Fiske_Television Culture and Seinfeld

John Fiske has a strong emphasis on codes, and how ideologies are based on codes. He points out a particular show, Hart to Hart, and dissects every angle. Some angles he constantly refers to are the hero/ine, villian/ess, class, gender, camera work, editing, make-up, and dialogue. Fiske points out the way class and gender play a role in creating its own code. He analyzes how both the hero and villain are dominant in the way they both want their partners to be lavished in jewels. Jewels is a code for class and luxury. Although both the heroine and villainess seem confident, they allow the male to have the final decision. Patriarchal roles intersect ideology codes when the women are depicted as seeming lost without a male influence. Throughout the excerpt, Fiske point out ideologies that surround the show. Many of these ideologies are formed based on the show itself. In addition, he discusses power and the patriarch society, which is also noted in Chris Barker's book, "Cultural Studies". Fiske definition of code is defined as, "rule-governed system of signs, whose rules and conventions are shared amongst members of a culture, and which is used to generate and circulate meanings in and for that culture". This holds true throughout the excerpt Fiske argues. Fiske claims could also true for the show Seinfeld. Bare with me...I do not watch Seinfeld. But, from the clip, we saw in class, Seinfeld seemed to follow television codes. The main characters were dressed in a way that fits their individual personalities. The music is already programmed to let the audience focus on "ECU's "or "extreme close ups" or "Jerry's stand up comedian part" is about to show.

Seinfeld does represent a real world. It would be hard to classify this show as an imaginary world. From what I heard in class, they all have a mutual friendship. The show depicts radical romance because there's always a window opened up for Jerry and Elaine because of their previous past history. In addition, she's the Only girl of the four. To an audience, Elaine role is already criticized because of double-standardness. We also discussed the use of language. In reference to Seinfeld, language is private among the four because the four create their own slang. However, their language changes when they communicate with the outside world. Therefore, we all experience language within the public and privatize language as well. Going back to Fiske's excerpt, television does influence culture and our ideologies. If it didn't why are people still saying coined phrases from Seinfeld?

John Fiske. Television Culture. http://moodle.csun.edu/file.php/6477/Readings/fiske.pdf

Space and Place_ Chapter 12

This chapter talked about space and place. The book used examples of a home to illustrate how different rooms have different meanings. It is true that many rooms in a home do have different meanings. Not everyone believes a living room should be occupied with people. Barker then goes into discussion of “gendered space”. Some places seem to take on a masculine identity while other places have feminine identity. Why these traditional roles still hold true in today’s time is a mystery. Women should cook and men should play football. Barker also writes, “Space is a construction and material manifestation of social relations which reveals cultural assumptions and practices” (379).  In my opinion, people make choices based on where they live.  Sometimes, a city location is symbolic within itself. In other words, some places just have meaning. I would like to say that Los Angeles is symbolic for its fast pace of life. That’s one reason why some people come to Los Angeles and to see Hollywood. In addition to that, the chapter talks about “privatizing public space” (389). We do this every day without even realizing it. Meeting at coffee shops or dinner at an airport is classic examples of this. The last part Barker discusses is technology. Technology is all around us and it’s something we cannot live without. This topic is brought up a lot because people are being replaced by machines, and the Internet. However, let’s get real. Technology is not always a plus, and a human being is needed in certain situations.

Chris Barker. Cultural Studies. Third Edition. Sage Publications. 2008

Response Paper

                                                                                                                        Janette Fletcher

                                                                                                                        Professor Wexler

                                                                                                                        October 27, 2010

It’s More Than Sex

            Sex comedies mean what they mean. While there is an emphasis on how man and women want sex, there’s also another meaning that’s hidden. As I was reading the “Romantic Comedy” by Tamar Jeffers McDonald, I looked for meaning to understand why it seemed women for the most part wanted to wait until marriage to have sex. “The sex comedy pits woman against man in an elemental battle wits, in which the goal of both is sex. Only the timing and legitimacy of this differs from gender to gender, with women wanting sex after, and men before or without, marriage” (McDonald, 38). I wasn’t born in the sixties or seventies but we did talk about it in class. This was the period of Sexual Revolution. What doesn’t get shed light on is the ending of these movies. Most sexual comedies have a narrative that focuses on sex, but there’s also that couple (s) who actually have a relationship. Media, however, doesn’t do the best job letting the audiences know that upfront. Instead people are portrayed as looking to have that moment of satisfaction. Evidence that supports this is a movie I thought fit perfectly. Wedding Crashers. It stars Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Isla Fisher, and Rachel McAdams. While the movie introduces two funny and charming guys, it gets down to the dirty deed. John Beckwith (Owen) and Jeremy (Vince) crash weddings to get laid. While this excuse is already lame within itself, the movie leads to one wedding that turns into real love in the movie. The guys go on their merry lives and lie to women to get them in the bed. Of course, the women fall for the excuse, right. Eventually, the guys want something a little more edgy. They crash Rachel’s father, US Secretary of Treasury, wedding. By mistake, they end up spending time with the entire family. Eventually, eyes lock between John and Claire (Adams). A relationship actually happens; not just for them but also Gloria (Fisher) and Jeremy. Sex comedies portray media representations of stereotypes in movies.

            Images of women in (Wedding Crashers) show women as the harpy and the good wife (Chris Barker, 307-308). Barker claims, “A stereotype involves the reduction of persons to a set of exaggerated, usually negative, character traits” (307). While stereotypes can be offensive, some can also be true. The sex comedies have a habit of showing women as sexual creatures. And there is that double standard that still holds true to this day. Women are called a “bitch” for speaking too much whereas guys are called “sluts”, and that’s almost impossible to be called that. My point is that sexual comedies influence these stereotypes by portraying them in media. How we see these stereotypes in movies, versus reading about them in a book affects its audiences in different ways. The intent of the sexual comedies is meant to take favor of men having sex but not women. In McDonald’s book, she talks about things that influenced this period of the sexual comedy. One of them mentioned was Alfred Kinsey’s “Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female”. The American image of women staying virgins till marriage in the 60’s was a big issue. “It was shocking to the world to know that women have had premarital sex” (41). They also mention the magazine Playboy. Playboy is an example of a representation that is catching to men eyes, but it makes women look sex crazed. Till this day, women still pose completely naked, but men show only the chest. Why doesn’t a medium depict men this way? One last event that sparked attention was The Moon is Blue. It was a movie that showed a woman who openly talked about her sexual history. It was something big because it “was the first movie to mention “virgin” (42).

            This relates to the movie, Wedding Crashers, because it does explore sex as “disguise and masquerade and hierarchy of knowledge” (45). One example of this is John and Jeremy; has an alibi with every girl. John told Claire that he was working for the environment, which was a lie. She believed him, fell for him, and later found out the truth. It follows the boy meets girl, gets girl, loses girl, and regains girl criteria. On the contrast, Jeremy tells Gloria his lie, but then she lies about being a virgin, so they both got played. She would be considered the bitch (Barker). I would just call her playful, because that word has such a negative connotation meaning. Hence, Jeremy and Gloria get hitched and John gets his girl in the end. It’s considered hierarchy of knowledge because we all know what’s going to happen. The player eventually finds that one girl that makes him choose a different path. Jeremy and John were going to move on to the next wedding but love caught them first. Gallagher describes representations of women in media, “demeaning, damaging and unrealistic” (310). And it’s true. They still do not have many roles that depict women the way they really are. While Wedding Crashers was funny, it downplayed the guys’ behavior as normal, but the women were shown in a negative light. For the women that got laid, they were helpless, clingy, and dingy. For Claire and Gloria, they were two simple minded sisters from Salt Lake City who actually got a commitment over sex.

Works Cited

Chris Barker. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. Third Edition

Tamar Jeffers McDonald. Romantic Comedy. Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre.

Television and Text

Televsion affects more people than any other medium. It shapes how we perceive things. Most people get information through television. "Though we are currently witnessing the rise of new digital media, television remains the most widely accesible mass media"(Barker, 315). He breaks down how television is interpreted. One of the topics he talks about is what is considered news. "What is news" is talked about in journalism classes. They get straight to the point. For example, the news is straight to the point. Some stories have more air time, while others are cut short. Lately, it's been about the Nov. 2nd vote. Who's going to be governor? Barker then talks about television using soap operas as another example. Soap operas have a certain criteria in which they fit in. The story line and the location all play a part. We also watched the movie, "Team America" World Police. I haven't seen in so long, but the story line involved a re-enactment of Bin Laden and terriost attacks. While this movie was funny, it also depicted images of reality. But this movie ties to Chapter 10 because it deals with how someone could interpret terriost attacks versus seeing images on youtube.

Chris Barker. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. Third Edition. Chapter 10.

What makes you male or female? _ Judith Butler

Her article talks about homosexuality and heterosexuality. She also talks about how gender plays a role in defining what roles male/female are. From what I read, she claims that gender is biological. It's gender that seems to define what makes a "natural" woman and a "natural" man. What's interesting is that the world seems to influence these decisions. When there is a case where the man does "traditional" women roles, he is then going against gender rules. The same could apply to lesbians. According to Judith Butler, " A butch can show husband-like qualities such as being the provider" (726). She also explores a person "wanting to be" and "wanting to have". She suggests that a person cannot have the same qualities. We also talked in class about "first date". Gender plays a role in this example because a lot of women, including myself, believe a man should pay on the first date. There are some women who are bolder and insist on paying for both meals or mainly their's. It aslo depends on the culture. Westernized ways are a little laid back when it comes to dating. A traditional date involves a really nice restaurant and getting to know each other. Radically, a female or male might kiss or even sleep with each other on the first date. Society praises men for having sex on the first date, while females are degraded. Hence, gender roles encourage a double-standard.

http://moodle.csun.edu/file.php/6477/Readings/Butler.pdf