Who Shot JR?

One of my good friends is obsessed with Dallas. I am not talking about the hometown of the Dallas Cowboys, but the soap opera “Dallas”. He says that his mother used to watch the show. He watches it now because it makes him think of her. Although I had never watched the show before, I had heard of it quite a bit. Brazil (I am originally from Brazil) was one of the dozens of countries that translated and broadcasted “Dallas” to their national audience. My parents watched “Dallas” too so I was able to relate to my friend’s interest in the show. I decided to watch a few clips on YouTube. The show revolved around the Ewing family. They were an extremely wealthy family from Texas who made their money in the oil industry. The series lasted 13 seasons from 1978 to 1991. “Dallas” became a national phenomenon during the 1980 season with the episode in which the main character JR was shot. Close to 42 million households tuned into the show to find out who had shot JR. This episode is still the second most viewed event in all American television history.

For anyone who does not have personal reasons to watch “Dallas”, the show might not make much sense nowadays. However, it was huge during the 80s. Why was it so popular at that time? It was popular because it was relevant for viewers of that specific period of time. Many media texts will only make sense when considering the context in which they were created.

Most of the show took place in the 80s. During that time, the country was going through significant social and economical changes. It was the Reaganomics period. A time in which the federal government reduced spending, controlled the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulated corporations, and lowered income tax and capital gains tax. All these policies were implemented to increase the circulation of money in the economy. People were sold on the idea that the country was rich and everyone could become rich. They believed that one day they too could live luxuriously like the Ewing family.

Taciani D.

Hegemony

The ideas that we hold are brought down to us from people with influence who also happen to have power. Celebrities, politicians, aristocrats, and people with causes such as civil rights leaders often present their ideas to the public and we adopt these ideas as our own, because we look up to these people. We are consequently influenced to follow their actions, ideas or lifestyle. This is the simple idea of being a role model. People ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe to people with influence on media websites such as Facebook or twitter because we “want to be like them and know what drives their inner thoughts”.  Mark Zuckerman has almost 11million subscribers on Facebook? Why? The guy was the youngest billionaire in history by designing a simple website that was already established like “Myspace”.  We want to know what his secret to success was, and how he continues to be successful. These are the people who influence our lives. They are the elite, the aristocrats, and the people with influence. They basically set the bar for the rest of us and we eat this up, because the public want to experience the same lifestyle as them. This is what we call Hegemony. 

Mad Men

The television series "Mad Men" is set in the 1960's in the ego-driven world of advertisement and is based on the lives of the working men and their house wives. The show is a perfect example of the gender stereotypes that take place in our society and the way men are depicted as middle class, hard working Americans who are able to get away with cheating on their wives and treating them like garbage. The message this show sends to the audience is not positive and teaches us that men are supposed to be working in an office while their wives are at home taking care of their children and spending their time in the kitchen or cleaning. Mad Men shows a lifestyle that we are supposed to believe as being the real way to do things in our society and I am glad our generation has advanced and changed the way we have relationships to some extent. For example, many more fathers are staying at home and a lot of women are becoming more and more successful and getting education and jobs that didn't exist years ago. Since the show takes place in the 1960's, things were not as equal back than but it is reassuring to know that our society has developed a different outlook on the way we work and raise our children but the stereotypes have not gone away yet. Overall, the way men are supposed to act according to "Mad Men" is an inaccurate deception of the way we should be living.

Matt T.

Realty TV Bites: The Bad Girls Club Chronicles

Reality TV has been a growing phenomenon since its explosion in the late 1990's/early 2000's. Reality shows have ranged from Big Brother to The Bachelor and Survivor. The Real World is one of the longest-running reality series in history with 26 seasons to date. The list of reality shows could go on forever, but what exactly do reality shows have to offer? Why is America so fascinated with the daily lives of "reality stars"? In an attempt to answer said questions, I began to reflect on my own reality TV vices...

I am not proud to admit this, but The Bad Girls Club is a "reality" show that I have been a ridiculously avid fan of since season 1. Over the years and various seasons, I have seen the chosen girls evolve from "bad" to "worse" to absolute train wreck. The season 8 premier aired this Monday night, and I found myself swaddled on my couch at 8:59 p.m. giddy with anticipation for the 9:00 introduction of this season's "bad girls". Embarrassing I know, but I'm addicted. Soon after the premier, I began to reflect on the past 7 seasons in an attempt to find out why the hell I even watch this show. I get so much flak from my friends, family and peers for watching The Bad Girls Club so I decided to look inside myself for some answers. And guess what? I really didn't find any convincing arguements...

I have come to the conclusion that I do not have one valid arguement as to why I watch this show besides the entertainment factor. I do not look up to these girls, nor do I envy them, nor do I ever want to be included in their "club". I guess I just get a kick out of the outrageously amazing things that happen within the walls of The Bad Girls house, knowing that the things I see on the show will in all actuality, never happen in my life. It's ironic to say that I watch "reality" shows as an escape from my reality. Not that my life is boring in the least bit, but on a Monday night I typically don't get belligerently drunk and pull my roommates hair extensions out because she was a "skanky betch" and destroyed my favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's when she was prancing around in the club wearing them last Saturday.

My inner reflection revealed this about Americans: we like crazy. We want to watch trashy reality TV because we can. We're American damnit. We enjoy watching physically attractive people with heinous personalities destroy other physically attractive people's belongings. We want to know just how many shots it takes to get to the center of someones drinking problem. We want to watch "bad girls" act like they're all that and a bag of chips because it's entertaining and we don't really act like that when we go out in public. So as long as we are continually entertained by reality stars and their antics, whether "real" or not, reality TV will continue to reign supreme in the American arena of pop culture awesomeness!!

What is quality television really? by Kevin Mccarthy

Everyone defines quality in different ways. Whether it be a prime steak or a McDonald's hamburger, everyone has there own definition of quality.  When discussing our favorite shows in class, it started to think what my definition was.  I watch some TV but not as much as many others and when i do it is more sporting events then anything else.  I commonly watch Archer and The League, Spartacus, and Entourage.  My definition would say that those shows would be quality but that could be different for other people because some would say that Archer and The League are crude and stupid, Spartacus is way to violent and Entourage is what is wrong in society today because of how it profiles women.  Sure those things might be present but they are essential to the storyline.  Archer is James Bond with mommy issues. The League is mostly improv so there is bound to be some rude stuff in there.  Spartacus is about gladiators and there masters and Entourage, well the tag line says it all, "Maybe We Can Have It All".  Opinions are voiced everyday through the Internet, TV, and other media sources but when those opinions are being shoved down peoples throats that is when it is OK to say Shut up and leave it at that.

Hegemony & Entertainment News

     After reading and discussing hegemony in class, I could not help to think about all of the entertainment news we have in media such as celebrity news shows, magazines, blogs, twitter, and so on.  E! News is a perfect example of this source of media.  This is a show that’s on nightly and has all the breaking news and gossip about celebrities.  This show glamorizes celebrity gossip such as whose hooking up, breaking up, etc.  They focus on issues and stories that are in reality, trivial to our society.  Yet, the way these stories are presented make them seem important stories for its viewers to be informed on.    However, the fact that this show, along with other entertainment news, has been on for awhile and receives ratings suggests that people in America watch these shows and are in fact interested in what is going on in the lives of celebrities.  I will admit that I often find myself watching E! News or reading through a tabloid magazine.  This had me thinking about the whole issue of hegemony and the influence the elite and celebrities have over others.  It seems that a lot of celebrities unintentionally control what is in the media.  Not all celebrities choose to necessarily have their personal lives in the media, yet, because people are interested in their lives they do, however, influence the media.  Therefore, the elite, in certain ways, are the ones that choose what is in the media, but without a mass amount of people to consume this media, there would be no audience and this type of programming would not be aired.

Artificial Reality

In the essay “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, the authors discuss the idea that the masses have difficulty distinguishing reality from culture.  At first this was a little confusing and hard to wrap my head around.  After some thought, it made sense after thinking about it in terms of reality shows.  We can look specifically at reality shows like the Jersey Shore, the Real Housewives Series, and others that ultimately create this fictitious culture to capture as reality. 

            These shows are shows in which the people are specifically chosen and the environment set.  Then in order to create what the producers would consider the best show, they are able to edit everything in order to show only certain parts of this “reality” giving a skewed perspective to the audience.  These shows are labeled as “reality” shows because they are “real” people in “real” environments and that are supposedly unscripted.  Despite the artificial culture, the masses really don’t distinguish it as a separate culture.  This “culture” they are watching on television is not a reality as they tend to perceive it. 

            When I think about it, I think it’s kind of crazy that these shows are not separated from reality.  I feel as though it has become fairly well known that these shows aren’t as “real” as people thought when they originally started airing on television.  I wonder if this is something that is naturally engrained in us or is it something more.  In the article “The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the authors discuss how there is a small ruling class and they are the ones that chooses what ideas and concepts go out to the masses.  Essentially, this ruling class has a great influence over the masses and can basically manipulate them.  So there’s also the possibility that the ruling class is manipulating the masses making it difficult for us to distinguish the reality and culture.  While this is something that would be quite difficult to research specifically I think this is something that would be quite interesting to think about and possibly look more into.   

Meghan O.