INFO 441 W3 - Media Aesthetics and Politics: Understanding the Interface, Old vs. New Media, and The Muppet Show
Initial Discussion and Media Relevance
Student Engagement: The class encourages students to identify concepts that piqued their curiosity or remained unclear from assigned readings, fostering a dynamic learning environment where student questions can shape future discussions.
Real-world Connections: The instructor frequently links course material to current events, such as political violence, global developments (e.g., Nepal's government), and the impact of social media.
Social Media's Dual Power: Prompt # of the class asked students to consider how they would create change using social media. This is framed as highly relevant given recent events.
Charlie Kirk Example: Charlie Kirk is cited as an individual who leveraged a strong campus-based platform to explode into public consciousness through social media. This highlights the power of platforms, regardless of political agreement.
Personal Impact: Social media can lead to rapid rises (like Kirk) or devastating falls (e.g., individuals losing jobs/friends after controversial posts that go viral while they are offline).
These documented cases demonstrate media's significant role in shaping individual reputations and societal perceptions.
Galloway's "The Interface Effect"
Core Argument: The primary objective today is to discuss interfaces using Galloway's "The Interface Effect" text.
Galloway's central conclusion, hinted at in the title, is that "interfaces are not things; they are effects."
This means an interface is not a physical object (like a window, OS, or keyboard) but rather an emergent effect of the relationships between technology, ideas, and communication.
Theoretical Framework: Galloway approaches media from a poststructuralist, postmodern vantage point, engaging in "close reading" of examples.
Ontology vs. Epistemology:
Ontology: Deals with what can be known about the world (e.g., "What's a sandwich?"). It questions whether a 'real world' exists or if our experience is a simulation.
Epistemology: Addresses how we come to know the world (e.g., "How do we know it's a sandwich?").
Subjective Experience: Our experience of the world (e.g., a table) is conditional and shaped by individual factors like socioeconomic status, community, prior experiences, and perceptions of power.
Why Study Galloway in Children's Media?
Analytical Tools: Galloway's approach provides valuable tools for analyzing children's media by juxtaposing seemingly similar but fundamentally different concepts.
Contextualizing Children's Media: No children's media exists in isolation; it references prior works and makes meaning for both children and adult caregivers (e.g., dual address: what children find funny vs. what adults find funny/understand).
Media Frames: Combining the "politics" discussed previously with Galloway's emphasis on "aesthetics" creates a powerful media frame, similar to Sonia Livingstone's risks/opportunities and active/passive framework from week .
Tensions and Contradictions in Media (Galloway's Examples)
Iris vs. Hermes (Communication Modes):
These Greek/Roman messengers of the gods represent contrasting modes of media communication.
Iris: Embodies accurate, reliable, direct, one-to-one communication (e.g., a direct declaration of fate).
Hermes: Represents indirect, ambiguous communication, open to multiple interpretations, often leading humans to misinterpret messages to their own perceived advantage.
Media Implication: Modern media often functions more like Hermes, where audiences interpret messages based on preconceived notions, seeking confirmatory evidence rather than openly receiving information.
Transparency/Invisibility of Media: Media is often only noticed when communication breaks down; otherwise, it functions transparently as a conduit for information.
Diegetic vs. Nondiegetic Sound (Audio Aesthetics):
Primarily used in television and cinema where sound is deliberately constructed (not documentary).
Diegetic Sound: Sounds audible to the characters within the film's narrative world (e.g., a character talking, a car horn in the scene).
Nondiegetic Sound: Sounds added to the film's soundtrack that characters do not hear, used to enhance meaning or emotion (e.g., voiceovers, dramatic music, sound effects).
Darth Vader Example: John Williams' Imperial March is a leitmotif for Darth Vader. While Vader himself doesn't hear it (nondiegetic), it embodies his character so profoundly that it's integral to his identity, sometimes even cueing his arrival before he appears onscreen.
Studium vs. Punctum (Visual Aesthetics - Photography):
Derived from Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida, describing how photographic images affect viewers.
Studium: The cultural, linguistic, or political interpretation of a photograph; its objective, shared meaning (e.g., as propaganda).
Punctum: The affective, individual, often visceral meaning that pierces the viewer, creating a personal emotional connection.
Hindenburg Disaster (1937): The photograph captured the explosion, creating immense affective resonance ("Oh, the humanity!"). Politically, it solidified the perception of airships as unsafe, leading to the demise of dirigibles as a mode of travel in favor of airplanes.
Time's Effect: By the s, the Hindenburg image had lost its horrific resonance, appearing on a Led Zeppelin album cover.
Space Shuttle Challenger (1986): A disaster witnessed live on television by many children, becoming a "where were you" touchstone for a generation, similar to JFK's assassination for parents' generations or for others.
Dorothea Lange's Great Depression Photography: Her images of suffering families created studium (cultural meaning) that galvanized politicians to establish social safety nets (child poverty protection, welfare state, retirement benefits, free medical care for children).
VJ Day Kiss (1945): Once a celebratory image of the end of WWII, its punctum and studium have changed. Modern interpretations often view it as an unacceptable violation of body autonomy, highlighting how social and political meanings of images evolve over time.
Hitchcock vs. Godard (Immersion vs. Breaking the Fourth Wall):
Alfred Hitchcock: Focused on immersive cinema, where the audience is fully absorbed in the story without external reminders (e.g., Rope, filmed to appear as a single, continuous take, drawing viewers into the unfolding murder mystery).
Jean-Luc Godard: Known for explicitly breaking the fourth wall, constantly reminding the audience they are watching a film (e.g., a character in a car turning to talk to "the audience").
Woody Allen's Annie Hall: Features Marshall McLuhan appearing in the scene to correct a character's misinterpretation of his theories, directly referencing media theory within the narrative.
Centers vs. Edges (Audience Focus):
Refers to how media frames a viewer's attention, from immersive focus to a distributed view.
First-Person Shooter (e.g., Half-Life): Focuses attention centrally on the player's immediate view, immersing them in the action with minimal peripheral information.
Bird's-Eye View (e.g., World of Warcraft): Provides a broad, overhead perspective with a wealth of peripheral information (inventory, chat, other players' details), constantly drawing attention to the edges to support the overall game experience.
Galloway's Media Frame (Aesthetics & Politics)
Galloway proposes a framework using 'Aesthetics' (coherent/incoherent) on one axis and 'Politics' (coherent/incoherent) on the other. This illustration was missing from the chapter but conceptually present.
Coherent Aesthetics & Coherent Politics = The Ideological (Propaganda)
Norman Rockwell Example: Rockwell's art (illustrator for The Saturday Evening Post) embodies a coherent aesthetic (consistent style) and coherent politics (fetishized, ultra-patriotic, idealized portrayal of a white, upper-middle-class American experience, often involving Boy Scouts and happy families, ignoring imperfection or diversity).
His "Triple Self-Portrait" shows him rendering himself without glasses or specific features, erasing any "disfigurement" or need for accommodation, demonstrating his role as a propagandist of an idealized vision.
Incoherent Aesthetics & Coherent Politics = The Ethical
Mad Magazine Example: Mad Magazine exhibits a coherent politics (everyone and everything is a target for humor, nothing is safe from being lampooned) but an incoherent aesthetic (diverse illustration styles, varied media formats like movies or magazines, constantly changing methods).
It remains "ethically true to itself" by consistently making fun of everything, despite varied presentation.
Coherent Aesthetics & Incoherent Politics = (The Instructor's Example - Tinkerbell)
Tinkerbell Example: The instructor's research on Tinkerbell across different iterations (original play, Disney film, s Disney animated series/books) serves as an example.
She maintains a coherent aesthetic (always a blonde cutie-pie in a green outfit).
However, her politics have been incoherent across time:
In the s, she was a femme fatale, an "angry woman" disrupting a wholesome relationship, reflecting views on femininity derived from men.
Fifty years later, she was reimagined with a diverse group of "gal pals" (sex in the city for pre-teens), with power derived from sisterhood and peer connections, reflecting a different modern view of femininity.
Disney's Content Warnings: Disney now adds content warnings to older films (e.g., Peter Pan for racial depictions, some Muppet Show episodes for "normalized exoticism") and removes objectionable content (Song of the South).
The question arose whether these warnings vary by country or region due to differing cultural sensitivities, also noting that Disney's marketing has taken a more DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) approach, sparking both praise and backlash.
Copyright Extension: Reimagining characters and films (like live-action remakes) also serves to extend Disney's intellectual property rights and maintain control over stories for additional decades.
Incoherent Aesthetics & Incoherent Politics = Lowercase 't' Truth
This box represents a state of complete incoherence in both aesthetics and politics, resulting in a less defined and perhaps less impactful form of "truth."
Defining "New Media"
Challenging Categorization: The lecture questions traditional rigid definitions of "new media" (e.g., must be digital, immersive, interactive, non-sequential).
Shannon-Weaver Model: Critiques the outdated s communication model where an information source encodes a message, a receiver decodes it, and only "noise" interrupts perfect transmission. This model is seen as overly simplistic, especially given the Hermes-like nature of modern communication.
Marshall McLuhan: References McLuhan's idea that "the medium is the message/massage"; the structure and nature of the communication channel itself carry meaning (e.g., a primetime TV show vs. a daytime soap opera).
Rethinking "New": Instead of imposing strict categories, consider if media:
Evokes new ways of thinking.
Permits different types of activity and thought processes.
Draws on new techniques (e.g., digitizing, remixing, altering old media).
References new cultural understandings (e.g., fan fiction building on older texts).
Examples of "New" Engagement:
Girl Talk Concerts: Laptop-created remixes of old samples – is this new music/media?
Bambi on a Digital Device: Watching a s film on a modern digital device changes engagement – does this make it "new media"?
Light Painting: Blending analog cameras with digital techniques (glow sticks, long exposure) to create new art is a hybrid form.
Thrifting: An old activity, but using the internet (e.g., widespread online thrift stores) changes its nature, accessibility, pricing, and curation, making it relevant to "new media" studies.
Making the Case: Students are encouraged to develop arguments for why a particular topic fits the "new media" scope of the class, rather than asking for permission.
Case Study: The Muppet Show (Old vs. New)
The Original Muppet Show ():
Format: A "meta-program" – a show about putting on a show, showcasing both frontstage (sketches) and backstage (dressing rooms, conversations) activities.
Guests: Featured human guest stars interacting with puppets in a variety show format.
Humor: Part of the humor came from the tension between a carefully produced number and the characters' often chaotic performance.
References: Looked backward, referencing vaudeville, jazz (Louis Armstrong), and s music rather than contemporary s media.
Recurring Skits: Examples like "Veterinarian's Hospital" juxtaposed Shakespearean drama with s soap operas (General Hospital), using puns that appealed to multiple audiences (kids, Shakespeare novices, Shakespeare experts).
Backstage Moments: Even backstage interactions included a laugh track, making it clear that humor was meant to be recognized even without a visible audience.
Dual Address: Successfully entertained children and adults simultaneously, without condescending to either.
Consistent Characters: Kermit (show manager/director) and other Muppets maintained consistent roles; some also appeared on Sesame Street.
Muppets Now ( Reboot):
Format: A streamed, pandemic-era reboot that lasted only episodes, showcasing a "stream-of-consciousness" collection of internet-style clips.
Aesthetics: Used digital static as an effect, adopted a multi-framed "Zoom call" style, and referenced production values (e.g., a Lithuanian graphics team for title cards – an inside showbiz joke referencing low-cost labor).
Character Portrayal: Kermit was shown in a curated office background, at a computer, a different position from his original stage manager role.
Pacing & Density: Featured dense information, many jokes per minute, and various references designed for repeated viewings, characteristic of modern content.
Critique:
Lack of Laugh Track: The absence of a laugh track in the new iteration was noted as a potential reason for the humor falling flat, reflecting its design for a non-synchronous, on-demand audience.
Confused Audience: The reboot struggled to define its audience, referencing modern internet culture (vlogs, podcasts, YouTubers) that might appeal to an older demographic but miss children, and failing to effectively capture the raw, unpolished nature of actual vlogs.
Lost Nostalgia: Original fans found it "painful to watch" due to its divergence from the original property, altering familiar elements and creating an inconsistent "canonicity."
Creator Shift: The original creator (Jim Henson) passed away, and subsequent ownership (now Disney) and creative teams (e.g., a writers' room without a link to the original vision) led to a different product.
Conclusion: The comparison highlights how a media property's ability to "work" (resonate with audiences) depends on both its aesthetic choices and political implications relative to its context, and what happens when nostalgic properties are reinterpreted without a clear understanding of original appeal or new audience. The original Muppet Show succeeded by referencing a past culture (vaudeville) in a new medium (TV), while Muppets Now struggled to reference contemporary internet culture effectively.
Concluding Thoughts and Assignments
The lecture aimed to make Galloway's text more accessible by providing concrete examples and frameworks.
Future topics will include Sesame Street as a worldwide phenomenon and its ongoing production in numerous languages.
Reminder about upcoming assignments, small group presentations, and the opportunity for questions. Students are encouraged to form their presentation groups soon.