Generation Like: Reflection and Critical Response

 Empowerment- a word you hear a lot when kids talk about social media. Does social media really empower people?

Earlier this week in class, we watched a documentary known as "Generation Like" that addressed the subject of advertising and entertainment in the media. Throughout the documentary, we had to chance to have a further insight on the world of social networking and the relationship between the producers and consumers of social media, as well as outside influences used to target and appeal towards a specific audience. One of the main points that was addressed several times throughout the documentary was one of "self-empowerment" and the possibly that social media can actually empower people's daily decisions online.

"Your consumer is your marketer"

When one is confronted with social media, they automatically become apart of a much larger aspect of the world that technology can identify us with. As a means of becoming more socially and culturally aware of the world around us, we take on the responsibility of being apart of the social media/networking community worldwide. How do we take part in this you may ask? What do we do exactly that makes us so important and essential to social media? What links us? One of the most common uses for social media today is advertising, as a means of reaching a broader audience and allowing companies to engage with their consumers on a higher and effective level. The worldwide web contains a never ending list of ways to interact with each other and broadcast people's identities. This could be through simply sharing a photo, a song of interest, or advertising yourself on websites such as YouTube or Twitter. When it all comes down to a simple answer, we use social media to advertise who we are along with our beliefs and values. This sense of empowerment comes from within and is branched out to a much wider audience.

Tyler Oakley is an international worldwide web sensation who advertises himself by sharing his interests, thoughts, and basic identity through commonly known websites such as YouTube, Twitter, etc. His audience reaches out to him by watching these videos and possibly even being inspired by what he does. At times, Internet sensations such as Tyler are offered the chance to sponsor certain companies, such as Doritos, as a means of reaching out to a larger audience and putting their name out there. Looking at this situation from the YouTuber's side, it gives Tyler Oakley a sense of responsibility knowing that has the power to influence people's thoughts. Producers often use this pipeline of connected pieces as it allows their audience to market the product even more due to it's recognition.

In conclusion, the point that I'm really trying to get across is that social media most definitely has the power and judgment to empower us. We put ourselves out there to share our thoughts and values with a larger community, in this case, advertising our interests and beliefs. We feel the responsibility from within to create online identities and profiles with the intention of reaching out to a much larger audience; a particular audience with specific interests. Social media uses it's users as their marketers, as they will be the ones who will ultimately make a identity out of them, provide personal feedback, and eventually influence other members in the media.

A Critique of Eminem's "Stan" and Music Video

Being one of the leading rap/hip hop artists of the 21^st century, Eminem continues to engage, empower and connect with his fans. Back in 2000, the release of Eminem’s third single “Stan” on the album The Marshall Mathers LP peaked number one on the top hits charts worldwide.  The song itself tells the story of a fictitious character named Stan who claims to be Eminem’s biggest fan. In hopes of showing his affection and dedication to Eminem’s music, he writes a series of letters to Eminem, found in each verse of the song, gradually and progressively becoming angrier at the lack of replies he receives. The song itself is very much powerful and delivers a sense of Ethnicity and Community. 

The video opens with the sound of loud rain and crashing thunder that surrounds the window of a house. As the camera zooms in, we see Stan’s girlfriend laying in bed, pregnant, who then gets up and rushes to the bathroom which is locked. On the other end of the bathroom door, Stan is inside bleaching his hair in hopes of resembling his idol Eminem. After continuous pleading to let her in, the two get into an argument, ending a loud slam of the door, furthermore symbolizing anger. As soon as the door slams, the music begins with a verse sung by Dido; this verse is sung several times throughout the song between pauses.

In the first verse, Stan walks down to what seems to be a broken down basement, sits down at his desk and begins writing to Eminem for the third time, hoping that he will write back. He expresses his devotion through lyrics such as “I know you probably hear this everyday but I’m your biggest fan (…) I got a room full of your posters and your pictures man.” Stan also empathizes over personal family loss such as the death of Eminem’s Uncle Ronnie. Rain and thunder can be heard in the background as well as the sound of rough pencil scratching on a page throughout the video.

As the song continues, in the second verse Stan’s voice tone is elevated as he expresses his anger  and frustration over the fact that Eminem hasn’t replied to his letters. Thus, “Dear Slim, you still ain’t called or wrote, I hope you have a chance, I ain’t mad – I just think it’s F***** UP that you don’t answer your fans.” Stan mentions his personal struggles and expresses how he relates to his idol’s pain sometimes; “ I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest. Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds (…) I can relate to what you’re saying in those songs.” He then goes along to talk about his little brother, bringing back a memory of when they both waited outside Eminem’s concert in hopes of meeting him. He expresses how his brother Matthew might be  of an even bigger fan than himself, and shares his hurt feelings and disappointment in Eminem’s character.

The third verse is portrayed as an audio recording of Stan in his car as he is driving under the influence, with his girlfriend in the trunk, in the midst of committing suicide. The thunder is becoming progressively louder and at this point, Stan is in rage. He refers to Eminem in a mocking way by saying, “Dear Mister-I’m-Too-Good-To-Call-Or-Write-My-Fans.” And clearly states that this Is a bold, suicidal act when he says “this’ll be the last package I ever send you’re a** (…) I’m in the car right now, I’m doing 90 on the freeway. Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?” As Stan vents further, the car speed begins to speed up, symbolizing the anger and rage in his voice. By the end of the tape, Stand realizes that he will be unable to send the tape to Eminem, aka Slim, resulting in a deadly crash into the river.

The fourth and final verse opens with Eminem sitting at a table writing belated letters back to Stan. As Eminem writes, he apologizes about the inconvenience of not meeting him or his brother. As this is being said, the image of a funeral arises furthermore displaying the irony of the situation. Flashbacks occur of moments mentioned in Stan’s letter, as well as Eminem’s advice and help for Stan, “You got issues Stan, I think you need counseling.”  Further on into writing the letter, Eminem mentions a news story that caught his eye and says, “I just don’t want you to do crazy shit. I seen this one shit on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick. Some dude was drunk and drove his car off the bridge and had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid and the car they found a tape, but they didn’t say who it was to.”, Only to realize that the news story was about Stanley’s death. “Come to think about it, his name was…it was you. Damn!” After Eminem’s final words, the music stops as well as one final thunder strike.

“Stan” is a very literal music video that tells the story of the lyrics and displays the meaning and intention of every verse towards the audience. This kind of music video has a direct relationship with it’s lyrics, which creates a “beginning and end” effect while watching the visual interpretation of the song.

Written Task #2 Blog Post

Power and Privilege 

How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?   

When analyzing advertisements, it is essential that one takes in the context of the time period in which the particular ad was advertised. Towards the late 1800 and early 1900's, society's views on African Americans were negative as they were seen as a minority group in comparison to the "whites" of society. As this growing stereotype has continued to emerge in our daily lives in various forms of media, we as individuals cannot help but be exposed to this reality in the way society has shaped our thinking and views on racism found in advertising today.

An advertisement made in 1875 by N.K. Fairbank's Company advertises there product "Fairy Soap". The advertisement features two young girls, one African American child and the other a "white" child. The text found at the bottom of the advertisement says, "Why Doesn't your mama wash you with fairy soap?", the white child asks the African American young girl. This is a malicious line and a subtle proposal from the "white child" to the  young African American girl to wash with Fairy Soap so that she can be as white as she. As previously said, the context in which this advertisement was advertised is relevant towards that topic of interest.

When looking at the characters in the advertisement, we notice a significant difference in the way each is represented. The white child addresses the other, she is dressed in elegant clothing with neatly rolled up socks and clever looking boots. She seems very much clean and is holding a bar of Fairy Soap in her hand, whilst the rapper is on the ground next to the other child's feet. When we look at the young African American girl, she is dressed up in old dirty rags and barefoot, whilst holding onto her ripped and tarnished clothing. As the young girl who is advertising the soap is "speaking" the African American girl gives her a questioning and despised look as to what she is saying, therefore expressing her "cluelessness" in the situation. Therefor the purpose of this advertisement is clearly a direct hit on the African American community labeling them as a minority group and enforcing a "dirty", "uncivilized and uneducated" stereotype upon them.

In conclusion, this particular advertisement is a perfect representation of a particular social group in society. When looking at the context of the advertisement, during the late 1800's society's views on the African American community were shaped as viewing them as a minority group in comparison to the whites of society. When looking at this topic with a broader vision, the way in which a particular social group is represented is merely dependent on society's beliefs and values on ethics; the difference between what is thought to be right or wrong.

FOA Reflection

I presented my first FOA on possible signs of evolving racism found in the media over the years. I was to Identify the prominent signs of racism that are targeted towards African American minority groups that were found in advertising and social media, by presenting a series of advertisement in which I felt established direct connections towards the topic of racism. I chose to explore my topic by making a presentation consisting of 3 advertisements from 3 different time periods: the late 1800’s, late 1900’s and early 2000’s.

Throughout my presentation, I was able to meet a series of learning outcomes I had set out for myself. For example, being able to clearly identity the link between the audience and purpose of certain advertisements as well as being able to connect text types and language use as a means of communication in order to appeal to a certain community.

The overall feeling of my presentation was well structured and organized as I felt confident in front of my peers, presenting my collected information. By the end of it, I did feel successful, although there were some things that I would have changed If given the chance to do it all over again. For example, I would have shortened the notes that I brought up to the board to read off of as I felt like it was a distraction from my presentation. I knew my content rather well, meaning that I didn’t need to read off my script the entire time, but ideally, I should have brought a smaller script up to present with me.

I believe that everything we do in life is a learning experience not only for us, but for others around us. While completing this activity, I have come to a shocking conclusion that racism is still present in advertising today. Although signs of prominent racism remain subtle, It was still a shock to me and made me question society’s motives and ethical ways of living and thinking.

Overall, I felt confident and pleased with my first FOA next time, and know for sure that preparation and motivation is key to delivering clean and efficient work.

Advertisement and Culture: What does it all mean?

Lately in my Language and Literature class, we have been discussing the world of advertising and what effect ads actually have in the culture and society that we live in. Most of our focused on this topic has been narrowed towards finding hidden messages in ads and identifying their intent towards it's audience. In the wise words of Arthur Asa Berger, "There's more to advertising's message that meets the casual eye." In order to investigate this topic even further, we were divided into groups and given a task to analyze an add and present it to the class.

This is an advertisement from the USA Army. Although there is no direct indication of the year that It was published, we can assume that It is rather recent based on our knowledge of current events such as the War in Iraq (American troops currently fighting).  The intended audience of this advertisement is rather obvious as it is targeting American citizens and encouraging them to join the army in order to develop acceptable job qualities, making their chances higher in getting a job later on. Those interested in this particular profession surely must have military experience and a fighting passion to defend their country.

Both sociological and political attitudes are used in this advertisement which help reflect a certain message towards their audience. We can clearly see that the soldier in the image is striking a bold gesture, more significantly, currently in battle as the photo is being taken (the intention). As the image shows strength and boldness, this delivers a positive and encouraging reflection towards the advertisement's audience, with the intent to make it's spectators proud of their country. In addition, the advertisement promotes further awareness for those around the United States by bringing light towards the issue of war and it's relevance and importance in our present day world.

As for the content and theme of this advertisement, it follows the subject of war, roughness, boldness, and most importantly, independence. This can be reflected upon the reader by directly looking at the "message" being delivered while looking at this advertisement (i.e.: the characters, the objects, any determining factors).

Personally, my group and I did not agree with the use of space and organization in this advertisement as we found that there was a poor use of axial balance within the advertisement. While we were presenting, we used the example of "If we were to see this on the street, we wouldn't think it was an advertisement advertising the army."

As previously mentioned, the advertisement's audience can get a very direct idea of the ad's intentions by looking at it, without having to search for specific "hidden texts". In this image, we see an American soldier leaping from one rock to another. While he is doing this, he has a strong help and bold expression on his face, we assume that he is in the middle of battle. He holds his gun high up in the air majestically. Looking further into detail, the gun is very close to the sun, also having a possible hidden symbol of "strength" (Example: the sun is hot and we see it as a striking  and empowering element of life, the weapon in his hands delivers this message as well). All in one, this creates an encouraging and rough ambience.

Following the fact that this is an advertisement, there is of course some kind of information or text found within the ad itself. At the bottom of this image, there is a small paragraph providing the reader with further information on the add's intentions. The text displays information on the benefits of joining the army in the US in terms of what this experience will bring you later in life, and how it will positively benefit you. There is slogan at the end saying "ARMY. BE ALL YOU CAN BE."as well as a vague claim that stands out within the text, "The best place to start a business career isn't always in business." There statements may or may not push the reader to inquire further on the information they were given, but will certainly leave them remembering words or expressions that stood out.

In conclusion, I definitely think that this advertisement marginalizes a particular group of people in society. In this case, the army is seen as marginal importance, influence, and power in our everyday lives.

Work Hard, Play Hard

They say that If you work hard for something, you'll eventually get it. Lets look at some common everyday examples. Say you're working at the office, you've been filling papers all week, collecting your bosses coffee every morning and at some point you just feel out of it and just worked out to your limit. But at the end of the week, when you receive that pretty little envelop with a pay check inside, you know you've done well and that all that hard work was definitely worth it.

So here are, living in a world where "Money is everything" , and the strive for success actually gets us places. In fact, where would anyone of us be today if we didn't have a goal to reach every step of the way. You wake up, goal number 1, you get out of bed, goal number 2, you get ready for school/work, goal number 3, and the list goes on. The strive for success comes with the great inner responsibility to push yourself to run that extra mile to achieve your goals. We work hard, do our best, and set our eyes on a goal. The question is, are we always rewarded in the end? NO.

Once students graduate from their hardworking years of university, one of their first goals is to find a paying job that will financially support them and rewards them with the lifestyle they need. The question here is, is there a certain age that we need to be to begin being paid for handwork? And, why has society agreed upon working adults getting paid and not young students?

Right now in the United States of America, based on statistics there are 81.5 million students in school (not yet graduated). Although this is a rather large number, this doesn't mean that all of those students are succeeding in school. In fact, 80% of students in the United States are not adequately prepared for the next most important chapter in their lives, University. 90% of cases have shown that when success is encouraged, performance is improved. "Success is everything". My question to the public is, if most of the working population is driven by success, why isn't everyone being rewarded with money? In this case, I am talking about students.

Getting paid as a means of being rewarded for handwork is a very reasonable deal. If students were to be paid for getting good grades in school, this would ultimately leave them hungry for success, resulting in an on-going pattern of setting a positive "goal". Scientific and psychological studies have shown that most of the teenage population will most likely do something knowing that they are getting something in return. If a student wasn't doing so well in school and were "lacking off", this would give them a chance to act upon that and put in effort for good results and, eventually, be rewarded. Call it a selfish act, but in the end we all have to fight for ourselves.

Shocking statistics have shown that 65% of Americans would live on a deserted Island all by themselves for an entire year for  1,000,000.

If students were to be paid after receiving good grades in school, this would not only push them further into the strive for success but a valuable lesson would also have been applied to our young learner's minds; working hard and making good choices does have its results. A sense of mature responsibility would also have been gained by learning the importance of being financially independent. For example, appreciating the value of money and not always begging mom and dad for toys.

As you get older and eventually attain a job, you obviously receive a salary that is paid to you regularly. When I say job you're probably thinking about accountants, doctors, pilots and actors. I am trying to explain to you a reasonable reality. Students are eventually workers, who do what they are told (most of the time) and apply their knowledge at school for 7 hours a day for a week; the same amount of working hours as any other adult. So why aren't they getting paid? Some may argue that it's because their young. Let me ask you this, how does that a bad thing? The younger you start, the faster the lives of our financially independent growing youth evolve.

Starting Over - A Memoir about strength by Macklemore

Rational:

Ever since the release of his first album “The Heist” in 2012, Macklemore has been taking the hip-hop music industry by storm. Macklemore’s music allows the public to be exposed to different realities as the artist will often deliver a very distinct message within his lyrics, clearly expressing the construction who he is.  Macklemore delivers a certain level authenticity and engagement with his intended audience through his rap music by addressing relatable, realistic, and compendious subjects (LGBT community, race, substance abuse, etc).

In order to explore and deliver my understanding on the topic of language and identity better, I chose to write a memoir from written in Macklemore’s point of view. Throughout the years as music has evolved, rap has been used as an expression of cultural identity. This memoir “Starting Over” consists of Macklemore’s personal views on the subject of cultural identity, language and authenticity, and the critical engagement and relationship that he has obtained with his intended audience. The artist will reflect on some of his most successful songs such as “Same Love” and “Starting Over”, whom are direct reflections of who he is, his past experiences, and his perspective on everyday societal problems.  A mix of both AAVE dialect and standard English will be used in several sections of the memoir in order to clearly profile the writer's perspective and the way in which he addresses his audience.

The key characteristics that I intend to emulate through this piece of writing will be informative, relatable and relevant, compendious, and most importantly will have a innovative approach towards the addressed topics. This memoir delivers a personal and innovative perspective from a direct source, allowing the reader to critically engage with the topic of language and identity.

Word Count: 288

Starting over – A Memoir about strength.

by Macklemore

Rewind, set the record straight and start again.

Ben Haggerty is my name. Isn’t it funny how a person’s name is always going to be the first piece of information that you receive about someone?  They know who you are but not exactly who you are. A quote that I really go by is “You Know my name not my story.”. People may judge you for the way you look, where you’re from, the list goes on. What do I say to all this? Man, we live in a society where were all in the same pot, just trying to stay alive. Ya feel me? Some people know me as Ben, ya’ll may know me as Macklemore, or even Professor Macklemore. I often sit down and just simply think about why I do what I do, who I am, and what my next step is.

My name is Macklemore, and music has awakened me to one of the brightest, biggest paths of my life. Music is a part of me and has shaped who I am.

Sometimes, you’re so caught up in the moment that you don’t stop and think about what that moment is and the feeling behind it. Is it love? Passion? I’ll tell you what it is to me, it’s a God Given talent! A talent and passion that needs to be shared with people, so that they too can feel the love with you, and share the love. I am a firm believer in God and the spiritual path that you go through at every stage of your life. When you are given something so special to you, something you hold close to your heart, you gotta share that passion with the world. What would a world be without all those things? Love? Passion? I don’t got a clue, the answer really doesn’t come to mind.

Music has followed me through life for quite some time now, and I would have to say that it is a direct and accurate as hell reflection of who I am as a person. My music is who I am, it’s just like that and no one can change that. I mean, how does someone pile up all those memories, experiences, feelings and not feel the need to let it out? Music is my guardian angel in that way. 

Right now, I’m letting ya’ll know straight up, I feel on top of the moon. But let’s rewind a bit first and let me just say that It wasn’t easy getting to where I am now. To be honest, I’m not going to lie, I know I keep talking about passion and never holding back the love, but let me just say that I did have to think twice about entering this particular music business that I’m in right now. I knew from about the age of 8 years old, being surrounded by music and all all around the house and all, I knew that I had this God Given talent and that the mighty Lord himself wanted me to do something about it. So I started writing, and writing about anything I could think of. Imagination can be hard to get to at times, that’s when I turned to my own reality.

Yes, I did grow up in a very open-minded and friendly area in Seattle. My closest bros were my uncle Johnny and my Godfather. And yes, they were both gay. Johnny owned a restaurant which was a huge attraction for the gay community. You could basically say that I grew up surrounded by gay folks, and I certainly did not have a problem with that. I spent so much time with them that I even began to question my sexuality. Some of you might go back and think to the lyrics of “Same Love”. No I am not gay myself, but that period of confusion has stayed with me to this day and has inspired and opened my eyes to so many elements in my life. Back in 2008, I went through a time period where my life was filled with poison. It took a while, but I did manage to find the clarity I needed in order to help me find the light.

 This inspiration, this driving force led me to writing some of the most meaningful songs in society today. Homophobia and substance abuse are realities that many of us face, but none of us are facing it alone. When I perform “Same Love” and “Starting Over”, they are performed with such passion that I connect with the audience on such a high level. I write these songs not only for myself, but for my fans who, without them, I don’t know where I would be. That’s love man. Sometimes, I even catch my fans in tears but still chanting the lyrics of the song with such strength and passion. In that moment I feel our hearts and identities bonding to become one. It’s moments like these when I know I’m doing my job right.

Climbing up the ladder of fame was not always easy for me. When you stop and think about it, what’s a hip-hop community of black guys gonna expect from a skinny white dude like myself? If you’re going to be a white dude and do what you do, you are to have to take some level of accountability and acknowledge where the art came from, where it is today and how you’re benefiting from it. Call me authentic, but at the end of the day we’re all here for the same reason, to write, produce and share songs with our audience. We need to make sure we deliver music’s general connection to our identity.

To this day, I have never forgotten where I came from and do not intend to die holding onto my words.

Word Count: 974

Works Cited

"Macklemore – Interview With Rolling Stone (Comments on Race and Success)." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://news.genius.com/Macklemore-interview-with-rolling-stone-comments-on-race-and-success-annotated>.

""Same Love" Lyrics." MACKLEMORE LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/macklemore/samelove.html>.

"Sociology Lens." Sociology Lens RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2013/08/28/wheres-my-place-in-a-music-thats-been-taken-by-my-race-macklemore-and-authentic-white-hip-hop/>.

""Starting Over" Lyrics." MACKLEMORE LYRICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/macklemore/startingover.html>.