themediamademecrazy.com

this evening i decided to straighten my hair for the first time in 4 years. while working through the knots, i was struck by a very familiar moment…

“damn this girl’s hair.”

i heard my mother’s voice as i sprayed the ends with detangler and ensured that each strand had just the right amount of luster’s pink lotion. it made me think. does michelle obama brush sasha and malia’s hair in the mornings? if so, does that mean that michelle obama’s voice can be heard in the white house cursing their hair? awesome.

yet another reason to love the obamas: they’d make a great sitcom. bill cosby could produce.

this is the question that my research seeks to answer. however, apparently the onion beat me to it.

In The Know: Are Reality Shows Setting Unrealistic Standards For Skanks?

i apologize for my absence, but my current state of affairs deserves some comment…
it has been a long time since i have posted anything on this site. life has been very busy but moving in a good direction. this summer i worked in my lab, worked as a graduate assistant for the mcnair program at USC, and completed my masters thesis (technically to be submitted on monday). i also moved into a new spot about 4 blocks away from my old place. same neighborhood, infinitely better building. i was done with the old one anyway.

in my new apartment, i do not have a television [i’ll give you a minute to catch your breath]. i was tired of the clunky 8sqft cube of a TV that i had in my old spot, and it was flat screen or nothing. i was excited; but the day after i moved in, i rubbed my car against a pole in my new parking lot resulting in about $5000 worth of damage. the TV got postponed.

i like living without a television. i have a projector for movies and video games [you haven’t lived until you have played guitar hero on a 10ft screen] and my building has a media room with cable. its nice to be distanced from TV; i still go down to the media room to watch important things like the olympics and the presidential debates, and i dose a little at the gym, but my life has been strangely de-media-fied.

on that note, i listen to more internet radio now. i have started listening to NPR and KPCC (NPR out of pasadena community college). its entertaining stuff. i’ve never been a fan of talk radio, i don’t like people talking at me and not being a part of the conversation - but i find it relaxing to be an observer.

although i’m getting a little sick of media in any form [TV, Radio, Internet, NYTimes, Facebook] as it is inundated with political mumbo-jumbo. i am beginning to believe that there is nothing else going on in the world. thank heavens for the economist; their format ensures a discussion of other continents. furthermore, their political logic really speaks to me and addresses the issues that i find in the media that, of course, the media never talks about.

i’ve always tried not to take sides regarding politics. in the words of stan marsh, “I’d better get used to having to pick between a douche and a turd sandwich because it’s usually the choice I’ll have.” however, the 2008 election makes me wish i was a dedicated voter, because the crap that keeps coming out of the television is starting to drive me crazy. but i’ll save that for its own posting. if i were dedicated to one party, i could be excited for it; instead, now i’m just cynical about both…

moving on. i’ve been reading infidel by ayaan hirsi ali, an amazing story about a woman born in somalia struggling against the political turmoil and the muslim brotherhood. its phenomenal and offers perspective in our old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd…

wait. nevermind.

obama supporter, texas state senator kirk watson was unable to state ANY of obama’s accomplishments in the senate on ‘hardball with chris matthews.” it’s a remarkable piece of footage, right down to the studio laughter in the end. somewhat painful to watch, but necessary…

however, i would also like to post the question: when did “white voters” become a significant demographic? weren’t they always just referred to as “voters”? i love progress.

tonight’s premiere episode, “a clean escape,” starred sam waterson and judy davis as patient and psychiatrist, where the former cannot remember the past 24 years. it was interesting at best. disregarding the gaping plot holes (like where does he go when he leaves her office, or why has it taken 10 months to utilize what seems like the most probable solution?), the style of the program was poor. for me it began with davis’ character. a actress of 57 should be allowed to look 57; every close-up, especially her emotionally distraught ones, only offer further evidence that she is far to old for the role asked of her. it really prevents one from suspending disbelief.

furthermore, i think that the director put too much faith into the plot of the story and oversimplified the shooting, causing the entire project to collapse under poor visuals. in fact, i was much more interested in the story after listening to the dialogue on NPR (yeah, i listened to NPR yesterday… that’s another blog) than after watching the exact same scene.

however, i did commit to watching the whole episode and it generally improved from 2 1/2 to 3 stars (on a 5 star scale). but i have hope, and i will continue to watch the remaining 3 episodes, saturday nights in august at 10pm on abc.

Four thought-provoking tales of present and future Earth are brought to life in “Masters of Science Fiction,” an all-new anthology series featuring a stellar lineup of actors and directors, and narrated by acclaimed physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. The series premieres SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

’saved by the bell’ (1989-1993) was one of the best integrations of race, class and gender that i’ve seen on television and decades ahead of its time. granted, children’s programs tend to integrate race effortlessly, because children will be children. however, after living in LA, i realize that it is not as simple as SBTB would lead one to believe. allow me to elaborate…

the main cast is multi ethnic: of the 6 main characters, half are white (zach, kelly, screech) while the other half are ‘of color’ (slater, jesse, lisa). although this may seem evident to the viewer, the narratives never highlighted their races or made that part of the discussion (despite living in southern california in the late 80s). the text tended to focus more on class and the trials and tribulations that come from teens dealing with these all-too-real differences: lisa is a shop-aholic, which clashes with her best friend kelly’s large family and spendthrift demands. for the other characters, class is less of an issue, although zach never sees his father because he is working and it takes a car accident to bring them together.

the characters are intended to be a slice of the american high school system (a classic tool of TV and film): the cool guy, the geek, the jock, the american sweetheart, the spoiled daddy’s girl, and the nerd/smart chick. this last category is also what draws me to the program. the smart chick, jesse spano, is both of questionable ethnicity (which is also never mentioned in the program) and remarkably attractive. she even lands the jock! it gives hope to all of us sexy smart chicks who question our own attractiveness. as for the gender reading, jesse was clearly a feminist, a label that many place on women who are too smart, too strong, or too driven. however, jesse was all of these things AND feminine. she was a feminine feminist, an elusive moniker that i try to advocate.

in short, i think that i am better off for watching ’saved by the bell’ at a key point in my development, as compared to other programs that were popular at the time, like baywatch, or melrose place.

prince’s half time show was the most amazing thing i’ve seen on television in a long time. it was beautiful, shocking, revolutionary, soft and wet. i’ve been raving about it for 24 hours and i’ve gotten some repeated comments:

1. “you know they fill the field with prince fans so that they can get footage of girls crying…”

duh. that does not negate a phenomenal performance. he had over 50,000 people in the stands singing along, not to mention the audiences at home, and around the world. i’m aware of the techniques, (raises into snobbish tone) i have a degree in television theory.

2. “half the crowd went to the bathroom anyway.”

well then they are damn fools. to walk away from a show like that. prince is a living legend, that’s like saying, “no thanks, i’m not interested in seeing ravi shankar, sir paul mccartney, and bebe king perform for free. i’ve got to use the restroom.”

more importantly, i am always affected when i know that the majority of the homes in the united states are watching and listening to the same thing that i am right now. only the lucky ones can feel the way i do too.

for part 2, click here

this has been a constant topic in my work and life. feel free to read the first rendition written with abran alaniz here and stay tuned for the sample chapter!

i’ve been struck by some amazing epiphanies lately. the most recent came while reading TIME (october 23, 2006) which featured an analysis of america at 300 million. the graphs were amazing. here are my two favorites:

topographical population

race/ethnic demographics

the former made me want to move to a spot somewhere in the middle of the country where no one lives. it seems so simple and ripe for my own happy little community of one (maybe two [smile]). the image also gives a pictoral representation of the empty expanse of the land. i’ve never made it off the coasts (aside from a week in denver, phoenix, and vegas) and it makes me want to take a journey across the country…

but it was the latter that really changed the way i look at media. for some reason i was upset with the culture-via-TV that perpetuated the demographics that “i” did not exist. that is to say, i rarely see someone that looks like me on television, specifically multi-ethnic individuals. but looking at the demographic map, i realize that we are less than 2% of the population. of course you never see asians on television, they comprise 4.4% of the population. in fact, their presence on television is equivalent to the national average!

that’s when i realized that my problem was not with television or its statements on race and the ethnographic breakdown of the nation. but rather the collapse of local television. national networks must create programming for a nationwide audience. 80% of which is white. this simply never occurred to me as i have only lived in densely populated, diverse, urban areas (i.e. new york N>18m; boston N>5m, los angeles N>12m). the interactions i have are drastically different from the larger national body. worse yet, when an nationwide network attempts to recreate “my” lifestyle for a nationwide audience, it comes out strangely warped (e.g. friends).

i would like to see more local programming, not just news and commercials, but rather programs of all genres. unfortunately i do not have access to public access channels due to my building’s agreement with sbc. i think i need a set of rabbit ears.

I’m currently watching “Tommy Lee Goes to College” a new half hour reality sitcom on NBC featuring Tommy Lee as a freshman at University of Nebraska. This show is another program in what I deem to be a recent trend of academic television.

Originating with the celebrity success of Ken Jennings on “Jeopardy” and continuing on with ABC’s “The Scholar,” and the WB’s “Beauty and the Geek,” network television has recently embraced smart celebrities. Even Tommy Lee’s wife, Pamela Anderson, starred in her own academic sitcom, “Stacked.”

NOTE: Perhaps it originated with the intellectual component of Survivor…

I’m not certain whether this is a fad or indicative of a general trend towards an acceptance of the academic as cool. Of course I do my best to incorporate an attractive, pop appeal to the academic stereotype and I think that most of these shows are trying to do the same. On the other hand, education is something that everyone is capable and should be pursued by a larger percentage of the population. By having successful pop stars pursue an education and by making academics celebrities, the media seems to be pushing an agenda to encourage academic pursuits. I guess we’ll see if he gets past his freshman year…

On the plus side, Tommy Lee has an incredibly sexy chemistry tutor. I wish I had one when I failed 5.11 the first time.

“What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.” –Joseph Addison

The WB network is introducing a new reality show tonight from executive producer ashton kutcher called beauty and the geek where they pair up a series of incredibly geeky men with beautiful dumb supermodels and watch the hilarity ensue…

where do i begin?

first of all i am remarkably offended by the program. it only reinforces the binary that geeks can not be beautiful. it perpetuates the beautiful dumb blonde stereotype, blonde brunette or otherwise, of women. women are never given the chance to be beautiful AND intelligent. i just feel frustrated by the fact that sexy smart women don’t exist in our mediated televisual reality.

and they seem to have gotten some of the geekiest men to be a part of this project, not to mention that everyone involved is white. i guess that ethnic individuals are cursed with an atavistic sexuality that cannot be considered geeky.

the most frustrating thing to me is the fact that i really enjoy ashton kutcher’s work. i own dude where’s my car, i have watched that seventies show since the beginning and have shared my critical thoughts on the direction of the program and its use of race and the absent father. granted i didn’t shell out money for ‘just married’ or ‘a lot like love’ but i did see the butterfly effect in theaters, which i thought was a great movie for his star persona. either way, i have a great amount of respect for kutcher, and his executive producer credit on this program hurts in my soul.

i figure as a stereotypical pretty boy who has performed in projects that both ironically embrace and deny it, i would expect him to recognize the disgusting stereotypes and clichés that are continued with this program.

but then again, ratings are money and maybe its just television. plus extreme individuals create extreme situations, which breeds humor, not intelligent messages and behavior. but i can assure you that any intelligent individual, more importantly any intelligent woman, will be offended and disgusted with the program.

shame on you ashton. you know better.

although i think it would make me smile to see the exact same program with the gender roles switch, sexy Abercrombie and Fitch men paired up with female phd’s and ceo’s.

i’ve developed an affection for upn’s girlfriends.

i think its better than sex in the city…

there i said it.

it all came to me last night when i was watching the materialist girlfriend analyze her whirlwind marriage to a man she has recently discovered is $750,000 in debt. in order to maintain her life status, she decides to leave him. in her soliloquy she says…

“being poor in LA is wearing round-toed shoes in a pointy-toed season.”

apparently there was an explosion in NY outside the british consulate. why is this not front page news on CNN and NYTimes.com?

that’s right, because its 13 hours old.

it has already been eclipsed by the runaway bride story and the elvis movie on CBS this weekend respectively.

how is this possible? according to john hartley’s essay “the frequencies of public writing,” he states that the internet has caused us to become less interested in detailed stories, rather we just move from one to another at a pace that does not allow for contemplation. because the story is 13 hours old (mind you today the UK also saw the parlimentary elections that reelected Blair but weakened his labor party), there is no reason to maintain or expand it. i believe that the assumption is that everyone who needs to know already knows. how can that make sense?

then when i search for it on google, the top stories are coming from The Scotsman and Forbes…
try it sometime, its amusing.

The pope has passed.

The ceremonies around the world have begun. Many of them are not in English, but nonetheless, instead of talking about the pope’s legacy, tell me what is going on around the world right now! I would like to know what this ceremony is taking place in Rome, in Poland and around the world. But no, I can only see the images and listen to the pundits swap stories about the pope that I’ve heard five times already in the past three days [sigh].

Ok. CNN now has a live feed from St. Peter’s cathedral in NY. The archbishop of NY is giving a sermon recounting the pope’s assassination and his immediate act of forgiving his attempted assassin. Before the archbishop is even done, we cut back to Paula [sad face]. I was starting to feel emotional spirit come through the television…

As much as I hate to say it, FOXNews may be the only live feed from St. Matthew’s Cathedral in DC, therefore…

Thank you FOXNews.

At the moment there is an emergency meeting of congress to discuss to future of Terry Schiavo. I will not discuss my issues with that to begin with, I’ll leave it for thousands of other bloggers, although it seems ridiculous to me that this is even going onto a higher court and so much effort is being placed on this one woman, personally I think that the parents’ desperate desire to keep her alive is a selfish act.

But this is about the news networks covering the debate. Right now, at this moment, our elected officials are conducting a debate on the floor of congress; it is a Sunday afternoon, millions of people are sitting down after dinner, turning to this major story. Instead of allowing us to watch our representatives debate, we watch pundits debate the issues of what is being discussed on the floor! The worst part is that they leave the video running on half of the screen on mute! So you know that there is a debate, a real, political debate going on, but that’s not important, the stupid fucking inane punditry is more important. Moreover you know that these pundits aren’t even watching the debate, they’re talking over it as if they’ve already seen it and have come to conclusions.

Unfortunately my building provides only C-SPAN2, not C-SPAN1, so I can’t even watch it there, on top of that, my computer is suffering from a broken headphone jack so I can’t hear anything online either [sigh]. I hate new media when it doesn’t work for me.

And just to top it all off, they don’t put the names of the representatives up when they do allow them audio time. Rather they continue to print the banner “house vote on schiavo bill expected within minutes.”

SUNDAY – JANUARY 16, 2005

8-10 pm FOX Sunday Night (Simpsons, Arrested Development, Family Guy x2)
- FOX post-Superbowl television: new Simpsons episode, new series: American Dad (integrating into media ritual, ensure attentive audience after ‘the big game’)
- Family based sitcoms: all white families – representative of dysfunctional family (thank you FOX!)
Yahoo! Online Euchre (online card game)
- Constant streaming ads: music, movies, other games, mortgaging home, win a free iPod…
10-11 pm Golden Globes
- Alerted to this program by FOX local news
- Reminded by CNN carpet coverage
o Joan and Melissa Rivers on Larry King Live (next day Colin Powell)
- Jamie Foxx acceptance speech: Applauds Ray as a “beautiful black film”
o Mainstream has made it no longer a “Black film” but a piece of American culture. Ray’s role in American culture independent of role as Black icon?
- Commercial: McDonald’s dependence on its integration into American life for its ads
- News on CBS comes on after the Golden Globes, regardless of time, accounting for this media ritual
- Turn out the lights, watch the rest of the awards ceremony in the dark in bed, reminded of movie going experience, seems appropriate as most of the awards are for outstanding films.
- Auteur in TV? Executive producer accepts GG and speaks first even though everyone is on stage.
- Set alarm on TV: 7 am, CNN

MONDAY – JANUARY 17, 2005

7-8 am CNN Live

8-9 am Swimming – Sans media!
- I had originally planned on running, in which case I usually watch CNN on the television in the exercise room
- Pool is on the roof, I cannot see the billboards in DTLA, most face south on Figueroa, not blocked by the buildings

9-10 am Online Euchre – streaming ads
- Read Boondocks Comic strip online (http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks)
- Post personal pictures online
- Peruse friends’ websites
- Add to Blog (http://themediamademecrazy.blogspot.com)

10-1 pm Research work (studying multimedia effects on education and learning processes)
- Online Euchre
- Check email

1-2 pm Jerry Springer
- Watch first 20 minutes, tape for class, mute TV while doing work
- I often leave the TV on mute, it provides an unobtrusive presences while I work, otherwise, I listen to classical music

2-3 pm Cosby Show (record for class, turn off TV)
- Continue doing work

3-4 pm Lunch: California Pizza Kitchen take out (three blocks from home)
- Listening to iPod
- Walking downtown (storefronts, taxis, buses)
- Sides of buildings – giant ads
o Are storefronts and marquees considered advertising? It is conveying a message and trying to attract customers
o New restaurant opening on first floor of my building, advertising in the windows, also blocking construction.
- Bus Ads
o Cheaper space is inside (accident lawyers, learning extension programs, money loans, etc.); people who ride the bus clearly do not have major disposable income, but everyone sees the bus as it drives down the street.
- Lunch on roof of building – Reading Economist
o Ads not visible from roof, I face south.

4-430 pm Girlfriends for class (tape/watch)

430-7 pm School work (reading about media)

7-730 pm Jeopardy

730-8 pm Simpsons
- Set TV to record Unforgivable Blackness (Jack Johnson biography)

TYPICAL DAY?
I don’t think that this was a typical day, I usually take the bus to and from school (four days a week) and on those days we usually have viewings in class. Also, some of the viewings were specifically because I was presenting in class, I have never watched a full girlfriends episode, nor to I regularly tune into Jerry Springer (anymore). On school days, I also carry and iPod. This Monday was different because I chose not to listen to the radio while I did school work; I typically listen to the classical channel because I cannot take in two textual streams at once. On weekends, I tend to leave CNN or MSNBC on mute while I do my work for a little company.

BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS
This is a typical graduate school pattern for me. I don’t get to watch so much television anymore because I cannot read and watch TV at the same time. Now I watch television intentionally, i.e. I turn on the television only when I’m expecting to watch something. In my undergrad and high school years, I would sit in front of the TV, and or computer and do my work (in high school, I spent most of that time on the phone as well).

WHAT IS MEDIA?
I tried to include everything possible (even the things that I usually see that I might have missed this day) including the discussions about the storefronts and other various advertising around DTLA. In one of my readings for one of my classes (they all blend together nowadays), I read that advertising takes three forms, broadcast, print and storefronts or direct advertising.

MEDIA CHOICES
Once again, I take in media intentionally as I find it difficult to multi task. I make the conscious choice to turn on the television when I’m expecting a program (which unfortunately leads to me missing a lot of things I had originally intended to watch) and turn it off when I have something else to do (usually work). Although Sunday was a prime example of what causes me to jump channels, just a reminder that I’m missing something that I had intended to watch.

PURPOSEFUL AND ENJOYABLE
I try to make my media consumption always enjoyable. Although being in grad school for media studies has caused me to overload slightly on media. This diary has made me realize that I’m constantly consuming media even when I’m not consuming media, unless I’m swimming or sleeping. I made a conscious break in my Monday when I went swimming and chose to read The Economist on the roof. My TV habits I also see as a break in the forced media consumption of schoolwork and research. I get to sit back and watch Jeopardy while I’m making dinner or just relaxing. I ended up watching the Golden Globes as a part of schoolwork as I knew that we would be discussing it at some point.

UNCOMFORTABLE ACTIVITIES
I’m not too uncomfortable with my media consumption activities but I probably wouldn’t include the other, personal tasks that I conduct while I’m watching my TV. It’s my private space at home and I know that the TV isn’t watching back if I’m wandering around my apartment in my underwear.

PERSONALITY, RELATIONSHIPS, SOCIO-CULTURAL BACKGROUND, INCOME LEVEL, RLEIGION, PERSONAL BELIEFS
I think that my choice to watch FOX Sunday night television says something about my personality. Those shows are marketed to a select demographic, young, college educated slackers (I mean slackers as an attitude, not as an occupation). Most of my time is spent alone in my apartment doing work or consuming media, so it’s clear that I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m not sure what it says about my socio cultural background, the fact that I have an iPod clearly denotes me as an active consumer but in LA this might be contrasted with the fact that I take the bus daily. The fact that I don’t go to work is acceptable and not really questions since we’re all students. As for religion, I don’t think that it says much, although if I had started earlier on Sunday, it would documented that I did not go to church. Waking up to CNN in the morning and reading The Economist makes obvious my political inclinations.

so i’m taking a break from work (bad charisse) and watching nbc’s ‘the apprentice,’ when it started i rationalized that these were some of the smartest people on television and its a show that’s not about sex… rather its about money, and real business decisions.

today’s task was to make and sell m&m’s M-Azing bars. there were 2 girls on one team, and 2 boys and a girl on the other team, the three person team made 323 bars and sold them all for a profit of $500, the other two girls made 290 and sold them for a profit of over $1000. they dressed up in cute red tops and denim skirts and sold the bars for $5 a piece. the other team sold them for a dollar a piece, so the chick on 3 person team decided to start selling them for $20 and dropped her skirt.

dropped her skirt…

no i understand the need to win by any means necessary but there is no way that kind of behavior is going to swing. and i was just thinking about how these folks were the smartest people on television. does she actually believe that trump is going to want his ceo dropping trou’ in public for some extra money? i guess we’ll find out soon…