This post is due by Tuesday, March 25 @ midnight for full credit.
Email late posts to rob.williamsATmadriver.com for partial credit.
Read our MEDIA@SOCIETY book, assigned chapter above.
In a SINGLE blog post below, provide for the chapter:
1. A single sentence, IYOW, that captures the chapter's THESIS (main argument).
2. THREE specific pieces of supporting documentation - ideas, concepts, stats, data - to bolster your thesis for the chapter. (Use 2 - 3 sentences for each.)
3. A single PERSONAL story of 3-4 sentences that connects the chapter directly with your own personal media experiences.
4. A SINGLE specific question you have after reading and blogging on the chapter.
Game on,
Dr. W
1. There are many opinions about the differences between entertainment and art as well as how these forms of media have impacted, either negatively or positively, our current and previous societies.
ReplyDelete2. • Whether a particular form of media should be treated as popular-culture or classical and upscale depends on the time period. While many people in today’s society tend to categorize Shakespeare as classical and “high culture”, during Shakespeare’s era it was seen as popular-culture and a form of entertainment.
• The blurred lines between entertainment and art has caused some people in our society today to lack familiarity or understanding of certain pieces of art or literature. In “Media in Society”, it states that individuals who see the Mona Lisa painting on a Kleenex box, and are unfamiliar with its origins, may think that the original painting at the Louvre is merely a replication and that the original painting is flawed.
• Since the beginnings of entertainment and popular culture, the question of taste has always come up. Oftentimes, individuals judge others character and views based on their taste in music or sports. However, the definitions of “good taste” and “bad taste” have yet to be fairly determined.
3. Many times in the past and even now, I find myself unfamiliar with certain allusions that are made to literature, art and even music. When I see certain works of art or literature, I am oblivious to the fact that these pieces are merely replications or satirical forms of the original. Whenever this happens, I always find it helpful to look at the original form and try to understand it in order to make sense of the altered piece. My AP literature teacher would always tell the class that we will never fully understand the text if we did not understand the background behind it or the hidden allusions that are often ignored.
4. How is “good taste” and “bad taste” defined? Can it be defined based on only one group’s views?
Let's catch up here, colleagues. - W
ReplyDelete1. Participating in popular culture fandom allows us to give ourselves a meaning.
ReplyDelete2. – “Art is designed, [Hannah Ardent] says, to ‘grasp and move us across the ages,’ while entertainment is instead designed to be metabolized – used up in everyday life” (p. 202). Entertainment is something we take in and understand on a daily basis. It becomes a part of who we are, and, in a sense, gives us a meaning.
-Culture critic Edward Shils has a belief that there are three types of media. “Shils was the strongest and most unapologetic voice for three basic levels of culture – what he called superior, mediocre, and brutal – being connected to three levels of audiences. He argues that societies contain people of varying degrees of intelligence, refinement, and ability to comprehend complexity and ambiguity” (p. 204). Through this theory, Shils believes that every type of person needs some form of entertainment, whether it be superior, mediocre, or brutal. Each person searches for meaning through entertainment.
-“Our taste is a form of identification, and it tells us who we are and, more crucially, who we are not” (p. 206). This happens because “We define ourselves by the popular culture we like and choose – and by what we dislike or ignore” (p 207). There is a “taste culture” that each person belongs to and oftentimes, these taste cultures are formed based on social groups and cultural expectations. We identify with the people who belong to the same taste culture and find meaning within ourselves and others.
3. The entire first quarter of my senior year English class in high school was spent studying the art, music, and writings of the Harlem Renaissance. In a time where African-Americans were considered second-class citizens, pop culture did not represent this social group in any form. Thus, they decided to create their own pop culture. Harlem became a creative outlet where African-Americans were free to express their thoughts and opinions and publish it to people who would empathize with the works. This was also brought up in Miss Representation; one of the women interviewed mentioned that she had the idea to start a channel focused on women, but when she pitched it to producers, she was told that they “already had Lifetime.” Each social group searches for outlets where it can safely create and share pop culture and entertainment.
4. Is it possible for art to be entertaining? And if it is, is it still art?
1. Entertainment and art are separate forms of Media within our culture, which have been critiqued and remolded through time.
ReplyDelete2.•..”Cultural bifurcation - the separation of cultural into two distinct categories. WE need to understand whether culture is intrinsically bifurcated in this way, and then explore how and why we continue to categorize culture into these two separate spheres (199). A bifurcated culture is one that attempts to differentiate “the elite from the rabble”. The Elite tend to be more sophisticated, educated people who derive from wealthy families. Whereas, the rabble are working people who are stereotypically unaware and unsophisticated (200).
• Sociologist Herbert Gans created “subcultural programming” which he designed in order to “de-massify” media offerings. Most media at the time was not diverse and dominated by big companies, causing the Media to be in total control of entertainment and decide for the audience what they want to view. However some would argue otherwise “The media will produce whatever the audience wants. If enough people want Balkan fold dancing, then it will be on TV”. (213).
• If we attempt to contemplate entertainment as a type of popular art we can be open to others views and opinions. This educates us as we learn new material and may even change our previous opinions.
3. When I was a freshman in high school I went to Rome and remember being in awe of Michelangelo's work of art on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, and being memorized by the distinct Roman architecture. It never occurred to me that art could be a form of entertainment. To me, this art was purely historical, constructing a story that could be shared hundreds and hundreds of years later.
4. How does one decide what is in the category of high culture versus popular culture?
1.) Thesis
ReplyDeleteA large part of the media revolves around stories that entertain rather than stories that inform.
2.) Supporting Documentation
- Cultural Levels: This sub-heading of the chapter discusses how as a culture, we are targeted with the stories the media believes we want to hear. In turn, we are shaped to generate the following stories: "Even though we may have updated the language and shifted some of the emphasis, we are still drawing cultural lines, worrying about cultural effects, and trying to distinguish between worthy and unworthy cultural forms" (206).
- "Cultural Taste Reconsidered": This heading of the chapter discussed how we have formed certain interests in culture, and therefore form our culture in its entirety. It evolves when our interests evolve: "We define ourselves by the popular culture we like and choose- and by what we dislike or ignore" (207).
- Popular Culture Pluralism: Pluralism is discussed in this chapter heading: our media platforms discuss a variety of cultural aspects, demographics, and address different interests. For example: "YouTube is not full of Whitmanesque poetry, but its content is not all homogenized or dumbed down, either" (215).
3.) Personal Story
The part of entertainment culture in the media I find most interesting is how it is directed at an audience, then the audience takes it an evolves it. For example: females have been targeted with so-called "chick-flicks" for decades; it's the sappy love story or dramatic account of a stereotypical female-only lifestyle that movie producers have thrown at us girls for as long as we can remember. But, despite the fact that it's been thrown at us because it's what we've reflected that we'd love, we try so desperately to break from the restrictions of the stereotype. "You know, I'm not one of those girls who will make my boyfriend sit through a romantic movie," or, "I can watch action movies too!" After the original idea of a chick-flick is presented to us, we take what we've been given, and we evolve it. We strive to get female lead characters whose primary aim doesn't involve a man or a relationship. We strive for women in powerful positions, with brains, and with substance. We have the power to evolve the media that has been presented to us.
4.) Question
How far will platforms of entertainment have evolved twenty years from now?
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ReplyDelete1. Media has become less and less objective, for in order to further sell their products, media companies attempt to create outputs that entertain the consumer even when the story told may not be entirely factual.
ReplyDelete2. Evidence:
a. Classical Greece, which is considered to be the time and place of the creation of the greatest works of art, was once painted bright and even garish colors, which is not accurately represented in films and tv shows in which characters are supposed to be interacting in this location.
b. Cultural diffusion, or rather the separation of culture into two distinct categories, states that art and media are entirely different in that art is meant to be special, sacred, and elite while media has become run of the mill, profane, and popular.
c. When looking at the differences between popular art and popular media, particular intellectuals felt deep concern with their realization that mass culture through media had overrun the popular art for a number of different reasons, and they concluded that mass culture was actually making mass society worse.
3. On page 204 of chapter 8, Edward Shils explains that there are three basic levels of culture, what he calls superior, mediocre, and brutal that are connected to three different kinds of audiences. As I was reading, I found that I was in disagree with the way that Shils categorized people, thinking that no group of people could be so specific to such intense classifications. I believe that people who consume media exist in multitudes, and while one may enjoy the viewing of a superior form of media, they may also desire to view brutal media that is offered to them, either for better or for worse.
4. Is it possible today to portray art in a particular way that also presents entertainment?
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ReplyDelete1. When evaluating a piece of art or entertainmen, an integral part of understanding it is understanding of the meaning that groups derive from the content and its cultural importance.
ReplyDelete2.
• The content, such as romance novels that 1950s critics dismissed as "formulaic, prefabricated, commercialized mass culture" holds meaning for certain taste publics. Interpretive audience researchers examine content from the perspective of those who appreciate and understand it, which enables them to discover why it is important to them (208). If one looks past his or her biases toward a particular form of art or entertainment, he or she might find that it has a legitimate role in the culture of certain groups.
• The ability to evaluate content from another perspective is an essential step in gaining insight into it. In regard to videogames, "nongamers can't grasp the artistic or entertainment elements prized by gamers," while "gamers can't take seriously the fears of nongamers" (209). Therefore, in order for a nongamer or a gamer to truly understand the complexities and significance of videogames, he or she would have to remove his or her biases and explore what the medium means to others.
• Because what constitutes high and low culture varies one period to the next, it is arbitrary to categorize content as such. When we "giv[e] up concerns about cultural hierarchy," we are able to gain a "cultural understanding" (217). Thus, to be able to examine a given piece of content's role in our culture, we must abandon our perceptions about its quality and let it and its admirers speak for themselves.
3. In high school, I was the only person in my group of friends who was not interested in videogames. Just watching them play Call of Duty or Battlefield terrified me and I considered it a waste of time. One of my friends explained to me that playing a videogames is a legitimate artistic experience, but I didn't believe him until I became immersed in the videogame based on The Walking Dead. I was impressed with the participatory nature of the game which more dramatically illustrated the challenges of living in a post apocalyptic world than the show. I then was able to understand what my friend said, as content that could provoke so much thought and feeling should be considered art.
4. What are the consequences of living in fragmented taste publics and how could these circumstances affect the democratic process?
IYOW: Entertainment, Art, and Pop Culture are all very similar and mixed together in a way.
ReplyDelete1: Though I feel they share many characteristics, some people believe that there is a line drawn that separates the two. This is called Cultural bifurcation. Cultural bifurcation is "the separation of culture into two distinct categories." (199). The book continues to explain that "We need to understand whether culture is intrinsically bifurcated in this way, and then explore how and why we continue to categorize (even if uneasy) culture into these two separate spheres." (199).
2. Many of the differences that are found between art and media are taste based. "Our taste is a form of identification, and it tells us who we are and, more crucially, who we are not. Obviously our tastes change over time (what we liked at age eight is probably different than at age eighteen, which will probably be different from age twenty-eight, thirty-eight, and so on), and we form our tastes against an ever-changing backdrop of cultural opinions." (206-207). As this quote shows, many things around a person affect their taste and what they like and don't like, it is all based off of influence.
3. There is something underneath the outer layer that can also be important to its past. When talking about the marble sculptures in Classical Greece, "According to recent archaeological research, the pure white world of classical Greece actually looked kind of like Disneyland--more like a circus than a museum" (197). Knowing that the statues were actually painted in a variety of bright colors after knowing them so well to be white changes your perspective and draws connection between the two things.
Story: When I was younger, I was convinced that I was going to live in a bright pink house and drive a truck with flame decals along the side. It is safe to say that things have changed since then. At the time, my mom said that I was going to change my mind later, and that I wouldn't always want these things. But I was so certain that I would always want these things and ultimately get them, I told my mother that she was wrong and I would always love these things. I did end up driving a truck for a few years, but it was a light blue and there was no decal on it. I have not purchased my own house, but I am going to assume it will not be the neon pink I once hoped it would be.
Question: If people's taste can and does change so easily and often, can we use this as a legitimate source to judge trends off of if it is just being influenced by others?
1.The pop culture part of media has become increasingly important to our society, with entertainment frequently trumping factual news.
ReplyDelete2. Many people consider entertainment to be distinctly different from art. This is cultural bifurcation- separating culture into categories. It's important to analyze whether or not this is natural, or if it has been constructed this way for historical, social, and political purposes. The historian Lawrence Levine says that "As America became increasingly industrialized and mass mediated, "sacralizing" culture became increasingly important (Campbell 199)."
Some believe that pop culture deeps the ways that capitalism keeps us mystified and dependent, with its formulaic content. Philosopher Hannah Arendt believes that cultural bifurcation is a necessity, that we need both art and entertainment,distinctly, because they both have separate but important uses. A third belief is that the media provides us with fake approximations of art, while we remain deprived of true art.
The internet has allowed for pop culture to be intensified and reach almost everyone. Maybe this is good, as it allows us with seemingly infinite amounts of information, but it can also be alienating and isolating. A positive aspect of the internet is that it allows for a pluralistic culture, but a negative aspect is that capitalism is using this for its marketing advantage.
3. I have an aunt who really loves going to art museums to peruse the galleries and stare at paintings and weird art objects. I have gone on little museum excursions with her and I'm not able to see the appeal. Sure, a Rembrandt in real life is cool, but when you've seen reprints on cards or posters, it doesn't really seem like a big deal anymore. Something definitely has more value and allure if it is truly one of a kind; the internet fights this by providing everyone with a reprint of copy to see.
4. Who decides which pieces of art are masterpieces, anyway???
1. Entertainment is a huge part of today’s media and in some people’s minds takes precedence over stories that inform us.
ReplyDelete2. I was really impressed by the opening of the section titled “Cultural Levels”. It discusses “the possibility that, through cultural blending, mass media both ruin art (through Arendt’s popularization) and drown us in mediocre, distracting junk.”(203) I thought this was extremely eye opening, and true. I am always amazed how many pieces of media I could miss or not pay attention to a chunk of the program and tune back in and not have missed anything important. Later on in the section the changes the Internet bring into the equation and “"Even though we may have updated the language and shifted some of the emphasis, we are still drawing cultural lines, worrying about cultural effects, and trying to distinguish between worthy and unworthy cultural forms" (206). Paying attention to how the internet affects cultural lines is crucial, because unlike television, radio, etc. there is very few restrictions as to what can be posted online so people are exposed to a whole new abundance of information and opinions that they may otherwise never have seen. Taste in popular culture has become a defining trait of who people are “we define ourselves by popular culture and we like and choose – and by what we dislike and ignore”(207). So it’s kind of hard to imagine what we would do without entertaining media.
3. There are many times in which I’ve seen a piece of art (in multiple forms; music, books, films, etc) and had a concept go right over my head and not realized until much later when I’m talking about it with some one and they explain it to me and I have one of those “Ohhh that’s what that was” moments.
4. How does certain media targeting a very particular audiences benefit them more than targeting a slightly broader audience and possible attracting more consumers?
1. Although arts are different from entertainments, all kinds of arts are the resources and foundations of entertainments.
ReplyDelete2.
A) People always divided arts from entertainments. People think that entertainments are the popular culture, but arts are nobler. However, the example of Shakespeare tells us that some works of arts from popular entertainment. Shakespeare ‘s works are the entertainments at his time, but now, his works are the arts. It means that the forms of entertainments are from arts, but sometimes, some great arts are from popular entertainments.
B) Hannah ardent said that art was designed and grasped and moved us cross the age. But the fact is that all the arts works all has the special symbols. And the symbols id related the society culture and popular culture of that time when the arts were designed. Like the example of Beatles, this band was the most popular band in the America in 1960s. When the members visited Elvis Presley in 1964, he looked down them. Later, the success of Beatles in America was called the British Invasion by some critics. It’s no doubt that Beatle was on behalf of entertainment of American in 1960s. However, we recognize that the songs of Beatle influenced a generation of Americans. Their song are arts, and also are culture.
C) There are three basic levels of culture. They are superior, Mediocre, and brutal. These three levels defined by their different types of audiences. Audiences are the targets of media. The plans for appealing to the audiences affect the contents and forms of entertainment. However, some works from the entertainment may become the arts in the future.
3.Many forms and famous works of literature were from the entertainments in that age. Like four masterpieces of China, these four classic Chinese works all reflected the social conditions. They were the epitome of Ancient China. Some people know about Ancient China by them, although they are just the unreal novels. I always compare them with real history.
4. We always judge whether the entertainment contents are bad or good. Can we ignore the “bad contents” and do not record it in our culture?
1. Through time, entertainment has become more important to the common man than factual news or information.
ReplyDelete2. a. There are three kinds of culture in entertainment, cultural bifurcation, cultural blurring, and cultural levels, all are used to understand entertainment. cultural bifurcation is the separation of culture into two categories. Cultural blurring is a combination of more than one culture. Cultural levels are the distinct levels that a certain culture has.
b. Looking back over time culture is seen as a thing of the "now". The culture of today is top-40 music, for example but the culture of hundreds of years ago was plays at the globe theater. The culture changes with the time and the types of people in the area.
c. It is mentioned in the text how we view entertainment. It is said that if you view it like a dance or like a piece of art you see it much more differently than if you view it as a source to change our opinions. Technically entertainment is anything you find that keeps you occupied, whether its media related or not.
3. In Media Revolutions we watched a movie about a radio show that was broadcasting a script-written movie for the radio. People thought that the United States was being taken over by aliens. It became so extreme that people killed themselves and their families as to not be killed by the aliens. This shows how fragile the line between fact and fiction really is in the media world.
4. When will the culture that we live in today be a thing of the past?
1) The separate categories of entertainment, art, and information have become intertwined and the boundaries of each category have changed multiple times throughout history.
ReplyDelete2) Often our ideas of what makes something “art” change over time. Shakespeare is now considered a high literary figure, whose works are standard classroom material. But until the 20th century, his plays were pop culture, used primarily to entertain; “fun, familiar entertainment for all” (199). Even when our contemporary culture views a piece of media content as lacking any real artistic merit, it is not guaranteed that future cultures and social classes will always think of that content in such a way.
Philosopher Hannah Arendt felt that while art and entertainment should remain separate, media blurred the lines between the two. As a result, art could “no longer speak its truths, offer its insights, or guide a civilized society” (202). She believed that commercializing art numbs us to its significance and power.
Part of the reason popular culture/entertainment is often demonized is because media consumers don’t understand it. When we don’t see meaning in something, we think of it as worthless, and don’t devote any more of our time to understanding the motives behind its construction and popularity. Cultural forms that we do understand are given higher status in our minds, as we are better able to appreciate the role they play in our lives. “Insiders to any form of culture…can offer rich interpretive perspectives;” worries about its negative effects on the culture as a whole typically come from outsiders, who have not experienced that cultural form in a positive way that led them to dig deeper (209).
3) For me, allusions in pop culture to what today are considered art forms has increased my interest in learning about and seeing the original artwork for myself. However, I do feel that the first time you view or listen to a piece of art or music is when it is most going to take you by surprise; as the book says, constantly seeing reproductions of the Mona Lisa can take away much of its power. But if we can look at its many incarnations in popular culture as a representation of the power and significance it has had and still holds for us, it’s possible to appreciate a work of art for what it is, even if we don’t really like it.
4) Reality TV is today considered by many to be a low form of entertainment; any chances future societies will adopt it as a high art form?
Democracy, capitalism, and technology in contemporary society depict art, information, and entertainment as separate subjects to maintain the current cultural norms in society.
ReplyDeleteSupporting Documentation:
~ Elite art vs popular art is an example of cultural bifurcation. Cultural bifurcation is “the separation of culture into two distinct categories”(pg 198). Irvine Babbit argued that art is elite, special, and above entertainment which is something popular, everyday, and occasionally profane.
~ Shakespeare is “more like a circus than a museum”(pg 199). Lawrence Levine’s book Highbrow/Lowbrow shows Shakespeare’s transformation from entertainment to art. Today we recognize Shakespeare as one of the greatest artists of all time who is one of the greatest play writers in history. However, in Shakespeare’s own time, his plays weren’t put on this artistic pedestal of admiration. They were everyday entertainment, the equivalent to going to see a movie at a movie theater.
~“As democracy, capitalism, and technology combined to create modern society, the separation of elite art and mass entertainment, museums from circuses, became one way to maintain social hierarchy, protect class distinctions, and contain the influence of new technologies”(200)
Personal Story:
I was watching the Oscars with some friends last month and I was so happy when 12 Years a Slave won best picture. I remember calling it a beautiful work of art to the people I was watching the Oscars with. 12 Years a Slave to me is both entertainment and art. I consider entertainment and art to be almost the same. The imagery, lighting, and all other production techniques used were used in ways to create a beautiful picture that to me is considered art. No, it isn’t Opera performance or a Picaso portrait hanging in the MFA, but was created through creativity and to me, I consider it both entertainment and art.
If art and entertainment are becoming more intertwined with their definitions, will all entertainment even show categories falling under reality TV count as art?
"Making distinctions between art and entertainment is one way that we identify the quality of the culture we believe we had in the past, we currently experience in the present, and what we want to create in the future." (197)
ReplyDelete-Culture bifurcation (199) is how we must examine art and entertainment in order to properly understand their independent roles within our society. We must use this division to see the two sides to our pop culture scene.
-The bifurcation, blurring, and levels of art and entertainment, as part of our modern culture, allow mass media to manipulate the receivers of this culture into thinking whatever they want.
-Today, we are exposed to culture of other societies and in many different forms, and we must wonder of that allows us to have fuller understanding of culture throughout the world or if it only isolates us further into our own cultural niches. (215)
I find the cultural division described in this chapter to be very true. Whether its pertaining to art, music, or sports, we all have our own opinions and we all support our own things. This creates focused niches within society, but it also can isolate us all from those things outside our own comfort zones.
How am I personally affected by the bifurcation and pluralism of the culture that surrounds me?
1. Media play a crucial role in shaping our culture through art and entertainment.
ReplyDelete2. Media is a form of art that greatly shapes our values. “Making distinctions between art and entertainment is one way that we identify the quality of the culture we believe we had in the past, we currently experience in the present, and we want to create in the future” (page 197).
Media has potential merge two of the key components of culture: art and entertainment. Our culture and what media we choose to engage in shows a great deal about a person. “Our taste is a form of identification, and it tells us who we are and, amore crucially, who we are not” (page 206).
Media is a “way to sell us products that we may or may not actually need- and just as it can sell us products, it can sell us political candidates, finding out what (or who) we will “buy” and micro-shaping messages to us that cater to our preexisting patterns and prejudices” (page 215).
3. This chapter expands greatly on the distinction of art and entertainment. However, I do not think there should be any debate at all over separating the two. I believe that movies, music videos, and other forms of media have the potential to be both artistic and entertaining.
4. Will media ever be completely intertwined as both art and entertainment in society?