Hegemony and influence

Heres a video i found interesting. Even though Ron Paul is part of the higher intellectual and influential class, we didnt listen. His predictions are accurate but since there are people above him his influence didnt go very far with these words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGDisyWkIBM

So to go off of that, Rap artists in their videos have more of an influence in our culture even though it is the politicians that run this country. Rap artists will tell us what to think, how to dress, and like Common's video, tell us that bad areas in Chicago arent exactly bad because that is where he was from. Kanyes rap videos depict the rich and powerful as the bad influence, although Kanye himself is part of the "rich and powerful". This was a reason why they asked Mike Myers and Kanye West to speak on behalf of relief parties for Katrina. This was where Kanye took the opportunity to make a fool of himself and President Bush. He used his power to influence the people regarding an issue that was clearly irrelevant to the matter at hand.

Hegemony and TV

Reading about hegemony had me thinking about the way hegemony works on TV. It is easy to see from observing most televisions shows that they are about white, middle class characters. Characters of different classes, ethnicities, and backgrounds seem to be included a lot of the time to "fill a quota," so to speak, like an afterthought almost. When you examine some of the most popular shows on TV, it's a little concerning to see what the people in charge, the people with hegemony, have decided what we want to watch. Extremely wealthy people with hegemony over the other classes make it so that in shows like True Blood, Bones, New Girl, and Grey's Anatomy that the "ethnic friend" is never a lead character and is there to round out the cast or make the show seem politically correct. I'm not suggesting that all characters from non-white, non-middle class on TV are intended this way, but I fear and think that most are. Even on shows not considered strictly scripted, like The Voice or American Idol, there is a contrived harmonic balance of "celebrities" or "voice coaches" or "judges" to achieve a false sense of unity, and apparently, that's the way TV is nowadays. 

Homogenized Mocha-chino land

On CNN's website there is an article talking about our societies fascination with year end lists. We take a look back at the end of the yeAr, and make lists to say who was the best in film, TV, and music. This last year Lady GaGa and Justin Beiber were major trends in the social sphere, while Charlie Sheen was the butt of jokes for his outlandish antics. This article seemed perfect for this class because it deals with what we were taking about in terms of hegemony. We are living and contributing to a society that enjoys things like "best" and " worst" lists, and the media want us to participate. As stated in the article, we are so inundated with media everyday that sometimes lists are needed just to process, and see what is out there. We are made to believe that our opinion counts, and that We have a lot of power over what is popular. While that may be true, it is only half of the problem. The media and society in general likes hegemony because it's safe and there is a standard of " normality". How can you sell things to the masses if you don't know what they like? In a nutshell, we are being told what to like, and we aren't doing anything to fight against that. Samantha Morales http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/23/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/obsessions-year-end-lists/index.html

hegemony

     After really thinking about everything we discussed this week one idea really stood out, and that was hegemony, which means the power a class has over another. This got me thinking of what class has power over who? In my eyes the media is a higher class because they decide what we see, and how we should view things and form opinions. From magazines, to tv, to movies, and on the internet there is that high “power” that decides what we will view. On tv ideas are instilled in our minds and therefore aid in our opinions we make. Celebrities endorse products and when you see a celebrity you like in a magazine with a new perfume, there’s a great chance you will buy it. But I feel that the things the media puts out there for us to absorb is most of the time not beneficial to us. I watched the state of the union address on Tuesday, and thought to myself if my teacher wouldn’t have told me it was on, I probably would not know; but if the media and celebrities whom we follow daily mentioned it or said it was important to watch, I think a lot more people would become involved.

     Just from that one example in my own life it shows how hegemony works in our society. We would rather have the media feed us news and how to think then take the time to watch something that actually may be beneficial for us.

Malorie D

WARNING: All content may be the same!

Reality or fake? What is TV today? This question has been running though my mind. With media companies that seem to control most of the worlds content it seems to mean that all television content can be considered fake. Reality TV is seen as “trashy” because of the content it provides, but in fact this same content is produces from the same production companies that give you the news and shows. So then you have to ask yourself, why do you see Lindsey Lohan on every channel. Is it because we as Americans care so strongly about her and her life or is there more to this? Is there a world of people that are controlling the content we see. About a year ago, I stopped watching television. In fact, I only started watching television this past summer during my internships when I had to watch what news other stations were covering. It is here that I see the same content being filtered on every channel in different ways. So why have some much content of the same? Why not leave room for new, innovated channels that can be found on sites like YouTube.com to make into the main stream? Why has creativity been shunned upon and destroyed? These and many more answers I aim to look for and have answered for you all shortly. 

Shameless

The television series “Shameless” is a family of seven set in the south side of Chicago.  The father does not really contribute much for the kids since he is an alcoholic that depends on his unemployment, so it is up to the family’s oldest daughter Fiona to take care of everyone.  The show can be pretty serious when dealing with making sure ends meet and the responsibility that is put on the oldest daughter but it adds comedic relief when things get too serious.  In last week’s episode, Fiona, the oldest daughter found a purse on the L that had over five hundred dollars in it.  Because her family needed it, she took the money and gave the purse back to the rightful owner.  When going to meet up with the purse’s owner to at least return the bag, the owner said that she could tell Fiona is a poor girl from the ghetto and she knows she stole the money.  I think it is a good example of stereotypes because it shows how one girl from the north side thinks the other girl is ghetto just because she is from the south side.  There is a sense of hegemony since the girl from the north side automatically thought she was above Fiona strictly because of where she lived.  Stereotypes are prevalent throughout all society and even television shows represent it accurately.

melissa b

American Idol Changing the Way We View Talent

A new season of American Idol has begun and, although I am not a huge fan, I do love seeing the auditions.  The auditions are always full of extremely strange individuals who in reality can not sing.  Each person who auditions is portrayed as a typical everyday American who is trying to accomplish the new American dream of becoming famous.  This reflects that perhaps American culture values fame not only as a dream for success but also as a guide for everyday life.  American Idol demonstrates this by showing that the contestants are OK with being judged, rather harshly, by a panel of famous celebrates telling them how to improve on everything from their singing to their wardrobe.  This made me think that this show is a great example of how the American culture consumes media because what does American Idol offer its viewers?  It does not make you think or offer new information, all it does is entertain.  Not that their is anything wrong with entertainment but American Idol has , in a way, changed the way we perceive ‘talent’.  After American Idol, becoming famous does not require ‘talent’ like singing well or being able to dance.  Now being famous can be as easy as making yourself look ridiculous on shows like American Idol.