Online Assignment #3

Throughout the documentary, Mickey Mouse Monopoly, there are instances in which media perspectives discussed in lecture are clearly visible, namely the perspectives of the magic bullet, cultural studies, and cultivation research.

The magic bullet presents itself though the direct reenactment of Disney's work by children. In The Mirror Effect, a little girl copies Vanessa Williams's dance moves from her "Colors of the Wind" music video. This shows a direct effect because the little girl's dancing is an instant result of viewing the video. She essentially mimics what she sees the woman on screen doing without question. Another instance of the magic bullet occurs when Dr. Diane Levin points out that children are likely to recreate the movies they have seen when presented with toys based off of them. For instance, when given a Tarzan and Jane figurine, a child is likely to recreate the movie rather than create their own storyline. This, Levin suggests, could be detrimental to the imagination of a child.

Cultural studies is visible though Disney's depiction of women. They reinforce the notion that the ideal woman has an hourglass figure, is submissive, and is ultimately dependent on a prince in times of trouble. This idea was prevalent in American culture for centuries. It was not until the 1970s that women began receiving significant equal recognition under the law through civil rights. However, movies made as recently as the 1990s like Beauty and the Beast neglect to show these changing values. It was only within the past few years that change became truly visible. In the perspective of cultural studies, there are two key concepts: representation and resistance. Just as media outlets can reinforce meanings in a society, society can just as well reject them. In recent years since Mickey Mouse Monopoly was made, I personally feel that Disney has done a better job of creating strong female characters, most likely as a response to public outcries. Brave (2012) is a prime example. The story revolves around a Scottish princess who decides she is not ready to be married and fights for the right to make her own decisions. The film was heeded by Brenda Chapman who, among other things, recognized the importance of portraying Merida as a real woman. When she stepped down as director to be a co-director, Disney took it as an opportunity to “revamp” Merida and make her slimmer and sexier, but Chapman fought back, calling it “artocious” and “blatantly sexist” (TIME, 2013).

The final perspective, cultivation research, can be seen through the distorted perceptions of race held by the children viewers. The most obvious example is when Jacqueline Maloney’s friend’s son hears the voices of black children and automatically associates them with the villainous hyenas of the The Lion King. Because menial characters are often voiced by minorities, it creates an affiliation between race and negative qualities. In this instance, the child was scared by the black children because of the way the movie portrayed their race as a whole. Another example is the Chihuahua character who is always voiced by a person of Hispanic descent. In Oliver and Company, Tito the Chihuahua looks tattered and makes references to stealing cars, playing off of and reinforcing negative stereotypes. In both cases, racial perceptions in children were highly distorted and highly cultivated by Disney’s representations in their media.

Overall, Disney exerts a tremendous amount of power and influence over the perceptions of children. They do this through various media perspectives, be it the magic bullet, cultural studies, or cultivation research. Knowing this, one cannot help but question Disney’s motivations and wonder whether they are truly the wholesome company they claim to be.

References

Stampler, L. Do Animated Female Characters Need to Be ‘Pretty’? (2013). TIME Magazine. Retrieved from http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/14/do-animated-female-characters-need-to-be-pretty/#ixzz2lo37zsBd

Mickey Mouse Monopoly - Assignment 3

In the documentary Mickey Mouse Monopoly, two main perspectives on media effects are discussed: the Cultivation Perspective and the Cultural Studies Perspective. With Disney being one of 6-7 companies that own all media, many fear the major influence it has on our society.

                According to Justin Lewis, since Disney’s stories form a child’s imagination it would be foolish to “imagine that the only way that the media affects us is through an immediate impact on the way we think”. This is an argument against the Magic Bullet Effect. Lewis states that the effects are much less immediate and straightforward and more “a certain environment of images that we grow up in that we become use to”, and these images will shape what we know and what we understand about the world (Cultivation Perspective). According to the cultivation perspective, impressions of the world are cultivated through long-term media exposure and the effects are small, indirect and cumulative which contrasts the Magic Bullet Effect. This idea can be supported through gender representations in Disney movies. Disney has always sexualized the woman image and this portrayal has constructed the notion of femininity to young children. Carolyn Newberger uses movies like the Beauty and the Beast to show that our notions are constructed through these movies. Elizabeth Hadley points out that in Aladdin, Jasmine becomes a seductress which shows girls they should use their body to get what they want. As seen in the Mirror Project, children will reenact what they see because their long-term exposure has led them to believe that is acceptable.

The second perspective is the Cultural Studies perspective which states messages are created within a society and that writers produce messages that make sense in that culture. Alvin Poussaint states that the white, educated male writers hold stereotypes and they write from that point of view because they aren’t involved with other races so they draw from what they know (the things they have gained from the media – stereotypes). This shows the circular effect between media messages and culture. Disney’s messages have the power to reinforce/assign new meaning to people/cultural objects. Ultimately, media influences culture and the media is used to reinforce beliefs. Gail Dines said that we develop our notions of reality from cultural mechanisms around us and that the media shapes our stereotypes and beliefs systems. This can be seen in racial stereotypes such as the Asian cats in the Lady and the Tramp. Additionally, Henry Giroux argues that Disney’s ideas are skewed by cooperate interests. Disney can rewrite history to eliminate controversial topics (like Pocahontas). Deirdre Almeido stated that Disney altered history and made kids believe it, which she argues serves a political purpose. These claims show how the media is used by elites to maintain power. Disney’s monopolized market allows them to control how they represent itself: they can police their image and representation and control what children see and believe.

The documentary highlights two key perspectives on how the media affects us: The cultivation perspective and the cultural studies perspective. Considering the immense power Disney holds in our society, they should have a responsibility to depict race, gender and history in an accurate and positive light.

Online Assignment #3: Mickey Mouse Monopoly

In the documentary, Mickey Mouse Monopoly, there are two main perspectives on media effects that are seen most prominently: cultural studies and cultivation. Cultural studies deal with how the media represents culture and how culture is shaped by media messages. It also asks how the media is used by elites to exercise and maintain power. The documentary outlines how the Disney corporation is a transnational media conglomerate, owning many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. Therefore, the various outlets Disney is able to use to reach the public are vast, lending themselves to Disney's tremendous influence. This monopoly that Disney holds over mass media may be detrimental to democracy. The public is receiving limited views that are skewed by corporate interests. Yet, Disney continues to exercise control because it “hides behind innocence”. This idea is evident in the narrative of Dr. Giroux. In his book, he talked about how Disney represents a merger of corporate power and entertainment. He received a hostile response from the public, who strongly believe in Disney’s innocence.

Cultural studies also focuses on how media represents existing ideas. The documentary talks about how Disney re-writes history by ignoring certain conflicts. For example, Pocahontas completely ignores the genocide committed towards Native Americans by Europeans. These false representations of history are politically motivated. The documentary equivocates Disney to a “dominate storyteller for children globally”. This is a huge responsibility; Disney’s messages are shaping children’s perceptions of race, as seen in the story of Jacqueline Maloney from Harvard University, who’s friend told about her son identifying African American children as the hyenas from the Lion King, and immediately associating them as bad.

 The media effect of cultivation is also evident in Disney’s influence on society. The cultivation perspective talks about how TV is a “cultural environment”. Impressions of the world can be cultivated through long-term media exposure. Similar ideas are raised in the documentary when it talks about how media tries to create an environment of images. The effects are not immediate, but slow and cumulative. Media deals with constructions of reality that help viewers form images of the world. Cultivation also deals with distorted perceptions of sex and race. Female characters in Disney movies are highly sexualized. The way Disney characters look and act affect how children believe they should look and act. Some movies also make certain negative behaviors seem okay. For example, the abuse seen in Beauty and the Beast is cast aside, and the idea of tenderness within is brought forward. People pick up racial stereotypes, as African Americans are depicted as crows or monkeys, and Latinos are Chihuahuas. White males are generally the dominant force in all Disney movies.

            Culture and cultivation are key perspectives apparent in Disney’s media kingdom. Disney has power to shape children’s perceptions of the world and affect how they look, act, and play. Few people realize the tremendous influence it has on the minds of youth. Because of this, Disney must recognize the responsibility it has to depict society in a positive way.

Assignment #3

Disney has successfully marketed their movies under an ideal of innocence and magic. This tactic has been so successful for them that many people overlook the messages taught and their effect on children. However, Disney is a corporation and at the end of the day the CEO decides the images shown and messages taught, based more on revenue than moral obligation. The Mickey Mouse Monopoly reveals the multiple perspectives of the impact Disney movies may have on children in the form of the magic bullet and critical cultural theories.

            One prominent theory seen in The Mickey Mouse Monopoly is the cultivation theory. This is the idea that media shapes our perceptions of the world in a more subtle and continuous process. Dr. Justin Lewis supports this idea by stating, “The way the media effects the way we think is much less immediate and much less straight forward. It is much more creating a certain environment that we grow up in and become used to. And after awhile, those images begin to shape what we know, what we understand. That is a slow cumulative effect.” Some of the common images that we are often confronted with are gender stereotypes. It is quite common to see a music video or commercial emphasizing makeup or the say women should dance. In the documentary it shows “The mirror project,” in which children are exposed to Vanessa William’s music video, “Colors of the wind” from Pocahontas. Children as young as 5 or 6, imitate these dance moves they have seen paired with their favorite Disney song. This truly exemplifies the powerful effect media can have in children mirroring the moves they see on television.

            Another perspective that can be seen it the critical cultural theory. This is the idea that media shapes the way we interpret culture. The hazard in this theory is that media often intends to reproduce existing power structures. This can be seen by the lack of minority representation within Disney movies. Disney is a “transnational media conglomerate” owning production companies, websites, radio networks, cable systems, and more. This places a lot of power into the hands of one company. Further, a single male CEO runs the whole company. The ideas presented often impact children’s perceptions of reality. According to Dr. Gail Dines, “We develop our notions of reality from the cultural mechanisms around us and one of the most important cultural institutions that we have today is indeed the media. It gives us a whole array of images, of stereotypes, of belief systems about race about class and about gender.” More specifically, among the lack of minority representation, minority characters often given to minor characters. For example, the Chihuahua is one of the only Latino characters in all Disney movies. “It is almost expected, the character playing the Latino will do one of the things that he shouldn’t do,” said schoolteacher Marisa Peralta. In “Oliver and Company,” the Chihuahua even tries to steel a car.

            Media plays a significant role within out society. As The Mickey Mouse Monopoly demonstrated, both the cultivation and critical cultural theories are present. This leaves society the question of “What message do we want to be feeding our children?”

Alex Shimony
Research Report on  "How Luther went viral" published in the Economist:

“How Luther went viral” is a story published in the December 17^th 2011 edition of Economist.  The author of this article is unnamed.  The Economist is a self-claimed newspaper, but the actual print edition takes the form of a magazine.  The newspaper is based out of London, and its mission is "to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress".  The newspaper has a liberal lean when it comes to both economics and social policies; it has supported gay marriage legalization along with smoking bans in England.

            A very interesting point about the Economist is all of its stories have no author listed and this is for a few reasons.  The most important reason, however, is the fact that a large majority of the stories that appear are not only written by multiple people, but are heavily discussed by the entire staff, edited by many hands, and thus to put a single name or a couple of names on an article would not do it justice.  Secondly, by only placing the publication’s name on the article, the Economist is saying that the article reflects the opinions of the newspaper as a whole, rather than a single author.

            The majority of the paper’s staff is based out of London, but as with any paper with good international coverage, it has staff posted around the world who are better able to cover local stories than people sitting in London would be able to.  This helps to give the publication credibility when reporting about international stories, as is the focus of the paper.

            The subscribers to the Economists are mainly upper class, and American subscribers make up about 50 percent of the total readers.  However, even with this heavily educated group as its readers, the Economist still writes its stories in simple terms, so that almost anyone can read and understand what is trying to be said.  However, a criticism of the paper is even though these stories are written in an easy to understand language, the content of the paper reflects too heavily on the upper class nature of the readers, thus alienating a large majority of people looking to read the paper.  This along with the heavily economic liberal stand of the paper are the two major criticism of it.

            While this article talks about relating the Arab Spring and its use of social media to Martin Luther and the use of pamphlets, it is interesting to look at how this specific article was shared and spread through the use of social media.  On the Economist’s website, it says the article was shared 4.6k times on Facebook, another 3.5k times on Twitter, and around a thousand times on Google Plus.  I would argue that this is a large reach for this specific article, seeing as the crowd who reads this paper might not necessarily have all social media tools (because of their age and class standing), but despite this fact, the article was shared almost a thousand times.

Research Report on “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” by James Carey

Emily Zellers

11/17/13

Research Report on “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” by James Carey

           

            “A Cultural Approach to Communication” was the first chapter in the book Communication as Culture written by James W. Carey in 1989. The goal of this first chapter was to introduce the reader to the idea of a ritual view of communication and how it contrasts to the more widely used transition view of communication.

            The author, James W. Carey was a communication theorist, a media critic, and a journalism instructor at the University of Illinois, as well as Columbia University. Carey is credited for the development of the theory of a ritual view of communication, describing it as a form of drama where we do not gain information; instead a particular view of the world is portrayed and confirmed. The sole motivation for the author to take the view of the superiority of the ritual view of communication over the transition view in the first chapter of his book is to introduce his theory to the reader. Carey attempts to introduce this idea through multiple examples, such as the newspaper examples, and quotes from those who inspired his theory, such as the excerpts from Dewey’s work. This purpose can be classified as academic, with the goal of conveying this new theory and supporting it in order to build an academic reputation through the development of ideas.

            The chapter being analyzed, “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” was part of the book Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society, which was published in 1989 by Psychology Press. This book is one of three written by Carey all concerning the theories of communication. The intended audience for this book is likely students or those interested in the theories of communication, which is conveyed through the book’s scholarly, thoughtful tone. Because Carey was a professor at University of Illinois and Columbia University, it can be assumed that large part of his intended audiences were students, in order to educate them of these theories.

            Based on the book reviews that can be found on Amazon and Google Books, it can be seen that the intended audience’s reception of the book was positive. One reviewer found that allow the book is over two decades old, the ideas presented by Carey are still relevant today and still require attention. Another reviewer found the book valuable and thought provoking. Overall the intended audience, students looking to further there understand of communications, found the book very helpful to their majors. Although the essays can be somewhat difficult to understand, with careful reading Carey brings up interesting and unique ideas concerning communications.

            Overall through analysis of the author and the reviews received by the book, some even speculating that because of its enlightening theories it is sure to become a classic, we can be confident in the details of what we are reading. Carey strived to write in a scholarly tone that can be trusted because of the support used in the articles, basing the theories on examples that provided inspiration for the ideas, and developing his ideas completely.

Discussing "A Cultural Approach to Communication" by J.W. Carey

In his book Communication as Culture, specifically the chapter entitled “A Cultural Approach to Communication,” James W. Carey discusses his theories regarding two very different definitions of the word communication – the transmission view and the ritual view. Although Carey claims the transmission view is the predominant definition within our society, he discusses at length the ritual view of communication and uses comparisons to the social sciences to describe this very different idea of communication.

As a reader, what do you think the author intended you to take from this passage? What was his purpose in writing this, from what you could tell?

Carey argued that the transmission view of communication can “no longer go forward without disastrous intellectual and social consequences” and communications theorists must “escape the treadmill we were running” regarding the theory. Do you think that the transmission view is really outdated, as he argues?

Just given that this is a somewhat revolutionary idea, were you convinced that this is a valid interpretation of the word “communication,” especially considering that it differs so dramatically from the transmission view and how we’ve studied communication thus far?

Especially after two units in class on journalism and strategic communication, do you think that the ritual view of communication can be applied to communication today?

In “The Persuaders,” Mark Crispin Miller from New York University argues that a culture saturated by strategic communication and advertising is not a culture at all. However, Casey argues that communication is exactly what comprises society, culture and even our own reality. Which argument do you identify with the most? Do you think that Casey’s argument applies to all kinds of communication we see today?