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