Final Project Blog Post

I’ve learned a lot about how films are rated through my research. I’ve learned that they’re rated by a board of parents, as opposed to a board of film experts which is what I previously believed. I’ve also learned these parents have no special training in any field that could possibly help them do this monumental task of applying ratings to films which will ultimately influence the movie goings of thousand upon thousands of kids and teenagers. And although the current movie rating system works, it doesn’t take into account the developmental stages of children. I’ve also found that the movie ratings board tends to bias itself towards major studio films rather that independent ones, giving them either lower ratings, or very specific notes on how to make their films meet the rating specifications to be shown in theaters.

“The MPAA board's arbitrary behavior and its bias toward mainstream studio films are sharply illustrated by South Park co-creator Matt Stone. When the Stone-produced independent comedy Orgazmo got an NC-17 rating, he was told that the MPAA, as a rule, did not provide notes or suggestions for places to cut in order to get a less restrictive R rating. But, Stone says, when the studio-released South Park movie was reviewed, that film received "extremely specific notes."(Jennie Punter, The global Mail)

In the MPAA’s defense they are attempting to make their ratings more transparent to parents, as they have recently added descriptions to the ratings on movie posters and such. They’ve added things like “Mild drug use”, “strong language”, and “Swashbuckling action” (Seriously, it’s on the poster for Shrek the Third. What the hell is swashbuckling action?). These ratings however don’t give parents a good

idea as to how much language/drug use/ sex/ or violence is in a movie. In my paper I proposed a rating system based on a ten point scale. For instance an extremely violent movie would have a violence rating of ten, a low sexual rating and perhaps a high profanity rating. It’s simple and it could possibly give parents a better insight as to what their children are seeing.

MPAA website:

http://www.mpaa.org

Film ratings website(A website with pretty much every movie ever and their ratings)

www.filmratings.com

Chapter 13

Of the readings this week I found the chapter on advertising the most interesting, and particularly some of the controversies surrounding the advertising industry. The use of subliminal advertising, catch phrases and jingles, and advertising to children in particular seem to be the shadiest practices of the industry and the latter two are still incorporated in many of today’s advertisements.

Jingles and catch phrases can now be associated with nearly every brand that’s found in grocery stores nationwide. While shopping consumers see brands they recognize, triggering the catch phrase or jingle from the commercial they heard the night before. This repetition of a brand name in their head will, in all probability, eventually lead to the consumer at least trying the product. And unfortunately some of these slogans can be severely misleading. As Rodman alludes to the case of Advil in which are “…claiming that the product is just as good as its competitors- no better, no worse. ‘Nothing is proven to work better or last longer than Advil. NOTHING’”(Rodman, 453). These slogans litter the visual and auditory landscape and although they may be true, they seem to offer a superiority when in reality the products are simply on par with the market.

Unfortunately this practice of deceptive advertising is also aimed at children with immensely impressionable minds. Kids today are exposed to thousands of advertisements per week, and with all the flashy advertisements and slogans, their parents are certainly going to be pestered for a sugary drink, candy, toys, etc. There’s an ongoing lawsuit involving Nickelodean and the Kellogg Company in which The Center for Science in the Public Interest is taking legal action in order to minimize, or completely eliminate, these types of advertisements. Although this lawsuit will be a difficult one to win, I believe its cause is valid. The youth of America are being trained to buy things at far too young of an age and they need to at least be able to discern tricky advertising from promises before they are marketed to by large corporations.

Week 5 response

After reading chapter 10 in Rodman it would seem as though Social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace have nearly replaced social interaction for many of today’s kids. Although many kids go out and have friends, a good number of children today use myspace as an increasingly popular form of communications, seemingly replacing phone conversations and actual face to face interaction. Much of today’s youth will spend hours in front of a computer screen “talking” to their friends, online gaming, going on myspace, etc.

To me, there are a few problems with kids social networking as a form of interaction. One of them is the constant marking they’re exposed to. On Myspace for instance there are constant advertisements for everything from soap to bands with new CD’s coming out. The increased number of adds with pretty girls and big muscular guys isn’t good for an insecure middle-school kid who feels he or she is incredibly awkward.

Another problem is the people on the networking sites who aren’t on it with benign intentions. The sexual predators who use Myspace and other social sites and a tool rather than a form of entertainment. Kids today are increasingly unsafe online because of this demographic of pedophiles that have found a way in which to communicate with children on a medium that is rarely policed by parents.

And some children today rarely go out to make any social interaction at all, staying inside and chatting online with friends they’ve never met, whom they assume are their peers. This lack of social interaction is bad for kids as they grow older and are actually expected to deal with real face to face people on a daily basis. Social interaction is part of being human, and for many the internet is artificially replacing that.

The internet is a wealth of information and it’s benefits severely outweigh its negative aspects, however those negative aspects have to be examined and countered by parents. Social networking is great when it’s done in moderation and it’s done safely. Some children lose grip in reality and become their online persona, making them socially awkward. This is where parents should step in.

Chapter 9- Response to Television

Television has transformed popular culture more than any other medium in today’s society. This common-place piece of furniture streams images of popular culture, music, news, and everything in between into living rooms across the world. The question is whether or not that’s a beneficial thing.

In some instances television informs the masses on topics relevant to their lives, such as local and national news, and other times it robs them of their individuality, creativity, and need for fulfillment outside of their homes. As Rodman states at one point, “In extreme cases, compulsive television viewers rarely go out for entertainment. Aside from work and necessary errands, the stay home and watch TV (Rodman, 313)”. Since the invention of television the American public has been glued to the “Boob tube, idiot box, and plug-in drug” (Rodman, 309).

Although television is entertaining it’s consumed the lives of many Americans to the point of obsession. Many teenagers identify themselves, although not in words so much as imitation, with shows on MTV. Shows such as Laguna Beach, using the slang the “characters” use and dressing as the “characters” do. The problem in this is not that people find TV entertaining, the problem is that they believe the stories they see are how their lives really should be. It’s a less extreme case of a child watching an episode of a karate cartoon and thinking he can roundhouse kick the school bully.

TV networks are just trying to make living and that is understandable. And viewers enjoy watching shows they think are funny or entertaining, and that’s understandable too. Television should be just that though, entertaining. Many watch it as an escape from their lives or a distraction and that’s where it becomes a problem. I find increasingly though some television networks are trying to get their viewers hooked on their shows, and again their trying to make as much money as they can, but television has become an obsession in this country and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down.

Week 3 reading's-Chapter 7

Of the four required chapters this week the one that particularly caught my interest was that on the topic of recordings and the music industry. As an avid listener I found the evolution of the medium to be interesting. The technological advances have brought us so far in the past 100 plus years, from wax cylinders to recreating music using circuits and combinations of 0’s and 1’s. Rodman begins this chapter with a brief history of recording technology and technological advances ad moves into more complex topics such as the distribution of recording, and how music labels work. He then works his way into the topic of censorship which is constantly swirling around the recording industry.

The topic of censorship, as Rodman says, means many different things to many different people. Some see it as the protection of our nation’s youth from content that would possibly warp their minds and cause unspeakable damage. For others censorship is simply something that holds back the naturally progression of art. Many artists seek to push boundaries for the sake of art and censorship puts a restriction on this forward motion.

The question in all of this is how can we decipher which music is art and which music is to be kept away from young children. Our current system of monitoring puts parental advisory stickers on cd’s with explicit content. However, this rule does not apply to downloaded music on the internet, especially if the content is obtained illegally. Many kids these days have their own computers, and download their own music from programs like Limewire and Kazaa. The question of how to keep kids from downloading content which is unsuitable for them is one that is nearly impossible to answer. Is it in the hands of the parents to monitor their children 24 hours a day? Or is it in the hands of the government to see that the content is never released in the first place?

Chapter Uno

Chapter one essentially starts out giving a brief introduction to the world of mass media and it’s in and outs. From the very simple ideas of how ideas are communicated to the convergence of different media. As the chapter progresses Rodman goes on to talk about cultural imperialism of American society, which I will refer to later, and how giant media conglomerates are formed and why.

The part of this chapter that held my attention the most was the area in which Rodman spoke on the spreading of American culture, or as he called in “Cultural Imperialism”. The area that particularly peaked my interest was when he quoted a survey and said “…the spread of U.S ideas and customs is disliked by majorities in almost every country included in this survey.” The entire world is readily exposed to American culture whether they like it or not, and because of the depictions we create of ourselves in movies many believe us to be “materialistic, sexually immoral, and often criminal people…” However, I can honestly say that I agree with that sentiment to a certain degree. Although these aspects of American culture are dramatized in film and television, I see American culture veering towards many of the practices that should only appear in movies. I don’t exclude myself from this assessment in any way, it just seems American culture encourages promiscuity, materialistic ideals, and criminal behavior far more that that of popular culture around the world.

Another thing I found interesting was Rodman’s picture of the media conglomerates. The fact that multi-national corporations are expanding every day is impossible to ignore, and they steam-roll over smaller companies which continually increases their power. As he said at one point Clear Channel radio owns over 1200 radio station nation wide, which is a staggering figure in itself. The media today had become so monstrous that it’s impossible to control.

Step 1

This is my first post, this whole blog is an assignment for my J201 class and UO and in it I'll be writing responses to the readings we do.