Final Project: Violence Against Women in Media

Sam Courter

Sam Frace

Natalie Guyon

Cindy Himes

Rachel Hopkins

Isaac Lephart

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Let's Start Changing the World

In our class time spent on Jane McGonigal, there were mixed reactions.  Some people felt like she had good ideas, others disagreed, and some didn't understand.  Going into the article, I recognized the title and author from the book that had been sitting on my bookshelf this semester.  My friend let me borrow it when she saw it had caught my eye in her room.  She attends Marquette University, up in Wisconsin.  Her freshman year, the school had required incoming students to read McGonigal's Reality is Broken for their equivalent of BSU's Freshman Connections program.  I have not yet read the book, but it still sits there patiently, awaiting my next holiday bus ride home.

I am not a gamer.  The closest I got in my childhood was when Dad would let us play Dr. Mario on his NES, and when I was older, going to my friend's house and getting to play The Sims (--wild, right?  She got to watch Legally Blonde when it first came out too).  So I don't have a fully formed opinion on the topic.  But after reading about McGonigal and watching her TED Talk, I felt like I was missing something.  I heard her big idea, and I heard how crazy some people thought the big idea was.  What I didn't hear was how to make her big idea work.  The Mother Jones article discussed World Without Oil, and other creative storytelling-like games.  If this is what she's bringing to the table, that's nice, but there's got to be more, right?  Creative, choose-your-own-adventure styles are interesting, but certainly don't account for a large majority of games out there.  The hype surrounding her made me think that she was going to design games that solved problems right there, right now!  We know we're the generation of instant gratification, we've been lectured how much we suck before.  But you've got to design for your market, and we want to help!  When we talked about video games changing the world, my mind jumped to two things:

1) freerice.com is a website someone brought up in school years ago.  It's not a video game, but it's strategy certainly has potential.  According to it's FAQ page:

"Here is how it works: when you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen for every correct answer that you choose. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people."

The site gives you a quick multiple choice questions to answer, then let's you know if you were right or wrong and gives you the next one.  The difficulty builds as you go, and the subjects can be changed.  If you've got some time to waste, try the SAT prep questions.  It's a great way to feel bad about the things you've forgotten about since 12th grade.  As far as legitimacy, the internet seems to have positive feelings about it.  It's been featured on BBC and NPR.  And if it's not real, we can pretend it is--what a great way to stir up those feelings of slactivism!

Arrested Development, S4E14, 2013

2) Buster Bluth in season five of Arrested Development.  If you're afraid of spoilers, no fear, it's not a big one, but skip down a few lines.  If you don't care or already marathoned it: remember when he didn't know he was a drone pilot?  Good times, good times.

So if games are going to change the world, let's make it happen.  I can't seem to find any other proposed plans from McGonigal yet.  However, video games are an engaging, popular form of media entertainment.  If the Army can use lifestyle marketing, so can activism.

PS: Alongside our sports talk of this week, here's a cool contest going on for ad spot in the Superbowl. Two of the finalists go along with topics we've covered in class: GoldieBlox is developing toys designed for girls that stray from gentle princess toys.  Locally Laid let's their chickens roam in the real outside!  It's a cool peak at how small businesses are picking up on societal problems and could hint at changing times ahead.

Professor.com

In the Media-Centered Perspectives chapter from the start of the year, the parasocial relationship theory is defined as a "one-sided relationship where one party know a great deal about the other party, but the other does not...often occur[ing] between celebrities and fans."  Many of us have confessed our parasocial relationships through class, twitter, or this very blog.  I'm guilty myself of referring to comedians Tina Fey and Gilda Radner by their first names.

My girls.

I'd like to take some time to discuss a different angle on the parasocial relationship I've noticed this semester: that between student and teacher.  In one of my classes especially, the first day was kicked off with an announcement that this was a trial semester where we would be combining elements of an online and regularly meeting class to create a sort of hybrid.  Video lectures are posted on the regular days when he did not hold class.  We are expected to post a specific number of intellectual comments on each video.

On the upside of this process: no class!  At least one of the three meeting times per week, I mean.  This is a nine a.m. class too, so I didn't even try to fool myself with a "I'll just get up at the same time and get the lectures done during the regular meeting period." Nope, I slept in and it was great.  And at any point during the day that I had time, I did my substitute work.  This also provides the opportunity to make students participate a clearly defined amount.  I assume this cuts down time deciding participation grades.  The students post three times or they get a bad grade.  Those posts have to have some element of brainpower to them, or they get a bad grade.

On the other hand, there is a big difference between class discussion and commenting on a youtube video.  The classes where we met as a group resulted in some good, meaty discourse.  Online, few people interact with one another, and rarely ask questions.  Sure, if you got your video comments down days ahead of time, someone may mention that they agree, but they're more concerned with getting their six points for the week instead.  There is little interaction between the students, and even less between educator and student...

There are some wild ideas out there about machines taking over the nurturing roles in human society.  Machines build products, package food, distribute cash, even give us our lobsters.  If your interested, just ask Mama Google.  Even where machines aren't replacing humans, they are certainly working with them.  Students are expected to check their emails and certain websites frequently.  Exchanging emails lead to finding times to schedule meetings.  If I didn't have my personal laptop for home, I'd have spent at least another three hours on campus today.

So then, we look at this lecture procedure.  On typical days we go to class and spend an hour receiving the information from the professor, and then discuss that information with him and our classmates.  But on the one or two days a week that we don't have class at the regular time, we are listening to prerecorded lectures from the professor.  We get the knowledge from him in a disconnected form.  This is still in his voice, his teaching style, even with some jokes thrown in.  We consume the media like we would an episode of Friends.  I believe this creates a version of the parasocial relationship.  The students are still listening to him speak for an hour, but our only responses are several typed comments about the topic.  I've yet to see someone make a lighthearted comment about a topic, like they may in a regular small class setting.  Everyone wants to come off smart enough to earn their points and be done.

Since it is a small class, under thirty students, we are expected to speak up on the days we do have class (although, it is a morning class, and I'll admit there are days I play the "just avoid eye contact and hopefully he won't call on me" game).  However, the majority of communication from the students comes from our written assignments.  The two or three academic writing assignments we have for class are the time that the students get to give the professors insight on them.  So, I'm not sure what my professors gather from me by just reading what I have to say for a grade.  Once (not for a college-level course), I compared a Twain villain to Ursula from The Little Mermaid.  I thought it was a very insightful comparison, but Mrs. Gugerty didn't.  "Your tone's just a little too casual for structured writing, don't you think, dear?"

With the use of Blackboard, inQsit, Gradebook, and personal websites all over the place, there is plenty of room to create content that connects you to others.  There is also the potential to alienate yourself.  I don't think there is any harm to using technology in the classroom.  Technology is a giant part of our day.  I do think that this means we still need to take the time and present ourselves as people though, too.  Where's the fun in grading 300 lecture comments with no personality?  As college courses climb further and further into the cloud, it's interesting to see how the relationships between students and educators are changing.

Branding a Movement

from: http://feministriots.tumblr.com/

Earlier this semester, we discussed in class the importance of branding.  Companies are now selling us ideas > products.  It's not the product you are buying, it's how the product makes you look.  It's about outside appearances.  It's about flashy, bold, memorable campaigns that can be mass produced.  (Ex: Sites like tumblr and pinterest, where you see is the image, placed above a description by the user.  It's all about drawing the eye.)

By now, we've discovered how to brand a product, a product line, a corporation, a celebrity, even to some extent ourselves.  But what about the brand of a movement?  The brand of an unregistered collection of like-minded people, with varying degrees of passions and a giant range of ideas?  How does a group brand themselves when there is no weekly board meeting or member facebook group (actually, I'm sure there are facebook groups about all types of movements, but who's to say they speak for the whole?)?

This is the dilemma that some feminists are approaching today.  This movement has experienced quite the history, with many wins and loses.  An argument that is growing momentum is that the word "feminist" is outdated.  Some believe it's outdated, others find themselves unable to relate with it.  Joss Whedon finds it ugly.

Whedon suggests coining a term to collect all the negative behavior feminists fight against.  In her article in The Atlantic, Abigail Rine expresses her exhaustion of having to continually defend the term from it's preconceived negative terms:

http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/the-pros-and-cons-of-abandoning-the-word-feminist/275511/

While Rine is tired of having to defend the term from the misinformed, she only has one reason to keep from dropping it that holds a lot of weight: nostalgia.  The term has been through it all with past generations.  It's been dragged through the mud and held up on shoulders.  Would dropping the label in order to reinvent the movement be "letting them win"?  Would it be disrespectful to the hard workers of the past?  There would hardly be a way to make everyone happy, even if the movement somehow agreed name-changing was the best course.

In my naive opinion: a change of name is something to consider.  As mentioned above, there would be no way to make everyone happy, but maybe a gender-neutral name would keep would-be feminists from shying aware if they understood the movement is not about female dominance, but equality.  I understand that I have much more to read and understand about this topic, but I'd love to hear from you.  Do you think feminists should consider re-branding?  Have any other movements taken this route?

Thanks for reading,
Sam

Juno and Girl Power: Part II

Last week, I delved into the status of Juno MacGuff of 20^th Century Fox’s Juno as an advocate of “girl power”. In class we established that “girl power” status is established by these factors: she rejects boys, is social, is the lead, is complicated, and is “real.”  Last week, I discussed the first two on that list, as seen here:

http://bsupopculture322.blogspot.com/2013/11/juno-and-girl-power-part-i.html

Now, I will discuss the other three factors, again using the version of the script found here:

http://cinemascopian.com/pics/2008oscars/juno.pdf

She is the Lead

Juno is the title character, and her name is mentioned 727 times in the script.

She is Complicated

Throughout the movie, Juno comes across multiple conflicts

One of the most complicated is what to do about her pregnancy.  Juno approaches this large shock very calm, and behind her goofy phrases come a very logical (although not always emotionally connected) step-by-step plan.

After confirming her pregnancy, Juno tells her two closest friends, one of which was involved with the conception (11):  

I strongly believe even just by looking at the words that Juno's apparent nonchalantness is thinly veiling some scarier emotions, especially when looking at her apology as she dismisses herself from the tense situation.

Her next move, after running it by Bleeker with no objections (not that he stands up for himself the whole movie), is to terminate the pregnancy.  At the clinic, she changes her mind.  Much like post-confession Ellen, Juno barely delves into the political issues of her decision. When she tells her friend about her change of mind, she approaches Leah in a flurry.  At that point, she's just an overwhelmed teenager.  She concludes with a decisive: "I'm staying pregnant, Le" (22).

Her next step is to make a new plan, this time finding adoptive parents for the child.  Once a new plan is established, she tells her family.  Again, the political aspect is danced around, with an unsettling (30):

I've never really settled on an interpretation there.  Is Juno uncomfortable with admitting to her change of mind?  Is she afraid her family will pressure her into trying again?  Why can't she admit that was her first idea?  Film critics have looked into it though, and so have critics of film critics:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20163026,00.html

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/colleen-raezler/2007/12/06/feminist-film-critic-decries-lack-abortion-politics-juno

A line I really liked from the first article is: "Their movie, a blithe charmer balanced somewhere between a life-should-be-so-neat fairy tale and a life's-a-real-b**** tragicomedy, leaves political debate at the ticket counter and focuses solely on what it's like for Juno MacGuff to be Juno MacGuff" (Schwarzbaum 1).

Regardless of politics, we see that Juno's mind is made up.  Although adoption was not her first course, it is now and it's locked in.

Later on, Juno must reconfirm her faith in the adoption, when Mark pulls out of the deal.  She tries to convince him, who counters with, "besides, I don't know if I'm ready to be a father" (82).  OH MAN, FULL CIRCLE!  Juno knows she's not ready, but it torn up by the fact that a grown man can't commit to his decision.  Juno tries to be level-headed and logical about her life, but can't account for the infinite factors life can throw.

She's "Real"

There are so many different things that can make a character feel "real" to viewers.  That's why we've got parasocial relationships and all varieties of all genres.  Especially when aiming towards the teenage demographic, a group known for being hypercritical of their peers, you bet some things are going to come off as dumb to one viewer and genuine to others.

A moment that I found very real is when Juno has a breakdown in her van after leaving Mark and Vanessa's.  Juno's plans have hit a roadblock.  She had taken this unexpected pregnancy and orchestrated a plan to make it go as smooth as possible.  She did not plan on getting pregnant ("Anyways, I'm sorry I had sex with you..."), and she already had a plan before anyone can rub it in her face.  And things were going according to plan until outside factors messed it up.  Juno had been so strong, so rational about everyone going on, but in that scene, she is alone and allows herself to breakdown.

Writer Diablo Cody says of the character, "I wanted to show that these girls were human and not the stereotypical teenage girls we see in the media who are just raging hormonal, catty, image-obsessed b******."  That's from this cute little YouTube gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOQO0OzX4Kk

(Oh, Michael Cera....Anyone want to comment about what he says about masculinity in this movie?)

So, in conclusion:  Teenage pregnancy has taken up it's fair share of media attention throughout the 2000's--some positive, some negative.  Whether this marks the media's acceptance of teenage pregnancy into it's realm of reality, or is just capitalizing on it's shoch factor:  Juno's Juno MacGuff gives viewers a thoughtful, determined, fun heroine who I believe puts female power in a positive light.

Juno and Girl Power: Part I

Last week, we looked into the elements necessary to form “girl power,” determining in class that the characteristic is created in a leading lady through five main characteristics: she rejects boys, is social, is the lead, is complicated, and is “real.”  Dow’s article examined several younger heroines on the Nickelodeon stage, but what about the older girls?  No doubt, high school is tough.  Everyone is dealing with their own personal coming of age.  The transition from pre-teen to teen results in many striving to find their own path and finding a role model to appeal to that mass of individuals can be challenging.  Who are these high school girls looking at for role models?  What characteristics are the teenagers of the 2000s striving for?

In 2007, 20^th Century Fox released the movie Juno, who’s poster starred a very young, pregnant girl.  There is certainly controversy surrounding the film, with the increase in the media’s attention to teen pregnancy spiking afterwards (According to IMDB, MTV’s16 and Pregnant premiered in 2009).  Criticis point fingers at stories like Juno, saying they sensationalize the struggles these girls go through when they become pregnant so young.  Surprisingly, the Center of Disease Control reported that teen pregnancy rates actually dropped following the release of the movie (Benfer, in the link below).

http://www.salon.com/2010/04/10/end_of_the_juno_effect/

I am not making claims about what the movie says or does not say about teen pregnancy, but I do find it interesting that this unusual protagonist achieved such success.  According to IMDB, Juno grossed $143,492,840 and is the 275^th highest earning film in US box office history.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/

http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross

For this analysis, I’m using the version of the script found at this site:

http://cinemascopian.com/pics/2008oscars/juno.pdf

I really enjoy this movie.  Maybe I just fell trap to their off-beat lingo and catchy tunes, but (being, I believe a freshman in high school at the time) I was a willing target audience member.  So, does the spunky protagonist of this film, Juno MacGuff, qualify as an empowered “girl power” warrior?  So let’s warm up with the trailer…

(Admittedly, the stylized dialogue is a bit tired, but that’s probably largely in part to the rate at which we’ve been quoting it in the past six years.  Right, homeskillet?)

Rejects boys (to a degree)

At school, Juno is bothered by an obnoxious classmate, about whom she has to say (12): 

Juno rejects Steve, a potential suitor who sits higher than her on the popularity food chain.  She gives no spunky comeback to his dipping-girls’-hair-in-the-inkwell style of flirting and although her above voiceover could be an excuse to save face, the script confirms Juno is right by having Steve look back for “a brief second with mixed feelings” (12).

Looking at the rest of Juno’s peers, it’s no wonder she avoids a typical high school relationship.  Pages 14-15 chronicle a dramatic fight between Boy Lab Partner and Girl Lab Partner that plays out in front of Juno and her main man, Bleeker.  As the fight plays out, the script notes, “Juno and Bleeker observe the argument like tennis spectators, fascinated by the dynamics of a real couple” (15).

As far as model relationships go: Juno is initially intrigued by the dynamic of the seemingly happy Mark and Vanessa.  Where her intentions rest with Mark are a little shady and would involve a deeper look.  However, when this man—who makes her laugh and shares many interests with her—makes a move on her, she draws away.  She says, “I wanted everything to be perfect. Not shitty and broken like everyone else’s family. Listen, once I have the baby, Vanessa is going to finally be happy, and everything will be all right. Believe me on this one” (82).  His appeal, it seems, comes from the fact that Mark is part of the idyllic un-broken home couple.  In a later conversation with her father, she says that she is looking for confirmation that “it’s possible for two people to stay happy together forever.  Or at least for a few years” (90).  The couple who “had it all together” didn’t last, so who could?

Juno’s biological mother is long-gone with a new family including children who Juno refers to as “replacement kids” (17).  But at home, Juno lives with her father and stepmom, who are in a long-term, happy relationship (91).  She is close to her father, as seen in their witty banter as well as in their heart-to-heart towards the end of the film.  He provides her with romantic advice, saying, “…the best thing you can do is to find a person who loves you for exactly what you are.  Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think that the sun shines out you’re a**” (91).

The relationship between Juno and Bleeker is complicated.  Just before she tells him about the pregnancy, she has this conversation with Leah (8):

Juno avoids discussing her feelings for Bleeker, but is willing to discuss or joke about their sexual relationship.  Her conversations with Bleeker are extremely nonchalant, including the announcement of the pregnancy.  Then, we are allowed to know Juno really feels with flashback memories of flirting in Spanish class and glimpses of the important night in Bleeker’s basement.  We also know that Bleeker is holding onto feelings too by page 26, when he’s seen staring longingly at her yearbook photo.

Competing for most casual non-couple of the year, the two get into a fight over prom (oh man, high school) and who Bleeker should take (75).  Neither of them want to be the first to admit they want to be together.  Bleeker, a character who portrays very few “manly man” qualities, follows Juno’s every wild whim like a puppy.  Juno is too proud of her independence and afraid of winding up hurt like everyone else.  It’s not until after Juno’s dad clarifies what to look for that she’s willing to put it all on the line with Bleeker.  After apologizing to him for the arguing, she tosses in the chance, “also, I think I’m in love with you” (93).  He responds positively and finally, they talk about their feelings and we end with the classic making out while flipping off the camera shot.

She’s social

Juno is a social character, even though her intimate friends are few.  There is the fun and ditzy Leah and Michael Cera’s Paulie Bleeker.  One of the most telling indicators of Juno’s comfort level with a person is their dialogue.  She has a quick back and forth with both characters, unlike the one-sided attempts from the sassy convenience store clerk or that punk, Steve Rendazo.

The relationships that Juno has in the script are healthy.  We start following Juno’s story just as she is finding out she is pregnant for herself.  She immediately tells Leah and then Bleeker.  Once she knows that she plans on carrying out the pregnancy, she sits her father and stepmother down to share.  There is no attempt to hide the pregnancy from those she cares about, knowing that they will accept her.

Juno’s interactions with her acquaintances are some of her best moments.  Without a wingman to counter her sassy dialogue, she leaves the people she runs into a little dazed.  Juno is not cold to those she is not close with—unless they deserve it, like the rude Steve.  In fact, she is charismatic.  For example, the classmate she runs into who is protesting the abortion clinic she is about to enter.  The situation is uncomfortable, as Su-Chin obviously opposes what Juno is about to do.  Juno handles the encounter with a lot of charm (there are other words to describe it, too) and leaves Su-Chin unable to confront her about the topic.  Here we see her smooth exit (19):

The word "boyfriend" is said in the script three times.  The word "friend" is stated in the script twelve times, and said out loud nine times.  Most of these "friends" occur in Juno and Bleeker’ confession of love in the last pages.  The two are best friends first, lovers second.