daniellewsociology-blog

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Popculturebio

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I agree that the media matrix of culture feeds off of us. In one of my posts I said that without the us there would be no media, we give them the power and we let them control our identities by what we allow them to believe we see as entertaining and they feed off the money and time we put into watching tv, listening to music and being on our phone and computers looking at different websites and social media websitesThe most problematic aspect of pop culture for me are the negative portrayals of different groups of people. By that I mean the negative stereotypes of minority’s groups from people with disabilities, of different races and ethnicities of sexual identities and genders. Another big issue that I have with pop culture is that celebrity news is more accessible than the real news, because when real things in the news happen like the flint Michigan water crisis and things happening in other parts of the world are going on all you see reported for the most part is whose wearing what and dating who, and the only time that everyone comes together is when something big and devastating happens and those things are prominent for a few months and then news shifts back to the blogs and gossip. And I see these media outlets use things as distractions from what we really should be worried about. If I was in charge the way that I would improve inequalities related to pop culture is change the way entertainment industries from being able to perpetuate negative stereotypes, I would allow for equal representations of all groups of people, also especially in the film and television industry when it comes to employing real actors with disabilities, even now I think it’s time for s change in how the entertainment industry chooses to represent certain groups in society and it needs to change because that is how people educate themselves about other groups of people and that it where the “normal” and “abnormal” classifications come from or the way black and Latino men are perceived as violent based on the type of music the industry is telling them to rap of or the lifestyle they are trying to sell; and we as consumers can stand up and say NO we want to see, hear and talk about other things we want to see positivity and inclusion. I think we can all make a change by not giving these industries a way to make money of the negative things they portray, we have the ability to stop watching certain television shows and change what we find or believe to be entertaining because without us there wouldn’t be a media industry.

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This article by Kayla Brown talks about the representations of disability in the television and film industry and how we need better quality has representations that are realistic.

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1. Make sure you get the book for this class because there will be notes and it’s a good resource for examples and definitions.

2. MAKE TIME FOR THE WORK. This class was an online course meaning that it had shorter deadlines. The work is easy but don’t wait to late.

3. I would suggest taking this class with a friend and even utilizing other classmates when you don’t understand something. We had technical difficulties and I had a friend in the class and we helped each other when we needed it.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask the professor questions about a topic or idea that you have. If you take this class with Amanda Turner she can help you with how to frame certain assignments so your doing them correctly.

5. Even though this was an online class take it serious. I enjoyed the class but at the same time don’t think that you can get by with not doing work and still get an A.

6. Also don’t think that your professor knows your busy and that the workload will be lessened. Which means give yourself a reasonable amount of work to accomplish a day. We had a week to do five or six assignments which was enough time.

7. My last tip for future students taking this course is to enjoy the course. You learn slot of different theories and ideas about the world around you through the lens of pop culture which is already a interesting and fun topic to talk about anyway. We watched a lot of great and education documentaries and even though I said there was a lot of work, you get a lot out of the assignments we did for his course. Hope this helps!

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Queen Bee/Navy

For my qualitative analysis used Beyoncé and Rihanna to compare African American women in the music industry. In my analysis I picked a song from each where they directly talked about their involvement and roles in the music industry. I picked Beyoncé’s 6inch and Rihanna’s Consideration; in 6inch Beyoncé talks about not just herself but the working women and how women no matter what field of work they are in need to demand respect in their profession and not back down until they reach their dreams, also Beyoncé makes references to herself about how much hard work and dedication she has put into the music industry and her music in order to be the artist she is today. In Rihanna’s Consideration she talks about her trouble with the music industry as she was young and unlike Beyoncé whose father was her manager and didn’t let anyone take advantage of her Rihanna didn’t have that and because of that she feels like she hasn’t been allowed to grow as an artist and fulfill her duties as a serious artist which is what the whole song is about, she wants to be take serious as an artist and to do so she has to let go of a recording label that was holding her back and move on to one that will let her talents flourish. The conclusion of my analysis I found that both Beyoncé and Rihanna are both always breaking down barriers not just in the music industry but for women in general of all races and walks of life. Beyoncé has a tendency to inspire in a dreams do come true with hard work and dedication type of way but never in a way where she doesn’t think her or any women doesn’t deserve everything they’ve worked for. Rihanna I found inspires a younger crowd with a don’t take anyone’s shit type attitude, either way both women are great and seek to continue to empower women all over the world.

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HTGAWM

For my quantitative analysis I researched the cast and crew of the ABC television drama How to Get Away with murder. The episode I did was from season two and it was episode fifteen, it aired on March 16, 2016 and it was titled ANNA Mae, the show is forty-three minutes long and received 5.59 million viewers.  In the episode description it says that Annalise starts to break under pressure and wants to escape; Frank needs to accept the things he has done; Wes is one step closer to learning about his past.  For the quantitative analysis we had to conduct an analysis of character identities from the show, and compare them to the identities of the crew members (writers, directors, and producers). We had to examine five aspects of identity: race, gender, Tran’s identity, sexuality, and disability status. In this episode of how to get away with murder there were nine main characters Professor Annalise Keating, Esq., Detective Nate Lahey, Wes Gibbins, Connor Walsh, Michaela Pratt, Asher Millstone, Laurel Castillo, Frank Delfino, and Bonnie Winterbottom, Esq., there were five minor characters in the episode were Caleb Hapstall, Catherine Hapstall, Eve Rothlo, Oliver Hampton and Philip Jessup. Out of the fourteen cast members six of them were white, five of them were black one was Hispanic and two were Asian. As for their gender and sexual identity there were eight males and six females; there were ten straight characters, three that identified as lesbian and or gay and one bisexual character and none openly identified as trans. Also all of the characters showed having no disability mentally or physically. Next I evaluated the same identities for the crew members Shonda Rhimes, Betsey Beers, Peter Nowalk, Scott Printz, Holden Chang, Warren Hsu Leonard, and Bill D'Elia. Out of the seven main crew members two of them are female and five of them are male. As for their race there was one African American, four white, and two Asians, sexual identity there were two straight, two lesbian or gay and three of the crew members I was unable to determine their sexuality, but none had openly come out as Trans. And none of them identified any disabilities.

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Listen Up Hollywood

in this video  Andrea Lausell who is an actress with a disability, talks about how she sees able bodied actors playing the role of disabled persons, and how Hollywood needs to be more diverse in their workforce.

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Room for improvement

Representation in the media especially pop culture outlets like television and film play a major key in the shaping of the way we perceive other groups of people. What we see, hear and read in the media is often decided and influenced by a small group of decision makers this includes tv editors, producers, programmers and budget-controllers, that are all impacted by their own opinions of disability and what they believe will bring in audiences. From the beginning tv and film examples of disabled people have been the cause of stereotypes. Some of the decision makers feel that they are taking a risk by portraying disabled people outside of the stereotypes which have “sold well” brought in viewers and money. Adding to this problem is the under-representation of disabled people in employment within the media. This under-representation of disabled people within the media workforce has hidden suggestions for the power of the disabled community to influence how it is portrayed within the media; this in turn has an effect on the community at large. Where the media holds a high level of influence over the perceptions of the general public, an under-representation or misrepresentation of disabled people has large social implications. Though in my observations I have found that the media has begun to change, it is clear that much more work is needed by the media industry and the disabled community, where both need to work and learn from each other. Disabled people over the years have been marginalized within and through the media. Fear and stereotypes about disability are deeply ingrained in our culture and reflected in media coverage, and people with disabilities are seldom seen as individuals beyond the framework of their disabilities. The perpetuation of demeaning, isolating, and institutionalizing people with disabilities has left negative and inaccurate beliefs and attitudes about what it means to live with a disability. These attitudes are embraced and reflected by media coverage, much of which relies on old stereotypes and misinformation. More in-depth and thoughtful attention to disability is needed. The media is a force that can be used in countering stigma and misinformation and can be a powerful ally in changing perceptions, eliminating discrimination, and raising public awareness. #critique

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A look into TV and Disability

In my research of disability in televisions and film I found that majority of charters that are disabled are played by abled bodied actors which makes it harder for disabled actors to get jobs.  One thing that I found in my research to be very interesting and also a little heartbreaking where these three quotes from actors on being a disabled actor. “I think one of the biggest fears I’m up against when I do a job in this industry is because I am automatically perceived as someone who can’t work long hours. “She will get tired.” “I’m afraid to ask for accommodations because I don’t want to scare or turn people off. That being said, I have tried to ask for the audition to be on the first floor. There have been times I have not had a meal on set because I cannot carry items by myself. If no one offers to help, I don’t want to stand out or “rock the boat.” “I think people are afraid of dealing with people with disabilities. I’m finding they are afraid of approaching people without a leg, in a wheelchair, or the unknown freaks people out. If they don’t have a physically challenged family member or maybe they don’t know how to handle it they don’t know how to talk to them. Afraid. Fear of dealing with someone different from themselves. Ignorance is there afraid of deal with the unknown.”

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Disability In TV

Disability in television and film play a important role in how we view individuals with disabilities. Recently television and film characters with disabilities have been on the rise from shows like Game of Thrones with Tyrion Lannister who is a dwarf, Glee with Artie Abrams being in a wheel chair  or Shameless who through the character Ian Gallagher portrays bipolar disorder and the list goes on. By television and film industries showcasing disabilities they bring a sense of inclusion to viewers at home who have the same afflictions and to audience members who by seeing different types of people are able to accept that not everyone is the same and that’s okay, and be able to see them as human beings and not an abnormal object.  Even though television and film have made a space for people with disabilities there is still room for improvement; in my research I found that most characters portraying a disabled person are most often not disabled themselves. The entertainment industry has focused on portraying impairment through the influence of the medical model of disability, where disabled people’s inability to interact in normal daily life is a direct result of their physical and/ or mental impairment. Because of the use of the medical model of disability there has been a call from the disabled community for society to recognize disabled people as equals to non-disabled people, and to take responsibility for society’s contribution to creating disabling environments. The call for adopting the social model of disability has seen overwhelming  improvements to establishing the human rights of disabled people and much has been set in legislation, but sadly tv and film has been slow to catch up to this model . The media continue to enforce disability stereotypes portraying disabled individuals in a negative un-empowering way; they either showcase characters with disabilities as pitiable or pathetic, an object of curiosity or violence, sinister or evil. The super cripple, laughable for example another game of thrones character Hodor was usually used as a comic release from all the violence within the show. Other stereotypes are his/her own worst enemy as a burden and as being non-sexual and unable to participate in daily life. #observations

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Pop Culture Bio

y relationship to pop culture I would say is pretty normal. I enjoy certain music, television shows, movies and the list goes on . I don’t have a Twitter even though almost everyone is on Twitter, I do have a snapchat and Instagram but I’m not an avid user like I don’t post things I just use it to see what’s going on in the social media world and to see what friends are up to. I wouldn’t say that I’m an ardent fan of social media because sometimes I feel like they focus on the most irrelevant things when there are other things they can be talking about or using social media for, but they think everyone wants to know what celebs are arguing or dating and wearing when none of us can even live the types of lives celebrities live so I don’t understand why the media world is so focused on them. The parts of pop culture that I enjoy I would say are really nerdy I really get into television shows some of my favorites are law and order svu only, I love benson and stabler to the point where I feel bad watching the new ones without him lol. I just recently started watching game of thrones and I am a huge fan to where I go and look up fan theories and videos, and I’m the same way with ahs franchise. I like watching shows that are interesting and creepy and where real life can happen and fantasy as well. Over time I think that what I find interesting has changed but only slightly because I’ve always watched certain television shows and movies, the only difference is I don’t watch cartoons like I use to except for family guy and bobs burgers but those are adult cartoons. I also think the access I have to pop culture has changed, when I was younger I didn’t know about different celebrities and I didn’t have a phone where I could access social media and the news when I’m outside of my home and away from the television. I also think that over time the things that I have found entertaining have changed, I use to like reality shows but as I’ve gotten older I find them annoying and degrading because of the things that happen on reality tv and the way they portray minority groups on those shows. I already named a few of my favorite television shows a few more are shameless, scandal, how to get away with murder and criminal minds, and again I think my television shows are all very similar to one another there all dramas or crime shows or fantasy and shows about things that could happen in real life. The kinda or music artist I like is a variety I looovvvee beyonce and everything she stands for, I like drake and Luther vandross, Stevie wonder and all other different types of artists; i’d like to say my well rounded listening of music is because of my dad he always played different genres of music for me and my sister when we were growing up from jazz, rock and roll to r&b he gave me a love for music and the stories behind the music. The way that this consumption has shaped my identity is in the shows I watch I like shows where I can learn something, I’ve had experiences in college where I’ve learned something in class that I’ve seen mentioned on a show I watch and its a learning experience sometimes pop culture can be that way and I think those are the things that I enjoy and shape who and what I like, I also think that pop culture has a way of shaping your personality as well and it’s done that for me sometimes music I listen to makes me think of life experiences and puts me in different moods. Pop culture is apart of my identity in a variety of ways.

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youcanalwaysbemyhero:

-unknown = justinbieber

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Bob Marley on how to love a woman

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect - you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

- Bob Marley