Social Subjectivity

The I-Phone 4s. Does the s stand for sexism?

The use of a female voice that is intended to be your servant, the person who blindly listens to whatever you say and helps you out is quite frankly slightly odd. It's not just Apple's high tech phone where female sounding voices are here to please. GPS and translator services are almost always female voices.

Maybe it is because a female voice is more soothing and many find more comfort in it as opposed to a rough male voice. I find it to be slightly sexist, as it reinforces the sexist idea that women are here to serve men, or anyone in general. I find it disturbing that people are so quick to accept the robotic female voice without questioning whether or not it is ethically and morally right to constantly give orders to a woman.

Just take a second to think about how much you would use your SIRI or your GPS if it was a rugged, rough sounding male voice.

500 Days of Summer

500 Days of summer isn't exactly the traditional love story we all have come to know and love. It has the twists and turns of an average relationship, but at the core it is very different. It does however, despite all the jumping back and forth in time and the relatively non-linear story, follow a traditional three-act structure.

1. The dynamic introduced in act one is when Tom meets Summer, he instantly feels attracted to her but hears from his friend and co-worker that she may not be the nicest of girls. He begins to feel frustration and despair as he trys to get her attention, which he finally does. They go steady for awhile but then things begin to go downhill..

2. The rising action is Tom attempting to get Summer back after he hits a low point in their relationship, he emails her, he calls her, he grieves over love lost, he even quits his job; all in an attempt to get the woman he thinks he loves back. In the end he meets her at the park and finds out she married someone else, which leads to the climax of the story.

3. The climax of the story is when Tom goes for his new architecture interview and he meets Autumn. This love story ends at an unusual place for a relationship to be portrayed in a movie, the start of it.

Cultural Object

   Ideological versus Mythology

• The ideology of this product is showing off the golden beauty of a fine piece of jewelry. There isn't necessarily any marketing techniques being employed here, it just shows the piece of jewelry and all of it's elegance up in front, showing the potential customer(s) exactly what they will get if they purchase it.  
• The aspect of mythology comes into play when looking into the deeper meaning of the cross. It is a symbol of spiritualism and Christianity. 

   Denotation

• The denotation of this product is just blatant showing of the beautiful jewelery. There are really no ploys being used it is just up front representation of the prodcut.

   Connotation

• The connotations are highly spiritual and religious, as well as having some economical and social implications. Seeing as the cross is made of solid gold, it is likely that the price of it is quite high.

"Bulletproof Love"

  The video I will be analyzing is "Bulletproof Love" by the pop/punk/rock group Pierce The Veil. This song features an all male band and is a video that tells a tale of a woman and a man. The video is unique for several reasons.

• The usual objectification of women that occurs in most modern videos is absent

• The man in this video seems to be the one who is under control of the woman as opposed to the usual scenario in which the woman is trying to get the attention of the man

• The situation where the saddened, heartsick woman walks in on her husband cheating on her doesn't occur here, instead the opposite occurs.

Towards the end of the video the role of the woman switches gears as she is shown waiting in the bedroom trying to seduce the man, a portrayal of woman that is very typical of pop-culture. Instead of objectifying the woman and falling prey to her seduction like so many other people.

Another interesting thing about this video is the representation of a divorce or a breaking off of  a relationship, and while the song is supposed to be a sad one about the turmoil of a shattered relationship I think in some ways it makes a statement about women's and in some ways men's independence.

This video to me is a prime example the way women should be portrayed in media. While I am not opposed to the idea that "sex sells,' to me, I think it is more important to portray women as figures of power instead of always showing them as "objects" or "toys" to be utilized by the men. 

This video is an example of a diamond in the rough, a needle in a haystack, or in the case of societal norms for the portrayal of women in media, a piece of hay in a needle stack.

An advertisement you can't refuse.

Semiotics gives us an insight into the inner workings of the brain of the advertisers, the audience, and even the advertisement itself.

SIGN: There are two signs in this advertisement, the coke tap, and the pepsi can. The pepsi can is the sign of the fresh taste that is preferable to coke, atleast as represented in this particular advertisement.

SIGNIFIER: The signifier in this advertisement is the little girl. She starts off innocent and simply asks for a Pepsi. Upon receiving the wrong beverage she quickly changes and adopts the voice of an Italian mobster. The point of this is to really drive home the fact that Pepsi is supposedly better than coke, and if you don't agree you have to deal with the "Godfather."

SIGNIFIED:  The signified is the concept that is reinforced/represented by the signifier, in this case, Pepsi cola is better than coke, appealing to all ages and walks of life.

Burger King took it to the next level... of weird.

All credit goes to Burger King

 Burger King packages its greasy goodness with the phrase "have it your way", but what exactly is the way they are implying? Controversial ads such as these address want the company is trying to sell, but are indeed thought provoking while doing so.

On the surface this ad contains:

•  A woman with nice red lipstick and a shocked/surprised look on her face
• A large, relatively appetizing looking sandwich
• Another, smaller sandwich with text underneath 
• A large group of text saying "It'll blow your mind away"
• A picture of fries and a drink with a 6.25 dollar price tag next to them

The intended meaning of the advertisement was obviously to sell their sandwich and the use of the woman was to show her surprise in the large size of the sandwich and that it can be obtained for such an amazing price of $6.25.

The interesting aspects of this advertisement come into play

when one looks at the possible cultural or ideological meanings. This picture is full of relatively explicit sexual imagery and wording.

• The sandwich has a relatively phallic shape to it
• The sandwich is positioned on the level directly parallel to the woman's mouth
• It does not appear that the woman is wearing any clothing, or at least clothing can not be viewed in the picture
• The female model has her mouth open as to insert the "Sandwich" into her mouth
• The sandwich is referred to as the "Super Seven Incher"
• The phrase "It'll blow your mind away" has obvious sexual connotations to it

Overall I find this to be an effective ad as it gets its point across and effectively presents the product , yet I definitely see it as being controversial and even offensive to many people/ I personally find it a little funny.

A look at advertising.

Advertisement comes in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. The various forms of common advertising medium include:

• Television
• Internet
• Magazines
• Billboards
• Product placement in movies and shows

My favorite form of advertising comes through product placement in movies and films. I think this is a less in-your-face form of advertising as opposed to the constant commercials on television or ads on every other page of a magazine.

An look at some  prime examples of product placement in films can be found here .


Although to some it may seem cheesy or cliche to have pseudo-advertisments implanted into their favorite films, I think it is a unique way to reach the targeted audience without getting in their face.

credit goes to CarbonNYC

End of the Semester

    This semester has been an eye-opening one. I have realized what I want to do with my life, and the field I will study to get there. I have learned about advertising effects, about video production, graphic novels, the web, and countless other things, but the greatest and most valuable thing I obtained from this semester isn't a concrete, black and white concept, it is a way of living. The most valuable thing I have learned from Comm 203 is to always be open minded to different ideas, because not only do they affect how you look at the world, they may even affect how you look at yourself. This is my first Comm class for my study of the major, but I certainly do not want it to be the last.

VALS Results

   Upon completing the VALS survey, I finished with the results of primary type of Experiencer and secondary type being Innovator. As far as the meaning of experiencer, essentially, it means that I am essentially one to jump at the idea of doing something new or exciting, and quickly lose interest and move onto a new experience. It also states that experiencers are those who enjoy social gatherings, which I most definitely do. I have to agree with the bit about moving onto new things after previously being very interested in something else, as I have had this occur numerous times throughout my life. I have become very interested in something and desired to pursue it, then moved on to something bigger, better, or more interesting. I also tend to spend my money on frivolous things, which is a characteristic of an experiencer. I don't really agree with my secondary catagory of innovator, as it says that this is someone who likes to take charge and be a leader. I don't really agree with this, as I would rather have someone keep me in line while allowing me to be as free and creative as possible. I do agree with accepting to change and being a very active consumer however, because I do enjoy to purchase things.

The Web at 20

     This article was very relevant to me as I use the web daily for assignments for school and checking e-mails and keeping in touch with friends and family via social networking. The point in this article that spoke to me the most was the segment about people believing the web to be a piece of "nature," essentially meaning that something that is not within the control of man to fix or preserve. I agree one-hundred percent with this article that the web should be preserved as it is an extremely valuable asset to nearly every person. I agree with the article that no one service or networking group should have a "monopoly" of sorts regarding your personal information and the services and advertisements you are exposed to. I also agree that people should be able to create their own social networking, as opposed to being subject to one main service. While I am an advocate and frequent user of social networks, I believe that they are becoming too dominant in today's World Wide Web.

3-D Art or Gimmick?

     After reading this article I have to agree with the autohor about 3-D movies. In my honest opinion 3-D is not meant to make for a more "immersive" veiwing experience, it is a marketing ploy used by film companies to sell more tickets. 3-D movies make you feel as if you are in a surreal environment in which everyday objects fly towards your face, the exact opposite of the intended so-called "realism." I am not opposed to watching a movie in 3-D, but I believe that it is a waste of money and only adds to the aesthetic quality of the movie, as opposed to adding any feeling that I am actually "in" the film. When it comes down to it, in my opinion, 3-D movies are nothing more than overglorifed pop-up books who serve to win over the eyes of their audiences, and their wallets.

Most Interesting Thing Thus Far

     The most interesting thing I have found in this class was the discussions we had about advertising and the examining of the advertisement. Advertising is very interesting to me as it has a lot to do with human psychology. I enjoyed learning about what makes an advertisement appealing to certain groups. The viewing of the blatently sexist ads made me realize just how extreme some people will get to make a point about their product. The video we watched about the selling of facial renewal products in third world countries opened my eyes to how evil some coorporations can be, as they sell something that is dangerous and known to cause problems; something that is illegal, to unsuspecting people who would rather pay for a false sense of "beauty" imposed by the media, than food for their families. So far this class has been a real eye-opener to the way that advertising works. It has been very intriguing to me.

Graphic Novel Review

     I decided to review a graphic novel I found online at  www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1736_1.pdf known as The Last Man. This is the story of the last man on Earth in the midst of an all female population. Words in the novel are primarily used to show lapse of time and dialogue. The time lapses are present in-order-to connect different events that are occurring simultaneously. The rest of the words are in the form of character dialogue, which presents the reader with an idea that that the story is being told from a 3rd person omniscient perspective. We do not know who is telling the story, but there is definitely an unseen narrator. The pictures in this graphic novel are connected with the words and help to tell the story. They have either powerful or startling images, or dull backgrounds and color schemes that correlate with what is going on currently. The frames of the graphic novel were broken up as to show one event per page typically, except in the case of the time lapse scenarios, in which all word, picture, and frame shared a special connection. It doesn't seem to me as any aspect of the work really stood out by itself as saying more than the other. It appears is if words,pictures, and frames were all carefully constructed to keep a sense of order amongst the chaos that is this story.

Sound Engineering Technician

Hi,
       I have always had a great interest in music, and when researching jobs in the field of communications, the career choice of sound engineering technician. I have some background in making electronic music as well as recording some guitar and vocal tracks, which also helped spark my interest in the field, as recording and mixing music is something I enjoy.  A sound engineering technician is defined on https://www.careerplanner.com/Job-Descriptions/Sound-Engineering-Technicians.cfm as someone who "Operates machines and equipment to record, synchronize, mix, or reproduce music, voices, or sound effects in sporting arenas, theater productions, recording studios, or movie and video productions." Performing music live for an audience has always been my dream, but I realize that I might be shooting for the stars with that aspiration. I can, however still be in touch with my musical side as well as get exposure to musicians and other people with a similar interest as me by selecting sound engineering as my career path. I would love to someday be recognized as someone who records/produces quality sound. The idea of someday being able to work with fellow musicians or even with soundtracks for films or even video games is very exciting to me. I have a lot of learning to do if I want to pursue this career, but I know that it is something that I can see myself doing long term.

Intro

Hi,
   I'm pretty new to communications. This is my first blog actually besides anything I've posted on Myspace forever ago. I just changed my major from Biology to comm because I realized science just wasn't my thing. So far the limited knowledge I have and the little information I have learned has really given me enthusiasm for school again, which my previous line of study just wasn't capable of doing. I don't really know what I want to do with the major yet but I'm sure I will find my calling through coursework and projects.I am also eager to meet new people who have the same interests and maybe even musical tastes that I do, as I feel having a strong relationship with your peers is important in not only school, but also in the workplace. I am an aspiring musician and would love to work with a recording company or even radio. I'm hoping for the best and keeping my hopes up that I will land a successful career doing something I enjoy. I am excited for what is to come.