lecture notes 3a

Lecture notes 3a

Disney – “point of view” documentary, do not seek to be objective but present a clear point of view, not biased but honest and straightforward in value judgments

American icon, pleasant childhood memories – critical outlook

Conspiracy theorist – critical outlook (don’t buy what film is saying)

Tree map – gender representations = sexualized, seductive, need a man

Race/ethnicity representations = scarce, stereotypical

Commercialization of children culture = vehicle for merchandizing, impact on creative play

Point – counterpoint

Why pick on Disney? Some conglomerates are larger and more powerful than Disney such as Warner Bros. or Hanna Barbara, hasn’t this always happened

-Is a case study, doesn’t pretend to tell the whole story, is a good choice since it is so recognizable, very American and can be generalized to others, tends to hide its true motives under cloak of innocence and fantasy

Are we holding Disney to higher standards because of its presentation of wholesome, family entertainment – so they are hypocritical but what of other companies that don’t pretend this – shouldn’t they be held accountable? They are being honest

-anyone who purports to teach children should be held to higher standards

JC Pennys – Back to School with Jack Daniels

Selective use of examples – is this representative (more anecdotal than systemic quantitative)? Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Megara even Belle rejects Beast’s abuse

- yes, there is some ambiguity, but some things never change – sexy figures, need for love and romance to be happy, yes, this is how fairy tales work but Disney’s updating of stories perpetuates stereotypes

Textual analysis is different from audience analysis – just because it can be interpreted this way doesn’t mean that audiences are doing this, this still needs to be studied (cause vs. correlation), little evidence that Disney productions effect Disney products, people are not dopes and are quite sophisticated, what is the actual effect of watching a Disney movie – fun and entertainment

- but children may not as developmentally along in their critical thinking, we do have evidence that TV watchers are influenced by TV and perhaps we can generalize from this

lecture notes week 3

Lecture notes 3

Hours of work for course

Worksheets – examples – steve and kristian, preview next worksheets

Multiple points of access

Intro presentation – show calendar, textbook, who has what on the board

Culture intro – gods must be crazy

Qualities of bushman culture – cooperative (hostile environment), stable/static, content

Technological innovation – disruption and scarcity

Competition, jealousy and hostility (Tragedy of the Commons) – logical to seek own advantage, settle differences by moral code, laws/regulations, education (communication)

First impressions – freedom, guns, girl, religious, success, immigrant, motherhood, patriot (culturally determined words), what foundation or source of your understanding of this term, any ethnocentricity?

Values vs. application

Look at communication styles of Americans – what conclusions would we draw

Generational differences – heroes and villains from worksheet

Mickey Mouse – race, gender, media influence

lecture notes 2

Lecture notes 9/6

Syllabus review – go over point system, how it is different from percentages, no participation grade, honors option, do not refer to syllabus for current assignments

Use of textbook – special sections

Industry

Introductory lecture – powerpt.

Mass communication = mediated communication

Mass media – different mediums (part of media literacy is study of different mediums)

Linear – letter, email, asynchronous, staged, prerecorded

Transactional – face to face, live, real time

Media literacy – informally

Compare to literacy (and note preliterate – specific, local, memory, myth and history, storytelling)

What media literacy is not

1) media bashing – kill your television, media is bad for you, great TV statistic,

concerns about childhood obesity, substance abuse, materialism, violence, race, class and gender issues – media is the cause, media literacy is the solution, protectionist

oppositional to media culture - watch carefully, think critically

2) media is ideological- test for validity – identify the ideology, clarify your own, come to terms with it, what is normal – med lit is asking questions

3) media is not just production – producing media doesn’t mean you are literate, set of skills, not understanding

lecture notes 1

Lecture notes and commentary 1

My thinking is to have three focuses in this order over the course of the semester. Media literacy, issues, ethics; although these will be always present.

Topics list:

Media literacy – personal media inventory,

circle map of media literacy, - literacy changed the world/history (understanding symbols), efficiency and standardization, messages from others are partial, paradoxically also have multiple levels, sender attends to metamessage, media can create heightened sensory experiences, all media has bias (all communication is persuasive), bring critical distance to media experience, be a media practitioner, producer as well as consumer

comparison of media literacy definitions

Mediated communication - powerpoint

Culture and media – gods must be crazy, media literacy worksheet about terms, Mickey Mouse

5 trends – powerpoint?

Production values

National conference- check out acme curriculum resources further

Use Katrina for media bias unit

Need to go through special sections and categorize, need to identify films to be used, identify 10 media literacy worksheets, 5 case studies

Prep industry presentation, 3 tests, debate, honors option

start up

The first few posts will be a bit random, since I was still organizing the course.