Episodic Sitcoms: "The Big Bang Theory"

           Television sitcoms are characterized as either episodic or serial.  According to Colin Tain’s lecture, today there are more episodic sitcoms that consist of only half an hour episodes.   These episodes are usually framed to end where they first began, allowing the characters to learn important lessons as they resolve specific situations. For example, every episode in the show focuses on bringing about or touching upon certain issues that typically affect our society.  Thus, these episodic sitcoms allow the audiences to pick up these lessons as the plot becomes more predictable.  In other words, the audiences are able to familiarize and connect with the characters as their traits become more distinguishable.  However, at many times sitcoms are simply made to poke fun of certain parts of society or at person’s unusual personality to allow the audience to forget about society’s everyday problems.

One great example of an episodic sitcom that is comical due to its characters unusual personality is “The Big Bang Theory.” This show is one of my favorite sitcoms because of its comedic characters and setting.  For instance, this sitcom’s storyline revolves around the lives of two physicists named Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper who happen to be roommates and best friends.  Most of the times Leonard and Sheldon are faced with situations that test their friendship due to Sheldon’s crazy, naïve, and unconventional personality. Usually, it is Sheldon who brings humor to this show with the manner in which he carries conversations with his friends.  For example, he always brutally honest about things and speaks his mind unaware if he is hurting his friends feelings, due to how disconnected he is from the world.  However, by the end of each episode, their friendship survives Sheldon’s outrages ideas and actions.

Overall, “The Big Bang Theory” show allows their audience to enjoy a fun sitcom that allows them to have forget about society’s problems and just focus on the character’s outrages personality.

The Blind Side: Basic Shot Progression

         The Blind Side, directed and written by John Lee Hancock is one of my all time favorite films.  This film is based upon the life of Baltimore Raven’s offensive lineman Michael Oher.  This film captures the struggles and hardships that Michael faced growing up as he dealt with poverty and abandonment in a crime driven environment. Additionally, it shows the dramatic changes that his life underwent when he met the Touhy family.  In the film, the use of Long Shots, Medium Shots, and Close-Up Shots were important because they help present the storyline for this film.

         In the first scene of the film, Michael Oher is introduced to the audience using a Long Shot.   The connotative meaning of the LS/Orientation Shot in this scene show us the type of neighborhood Michael lived in.  For instance, it shows us that Michael lived in the projects in the poor side of town of Memphis, Tennessee.  At the same time, this LS scene establishes the sadness, isolation, and loneliness that Michael feels within him.  This scene is then followed by a Medium Shot, in which the audience is now able to see the pain inflicted on Michael face. Like, Professor Ramirez-Berg mention, the MS is important because it gives us the visual information of Michael’s character as it narrows the center of interest on him.

         

Another great example of shot progressing within the film, is the scene in which Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy see Michael walking in the rain on the side of the road.  In this scene the Long Shot of Michael walking all alone in the freezing rain, show the audience once more the pain, sadness, and isolation that Michael is feeling as he has no place to go or no one to turn to for help.  In this same scene, we also have several close up shots of Leigh Anne.  For example, we have a close up of Leigh Anne as she notices Michael walking alone in the freezing rain and she gets off the car to help him out.  These close up shots are important because it sets up the emotions and feelings of the character.  In Leigh Anne’s case, it show her concerned for Michael and her willingness to lend him a hand.

Star System in Classical Hollywood

During the Classical Hollywood era, studio systems controlled all aspects of American film production.  Studios where known to be vertically integrated, allowing them to own all stages of production, distribution, and exhibition.  I think that one significant aspect of the studio system was the star system, in which production studios contracted and used their stars to promote and sell their films.  Studios discovered this was an affective technique because they realized that people went to see their films because of the stars that were featured in it.

As studios discovered and contracted their stars, they also associated them with a specific genre.  From this point forward, studios would have their stars interpret the same type of character in different films at a time.  This in many ways affected the kinds of films studios made because the stars success in a specific film would then decide the type of genre that production studios would focus on.

One great example of the star system would be the character of Charlie Chaplin.  During his acting career, Charlie Chaplin always acted in movies by only using gestures and action.  He was well known for his visual comedy during the silent film era, in films such as, “Modern Times”, “The Great Dictator”, and “Gold Rush".  He basically demonstrated how studios used stars to represent a specific genre in their films.

“All in the Family” VS “That ‘70s Show”

Throughout the years, television comedy sitcoms have been a very popular form of entertainment for many people.  Since it first began in the 1950s, sitcoms have focused on tackling down important societal issues as well as conflicts that typical American families go through.  Although much has changed since sitcoms first started, today many still continue to follow the same basic concepts.  “All in the Family” which aired in CBS in 1971, is one of many family sitcoms of its time that illustrated the concerns that many people in society at that time had with the issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality.  Much of the shows humor comes from the way in which the characters, in especially Archie Bunker, embrace society’s stereotypes.   In the episode screen last Thursday, the character of Archie Bunker showed a bigot World War II veteran whose tolerance for homosexuals was completely unacceptable.

In great part, “All in the Family” reminded me much of the sitcom “That ‘70s Show.”  Like Archie, Red Forman is also a World War II veteran who in many ways takes the idea of manhood very seriously.  For instance, he does not tolerate men who demonstrate sensitivity and do not follow the ideal “macho” stereotype.  In the episode “We will Rock you,” Red Forman demonstrates his discomfort for homosexuals as he sees his new neighbors kissing in his living room.  In addition, while Red and Archie share the same ideas regarding sexuality, their personalities are very much similar to one another.  Red and Archie illustrate the hardworking and hardcore discipline dad figures that are the structure of the family.  Most of the times they are very opinionated and grumpy individuals who always think they are right about everything.  What is most surprising is how both of their appearances are almost similar to one another. Overall, “That ‘70s show” is similar to “All in the Family” in that it demonstrates the everyday conflicts that a typical American family goes through and how they deal with stereotypes in society.  

However, while the sitcom “That ‘70s Show” is somewhat similar to “All in the Family”, it is also very different.  “That ‘70s Show” which aired in FOX in 1998 portrayed life in the 1970s, while the sitcom “All in the Family” was actually produced in the 1970s.  In addition, “That ‘70s Show” deals much more with the life experiences of the teenagers, Eric, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Jackie, and Fez.  Much different than the sitcom “All in the Family”, this show incorporated all different types racial background characters like Fez, who is a foreign exchange student.  In addition, I think that the character of Red Forman a little bit different than Archie in that he at times is a little soft when it comes to his daughter Laurie, while Archie isn’t.

         While both sitcoms are portraying life in the 70s, I think that the main difference these two sitcom shows have is the issues they represent. In “That ‘70s Show”, there are more issues regarding drug use, feminism, economic recession, and family unity.  On the contrary, “All in the Family” focuses more on issues of race and homosexuality.

Technological Changes in the Radio Industry

Radio today has changed in many different ways from the time since it first started.  In many ways, it all has to do with the technological changes and innovations it has gone through throughout the years.  For instance, these changes have allowed the radio industry to transform itself from a wireless telegraph transmitter into a worldwide entertainment business with a broader audience.

            Dating back to 1896, radio first started out as a “wireless telegraph” that transmitted Morse code signals.  Guglielmo Marconi created it with the sole purpose to transmit telegraphed signals to places in which telegraph wires were not able to function.   This type of media technology was then strongly adopted by the military, thus, making radio only government operated.  However, after realizing the strong potential that the radio had for transmitting information through long distance, it soon became the interest of David Sarnoff to bring radio into American households as a form of entertainment.  This new form of radio technology know as a “Radio Music Box” brought forth music, news, sports, and soap operas to American households. 

Overall, technological changes strongly affected the evolution of the U.S radio system in the 1920s.  Such technological inventions that helped influence change were the creation of the “vacuum tubes” in 1906 by Lee de Forest.  This creation brought and allowed the transmission of radio sounds, music and voice, in which later on facilitated the development of the radio in the 1920s.  As a result, many radio stars were born and many active listeners began to be readily informed about important news and music across America. 

Media Impact: Social Learning Theory

   How exactly does the media impact our decisions? Many can agree that media is exposed through many different methods including, television, the Internet, video games, and advertising. However, media exposure can definitely have strong effects on those who consume it. One of the underlying theories discussed in Chapter 13 about the effects that media has on individual is that the user tends to imitate the attitudes, images, or behaviors displayed in the media. This theory is known as the “Social Learning Theory”.

   In many ways, I believe that the social learning theory justifies how media persuades their captive audiences to believe that what they see is the right way to act. Therefore, the more we can relate to what they show in the media the more likely we will apply those behaviors in our everyday life. As a result, when children see violence in television shows or in video games, it is more likely that they will apply that violence and accept it as a norm as they grow up. The same applies, when advertisements on television demonstrate women to be the most beautiful, when they are thin and allow themselves to be objectified.

   One great example that explains this theory is the movie Killing Us Softly. In this movie it shows that while advertisers use ads to selling their products to consumers they also sell the image that is displayed within their ad. For example, while they are trying to sell their make up products to women, many advertisers like Maybelline are focus in depicting women’s beauty based on body image. This then sends a message to many women who are viewing ad that having that ultra-skinny image is what’s considered beautiful. In many ways, the manner in which advertisers illustrate women’s image affects the way women in society view their own body image. In other words, it makes women in society to take extreme measures to obtain that perfectly body image that only exists in advertisements.

Hegemony in Media

Today, media seems to be one of the primary resources people use to get informed of the latest news, products, and ideas that are constantly taking place and affecting our society.   However, much of the media, such as advertising, applies the concept of hegemony to reinforce the idea about gender roles and other societal issues.  In a way, it helps us understand how men and women are portrayed in this world.

I personally think that when hegemony is applied to the world of advertising and media it is used in a way to subconsciously manipulate the audience perspectives on certain issues within our society.   It tends to focus much on the ideas, principles, and beliefs of the dominant class.  Much of the reason why I believe that we accept the ideology of the dominant class is because, for a along time we have lived through and somehow accepted the stereotypes.  Therefore, when it comes to the images depicted in advertising and media, we see it as natural.

One great example of the concept of hegemony in media advertising is the Snickers commercial featuring Mr. T, which was launched in 2008.  This commercial starts off with a white man speed walking with a feminine movement.  Storming out of a house in a truck, Mr. T began shooting with a machine gun at the man with Snickers candy bars and states, “you are a disgrace to the man race, is time to run like a real man.”  At that moment the man begins to run faster.  The Snicker advertisement illustrates how men should act tough and be more physical, otherwise it is consider to be unmanly.  Like in the movie documentary “Tough Guise” Jackson Katz talks about how men are portrayed as being “sissy” or “fags” if they don’t act like a “real man.”  In this commercial Mr. T demonstrates how the dominant culture doesn’t appreciate men who don’t put up with that “macho act” like he does. In other words, the ideology of the dominant culture believes that a man should be strong, in control, and athletic to be accepted by society.  Therefore, advertising media like Snickers, use the concept of hegemony to reinforce the dominant culture ideas about a men’s image in a subconscious manner that men consent to and learn to accept.