Reviewing Cholera

Moya Hilliam discusses modern media as the primary source that protects the greater public from ignorance about global events, in her blog “Playing the Blame Game”. She also points out that nowadays, with all of the different media resources, it is important to assess the different possible biases present.  During the Haiti cholera epidemic, Nepalese peacekeepers working with the UN were blamed for contaminating water sources and starting the crisis.  These reports about improper sewage systems sparked riots in Haiti.  The media, at first dismissed these riots as relating to the unstable political situation in Haiti.  As the riots became increasingly severe, and health officials began to examine the situation in depth, the media switched its focus to blaming the UN.  It began to accuse the media for dismissing the claims that they could have been responsible for the crisis. 

What should be taken from Moya’s blog is that the media is fickle, and willing to adopt whatever position seems most popular. This thought that Moya raised to my attention worries and scares me and makes me doubt what I actually watch on the news. The news always seemed like a valuable and trustworthy source for global information, but that I realise is a naive claim. So how do we find the truth in the stories that are relayed back to us from around the world?

In the article, The Sociology of News , Michael Schudson discusses social sciences contribution to how we interpret the news.  Sociologists like to point out that journalism can construct a viewer’s reality, and thus have to be looked at critically in order to gain a valid sense of what is truth and what is fiction.  He points out journalists do not go out of their way to create fictitious news stories; rather what they write about is actually their own reality.  Whether it is an accurate depiction is up for the audience to decide. The issue with this is what else can we base our opinion on? The chances of the viewer going to these foreign countries, especially those who have a cholera epidemic, are slim to none. So we are forced to review and interpret the stories that are given to us by the agencies.  Unfortunately, in news, Schudson states that news is something someone creates. A journalist wants to create a controversial and new story that has not yet been published, because that is what is going to attract viewers and effect ratings. Moya has pointed out that the journalist’s creation may simply switch sides time after time in order to avoid admitting they produced misleading information. Thus, the journalist creates the news as they see fit and leaves the viewer to deal with it.   

Looking at another student’s blog, which raises different questions about the media, Kakie Wong states the media has the power to bring much attention to a crisis in times of need in her blog “Images”.  She describes that the worldwide media was quick to cover the earthquake in Haiti and as a result shed much light, and money, on the situation.  However as new international disasters arose, such as the British Petroleum oil spill, the media took the emphasis off Haiti, and caused the situation to fall out of the public eye and into disrepair. 

Thus, looking at Kakie’s blog, one can find the media, is in part to blame for the current cholera epidemic. By not drawing attention to the problem at hand, how else is anyone going to find out about it? It appears Haiti is last year’s news. Kakie made me realize how much power the media has. Not only do they control the power to write the stories we hear, they control the power to not write stories that we will never hear. This is almost as bad as hearing misinterpreted information. Penelope Ploughman points out the hierarchal power news agencies have in her article, Disasters, the Media and Social Structures. Like Kakie, Ploughman points out that the news agencies “determine the salience of issues” (1997, 119).  She also discusses how our news agencies are one of the only sources we have to access global issues.  Thus, if a news agency chooses to overlook some topics, there is nothing viewers can do about it.

This is why classes like the Anthropology of Media are important, in order to draw our attention to global issues and current events.  If classes or other institutions do not help educate people about current events, who will? I have learned that we cannot solely rely on news agencies through both of these blogs.

Culture's in the Air

Radio has become a source of communication, connection and security for aboriginals all over. After reading Daniel Fisher’s article as well as watching the movie CBQM in class, I can see how much radio has to offer.  Through dedications, talk shows and information shared all over, communities that have been dispersed can find security and affection in one another once again.

In Australia, aboriginal groups have begun to connect through the shared communication on the radio.  There are radio shows dedicated to song requests which play music that allows different members of the community to contact relatives or share emotions with their kin, no matter where they are. These programs are not generally subject to the confines of local broadcasting, and so can enable members from all different regions to connect with one another. (2009 296) Increased interaction between different Indigenous groups can be noted since the advent of these radio broadcasts.

Song choice and dedications on the radio often reflect cultural issues such as separation due to governmental attempts at assimilation.  The music is indicative of problems that the entire communities of aboriginals are facing, despite their separation from one-another (2009 285). This commonality can bring aboriginals together, in a time that is more needed than ever.  Radio has also reshaped the aboriginal communities by bringing non-indigenous culture into communities that were previously isolated from all media that was not reflective of their own culture. 

A growth in the number of young aboriginals pursuing careers in broadcast journalism may be noted as a result of the increasing popularity of aboriginal media (2009 293).  This is an inspiring trend as it demonstrates that indigenous groups are showing an interest in the continued growth of their influence on media.  Though radio and other forms of mass media may have an effect on communities, the growth of Aboriginal presence in Australian media is testament to the fact that subjugated communities may have a large effect on the media.

Another source that reflects community is the movie, CBQM.  CBQM CBC Radio One Inuvik - is based in the hamlet of Fort McPherson in Canada’s North West Territories. Fort McPherson has a population of approximately nine hundred. More than eighty percent of the population is of Gwich'in descent. CBQM is a multilingual radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of community and native based material as well as the regular news. The most notable trait of the radio station is the sense of kinship that is brought about between the listeners. Like the radio stations in Australia, CBQM station accepts phone-in dedications.  In addition, it is quite common for local musicians and performers to give live performances for the listeners.  Though the musicians are not always professional quality, it is all in the spirit of community, and it leaves CBQM as a distinct broadcasting anomaly.  The radio station also welcomes a phone-in messaging system used by the community to broadcast a message to the listeners, or even to communicate directly with a certain friend or family member on a personal matter. CBQM is an unusual example of the broadcast journalism field that incorporates a heightened sense of community and belonging into the world of media.

Both CBQM and the radio stations in Australia offer support systems from afar, through personal song dedications, hearing familiar voices or being comforted from the sound of traditional cultural music. For these aboriginal cultures, radio has become a vital tool in keeping an otherwise dispersed community connected. Without it, the hope of these communities sticking together in

Remaking Culture

Ever since the television show, Glee, hit the airwaves in May 2009 it has been an instant hit.  Each week they take new songs to fit the theme of the episode and sing them in the classroom or on stage for a filled auditorium.  The songs they choose draw attention to modern pop culture issues. For example, in the episode “Alcohol”, the Glee club sings songs by the currently popular artists, Jamie Foxx and Ke$ha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHvSBIqlYlY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAlld2Tmho8&feature=related

Based off of David Novak’s ideas of acceptable use of reusing original works in media, I would say that most viewers would find no fault with the cast of Glee’s reproductions. Each week, the show draws attention to modern day pop culture issues such as alcohol consumption or teen pregnancy and while even the original pop songs are controversial, the Glee club manages to make these renditions acceptable; even more acceptable perhaps than the original version.  The show effectively discusses modern topics and educates youth through song. While Novak may worry that Glee paints youth’s picture as a drunk and sexually active group of individuals, Glee manages to side step this portrayal and stereotype through their fun and festive songs and dances.

 The acceptance and credibility given to Glee by viewers probably has something to do with the talent the cast contains.  These members who are doing the remakes of each song every week are in a show choir. A show choir’s purpose is to sing songs by other artists. If you are in a show choir, it also usually means you have talent and can sing well enough to sing these songs by the original makers.  Thus, the quality of these young actors makes the remake more acceptable.

Novak points out that any re-contextualization runs the risk of being interpreted as a mockery as opposed to a tribute.  However, the motives and intentions of Glee seem to be respectable and sincere. They are not making fun of the original artists, but rather paying tribute to them.  Not only do audience members see that their motives are decent, the artists themselves, or those who hold the rights to the original songs will agree. When you want to remake an artist’s original work, you have to get permission to do so. If the original artist does not agree with the vision the show has, they would not give them the rights to them.  This is drawn to my attention when fans and viewers criticized Glee for having few episodes and airing them far apart. The network and producers response to this is that it takes time for the legal work to be put through and for them to be able to air and produce a remake of a song. The show uses so many original songs per episode that one can see how much work and time would be put into this effort. Lucky for viewers though, artists do think Glee is a well worth cause to sell their rights to them, and thus this creates a more acceptable use of original media.

            On the other hand, an unacceptable remediated work can be found in Britney Spears rendition of “Satisfaction”, originally done by the Rolling Stones. Britney Spears added this to her concert tour in 2009, for a reason that I cannot quite come up with. The songs content, sexual intercourse, is not appropriate for Britney Spears’ fan base. Britney Spears can be seen as one of the more influential pop artists of the 1990’s, as many young girls and teenagers look up to her and her music. The influence she has over the youth and pop culture is of high measure, as fans watch and worship her every move. Novak explains how the remake is mediated and how it is received by viewers is heavily reliant on power relations, past cultural dominance and ignorance. Pop culture has a significant dominance and influence on youth today, and Novak would consider that Britney Spears’ ignorance to the subject matter of the song she chose to redo is inappropriate for the culture she is targeting in sales.  In the pop music industry, the artists have the power once they are made popular and thus Britney is misusing her power greatly by poorly influencing youth. Unfortunately, this remake, by Novak’s standards, is unacceptable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Scz07BPlM

Y Tu Mama Tambien

The book Cinema: A Visual Anthropology, written by Gordon Gray, describes that in the 1970’s the study of psychoanalysis contributes greatly to the theoretical field of film. The early psychoanalyst, Lacan, influences Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze in mainstream cinema. Mulvey discusses how males take pleasure in watching and interacting with the films they watch.  Pleasure is usually drawn from three major categories; identification, voyeurism, and fetishism.  (2010 59) Men typically watch film in order to identify with a strong male protagonist, imagine they are living the lifestyle of a character on screen, or view their sexual fantasies played out by another man in the world of cinema.  Applying Mulvey’s theory can help analyze the Mexican film, Y Tu Mama Tambien.

This Spanish film begins with two friends, Julio and Tenoch, having sex and then saying goodbye to their respective girlfriends before the girls depart on an excursion to Italy.  The boys then attend a wedding where they meet Tenoch’s uncle’s wife, Luisa. The boys find this older woman very attractive and attempt to impress her by inventing a trip to a beach they call “Heaven’s Mouth”.  She declines their initial invitation to accompany them, but when her husband confesses that he has cheated on her, she asks the boys if they will again extend the request.  The three set out on a road trip, although Julio and Tenoch have little idea where to find the promised beach.  One night, after they have checked into a motel, Tenoch visits Luisa to find her crying.  Luisa proceeds to invite, seduce, and have sex with him.  Julio sees them together and out of jealousy and anger admits that he slept with Tenoch’s girlfriend.  The following night, Luisa has sex with Julio, and Tenoch confesses that he too had slept with his friend’s partner.  The boys fight, and Luisa calms them down.  Continuing on their journey, they come to an isolated beach.  They spend the day there, and in the evening they all drink excessively and have sex together.  The following day the boys return home while Luisa stays at the beach.  The two do not remain friends for much longer.  The movie ends with a chance meeting of the two boys many years later, where it is revealed that Luisa had cancer and died a month after the trip, knowing all along what would happen. The two friends part and never see each other again.

According to Mulvey, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a film that many men can appreciate and find pleasure watching. This movie takes the man on a journey and the male viewer can seek and find control over Luisa.  Luisa is set out to be the older, experienced, seductive and attractive woman while the young boys are straddling the line between youth and adulthood. Mulvey would agree that many men can relate to this awkward and sexually driven transition as well as identify with these sexually successful boys. First, the boys are having sex with their girlfriends and then they even both manage to have sex with the older and experienced Luisa. Male viewers can appreciate this success as well as envision their chances with Luisa or another attractive woman.  Male viewers would not feel inadequate watching this film, because they would not believe to be any less than the two boys succeeding.  Thus, their pleasure intake is at an all time high during the viewing of this film.

Feminists tend to pay much attention to Mulvey’s theory because it gives them many reasons to criticize and attack cinema.  Mulvey’s theory is focused on male pleasure, thus by having feminists focus on the male, they argue that cinema draws attention and justifies male stereotypes and male domination.  Feminists are not thrilled that male viewers take pleasure in watching the male hero dominate the woman or her body. The male is looking at the female character as a sexual object of desire and thus this does not do much for the image of women in the minds of men.  Cinema allows and caters to this idea of male domination over the female subordinate. One can see why feminists are not keen on this subject matter that Mulvey theorizes about.

That being said, I could see feminists going either way, with dislike or like, for the film Y Tu Mama Tambien. While using Mulvey’s theory about the male gaze, they would dislike the film for promoting pleasure for men.  The male viewer sees Luisa as a woman who can be easily dominated, because even these two young fellows can score a chance with her. Yet, feminists may see the other side. They may give the power to Luisa, as she is the older and seductive party. Tenoch enters Luisa’s room looking for a towel as Luisa is in a manipulating state; she seduces Tenoch and instructs him sexually. The power is not in the young Tenoch’s hands, but rather in the more experienced woman’s hands.  She also makes the decision to have sex with Julio to even the score among the two friends.  All the while, these boys are just pawns in Luisa’s last journey, as she knows her life will soon come to an end. However, according to Mulvey’s theory, male viewers will probably never pick up on this twist of events, where the female is left with the power.