Media Studies 10: Midterm #2

Character types

• a “short hand” to help mediamakers communicate quickly meaning

• intertexual constructions w/commonly understood traits & behaviors

• Example: Think of the classic "Sarcastic Best Friend" in teen dramas (like Gossip Girl or Outer Banks)—a familiar stock figure used to create quick dialogue and tension without needing a 20-minute explanation.

Stereotypes

• reduce an entire group into a few simple characteristics, + or -

• emerge from inequalities of representational power

• spread intertextually thru repeated media reps

• Example: Portraying all members of a specific ethnic group or nationality through a single, narrow, and culturally insensitive trope (such as hackers exclusively shown as antisocial loners in dark hoodies, or foreign characters flattened into one-dimensional clichés).

Representation

Representation = to represent

1) to stand in for

*Julie from RWTV stands in for rural white american

• Example: Compare older television eras where minority characters were entirely absent or tokenized into flat background roles, versus a show like Abbott Elementary.

2) the practice of image creation (“the work of representation”) in mediamaking

-Since: every reps include/emphasizes & excludes/deemphasizes

-Result: helps “construct” reality by perpetuating or challenges values/beliefs/norms

influence…

-… of media texts: how do media shape people’s perceptions?

-… on media texts: how do people’s perceptions shape media?

Power & Representation (Croteau & Hoynes)

Portrayal of Difference

-inclusion (“who is represented, & who is absent”)

-roles (“what are the quality of roles available?)

*Good or Bad? Literally Skin Deep

-control (“who has the power to construct media, & who is representing whom?”)

*Editors, reporters, etc.

*who is allowed

Example: Abbott Elementary actively includes a diverse multicultural cast (Inclusion), gives them deep, multi-dimensional, and prestigious careers as educators rather than flat tropes (Roles), and is created and written by diverse storytellers who have the power to shape authentic narratives (Control).

Inclusion/Exclusion

-divisions btw “us” & “them”

-media helps define who is include/outside “our” group

-interpellation = “hailing” people as the subject/identity (& others as outside)

-AND: who has the power to make these differentiations

“splitting” (Hall)

splitting = fix boundaries btw social groups

1) create diffs & fix boundaries

2) us vs them (normal/mainstream vs abnormal/outsiders)

GOAL: maintain “social order” thru reinforcing power inequalities

*Hegemonic

Example: Reality television shows, high school teen dramas (like Gossip Girl), or political media framing that heavily relies on an "insiders vs. outcasts" or "us vs. them" narrative.

the Other & how media spread it

-anyone who is “not like us”

- “we” are “normal” while the Other is “strange & different”

-Presented as a contrast to “us”

Ex: Think of the dynamic between Joy and Sadness in Disney/Pixar's Inside Out—where Joy is framed as bright, tall, pretty, and standard, while Sadness is visually contrasted as short, gloomy, and the anomaly.

media spread othering thru:

1) “symbolic annihilation” (absence of representation)

2) stereotypes (lack of roles)

*built on & quality of representation

3) absence of self-representation (lack of control)

The Example: In classic Hollywood adventure films or older westerns, indigenous populations or foreign nationalities were frequently framed as mysterious, uncivilized antagonists ("the Other") to contrast with the "civilized" Western heroes.

Multicultural representation

-visibility & diversity alone can yield “plastic representation”

(incl. via “blind casting & ensembles)

*people want to see their experiences and life

-INSTEAD: cultural specificity

-EVEN BETTER: multicultural representation

*portrayal of cultural diffs w/in groups

*not just “role models” but multiplicity of characters, realities, contexts

*more characters = less weight of single representation as “burden of rep”

Example: Compare older sitcoms that tokenized a single minority character as a punchline versus a show like Abbott Elementary.

Four media sales logics: commodities (1)

🙂 = paid in full by consumers

-one time sale(consumers keep product)

-price covers all costs(including profit)

C Example: Buying a physical video game or textbook outright at a store—you pay once, own the item, and keep it forever.

Four media sales logics: turnstile (2)

🙂 = sell access to content

-consumer pays “admission” or “subscription”

-one-time access, not yours to keep

Ex: movie ticket, streaming service

T Example: Paying a monthly subscription fee to use Spotify or Disney+ to access their entire library.

Four media sales logics: ad-supported (3)

🙂 = “free” to consumer

-advertisers pay cost of media in exchange for access to consumers (“impressions”)

-consumers pay in attention + time + increased products costs + data

A-S Example: Watching a YouTube video or listening to broadcast radio where commercial breaks pay the bills instead of your wallet.

Four media sales logics: Microtransactions (4)

🙂 = lots of little payment

Ex: “freemium” (free-to-use + “premium”) options app-based games

-payments from big spenders subsidize other users

M Example: Playing a free mobile game where you pay $0.99 to buy an extra life or cosmetic skin.

Three hybrid sales logics: Combination

😄 = multiple simultaneous logics

-Ex. some streaming services = turnstile + ad-supported

-Ex. some video games = commodities + microtransactions

Example: Subscription streaming services that offer a cheaper tier with ads (Turnstile + Ad-Supported), or video games that require a flat purchase price upfront and then charge for extra items inside (Commodities + Microtransactions).

Three hybrid sales logics: Economies of scope

😄 = selling a product across multiple rev “windows” & logics

-Ex. movies= "theatrical window" → "video window" → "rental window" → "pay tv window (streaming)" →"cable tv window" → "Free tv window"

Example: A major Hollywood movie moving from the Theatrical Window (Turnstile admission) $\rightarrow$ Video/Rental Window (Commodity purchase or rental) $\rightarrow$ Pay TV/Streaming Window (Turnstile subscription) $\rightarrow$ Free Broadcast TV Window (Ad-Supported).

ESp Example: Think about a blockbuster movie release: you first pay to see it in a crowded theater (Turnstile), buy it digitally on Amazon Prime weeks later (Commodity), watch it appear on Netflix six months later (Turnstile subscription), and finally catch it on network TV with commercial breaks (Ad-Supported).

Three hybrid sales logics: Premium option

premium option = charging additional $$$ for a premium version w/additional perks

-Ex: turnstile add-ons
-Ex: ad-free, spotify, and youtube premium

Example: Paying extra to remove ads on YouTube Premium or Spotify.

Maximizing profit vs. Market share

1. MP

-increase revenue: economics of scope, international markets, and overproduction (successes offset failures)

-minimize expenses thru economies of scale: the cost of making a product decreases w/the # of units sold

MP Example: Disney greenlighting a massive franchise film (like Spider-Man) knowing that international box office sales, toy licensing, and streaming rights will leverage economies of scope and scale to yield millions in net profit.

2. MS

-the % of a market held by a specific company

-tracks how well a company does compared to its competitors

MS Example: A new streaming platform (like a rising service years ago) keeping subscription prices artificially low or offering aggressive promotions just to steal millions of users away from Netflix and Disney+, prioritizing dominance over immediate financial profit.

Maximizing investment capital vs. Sunk cost fallacy

1. MIC

-the more money it invests in/promotes the project, the greater likelihood of success

MIC Example: Marvel greenlighting a massive franchise film (like Spider-Man) with an enormous budget and A-list talent because proven brands guarantee high audience turnout.

BUT: can lead to the “sunk cost fallacy” (the more time & money you invest in something the harder it is to walk away from it)

*bf/gf/bestfriend you put emotional investment

Sunk Cost Fallacy Example: A studio spending $150 million on a troubled movie production that test audiences hate, but deciding to spend an extra $50 million on reshoots anyway because "we've already invested too much to scrap it."

2. Rationalize the consumption process

-Hedge the likelihood of success by using proven tactics

-Ex: celebrities (Tom Holland), Genres (Police drama), adaptations/remakes, sequels/franchises, copycats, pre-testing, ???

Nine advertising persuasive strategies

1.Expert Opinion: expertise adds credibility

2.Satisfied Consumer: product fits into the lives of everyday people

3.Celebrity Endorsement: capitalize on celeb recognizability & admiration

4.Snob Appeal: product will elevate your social status

5.Association Principal: associate product w/ positive image or value

6.Bandwagon effect: claims you are being left behind

7.Hidden Fear Appeal: plays on anxiety/insecurity

8.Slogans/Jingles: name recall by getting in your head

9.Shock advertising: edgy appeal cuts thru the clutter

Advertising:

-advertising supports commercial media

-”saturates in the future” = sell the promise of a more fulfilling future

-also challenging our self-security

-works by recognizing & exploiting cultural attitudes, practices, & beliefs

 The culture industry

the commercial producers of mass culture

-GOAL 1: maximize return on investment

-GOAL 2: reinforce the dominant ideology thru media

-PRODUCT: spectacle, diversion, consumerism INSTEAD OF communication & enlightenment

-RESULT: mass produced entertainment exploiting, alienating, & stunting the working class

*industrialize culture by using people as product

Mass culture

not authentic “folk culture” or “high culture”…

…but industrialized & formulaic media produced by the culture industry

-SO: not from the masses, for the masses

-reifies audiences (turns them into objects)

*The culture for the masses, zap the masses of its might

Impact of mass culture

undifferentiated “dull, unimaginative, repetitive” media fosters

undifferentiated “dull, unimaginative, repetitive” auds

-conformity *in media & thinking

-mindless stimulation *work on parts in soul sucking labor

-artificial concerns *fake cartoon wars

-leisure time becomes commodified *watch friends rather than making friends

-no sense of community/collectivity

False consciousness

mislead people into thinking that the route to contentment comes from consumption rather than upward mobility

*promoted by the culture industry that happiness is bought

-presents accumulating consumer goods as an expression of identity & “free choice”

-RESULT 1: fantasy of control really creating inexhaustible dissatisfaction

-RESULT 2: de-skills, de-politicizes, desensitizes, isolates, overworked masses

Mass media industrialization 

media is manufactured like other industrialized commodities

standardization = formulaic assembly-line production

*look at form cause content is irrelevant

social cement = “commodified catharsis” providing just enough relief to sustain capitalism thru work

*media makes us complacement

pseudo-individualization = same product hidden by a veneer of difference

*same thing like spider man & batman

Criticisms of the Frankfurt School

Criticisms:

-elitist defense of high culture

-sweeping generalizations re:production

-greater media choice today

DOESN’T ACCOUNT FOR:

-failure

-innovation

-actual audience interpretation

Structuring social relations (Fiske)

value systems to which we understand & orient ourselves

-social norms that guide individual social relationships

-grants power to some groups over others

-Ex: New Newlywed Game & “official” vs “popular” winners

-BUT: these can be contested in the “space btw social norms & their particular application.”

Embarrassment & quality (Fiske)

-embarrassment occurs when social norms/SSRs are disrupted

*christan aguilar song I am beautiful sang by the professor

-INCLUDING: taste hierarchies as “legitimate” & “illegitimate” pleasures

-AND: overcoming embarrassment can challenge & charge culture

-ON QUALITY: who has the power to decide? whose tastes are marginalized?

-all commodities have 2 functions:
1) material: role in a circulation of "wealth"
2) cultural: role in the circulation of meaning
c) frankfurt school says: culture identities control each function

Fiske argues: there's a difference between the power of the culture industries & the power of its impact
SO: culture is also a site 4 play, contestation and discussion

Popular culture as a process

a process, not a thing or category

-assembled from mass culture resources

-concerned w/meaning at consumption, not producer intentions

-the meaning-making process turns MC into PC

PC Analysis

examining how ppl use & understand media
a) interpretation
b) pleasure & passion: ppl engage in it bcs they enjoy it!
c) sociality: when we watch a movie together
d) contestation: various decodings compete again

Excorporation vs. Incorporation (Fiske)

MC & PC feed off each other

a) excorporation: PC scans MC for resources it can appropriate
b) incorporation: MC scans PC for tastes/interests it can commodify
ex: using what teens are finding trendy

Pop culture & immediacy

critics complain popular culture is "throwaway"
-not like the works of "high culture"
ex: prestige books like emily dickinson
BUT: tied to the immediate social conditions
SO: represents immediate values and concerns

Criticisms of pop culture analysis

-populist celebration

-PC spreads harmful ideas too

-validates dominant/commercial interests

-audiences can be active but that doesn’t mean they’re powerful

Two understandings of the child audience

media industry

WHO: producers, distributors, advertisers, etc.

-desirable & lucrative demo

-high media consumption

-consumerist

-foster brand loyalty early on

protectionist

WHO: parents, watchdogs, educators, regulators

-blank slates

-innocence, fragility

-lack taste distinction & ability to choose

-consumption is a passive activity

Children & TV - why? + how?

ASSUMPTION: consumption is passive

BUT: WHY do kids *really* engage w/the TV they watch?

-to see (depictions of) the world

-for learning math, words, behaviors, etc.

-SO: kids TV focuses educational curricula &/or social-emotional curricula

ASSUMPTION: they consume media as adults do but w/o critical skills

BUT: HOW do kids *really* engage w/the TV they watch?

-direct participation = answering questions, repeatable songs, etc.

-problem solving = narratives require multiple views to grasp

-repetition = learn to understand storytelling conventions

Productive practices of consumption

-interpretation

-speculation *who will win the game after a player was replaced

-projection *ill be the first one eaten - zombie

-discussion *engagement with others

Dystopian understanding of fandom

Fans presented as failing outside “normal” media consumption

-care too intensely

-duped by mass culture products

-obsessed w/fictional words, the lives of others, etc.

Utopian understanding of fandom

-high engagement *fan is highly engaged

-close scrutiny

-social practice

-public display of passion *posters, photos, meme

AND: they’re heightened examples of typical behaviors & pleasures

Fandom online

the internet makes it easier to engage in “fannish” behavior

-info seeking

-consumption *homemade goods

-"backstage access”

-social media

-”media appropriation”

“grassroots culture” (Dalelio)

“bottom up” & “spreads organically”

-enabled by new techs of production, distribution (across the internet), & exhibition (via social media, etc.)

-non-monetary motivation means “less investment in success & fewer consequences for failure”

-RESULT: greater diversity & innovation

“media appropriation” (Dalelio)

“grassroots creativity” in fandoms

-fans can analyze/build upon/transform texts

-can express critique & address underserved auds

-networks of mentorship, collaboration, & auds

-RESULT: cultural convergence = blurring “folk culture” or “media appropriation” & “mass culture” where people “reclaim” cultural ownership (Jenkins)

media appropriation vs. copyright (Jones)

-cultural production can be unauthorized, violate CR laws

-BUT: IP holders tolerate media appropriation to help fandoms flourish

-fandom = niche market cultivated by the industry regardless of CR violations

-GOAL: a large audience PLUS an active one

industrial utility of fandom (Jones)

fandom is an industrial construct & not a community:

-the industry’s “adoring offspring” not its nemesis

-based on consumption, not critique

1) increased consumption

2) consumption across media

3) brand advocates //free promo