My attitude towards media and media criticism has definitely changed in the last 5 weeks. I’ve learned a lot about how there are different formats of media, not only in television shows and movies, but also in the real lives of some celebrities and even everyday, average people like myself. The way the media affects people is quite strange I believe. This is because if someone important is on the news, or a celebrity tells a mass of people to do something, a good majority will listen to them, all because of the way that mass media works in our society.
I also liked learning about the five different domains of Intertextuality and how they work, because now whenever I’m watching any kind of media, it will be a lot easier for me to understand what’s going on. For example, now that I know what Paratextual Knowledge means, whenever I hear a television show reference something I’ll know exactly what the creators are doing and how their doing it. Also, whenever a movie or television show has a line that really sticks out and seems quotable, I’m immediately going to think of Intertextual Performance.
I also seem to analyze movies and shows differently since I started taking this class. It seems like now every time I watch a show on t.v or a new movie, I look for things like the style and demeanor of the program, as well as how the camera angles are used to provoke different thoughts and images from the viewer. Next, depending on the genre of whatever media outlet I’m watching, I look for the style and uniqueness of it, as well as if it is more of a straight forward, edgy show, or a unique, creative, and artistically funny show. I also really liked the television shows that we were required to watch. I think that Community was perfect for all of the people who prefer that kind of humor with the way the show was set up and shot. Then there was 30 rock, which was hilarious as well and was perfect for the group of people who preferred that kind of humor over Community. It seemed as if it were shot more professionally (to me at least), but at the same time had just the right amount of tacky, sarcastic and witty humor that Community did, just in a different vein. Another thing that I really liked about both of these shows, was that both of them had an awesome list of guest stars, such as Chevy Chase, Queen Latifah, Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Drew Carey, Tracy Morgan, and Alec Baldwin. Not only does this make the shows more watchable to their main audiences, but it also gives more laughs than most shows that don’t have as many guests, because it showcases all of these different people’s brands of humor. Finally, I think that this class got the best of both worlds by having to watch both of these television shows for homework, as they are both extremely funny and easy to watch.
Another thing that I learned a lot about that I didn’t know much of before hand, was how some critics differ a lot from each other. I used to think that all critics were the same and that they were all just critiquing on whether the show or movie was good or bad, little did I know. Now that I know that there are a lot of different ways of critiquing, it makes it easier for me to understand where the critics are coming from. It also showed me that some critics are very creative in their writings about media. Some examples are critics such as Nell Minow, who starts off all of his critiques by telling the audience why the movie has the rating it has, as well as shows key examples as to what is in the movie that makes it have that rating. Next, he gives an age recommendation of who he thinks should watch it, then show’s some possible discussion questions about the films, and finally lists other movies that are like the one he’s critiquing at the time. I like this style a lot because he is really telling you about the movie, without giving away a lot of information about it. Another critic I like a lot, is Nick Hyman; because he gets straight to the point about whatever he is reviewing, but still adds his own brand of humor in there. Finally, there’s a critic by the name of Andy Greene who I like a lot, simply because he always writes a short bio about whatever he’s reviewing and it seems like everything that he reviews, is something that he likes a lot and seems very interested in. Also, I feel like he puts a lot of thought into his reviews and what he is going to say, which I feel a lot of critics don’t do very well.
So as I draw to a close on my last blog entry of this class, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about not only the media all around us as a society, but also about the criticisms of these forms of media. I’m very glad I decided to take this class, as it has not only introduced me to two new t.v shows that I’m going to start watching more, but it also helped me understand a lot more about why certain forms of media are criticized and how all media affects our society as a whole.
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