Final Week: Favorites about MDIA 3110

This is the final blog for MDIA 3110. :(

I have enjoyed this class thoroughly! It was definitely one of the better online classes I have taken. Everything was well-organized and structured. My favorite thing about MDIA 3110 is the fact that the class was open to individualism. Everyone has a chance to talk about what they enjoy. This is probably due to the fact that we used Blogger and not BlackBoard. Sometimes i feel that BlackBoard is confusing and I definitely do not like going there to have discussions.

My favorite assignment for this class is probably the reception analysis. I enjoy learning what other people thought about the show and what process they went through.

My least favorite about MDIA 3110 is probably the cultural analysis assignment. This because I do not feel like I fully understood what I was writing about. Nor did go into detail about it.

There is really nothing that I truly disliked about this class.

Thanks for this experience!

Final Week: Reflect!

As I look through my list of favorite and less-favorite television shows,  I feel that my changing tastes reflect bits of my sense of identity. Like many people, I often watch shows that I can relate to in some sort of way. I especially enjoy watching shows like Doctor Who because there have been many times where I could not bear to watch anymore because I was afraid of the outcome. If a show invokes an emotion in me while I'm watching, I believe that it must mean the show is good for it to actually make me feel sad, angry, happy. For example, when a show kills off some of my favorite characters (Game of Thrones/Doctor Who/ Walking Dead..../etc..), of course I feel distraught, but I feel that I enjoy the show more when that happens.

If a show actually falls out of my favor, it most likely means that I am occupied doing something else or I have simply forgotten about it. Not because I have suddenly changed my opinion of the show. Normally, if I start watching something, I keep watching it until the story is complete. If I notice characters or plot-lines that I disagree with, I simply question about it and try to find out why a character is such a way or why a plot-line is going a certain direction. Again, if the answer to these questions invoke an emotion, I enjoy the show more because at that point, I have been fully immersed in the show. 

As I watch these shows and try to decipher the storylines, it is similar to how we did the A/B/C storylines and the reception assignment. Trying to understand what in my own way, what else is going on in the show and what are the underlying storylines is a great way to become immersed in the show. It becomes even better when there are other people to converse with about these ideas. Often times, different people will have different opinions about a show and its story. It is great getting to know what other people have concluded. Analyzing shows in this manner brings many more ideas to the table and it makes for a great conversation!

Week 6: Reception Analysis Summary

The members in my group were Jade Merrit and Michael Bierhup.

Our group video is an episode of American Pickers called Pint-Sized Picker.

 

Link: Pint-Sized Picker

Normally, I enjoy these kinds of shows because sometimes they teach their audience a little about the items they are broadcasting. The items usually have an interesting history behind it and it is interesting seeing what people see as valuable. While watching this show, I said that it focused heavily on American culture and a small bit of family values. I said this because the show teaches us about American Culture by showing us interesting items and sometimes, while Mike and Frank are on their "picks", they bring along or meet children that are interested in what they do. In turn, Mike and Frank try to teach the kids.

Initially, Michael began our discussion by saying how the people that our hosts interact with are all hoarders of merchandise. Although hoarding items is a negative quality, Michael explained the show as if they were justifying hoarding as a want to preserve some of the most nostalgic pieces of Americana.

Jade's view about this show is very interesting. I agree that these shows are cheap and quick to produce, I usually watch these kinds of shows to pass time. I guess I am someone who buys into these kinds of shows! Jade also stated that it seems that many of the people that Mike and Frank deal with are Appalachian or lower-middle class. This brought the idea that perhaps the reason why Mike and Frank often visited these characters was because they often offered the richer qualities of American History.

Of course, we all had our separate polysemic interpretations of this show, but after some negotiation and discussion, in the end, we all agreed that the majority of the people that Mike and Frank deal with are hoarders. However, even though most of the people on American Pickers are hoarders and Mike and Frank do express their love for Americana, they are still simply trying to make a profit.

Week 5: Cultural Analysis

For this week's post, I take a look at three groups and how they are portrayed in popular media today.

Asians, Children, and People with Disabilities

Asians:

I believe that Asians are somewhat underrepresented in media. I say this because there are many times in media where the show sticks to the stereotype for Asians (being inherently smart or inherently good at martial arts). But there are other shows that don't necessarily focus on that stereotype, but still include it.

These stereotypes are not necessarily negative, because obviously, not all Asians are smart or good at fighting. I feel that it is what is applied in addition to those stereotypes that create the negativity. For instance, when there is a smart Asian person on a show. It is not negative until they are portrayed as helpless and weak. Also, when there is a person that's good at martial arts, it is not negative until it is portrayed that all of the people good at martial arts actually want to kill everyone. Sometimes the martial artists are positively portrayed as mentor figures and sometimes negatively as, crime masterminds.
 
For example, in a British television show, Bad Education, which features a young teacher who just finished college and the events that occur with his students. Being new to the education scene, this teacher is simply not experienced and is essentially a "bad" teacher. In the show, there is one petite Asian girl who is simply one of the smart students and everyone in the class knows this. What is funny about this though is that since the teacher is bad at what he does, the Asian girl often curses angrily at her teacher in Chinese, but instead of being angry, the teacher always misinterprets the Asian girl's Chinese outbursts as insightful lessons and "agrees" with the girl. Although being smart is not necessarily negative, Bad Education makes it so that even though they have this "token" Asian person, she is not a helpless smart person, instead of that, she actually lashes out at the teacher and anyone that picks on her. (It's just that when she lashes out, she insults people in Chinese so that they don't know exactly what happened).

Evil Mastermind Martial Artist:
Lethal Weapon 4, Jet-Li plays a ruthless crime mastermind

Mentor Martial Artist:
Ip Man 2, Donnie Yen plays a family man that teaches his students to not be reckless.

Just for Fun:
Interesting Article I found concerning Asians in media:
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/psy457_tizzle/asian_american_men

Children:

I believe that children are a bit under-represented in media. Although there are many shows in the media world where children are stereotypically depicted as mischievous or deceiving. There are other shows that depict the other end of the spectrum as innocent or fun, but it doesn't happen quite as often.

Children being depicted as mischievous:

• Children in South Park (Especially Cartman)
• Bully in Bad Education (Bully steals the teacher's shoes)
• Family Guy, Stewie trying to kill his mother

Children that were somewhat realistic: Modern Family

People with Disabilities:

I believe that people with disabilities are under-represented in media. This simply because I have not actually seen many shows that portray people that have disabilities. Although there have not been many shows that portray people with disabilities, the shows I have seen portray people with disabilities are not necessarily negative. For example, in the popular show, Family Guy, Joe, the paraplegic cop is depicted as a particularly burly man that is fully capable of fulfilling his duties as a policeman. Joe is still an active fellow despite his disability. In Family Guy, Joe does not seem like he is torn by the fact he has a disability, he simply likes to live his life.

Also in the British show, Bad Education, there is a kid in a wheelchair that instead of being helpless and being bullied, it is actually the kid in the wheelchair that bullies some of the other students. The kid is actually crafty and takes advantage of his disability. For instance, when the kid shows up late for class and the teacher asks him why, the child in the wheelchair simply states the teacher is silly and that the reason he is late is because he moves around in a wheelchair. The kid also has another student push him around because "The chair isn't going to push itself."

Week 4: The Construction of Celebrities, Rooster Teeth

This is about a company that started out on the internet and made their fame through self-promotion and their very popular internet series, Red vs. Blue.

The Internet has changed our definition of celebrity, because back in the old day, a celebrity would typically be someone that everyone knew because of television. Today, a celebrity can be someone that is well-known from any medium. Rooster Teeth celebrities would be a prime example. Although they did not start on a television channel, they made their popularity through their Internet Series shows and from that, they expanded into video game reviews, weekly shows, and podcasts about their lives and video games. When Rooster Teeth started out making videos for their show Red vs. Blue, the company was first called Drunk Gamers and was composed of three people, Bernie Burns, Geoff Ramsey, and Gustavo Sorola. They started making the Red vs. Blue videos for fun and as Drunk Gamers became popular, Drunk Gamers changed their name to Rooster Teeth.

Before Drunk Gamers became Rooster Teeth, the three guys were actually working for an IT company. It is interesting to see a couple of ordinary gentlemen become the celebrities that they are from a show they posted onto the internet.

Seeing that Rooster Teeth could not have existed without the internet to begin with, they would not be as popular as they are today. Rooster Teeth has done a lot of self-promotion to introduce their show to its viewers. 

I believe that social media today makes it easier to become a celebrity in general. The people at Rooster Teeth would definitely not be as popular without the internet and social media. In regards to television channels, Rooster Teeth did not start out on the television, however, there has been speculation that a Rooster Teeth television show, Immersion is in the works. Immersion is a comedic Mythbuster type show that tests various game mechanics in real-life.

A link to Rooster Teeth's Red vs. Blue

 

An example episode of Rooster Teeth's Immersion 

  

Week 2: So Many Critics!

Roger Ebert
I first discovered Roger Ebert while I was taking my Junior Composition course last summer. Roger Ebert recently passed away last month of cancer. What I enjoyed about Ebert's movie reviews is that he would judge movies based on content and with reason. If he felt like a movie deserved a good rating, he would explain the reasoning. For example, in his review on Cloud Atlas, anyone who has viewed this movie should know that it can be difficult to decipher. What Ebert did to address this is that he took the film as a riddle. It was a great movie and a great opportunity for its actors and directors. He commented on the director's success on breaking the chains of the narrative continuity. Ebert gave Cloud Atlas a pretty good rating. To get the other end of the movie rating spectrum, I read Ebert's review on The Human Centipede. I have never watched this film, but I find iEbert's response to The Human Centipede hilarious.

"I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine."

Ebert takes it how it is and doesn't give a rating because the movie is certainly "different".

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cloud-atlas-2012
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-human-centipede-2010

Leonard Maltin
I've read some of Maltin's movie reviews, they are systematic compared to Ebert's articles. This, of course, is not a bad quality. In Maltin's review on Cloud Atlas, Maltin deciphers Cloud Atlas by separating the movie into phases. Phase 1 is to set the environment, phase 2 is to understand the story, and phase 3 is to see the story conclude. Although I disagree with Maltin in his systematic approach concerning Cloud Atlas (not everything can or needs to be answered), I commend Maltin because he tried. In the end, Maltin comments that Cloud Atlas tries to reveal the audience's optimistic or pessimistic view of mankind and that love conquers all. I'm not so sure that I agree with Maltin's conclusion that Cloud Atlas is a story of where love conquers all,  but I suppose it is a good thing to see that there are opinions that contrast with mine. It is never a bad thing to hear two ends of the story.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/leonard-maltin/
http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/cloud-atlas

Adam Sessler
Back when I first discovered TechTV and X-Play on television, Adam Sessler became one of the first video game critics that I actively watched. Whenever Sessler would review a game, he would be relentless and tell the audience the hard truth. Whether he loved the game or was just plain outraged, he would always express what he felt. He was recently fired by G4TV last April for some unexplained reason and now is an executive producer at a new revision3.com. There is never a dull moment with Adam Sessler. He definitely is one of the most influential people in the video game industry.

http://revision3.com/host/adam-sessler
http://kotaku.com/5991439/internet-killed-the-video-star-the-extraordinary-journey-of-adam-sessler

Week 1: Slate articles

Although I do not read many articles from critics like Alan Sepinwall or Josh Levin, these two articles had an interesting view on what it means to write about television. In Levin’s first article, The TV Guide he asks if it is possible to be a rabid fan and a thoughtful reviewer at the same time. For example, Levin is trying to analyze where the line is where someone simply becomes a fan writing about a show like Lost or a critic writing about Lost.

To answer this, Levin states that for a week-to-week critic, being a fan is an occupational requirement. “You wouldn’t commit yourself to writing 24 weekly reviews of a series unless you liked it” (Murray). Meaning that it is definitely possible to be a fan of a show and a critic at the same time.

In the second article, Levin goes even further in depth as to say although it is true that you wouldn’t commit yourself to writing 24 weekly reviews of a series unless you liked it, but it is still worth pondering where to draw the line between writing about TV and cheerleading for it. In this article, Levin now asks although it is good to be a fan about a series you write about, when does it simply become endorsement for the show. For example, Levin remarks on Sepinwall’s intentions when he made a cameo appearance on Community, a show where Sepinwall reviewed each week. Sepinwall does make a statement saying that he does regret his Community cameo because of the blurring of the line it caused. It questioned his own standards as a critic of the show.

As for the two links I decided to follow, I chose to take a look at Levin’s link to Lost and Sepinwall’s deviation from the guidelines of the New York Time ethics policy. 

In the Lost article, it was about how there were many fans for example, Chadwick Matlin, the writer of this article that really enjoyed the show because of its storyline on redemption. He argues that the finale of the show during the sixth season fundamentally changed Lost’s thematic message very abruptly and without regard to style. I agree with Matlin’s statement here, while I was watching Lost I enjoyed the show because it was always about trying to better yourself and live on. In regards to the finale of Lost I also thought it was rather rushed. I certainly did not feel content with it.

In the second article I read, I followed it because of Levin’s remark that although Sepinwall is a fantastic critic, some of his behavior would not be kosher if he operated under the New York Times policy. This is probably due to the fact that New York Times has a strong image of being reliable because they maintain a neutral standpoint in their articles. Sepinwall, on the other hand, broke his neutrality by making a cameo appearance on Community and by his questionable intentions when writing about Chuck. Was Sepingwall writing just to please his audience of Chuck?

While looking through the comments of both articles, there has been some conversation in both of them. But from what I read I enjoyed what Miles McNutt was saying in regards to Sepinwall's coverage of the show Chuck. McNutt simply states that he does not think that Sepinwall has been tainted as a critic or that some of his objectivity has been tarnished. Instead, McNutt states that Sepinway and himself simply do not watch Chuck in the same way.

Week 1: Lists of Shows

1. Shows I've been watching since school’s been out

• Game of Thrones
• The Walking Dead
• Breaking Bad

I really like the storyline in Game of Thrones, there is always something that keeps me interested. I recently started to read the books and it is amazing.

I first heard about The Walking Dead while I was taking my freshman English course. My professor was pretty interested in the zombie sub-genre and she introduced us to the Walking Dead comic. I was really excited to hear it became a TV show and I've been following it ever since.

I started watching Breaking Bad because I saw it on Netflix, I really like the characters in this show. I especially like seeing the character development of Walter White. (I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it)


2. Peripheral Shows -- Shows I watch because someone else is watching them

• The Mighty Boosh
• Bad Education
• QI - Quite Interesting
• Top Gear - UK only.
• Black Books
• Family Guy 
• Futurama

My roommate introduces me to a lot of British Television shows. I think they are more interesting than American. I enjoy British Comedy over American.

As for Family Guy and Futurama, I used to watch these shows all the time at home, but I've stopped and only watch these shows if somebody else is watching them.


3. Guilty No-Go -- Shows I think I should watch because other people like them

• Seinfeld

Seinfeld is a pretty popular show I hear, but I'd only watch it if I were in a hospital bed or something. I'd watch a couple other things before watching Seinfeld.


4. Guilty Pleasures

• Power Rangers
• Justice League
• Power Puff Girls

I used to watch these shows all the time as a child. I always liked how the Power Rangers had their robots transform into a bigger robot to combine their powers. As for the Justice League and Power Puff Girls... I suppose I generally enjoy shows that have some sort of superpower. Plus, Mojo Jo-Jo is just hilarious.


5. All-Time Favorites

• Doctor Who

I started to watch Doctor Who a couple years ago when Christopher Eccleston was still The Doctor. I've loved this show ever since and I don't think I can ever stop.


6. Shows I used to like, but not anymore

• Dragon Ball Z
• Heroes

I used to watch Dragon Ball Z after school. I've tried re-watching DBZ, but I can't take it seriously anymore. There are just too many "powering up" scenes. 

As for Heroes. My friend and I were all about this show when it aired during high-school. But after the first season, it just got less and less interesting.


7. Shows I resisted for a long time, but now I'm a fan

• Lost 
• Game of Thrones

I first heard of Lost during high-school, but I didn't watch it because I thought it was a reality show like Survivor. When I found this show on Netflix, my friend recommended that I watch it and told me it was a supernatural/Sci-Fi, I gave it another chance and couldn't stop watching. 

I didn't watch Game of Thrones at first because I thought it was just a medieval show. Then, when I found out there were zombie-like creatures (White Walkers), I instantly became interested and started to watch it. I was also watching The Walking Dead at the time and I wanted another zombie show. When I also found out about the dragons and the amazing storyline, Game of Thrones became a favorite.

 
8. Shows I would rather eat charcoal than watch these shows

• Some Reality Shows
• Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
• Jersey Shore
• Recent Cartoon Network Shows
• Adventure Time
• Chowder
• Regular Show

I generally don't like shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo or Jersey Shore, these shows do not interest me whatsoever.

I tried watching some recent Cartoon Network Shows like Adventure Time and Regular Show, but I from what I've seen a lot of it is just nonsense and I cannot make myself sit and watch these shows.  


9. Anime and other Cartoons I enjoy

• One Piece
• Hunter x Hunter
• Sword Art Online
• Yu Yu Hakusho
• Samurai Jack
• Avatar the Last Airbender
• The Legend of Korra
• Dexter's Labratory

I grew up watching Japanese Anime and other cartoons. As a child, I always enjoyed drawing and making little animations. These shows are just my favorites.