the image of objectivity, but also to protect themselves from criticisms of bias and the threat of libel suits, they need material that can be portrayed as presumptively accurate.”

Almost paradoxically, corporate news media claims to be objective while the general public claims it is too left leaning. If this were true, though, then a more overtly leftist candidate like Bernie Sanders would have done very well during this election cycle. Instead, popular media outlets preferred to talk about Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, doing little to no work to battle the idea of Sanders as a radical leftist candidate. In reality, Sanders beliefs are not far off from what would be considered centrist in a Western European nation. He is far from the image of a totalitarian communist leader that popular right media endlessly peddled during his campaign.

The Overton window in America so far right, that anything a bit left of center seems radical. This is all part of the propaganda machine in America that keeps the corporations that own the media in power. By quashing anything that questions whether unfettered capitalism is the best way of handling our world, people will unquestioningly continue to put money in these corporations’ pockets. For instance, when solutions to the climate crisis are proposed, we often hear of individualized solutions, such as driving less, buying reusable products, buying products that are certified to be environmentally friendly, and using less electricity. What is rarely brought up is less suburbs to reduce driving, funding public transportation, and the idea that buying less things is already an environmentally friendly act in itself. Consumption is presented as the solution to every problem, from environmental crises to racism to exploited workers in 3^rd world countries. To solve racism, we are told to vote with our wallets and shop from businesses that supposedly promote equality (whether the efforts are truly there is not to be discussed). To help exploited workers, we just need to buy from brands that pledge to help the very workers they exploit. We are taught that we can shop and consume our way out of a crisis, when endless consumption is the primary reason we are in them.

11/17 Post Class Blog- Jameson and "New" Products

 

“Frantic economic urgency of producing fresh waves of ever more novel-seeming goods” (Jameson)

Today in class, we started to discuss the impacts of Jameson’s thoughts on our culture. Jameson discusses how we are always flooded with a collection of “new” goods in the market: new clothing styles, new cookware, new films. However, many of these “new” goods are recycled versions of what we already have, reinforcing a cyclical fashion.

His assertions connect back to Habermas and the concept of “cult of the new.” Habermas argues that we are drawn to new things, even if they are not truly new. The idea of the object being new is more compelling than an actually new.

As a consumer in the United States, I am constantly exposed to the “novel-seeming goods” in the marketplace. Activewear is a particular place that I shop in since I workout a ton. Brands like Gymshark and Lululemon will drop new collections, but many of the leggings they release are similar or even the same to what they have released before. There will be a slight tweak in the cut of the legging, the fabric, the seams or another small detail, and they will then re-brand the legging as something new. However, there is a lot of hype that goes around these releases, often leading to them selling out within the first day they are released. Though the leggings are not that different than what they already have, the novel value of these new leggings make consumers want to buy them. Gymshark will continue to release these new (but not really new) leggings because it works for them economically and they are able to market their new collections as selling out fast. Thus, the cycle of urgent continues to push Gymshark to make minor tweaks to their products, which then urges other companies to do the same.

One of Gymsharks' most popular leggings that has been re-released a couple different times

11/19 Pre Class Blog

 “A work of art has meaning and interest only for someone who posses the cultural competence, that is, the code, into which it is encoded. The conscious or unconscious implementation of explicit or implicit schemes of perception and appreciation which constitutes pictorial or musical culture is the hidden condition for recognizing the style’s characteristics of a period, a school or an author, and, more generally, fro the familiarity with the internal logic of works that aesthetic enjoyment presupposes.” (Bourdieu, 250)

This quote, as well as the reading, is talking about the gatekeeping that goes on within our culture. If you are not surrounded by a specific cultural artifact, then you might not have the cultural competence to understand it. For example, the theater is something that is considered very high culture in the United States. That is because the tickets for theater is often very expensive and inconvenient for many people. Thus, not as many low to middle-class people go to see performances. However, in the UK, theatre is much more accessible and seen as more of common art. Theatre in the UK is also federally funded, thus theaters are able to lower their ticket prices in order to have more people come and see shows. So, when people who don’t have access to these cultural artifacts, they don’t know how to “encode” the culture in front of them. The price, in essence, is gatekeeping theater from a mass audience. In Cinema and Modernism last semester, we discussed the concept of “high culture” and “Low culture.” What we deem as either of these changes as the cultural paradigm shifts. Though I argue that theatre is considered High culture in both the UK and the US, the theater is seen as a “higher” culture due to its lack of accessibility. 

Pre Class Post 11/17/20 N.S.

Herman & Chomsky write an eye-opening piece that goes beyond anything we could imagine in the United States. The land of the free? Who really knows? We are existing in a time where all of our decisions on a daily basis are completely being controlled and manipulated by the mass media. As the authors put it, "the media serve the ends of a dominant elite" (Herman, Chomsky, 2012, p. 204). This is entirely true due to the fact that politics in almost every country is driven by wealth, and wealth is the single key to power. Yes, people can use their voices and knowledge to obtain much power, but to make decisions, people must acquire an incentive, and a monetary incentive is as good as it gets for all parties involved. Thinking globally, people interpret the news "objectively" and sometimes remain an unbiased opinion. The only contingency to this is that the media has too many, "filters" as Herman and Chomsky put it. For the average American, most people are seen as either the middle or working classes. These classes and caste system are not fully educated on these media outlets that are being fed through them each day by deception. As a constant theme in this class, we understand the false realities of the 'free world' as we. know it. Media is one of the most profitable investments one can make at the starting point of the technological boom that arose in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond. The exponential growth of basic media and news can reach every corner of the globe. Again, the point about this caste system in the U.S. is a major flaw that was basically started by the founding fathers who put certain people in power for exponential generations to come by this unforeseen domino effect. It almost seems as if we have new founding fathers (the 1%). These are the individuals are, "the large media companies all do business with commercial and investment bankers, obtaining lines of credit and loans, and receiving advice and service in selling stock and bond issues and in dealing with acquisition opportunities and takeover threats. Banks and other institutional investors are also large owners of media stock" (Herman, Chomsky, 2012, p. 208). Thus far I have really only discussed ties between banks and the media. I have not even scratched the surface of how governments interfere, intercept, and manipulate. This is another filter that is directly linked to the monetary filters. Policymakers need support and advocates and the media is how they manipulate the general population's minds on trying to understand what is in the majority's best interest or to rephrase what is in the best interest of the status of the government's reelection. Reelection is what gives the banks and other driving forces the incentive to make more due to the policies that are presented. The media should have an agenda that is right and fair for all classes and people that are embedded within the nation. There are enough manipulators and figure heads of corruption and deceit. How do we put an end to these systemic patterns? 

"This trend toward greater integration of the media into the market system has been accelerated by the loosening of rules limiting media concentration, cross-ownership, and control by non-media companies" (Hermand, Chomsky, 2012, p. 208). 

Evie, Herman & Chomsky

Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky explore the issues that arise from mass media in their piece “A Propaganda Hotel.” Mass media is controlled by systematic propaganda. On top of that, there is a “monopolistic control” over media which includes official censorship that serves the dominant elite. While the media may portray themselves as advocates for free speech and general interest of the community, they are in reality agents for propaganda. 

One point I found disturbing from this piece is that “These twenty-four companies are large, profit-seeking corporations, owned and controlled by quite wealthy people.” In this quote, Herman and Chomsky are talking about the media giants that make up the top tier of media companies in the United States. What is so interesting about this comment is that the wealthy owners depict what the media covers and that content is purely motivated by profitability. The more money one has, the more influence one has over what is being released to the general public. Since media is so prevalent in our day-to-day lives, this statement is highly concerning. 

In addition, “Large corporate advertisers on television will rarely sponsor programs that engage in serious criticism of corporate activities, such as the problem of environmental degradation, the workings of the military-industrial complex, or corporate support of benefits from Third World tyrannies.” Since money is so influential in the success of media corporations, advertisements are essential to the well being of a company. The fact that advertisers are more willing to sponsor light programs than serious or controversial ones is detrimental to our society. The media has a duty to our society to open our eyes to real world issues, however, we are instead fed material that has been filtered through wealthy, powerful people. Therefore, the dominant elite have the ability to control the information that we are being fed; media for the people has become an illusion as money governs what knowledge we have access to.

Jane Denson, 11/12

        Last class' discussion of the culture industry helped me better understand Horkheimer and Adorno's theories and place them in the context of everyday life in the eyes of the consumer. As someone who likes to question the validity or motives of the media, especially in regards to the entertainment industry, I am constantly wondering about what effects the sameness found within our culture has on the masses. From my experience, technology has stood out as such a prominent example of these theorists' ideas in motion. If you think about it, every type of technological invention, mainly cellphones and computers, is the same as the rival brand. What's interesting here is the word brand. While yes, every product is practically the same with slight variations, which goes across every competitor, it must be recognized that the branding each company manifests is crucial when attempting to achieve success. I've always noticed this with Apple and their variously new gadgets, as well as regurgitated devices (that come in all sizes). Clearly, their branding is powerful and tied to market share, in addition to image. Perhaps that's also why they offer multiple colors for their phones and cases. People want to see the Apple logo in divergent shades of each color. Horkheimer and Adorno's analyses provide so much insight into phenomenons like this one that bleed into every facet of consumerism in our capitalistic society. Going further, you could easily note that apps follow this same social paradigm and all copy one another with their designs/features. To illustrate this, simply look at how Instagram and FaceBook emulated Snapchat's "story" feature. This is one of numerous instances where the sense of "repackaging" is abundantly clear to consumers, yet they still buy into it. However, studies have shown the addictive nature of these apps and the impact they continue to have on one's psyche, which would adequately explain how easy it is for companies to fool us into engaging more with their repetitive goods that don't hold much substance. In retrospect, the culture industry is fascinating, yet arguably harmful to consumers, since the sameness it contains appears to infect our daily lives.

Post Class Blog 11/12

  “The schematic nature of this procedure is evident from the fact that the mechanically differentiated products are ultimately all the same” (Horkheimer & Adorno 55)

Through this quote, Horkheimer and Adorno argue that products that have the same purpose, but have slight differentiations are ultimately the same. They are saying that two products of different brands that have the same end result are interchangeable. The only difference between the two products is the cultural significance that society allocates to specific brands. With this point of view, there is actually no freedom of choice in choosing products because they are all ultimately the same. In class, we spoke about the example of cell phones. We named the various brands and differentiated them, but ultimately they are all the same. All cell phones have the same purpose of being a tool for communication. At their core, they are used for speaking to other people either over the phone or virtually using a messaging app. The difference between cell phones is the cultural significance that society gives to them. In today’s society, having an apple iphone is considered superior because society has deemed apple to be top of line. This occurs honestly in every product that is on the market. Another example is a Gucci purse and a Target purse. Both purses have the exact same purpose of being a bag to put stuff in. The Gucci bag is way more expensive and idolized because of cultural significance. People who have a lot of money or are famous tend to purchase expensive brands such as Gucci and are constantly photographed or seen out wearing the brand. These people have such high status in the eyes of the less rich classes and thus use their status to give cultural significance to a brand. The people idolizing these celebrities feel more secure about themselves when they are able to carry the more expensive brand over a more reasonably priced brand. I believe that we need to stop giving cultural significance to every product because all it is doing is further separating the social classes and making people who can not afford a certain brand feel less than. We should accept all products, name brand or not, because they all have the same purpose.

Post-class blog 11/10

The discussion of language barriers and ideology in class reminded much of my experience as a multilingual person. My parents are very intelligent people, but sometimes it doesn’t necessarily come through when they are speaking English. In America, how well someone speaks English is one of the most important factors when judging their intelligence, even if they speak another language. This makes many people speak down to them and treat them like children, because the assumption is that their accents mean that they can’t understand anything. Nevermind that they have advanced degrees and work as nurses in a hospital, the only thing that matters is their English language ability.

Traveling to other countries with tour groups shows how deep this assumption of English as an inherently superior, more intelligent language runs. About 4 years ago, I went in a group of exchange students to Japan. While there were a few people in my Japanese class with me, most of the group had almost no knowledge of the language. When we arrived, we stayed with host families in order to immerse ourselves more fully in the culture. The most common complaint I heard from the group was that their host families hardly knew any English, and that they would’ve rather stayed in a hotel. The lack of knowing English seemed to overshadow anything else that their families would do for them, like cook them meals, wash their clothes, provide them with baths, drive them to places, and a place to sleep. I suppose I have a biased view of this because I was able to speak Japanese with my family and the mother had quite good English as well, but it seems like they were ungrateful for how lucky they were to be in Japan. Most people would not be able to have the same experience they had, and the most important thing to them was that the citizens of a foreign country accommodate them and their linguistic shortcomings, rather than make an effort themselves.

Ashlynn 11/10 post class

 The discussion of mythologies as they pertain to culture was really interesting to me. Especially in regards to culture being a fixed point in time or in flux with the interests of people.

I studied Latin and Roman/Grecian culture for 11 years meanwhile, my father went to an all boys military school and so he knows a lot about war machines and he also loves race cars.

I admit that I have been rather elitist towards him in the past as I felt like I understood more information than him when visiting art museums and the like. However, I realize that should I visit a machinery involved museum, he would know much more than I did and the roles would be reversed with me suddenly becoming the uncultured half.

Culture as it stands does then change depending not the interests of the people I think. There may be cultures which have historically existed longer and therefor have more interest but there will probably be people hundreds of years in the future who have the same interests as my father and then it will be treated with some of the same reverence. Unless the reverent is lost at that point.

11/10 Post Class Blog- Hebdige

 “Ideology saturates everyday discourse in the form of common sense” (127)

Today in class, we discussed Hebdige and I thought he offered some very compelling thoughts on ideology. Hebdige is saying that we, as humans, are surrounded by hegemonic forces. These hegemonic forces assist in imbuing people with ideological views. Since these hegemonic forces are so dominant in our current society, these ideological views become common wisdom. For some ideological values, like not wanting to murder human beings or hurting other people, are morally good and I argue should always be upheld. However, the government (or those in power) will put other values in us that enforce ideology.

Currently, I am in a Political Media class with Dr. Schoen. The more I think about that class and CMC 300, the more crossovers I see between our theorists and our contemporary times. In that class, we just finished talking about how political advertisers will use emotions to control the anxious thoughts of the people listening. In one of the documentaries we walked to (called “The Century of the Self”), there is a heavy discussion of Edward Bernay, who was an American propagandist during WWI. He, as well as other propaganda creators, were able to circulate the typical American ideology around President Woodrow Wilson. In essence, propagandists like Bernay take Ideology and elevate it so it is appealing to the masses. Even things that we wouldn’t expect to “ideology” or “propaganda” are considered that. For example, the idea of a “perfect American breakfast” is bacon and eggs. Why is it bacon and eggs? In the 1920s, Bernay was approached by a pork producer who wanted to increase the profit on their bacon. Bernay asked a “doctor” if Americans need a heavier breakfast. That “doctor” in turn asked other doctors and Bernay now had a “study” in which doctors recommended a heavier breakfast, specifically bacon and eggs. Even our notions of what breakfast is act under an ideology.

Post Class Blog 11/10

 “The best that has been thought and said in the world” -Arnold

“Ordinary behavior”- Williams

Hebdige brings in these two quotes from Arnold and Williams to help explain two different definitions of culture. Arnold has a historical and unchanging understanding of culture, while Williams has a postmodern and ever changing view of the meaning of culture. Arnold believes that culture has a classic view culture meaning he believes that culture is defined by the past and will always be defined by it. Williams believes that culture changes alongside and coincides with the developments of society. I agree with both Arnold’s and Williams’ definitions of culture. While I believe that culture is influenced by the classics of the past, I also believe that the past does not solely define the present and culture is constantly changing. I believe we can see this in the development of new technology. In the past, society has not been centered around technology and everyone was more focused on their own lives. Times have changed however and culture has evolved alongside the advances in technology. People’s lives revolve around technology and the need to know all information via the media. Most every person who is of an age to have a cell phone has one. The culture of the world has changed due to the technology of cell phones. People have started to structure their lives around virtual worlds offered through the technology. The culture of being present with the people around you is shifting to a new culture of connecting via the internet. While this can be negative because people are less engaged in real life, it can be beneficial for people to meet people they would have otherwise not gotten the opportunity to meet. Technology is one of the many factors that contribute to an ever changing culture.

11/10 Pre-Class Post

This week's reading offers a lot of intertextualities, specifically, between Horkheimer & Adorno, while many connections with Walter Benjamin. This validity of this connection comes from, The Age of Mechanical Reproduction. We are experiencing a time in the world that is quite paradoxical with the overflow of repeated and constantly reproduced information. One point Horkheimer imposes is the automobile industry as there is an amazing ray of options. 'Options' is the keyword that gives leaks the realm of capitalism and exposes how wealth has driven way too many global economies. This inherently exposes the message of the essay, which is, Mass Deception. The idea that we might feel like actors or actors in this age of capitalism and the cycle of trying to fully understand the media and how to feel full fulfillment. Horkheimer & Adorno say, "In reality, a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the manipulation and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly. What is not mentioned is that the basis on which technology is gaining power over society is the power of those whose economic position in society is the power of those whose economic position in society in society is strongest" (Horkheimer, Adorno, 2012, p. 54). This quote truly reinforces the manipulation aspect that technology and artificial intelligence can be more in control than the biological living organisms that inhabit this planet. Horkheimer brilliantly puts it, "Everything comes from consciousness" (Horkheimer, Adorno, 2012, p. 55). This ideology gives us choice or at least the depiction in which it seems like we have a choice. This reading allowed me to deeply understand the overall purpose of culture and our existence in society means. 

Thought-Provoking Quote: "All mass culture under monopoly is identical and the contour of its skeleton, the conceptual armature fabricated by monopoly, are beginning to stand out. Those in charge no longer take much trouble to conceal the structure, the power of which increases the more bluntly its existence is admitted. Films and radio no longer need to present themselves as art. The truth that they are nothing but business is used as an ideology to legitimize the trash they intentionally produce" (Horkheimer, Adorno, 2012, p. 53). 

Evie, Horkheimer & Adorno

 “Culture today is infecting everything with sameness”

In “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno critique popular culture due to its “sameness.” They argue that the sameness of the industry serves as a mechanism of control over our society. The products of the cultural industry appear to be art, but they are regulated by money and power. Therefore, all products are designed for profit. This commodification of culture controls our consciousness. For example, the “easy” entertainment we view in society serves as a distraction from the wrongs present in our day-to-day lives. Distraction is incredibly dangerous; we are constantly unconsciously conforming.

The cultural industry maintains its power through style and form. “Something is provided for everyone so that no one can escape; differences are hammered home and propagated.” Horkheimer and Adorno explain this concept through the example of cars. There are different types of cars on the market and endless gadgets you can add to cars to make them “unique.” However, in reality, all cars are just variations of the same thing. They are all simply road vehicles used for the same purpose. The industry creates variations for us to pick and choose from so that we feel in control. This sense of control is in fact an illusion.

Horkheimer and Adorno also use the example of movies with recycled plots, but different actors. We get excited when we see a “new” movie come out with eye-catching stars. What we fail to recognize is that the new actors just serve as a distraction from the fact that there is nothing really “new” here. This may be the easiest genre to pick on, but how many Romantic Comedies have you seen where the two main characters meet, part ways due to some obstacle, then realize their true love for one another and end up happily ever after? The culture industry is defined by sameness that we cannot escape.