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Last Chapter Response

The Matrix of identity embodies the idea that a person is just part of the whole human race or the group they identify with. Breaking free from this Matrix would lead a person to see the individual uniqueness that all of us possess. Neo knows that he more than just one soldier combating the everyday grind of his unfulfilling job. Breaking free from the Matrix that society has placed upon us all means making a new path diverging from the structures that label us. It means not simply being labeled as disabled and letting that title define one’s life but focusing on the individual, the unique mind that’s driving the crippled body. I believe a lot of college students struggle with this idea especially at such a crucial developmental stage in life. Between life beating us down, trying to bring ourselves back up again and find who we are in this world leads us to struggle with these questions of a Matrix that has been imposed by society. The Matrix can also have a bearing over not just individuals but corporations as well. It can be seen as a representation for the mass media matrix and more generally, the corporate matrix that takes hold of all of us all over the world. These huge corporations are entities that we have created, helped build and allowed to start growing and almost taking on a life of its own. Now these “organisms” use us, the beings that created them, to grow even more powerful off of things like our capital. This blind buying, consuming, and rebuilding have shaped the Matrix of our own identity as well as the corporations we all know so well. Without a change we may always just be part of the whole group and stuck in the Matrix.

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Response to Final Chapter

The last chapter of the book relates the whole social media world to a real life matrix. The corporate matrix is what stretches across the globe and is in control of the mass media itself, while we are part of the media matrix that fuels the corporate matrix. This metaphor is extremely accurate to how the mass media works. Without its consumers, those who are in power will no longer have a place in the mass media. The corporate matrix will keep thriving off of what we consume, which makes them very powerful. I think that those who have gained control of the mass media will keep succeeding because the mass media is a global phenomenon. We have been lured in extremely well that it will be hard to un-attach ourselves from them. The problem with the corporate matrix is that they control what information they feed us, therefore, we are in their control and half the time we are blind to it. Their advertisements appear everywhere we go and it becomes close to impossible to not be exposed to it.

Although not all people will admit to being active mass media consumers, it is unavoidable. Even when you are trying not to consume it, you are still subconsciously thinking about it. Social media has become such a powerful tool in today’s society. People are hooked on using social media sites such as twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr, so when you look around there are always people looking down at their cell phones or laptops updating statuses and posting pictures. I do not think I have been to one public place that did not have someone with their heads buried in their cellphone.

I do wish that the mass media could experience some sort of reform so that the corporate matrix does not have extreme power over us. The only way I believe they can be stopped or at least turned around would be to continue the education of how the mass media works and who is behind the scenes. This may cause some much-needed changes to what we are consuming.

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Quatitative Response to Gender Representations in Hip Hop

Women have become almost entirely unseen in popular Hip Hop today, a result of the current state of Hip Hop culture. Over the years, Hip Hop has been bought, sold and mass-produced by those with hardly any authentic linking to the culture’s birth and progress. Because of its international appeal, Hip Hop became one of the United Sate’s most profitable exports. This altered the way Hip Hop established itself artistically, as money became more of an incentive for many performers than the counterculture rebellion and free expression of the past. An article depicting gender representations in Hip Hop stated, “No longer are graffiti and break-dancing the popular art forms they once were, and DJs who once spun vinyl and scratched records have become producers who download electronic samples and piece them together on their computers. MCs rarely freestyle or battle anymore, and even their penned lyrics tend to be simplistic.”

The more marketable Hip Hop becomes, the more image plays a position in whether an artist is deemed marketable. In the entertainment business, women particularly are expected to uphold certain descriptions, and Hip Hop music is no different. There was a time when lyrical talents mattered more than physical appearance, but that has changed radically over the years, especially for women. Men remain dominant in the recording industry, as executives and producers, so women are subject to their verdicts, and they go with who and what is “hot” at the moment. In a time when record sales are falling across the board, executives are focusing on people they can rely on being financially successful and, sadly, there is little faith in the profitability of female solo artists. The number of female artists compared to male artists in the Hip Hop industry is staggering. Without removing this male dominance women may never remove the stereotypes that they have been faced with since Hip Hop got its start.

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Critique of Women in Social Media

This photo above shows a picture of a young model and how she carries herself almost as a young adult model. The caption relates to how the media influences everyone it can get a hold of, especially the younger generation. Instead of wanting to be a doctor or dancer, the photo relates the young girl's strive to be pretty. Is ‘pretty’ something you really want to aspire to be when you grow up?

The media gives us such a skewed image of what real beauty looks like. It feeds us false images that some people strive to see themselves as. Most perfume ads I see in magazines and on television commercials have girls half dressed seducing a man, such as in Calvin Klein and Old Spice. There are plenty of ways to promote perfume without having a girl half dressed trying to sell a product that has nothing to do with having to be sexualized. Even with selling clothing, women seemed to be sexualized a majority of the time. I have seen an ad where they were promoting jeans, but the woman had no shirt on, while she is covering herself. I do not see women walking around in public wearing jeans with a bare top, so why have to create an ad selling it that way?

It is extremely hard to ignore what the media is feeding to our minds because it is everywhere you go. Ads of women half clothed are on large billboards, magazines have women with photo shopped faces and bodies, and commercials have women displayed the same way. It is such a shame that the media won’t stray away from the extreme editing of women. If a woman has to have her body altered in a photo, then that is not a realistic image. No matter where you go, there is a preconceived image of how a ‘pretty or flawless’ woman should look like.

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For this assignment I will continue to explore domestic violence in the music industry. I chose this because I feel like this is an important issue that needs to be more aware of. Unfortunately, domestic violence is a common topic in popular culture. Movies, television shows, social media, and music all in some way can show or represent domestic violence. In music, domestic violence is a common theme. It’s portrayed not only in the lyrics themselves but also in the music videos. Fortunately, the music videos show the seriousness of domestic violence. It’s important to show the seriousness because this kind of abuse does happen a lot around the world and I feel that it should be shown. Most of the music videos that talk about domestic violence also include gender representation in them. More women are overrepresented in music videos about domestic violence, whereas men are more underrepresented. Although women are the ones who are usually being targeted in the videos, men do also get abused quite often.Most songs and music videos are written and produced to try and take a stand against domestic violence. By making these videos and songs, i feel that more and more awareness is being made.

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The Matrix.

The Matrix happens to be one of my favorite movie series of all time, and I’ve studied it in my other favorite class from college ironically enough. To be honest, I think I love The Matrix because I understand and am fascinated by its message. As a broadcast journalism major, I see and experience the media constantly, I, essentially, am the media. To an extent, I have control over what my audience sees. What I’ve learned above all though, is that I don’t agree with mass media. I don’t agree with “the system.”

It’s semi apparent when you read some of my posts that I’m very open and understanding to a lot of things. I would like to think that I am able to see the pros and cons to every side of a situation. However, when a position of power gets out of hand, I somewhat put up a defense to the system and somewhat rebel. It’s hard to explain what I’m trying to say, but basically, if I were to take a test on which character I was in The Matrix, I’m pretty sure I would be Neo. I prefer to separate myself and find my own way within the system, but not necessarily following the system.

I see myself as different, therefore, a freak, who is similar to Neo in that my thoughts and ideas are very different than that of most people I interact with. I understand practicality, reality, logic, etc., but there is more to life than that. Again, there isn’t only one way to do everything. There is no rule book to life. What even begins to constitute “normal?!” Once I asked myself this question and delved more into the idea, I started to accept and embrace the differences in people more than ever. Since, people have absolutely FACINATED me.

I actually got pretty emotional reading the final chapter of Pop Culture Freaks because before ever even laying eyes on this book, I had decided that I wanted to take my ideas and start a revolution of my own one day. I don’t know how or when, but I know that I admired and felt a connection to the character/idea Neo represents in The Matrix, and basically, before I get all emotional again, I’m glad I decided to take this course and delve deeper into society, media, and pop culture.

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Findings in Women in Social Media

This photo above shows different statistics on women in the film industry. It does not surprise me that there are more men in films than women. Even in television shows there are a large amount of men in contrast to women. Men are normally the main characters in films, while women are secondary characters. Over 30% of women in movies get partially naked in films, while only about 10% of men do. Also almost 40% of girls wear sexually revealing clothing. The representations of women in film spans across different types of social media. Women are normally sexualized or objectified in the media, while men are just portrayed as nothing really out of the normal. This does not help with the image of women because society will believes what they are advertising because it is becoming a norm to publish women in a manner that is no where near realistic. It can cause men to have misconceptions of women and how they should look and act. It can also make women insecure about their looks or body image because there are so many misguided images of what they should look like.

Less then 20% of females represent directors, writes, and produces. This definitely can account for the faulty images of women that are being consumed by the media and its viewers. If women are not represented well enough in the social media, then there cannot be accurate or realistic images of how women are portrayed. It does not make sense that men control the images of women in social media, because it just gives a bias look of how they perceive their ideal women would look like. Their image can be something that is completely unachievable by women. The male population is dominating the media, yet there are plenty of women that are being used in social media.

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