Contemporary Media Analysis

1. What does the media say about the world we live in?

Media mirrors our society, and our wants and desires for society. For example, in current media, there are many new portrayals of different social groups such as the LGBTQA and women. In TV shows such as Glee, there are gay and lesbian characters that are successfully integrated into the show without it being a major deal, highlighting how American culture is learning to accept another social group fully into the "norm" of media. Although media can portray racy themes and ideas, it mostly depicts what has been accepted in society, thus showing an acceptance of the LGBTQA, even if it's not a full acceptance yet.

2. Do you notice any one trend that keeps resurfacing through multiple media forms?

Throughout any form of media, the blurred lines between good and evil is a trend truly reflecting the human desire to empathize. We don't want the character that is perfectly good or perfectly evil because, frankly, we can't relate to them; we don't feel what they feel. In shows such as Breaking Bad or The Vampire Diaries, probably the most interesting characters are the flawed ones. In The Vampire Diaries, the character of Damon Salvatorre is an arrogant, impulsive character that is supposedly the worse of the Salvatorre brothers, but he is by far my favorite character mainly due to his flaws. He may be arrogant and brash, but he also has a deep seeded love for Katherine (another vampire) and cares a lot about the other characters on the show, even if he pretends to be the sarcastic, apathetic

character. In The Dark Knight Rises, Harvey Dent definitely shows the blurred lines between good and evil. Dent, a hero of the city's legal system, begins to seek revenge when the love of his life is killed, but does that truly make him evil? I personally empathize (not to that extreme) with the desire to seek revenge when something bad happens to me, so I can't see Dent as a truly evil character. He was simply a good character pushed to the point of bad.

3. What do you see as the best and worst of what media portrays?

Media is great at depicting a sense of community; it can bring together social groups that have been outcasted and stereotyped throughout our culture and make us appreciate them. For instance, I hate Fantasy Football players (definition) but watching the TV show The League gives me a better appreciation for them and lets me accept them more than I did before I started watching the show. Nevertheless, the media in America at least is pretty bad at the portrayal of sexual content versus violent content. Why is it that movies with violence are more appropriate for younger children to watch than movies with some (not a lot) sexual content? In our society I'm pretty sure it's more socially acceptable to kiss someone rather than punch them. It's just always confused me on why the opposite is true in media.

4. Where do you see yourself contributing to the conversation?

Throughout last year in film and some of my analysis pieces, I feel I contribute to the portrayal of community and relationships. For example, in my presentation last week, I felt like I relatively covered the topic of LGBTQA in the media (and it's also in #1). Also, last year my films Return to Sender and Truth be Told highlighted relationships pretty well throughout my contributions in cinematography and sound design.