It’s never easy to introduce yourself on something like this. Sure, chances are just my professor will be reading this (hi DoctorNichols) but on the off-chance someone else stumbles onto this blog and feels like doing a bit of light reading I guess I should give a little background.
I’m Kathryn. I’m studying Mass Communications with a focus in Journalism/New Media at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. As a senior, I’m coming to grips with the fact that in a few short months my daily routine will no longer be filled with lectures and projects but with a full-time job (fingers crossed).
Anyway, for one of my requirements I decided to take a course in Media Criticism, the course is designed to make us understand this chaotic media-infested world we live in, to look past just having an opinion on a show and figure out the ‘why’ aspect of it, and from what I can tell from the syllabus, I’ll be learning a whole lot more.
I guess a good starting point is for me to explain what exactly ‘media criticism’ is. A few weeks ago I probably couldn’t answer that question correctly but now that I’ve got a bit of background here’s what I think you need to know. The study of media criticism requires a critical (well, duh) approach to breaking down a media text such as a TV show or movie. Each specific part of a text is important to look at as an individual piece because each aspect affects the overall message of the text.
Personally, I think it’s extremely important to become a critic of the media. So much of our society and culture is based on what is depicted in television shows and in movies, so much of our generation and how our generation is perceived all comes from the what is shown on-screen. If we as a society just took that at face value and didn’t look harder to find more about our consumption habits, so much of our society would be overlooked. Now where’s the fun in that?
Douglas Kellner, a media critic stated in his article Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture that, “Media images help shape our view of the world and our deepest values: what we consider good or bad, positive or negative, moral or evil. Media stories provide the symbols, myths, and resources through which we constitute a common culture and through the appropriation of which we insert ourselves into this culture.” If you’d like to, you can continue reading his article here.
It’s important for people to think seriously about the media, the messages they send out to people around the globe are not always for our best interest as people but rather for the best interests of major corporations who look at viewers to be merely consumers waiting to learn about which product they need to buy this week. That’s the power of it though isn’t it?
An appliance that can teach us how to act, how to feel about a certain issue, how to dress, which car to avoid driving, neighborhoods we shouldn’t consider moving into, pop-stars to model our behaviors after, and that’s really just skimming the surface. You don’t see your toaster or freezer doing those sorts of things, do you?
For example, let’s take a show that I despise but as a member of society can’t actually ignore because it’s up in-your-face. MTV’s reality show ‘Jersey Shore’. Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock I can safely assume you know the concept of this show, take a few strangers throw them into a house and watch things get out of control.
Cast of Jersey Shore (Image Provided by Google Image Search)
When the show first aired so many Italian-Americans were outraged by the negative portrayal the show had on their community that there were people who protested the airing of the show; in fact Domino’s Pizza pulled its ads from the first season of the show. (Bet they regret that now…) Years pass and we still find ourselves glued to see what sort of outlandish scenario Snookie and J-Woww will find themselves in that evening.
This show, however unfortunate it may be, has had a strong impact on our culture. Especially on the Millennial generation. GTL (gym-tanning-laundry) is now a staple Facebook status for college students preparing for a night out.
And I bet most of us didn’t associate the word “situation” the way we do now, having the image of an overly tanned and muscular man come to mind instantly.
The "Situation" from the cast of Jersey Shore (Image Provided by Google Image Search)
In the next few months I hope I’ll be able to better understand our media consumption habits as a society. I mean, to me it’s incredibly interesting to think every week people tune in ‘Jersey Shore’ to watch people get drunk and make poor decisions. Newsflash: You can go to a local college bar and see the same thing (though I guess you can’t do it while in your pajamas)!
