Media Studies: Ideas Final (Better late than never)

WHY DOES LAURA MULVEY SAY THAT FILM FORM IS BEST SUITED FOR REPRESENTING “THE IMAGE OF WOMAN AS PASSIVE RAW MATERIAL FOR THE ACTIVE GAZE OF MAN”?
Laura Mulvey references film form as being best suited for expressing the active/ passive dichotomy of men and women because film is a visual medium which is perfect for the pathology of voyeurism. Voyeurism is an unhealthy fixation on what’s not supposed to be seen that is not normal/ moral. For example, in “Peeping Tom”, the pleasure of looking- scopophilia- is presumed to be male and the camera as a tool to objectify women (their bodies suffer the fantasies projected on them). In “Peeping Tom” Mark targets his victims to be blonde, and this is made evident to the audience during the opening credits when the conflict is presented with the murder of a blonde prostitute~ but the audience doesn’t know who Mark is yet. In this instance, Mark actually uses the camera as a weapon to live out his fantasies to cope with his ‘castrating father’ who killed his mother, only to replace her with some blonde incidentally (the audience learns as the plot progresses).
Furthermore, Laura Mulvey looks at what film constructs in the texts of roles and positions of the viewers. The camera masks the voyeur, so that the viewer doesn’t know whose eyes they are looking through, but they’re presuming them to be male. The audience is still told to look at this feeling from this particular perspective, and feels an instinctual enjoyment in seeing what is not supposed to be seen. Thus, the audience experiences scopophilia (through a camera that ONLY a man would know how to operate) in a movie theater with a fixed gaze, and are being dominated by masculinity once again.
EXPLAIN BELL HOOKS’ STATEMENT THAT “THE COMMODIFICIATION OF DIFFERENCES PROMOTES PARADIGMS OF CONSUMPTION WHEREIN WHATEVER DIFFERENCE THE OTHER INHABITS IS ERADICATED, VIA EXCHANGE, BY A CONSUMER CANNIBALISM THAT NOT ONLY DISPLACES THE OTHER BUT DENIES THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT OTHER’S HISTORY THROUGH A PROCESS OF DECONTEXTUALIZATION”.
In Bell Hooks’ statement, she basically says that the difference the Other possesses-albeit art, culture, lifestyle- becomes appropriated and marketable by/to the masses out of the context from its original meaning/purpose of what it was intended for by the Other. The best example of decontextualization is the appropriation of Blues music which originated as work songs and narrative ballads by the slaves in the Deep South while out in the fields. Pushing the consumption paradigm of a musical genre, the displacement of the non-white Other’s difference could be credited to Elvis Presley for being the white face to the non-white Other’s music that most U.S. homes wouldn’t have experimented with had they been performed by the Other. Further decontextualization takes places as more musical genres are created (by white people) using the non-white’s blues music as a foundation~ rock and roll, R &B. Hal Foster maintains that “contemporary notions of ‘crossover’ expand the parameters of cultural production to enable the voice of the non-white Other to be heard by a larger audience even as it denies the specificity of that voice, or as it recoups it for its own use” (373). In conclusion, the Other compromises their distinct black experience when it becomes commodified for being different and made universally relatable for consumers to call their own, thus displacing the authentic black origin whilst reaching a broader population.
WHAT DOES CLAY SHIRKY MEAN WHEN HE SAYS THAT IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET “MASS AMATEURIZATION” HAS TRANSFORMED THE NATURE OF PUBLISHING?
Shirky means that the age of the internet has made publishing easily accessible (free means of production) to the general public- sans any traditional forms of academic training in the field- that the legitimacy of journalistic privilege is being questioned~ if anyone can be a publisher then anyone can be a journalist. Prior to the internet, journalistic privilege was important because it provided a polished class of truth-tellers that would filter first, publish after because publishing required the means of communications machinery- linking it to ownership of intellectual property. Nowadays, anybody can publish for free on the internet (free exchange/economy), and blogs are even steering the agenda for news coverage that traditional news institutions used to be at the helm of ~ Trent Lott fiasco (Shirky 61). Consequently, the increasing role of amateurism on the internet has had notable success with online blogs receiving book contracts due to the popularity they’ve received (page views). For example, the phenomena of the blog discussed in class by Maddox (The best page in the universe) originated as a rant amongst a small chat community of programmers that developed into a fan-base, and eventually a book (The Alphabet of Manliness~ reached #1 on Amazon) and further publications despite the author not finishing college. Naturally, the imposition of the free economy (virtual world) on society challenges the money economy (real world) for which the integrity of professional/expert journalism relies on to establish the power structure of capitalism. In conclusion, Shirky is saying that the standards of professional journalism are being diluted by the ‘publish first, filter after’ mentality of the publishing amateur via the internet.
EXPLAIN HOW BRANDING IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FORMS OF ADVERTISING
Advertising’s premise is to generate interest in a product-make it look good- that would convince people to act on the suggestion and consume. To every product, there are two sides; The Use value (providing certain needs), and the Exchange value (what could be gained by it-monetary; status) that each consumer has to mentally weigh before acting and purchasing. To benefit the producer of the product, the goal of advertising is to move the consumers’ emphasis from the use value to the exchange value. Historically, the product used to be the centerpiece of the advertisement~ comparing it to Brand-X and why it was more appealing. Consequently, new types of exposure were developed that would attract people with a visual connection; the Display window in storefronts and eventually the television (electrical shop window). As long as the advertisement presents the product with minimum noise and by being attractive, it can affect the behavior of the recipient to consume. By doing so, the product becomes something more emotional and the use of it making the consumer feel good becomes the focus- not the product itself. Once the mood of the consumer switches from the product to how it makes them feel, it convinces the consumer on a way of life- leads to branding. Henceforth, branding distinguishes itself from other forms of advertising because it pushes the scope from use value to exchange value of the product by conjuring emotional feelings within the consumer about their own sense of oneself/belonging by creating this ideal lifestyle through the use of THIS product ~ tangible link to a desired lifestyle.
More often than not, branding precedes the product (ironically) because producers have to give it a recognizable name that can be established and linked to the world they’re trying to present. The ideological world of which the product is supposed to represent is mapped out and constructed before the product even exists- merely an apple in somebody’s eye. The goal is to convince the consumer that only THIS particular product can show them the way to living in that awesome world that is on display. In effect, the style of advertising has adapted from blatantly showing the product and what it does, to presenting the product’s world more and how the consumer feels/ is perceived in society for using that product (visual connection-Branding). Producers and marketers conspire (and spend lots of $$) to find the most effective emotional attachment consumers can develop for a product -exchange value- to only to exploit it for future advertising (PBS The Persuaders). Nowadays, the consumer doesn’t even know what the product is or its function -just that it’s supposed to make them feel a certain way as suggested in the ad-until the last 5 seconds of the commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkB9ZjKFAwA). Through branding, the goal of the advertisement is to make the consumer see themselves in the ad (able to relate), develop an emotional attachment with how they’ll be perceived, and move their scope from the use value to the exchange value (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvIzHgWtwTU&NR=1). It doesn’t matter if the product ACTUALLY provides its function or purpose of use, as long as the consumer identifies with the world the ad presented and wants to be part of it, the product will be loyally purchased. Branding constructs the ideological world of which the consumer wants to identify themselves with and belong to a community of people who also identify/use the same product.
Branding’s importance stems from creating a desirable mood and sense of lifestyle with how the product is constructed/ represented, so that the consumer thinks they will attain those positive feelings and be perceived more desirable in society once the barcode is swiped. Branding is a semiological term that pushes the product by relating it to the consumer and connecting to their habits and habitual behavior (habits to meaning; use to desire). Dr. Repaille a psychologist turned marketer (PBS The Persuaders) hosts fancy parties with top companies around the world where he dispenses his discovery of the ‘inner code’ linking the consumer’s most influential emotions that drive them to purchase particular products. The emphasis isn’t necessarily focused on the product itself or its functionality, but rather the emotional feeling the consumer attaches to it-sense of oneself/identity- thus making branding so effective. Playboy Enterprises is an example of an empire that links the brand with an ideological lifestyle so successfully, it has infiltrated society’s vocabulary as a household name (much to the chagrin of Christian groups). Playboy’s use of a desirable lifestyle that is self-evident in its name (brand) bases its marketing model on sex appeal, targeting young men since the 1950s who want to pursue a life of pleasure without responsibility. Incidentally, ‘Playboy’ became so successful at making a name for itself, that when anybody (multi-generational) references a naughty magazine, ‘Playboy’ is the term commonly used. Furthermore, Playboy’s branding is so influential, it doesn’t matter what playboy could be selling- magazines, shot glasses, thongs- as long as they have the ‘bunny-ears’ brand/logo, it becomes a status symbol of what society defines as a ‘Top-of-the-line’ authority on sex. Henceforth, the power of branding lies in its ability to appeal/connect to consumers and how the product makes them feel (nostalgic/sexy/good), as the most effective avenue to prompt them to act and purchase.
Additionally, an important aspect of branding is its ability to relate to the consumer on an individual/ personal level, yet fulfill a sense of communal belonging that is suggested in the lifestyle being conveyed in the advertisement. Identifying with the consumer assists branding to develop a cult following that generates the loyalty which engages people to get involved and bond over their relationship with the product despite their differences (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7NoRjI0H0 ). A great example of cult following is expressed in the bond consumers have developed for their computer systems~ extensions of ourselves. The Mac vs PC branding has turned such loyalty into a social phenomenon of how people relate to one another- whether by being the ‘creative’ Mac users, or ‘business oriented’ PC users- a line has been drawn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_kGL3M5Cg ). Consequently, as consumers are developing relationships online through social networking websites that highlight their interests, branding is pedaling fast to keep up with the latest trends so as to avoid phasing out. In effect, producers have invested in mapping vocabulary and targeting key words in emails so as to appeal to the needs of the consumer with their products. Thus marketers are developing new strategies on how to re-connect with the audience and new ways to reach people.
In conclusion, advertising has evolved over time, and one effective style has been branding’s effect on society’s consumption habits based on the emotional world the products project, and the nature of people to identify/strive to be part of THAT ideal world by simply purchasing THAT product. Subsequently, by being emotionally attached to the product, the consumers’ focus moves from the use value to the exchange value of the product- goal of the producers. As a Result, branding distinguishes itself from other forms of advertising because it conjures an emotional attachment within the consumer about their own sense of oneself/belonging by creating this ideal lifestyle through the use of THAT product ~ tangible link to a desired lifestyle, thus pushing the scope from use value to exchange value of the product.

Works Cited
PBS The Persuaders
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/view/
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.