For my final blog post I was required to further investigate what my classmates had posted on their blogs throughout the semester. I closely examined the programs or advertisements commented on in each post and through each one I learned new things or was able to point out little holes that could have been filled to make each blog post that much more spectacular. By responding to each post I was able to play the role as a peer-editor to see just what I could have benefited from each of the differing viewpoints of my classmates. As follows are the four comments I left on each of my classmates blogs.
Lauren Horn, Modern Stereotypical Family
I found Lauren’s introduction to be completely engaging, and it got me excited to continue reading the rest of the blog. As someone who loves watching Modern Family I thought this blog would be something I would truly enjoy. The use of links and images helped supplement all of the information presented, but it would have been helpful to embed the YouTube videos within the post rather than in a link so viewers reading the post do not have to click backwards to continue reading the post. I thought it was a great idea to include background about the families being sure to note that once the labels are removed each family is dealing with their children and parents or each other. Using Fiske is a great idea, the codes in television was a good way to break down the program being discussed. I thought it might be helpful though if Fiske was introduced as a person before you started quoting him, this way readers would know the weight of who is being quoted. I never really noticed how counterhegemonic the relationship between Claire and Phil was until this post pointed it out. Really Claire does “run the show” and lets Phil feel as though he is, just so he does not have to experience the feeling of inadequacy.
Brittany Sloane, Is it TOO hot?
From the title I was instantly hooked into finding out what was going to be discussed in your blog post. I thought that it was a perfect advertisement to use the semiotics approach to further investigate. It would have been beneficial to your readers had you further defined terms we have become accustomed to such as “system of signs” before you really got into the post this way readers who have never heard of these theories could enjoy it as much as I did. The text-book was an excellent source and so was referencing Kellner’s article. The question raised about the placement of the product is definitely something I’ve thought about before with perfume advertisements but the idea of font and size was something I never had. As soon as you mentioned it, I sort of thought to myself ‘yeah, she’s right,’ why does HEAT appear so large, but the slogan underneath is hardly visible at all. It really is a lot of leg for one advertisement, so I’m glad that was pointed it out. I also think that this post could have been improved by taking the signs that were looked at and forming ideas about the signified, so that we could understand the meaning behind them all combined with the idea that ‘sex sells’.
Emily Granacher, Consumerism and how it consumes us
In Emily’s post “Consumerism and how it consumes us” I thought both in class movies were covered really well. I thought it was a great idea to link to the Columbia Journalism Review as a supplemental source to show just how much the Walt Disney Company actually owns. I do think it takes a while for readers to really get to the “nitty-gritty” of the information but once they are there, it’s worth it. Using McDonald Happy Meals is a great way to introduce readers to the idea of cross-promotion and cross-advertising between major corporations. I believe that point out those theories or ideas during that time could have made that section even stronger especially because McDonalds is such a major corporation that has such a power and influence with younger children without most of these children or parents realizing it, which is unlike TV commercials. The portion about Consuming Kids was also very easy to read and informative at the same time. I knew that Bratz dolls were a product designed to target young girls with the idea that being sexy is important but I never realized how “complex” these dolls are. While yes, my Barbie doll growing up did have a nice campervan I loved driving her around in she certainly never had a flat-screen TV like Emily points out Bratz dolls have.
Katie Willmott, Analyzing American Apparel
Having seen American Apparel’s provocative advertisements before I thought this was a great company to examine their advertisements. Katie’s comment about the fact that if the company’s print ads did not feature the word ‘apparel’ nobody would actually realize its clothing that’s for sale but rather the female’s half undressed body which is up for grabs. The advertisement which serves as the main example is absolutely insane, I thought it was interesting to know that American Apparel is fully aware of the extremity of their advertisement and that being aware that ‘sex sells’ has worked to their advantage. While I was obviously aware they knew what they were doing through reading this I learned that it was more intentional than I thought. I believe it would have been even more interesting to look further in-depth at the advertisement focused on in maybe a paradigmatic approach. Even the female in the ad’s facial expression or eyes alone hint a lot to what the marketers are trying to get us to realize about their product. A small thing, but something that would improve this post is if websites linked in the article opened up through a new window so viewers could go back and forth with ease!
Using a blog to post assignments was something completely different from what I had done in previous classes. By posting things on a blog I was forced to understand concepts more fully because I had to be sure I understood them enough to introduce and explain them to possible readers. This helped me gain a better knowledge of every concept discussed in class and helped me really question the things presented in many of my favorite television programs. The ability to look at my classmates’ blogs also helped me realize just how much I learned over the past four months. This course is something that will stick with me for years to come because I believe that once you are exposed to looking at something in a particular light it is harder to go back and see things from the original viewpoint you once had.
