Oxymoron: Waldorf Media Study

I Don't Love New York

2007-01-19T18:22:00.000-05:00

As the Ladyfriend I am subject to viewing that which Mr. Harrell deams important for his Media Class. I have been quiet up to now. But alas, I have been subject to many a reality show, which I am not impervious to entirely (see Manor House, ok & Project Runway), but this goes beyond anything right and just. Flavor of Love was singularly painful enough, but now, because the uber skank was such reality tv gold, she's rewarded with her own show? And, we watch it? I am a champion of one's right to a guilty pleasure. But, can we encourage this type of programming? It's so egregious it hurts my feelings. Does anyone agree?

I LOVE NEWYORK

2006-12-26T14:25:00.000-05:00

I LOVE NEWYORK
JAN. 8 @ 9pm !! VH1 !!!

On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain

2006-11-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

This came into my Inbox and it reminded me of the article we read by Edward Said.

Najla Said will be reading from the posthumously published book On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain by her father, the late Edward Said, on Monday, November 27th at 7PM at Labyrinth Books ( 536 West 112th Street) - one of my favorite bookstores in New York! Check out the link above for more details.

its funny, you should watch it

2006-11-20T17:35:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8SY3AxmmLI

thoughts on double standards...

2006-10-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

I really like Kristin and Maddy's posts from last week--they nicely express the double standard and the way in which we buy into it. Something to think about--given the pervasiveness of explicit images of sex and sexuality in our culture, it is certain that the people offering these unfair judgments indulge in or approve of pornographic/explicit depictions of sex and sexuality. So, we (they) readily approve of the consumption of explicit sex and sexuality, but we (they) object to actual women seeking pleasure in actual sex (or, for that matter, men seeking emotional solace in the same).

How can this be? One thought is that we (they) don't see depictions of sex and sexuality as really real sex. If so, then what ARE they? And how do we counteract either unsettling observation?

2006-10-23T17:26:00.000-04:00

http://www.ilovereality.com/Shows/theswan.html

Swan pictures

2006-10-23T17:18:00.000-04:00

This link is from the show The Swan, we were talking about today. It's just a bunch of before and after pictures of the first season, if you scroll to the bottom of the page. One girl actually got eliminated for having a hidden mirror. Also, before I found these pictures, there was an article from one of the girls in the previous season. She and her husband are now getting a divorce. The reason was basically cause shes now hot, and can do much better(apperance wise) reguarding guys....
a little superficial?? i think sooooo....

what kris10 was sayin...

2006-10-18T19:53:00.000-04:00

even though i also feel the same way kris10 nd maddy feel, the way i see it is that if u r sleeping around whether u r a guy or girl u r a slut/whore w/e.... u shouldnt do it in the first place and you should have higher morals than that, but ppl 2day such as New york dont see those high standards nd that is why they get called names like that in the first place.but hey thats just me and i dont know why ppl do the things they do but thats the way the cookie crumbles!!!

NewYork Slut

2006-10-16T17:10:00.000-04:00

So I was thinking about what Maddy posted below about how if a woman sleeps around shes a slut and if a guy does it then awesome!.. so this really makes me mad >:0 ... but then I realized that I think like that too. At first I feel that women have just as much need for sexual innuendos and should not be scorned as men are not, for fulfilling their needs. But as I was thinking about last nights Flavor of Love, the first time on the show I had respect for NewYork. She said goodnight to Flav, and left his room. I was really suprised. NewYork had at least a little bit of class in her and did not sleep with Flave..... 5mins later though, shes back to being crazy sluttyy NewYork and goes to his room to spend the night. Although she is a bit of a character, NewYork spent the night with the man she loved on their last night together. So I wonder.. what made me think of her as a slut? I like to believe that men should treat women equaly ect. but do I even really believe that? I cant lie. I know if I saw this girl hooking up as much as an average guy does, even in my mind shes a slut;whore; w/e..
Idk how you all feel this way at all, but for me I'm thinking to myself... how can I say one thing and really feel another...

Double (and unfair) Standards

2006-10-15T20:12:00.000-04:00

Hi all--
I really like Maddy's comment below, and I think this is the right quesiton to be asking. I am also really happy with Kristin's comment to it--we hold the double standard because we aren't nearly as progressive as we would like to think. The reading that I am going to ask you to do this week directly addresses this point.

For now, I'd like you to think about the double standards you see--why is it that women MUST be sexy (wear the right clothes, act a certain way) to earn the respect of others (both men and women!)? And yet she is punished if she is actually sexual (pursues sexual gratification)? This difference and the way we code the difference is surely problematic.

Last question: who benefits and who is hurt by all of this? Kristin comments that she likes it when men open doors and treat ladies like ladies--a comment that is perfectly fine with me--but it has to make you think. It is easy to say that men benefit from the double and unfair standards, but it would seem that's too easy. Think about what Wolf argues in the article for last week--men don't benefit from the "pornification" of our culture, they are left lonely, deluded, and unfulfilled it seems. It seems to me fair to say that men are generally harmed, even as women are generally punished by the way we code gender in our culture. What do you think?

i hope this kind of makes sense

2006-10-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

this is pertaining to the double standards of women and men, and certain characteristics we both share, but are called on differently. I'm just putting this out there for the sake of it, and its relevence to our conversation today. For my example (since we disscussed gold diggers and their sexual differences) i choose to comment on the difference between male and female promiscuity. It first occured to me the different standards for the sexs' promiscuity in a song's lyrics (whose name escapes me). How is it that a promiscuous man gets respect for having multiple sexual encounters with random women (or men w.e), and a woman is belittled and called a whore? Why should one situation be different from the other?

flavor of luuuuvvv

2006-09-23T12:09:00.000-04:00

new york and flav should just get together themselves because they're both icky.....and the other girls should probably go see a phsycologist for even going on the show... seriously thats just low self esteem
though even people with low self esteem would probably think higher of themselves than to go on a dating show with him, so maybe theyre just clinically insane =)

Art or so we call it

2006-09-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

I get what everyone's been saying 'bout is this art or is that art but in my opinion, art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. i mean, people can agree in mass quantaties that something is beautiful or artistic or ugly, yea that true but people can also disagree with these people. For there to be so many people loving and admiring "peices of art" such as the Mona Lisa, then there have to be people who think that it was a waste of time, or supplies. Its the same with music and televison. Yes, in my opinion, and most of the opinions in the group (from what i gather), there are some lyrics of songs that are really great, while there are others that are just, well you cant listen to them. but there are people who would think the exact opposite of what we do. the would think that praising all that we find bad within the music would be alright. and i guess what i'm trying to say is, who are we to say that something is bad or good ART. it just is.

more flavor flav

2006-09-17T22:56:00.000-04:00

you know jenel i really have no idea. alls i remember is deelishis dissin new york sooo bad at the end of the fight i was dyin. but word flav is just so nasty. and bootz is crazy for even thinkin of marryin him.

Good Art vs. Bad Art? Who cares?

2006-09-17T17:36:00.000-04:00

Since IamHarrell will be in Glen Brook this week and since he has asked me to help facilitate our Monday and Wednesday discussions, it's only fair that I contribute to our "Oxymoron" blog.

Sadly, I missed your first discussion. I find your thoughts on "how media manipulates us (sells us, models values, creates fame as a commodity)" to be very interesting. I think you all really "hit the nail on the head" here. Instead of asking whether a piece of art is good or bad, I'd like to propose an alternative question. What sort of *social forms* does this artwork perform on me/you/us?

In other words, how is the artwork manipulating me? How does the artwork address my identity? Who cares if I think the pieces of art on the left, in camparison to the pieces on the right, are "good or bad"? I think the bigger issue here is how these pieces make statements about religion, Catholicism, morality, and so on and so forth. On a more personal level, how do these pieces make statments about *my* religion, *my* Catholicism, and/or *my* morality? How does it change? Or does it remain the same?

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, two mid-20th century philosophical thinkers and highly regarded art critcs, wrote The Dialectics of Enlightenment where they argued that the culture industry, produces and circulates cultural commodities through the mass media. (Think: Britney Spears, Andrea Bocelli, or Chris Botti) For them, popular culture was identified as a reason why people become passive and highly manipulated.

So, where does this leave us? Are we all just highly manipulated consumers in the culture industry's marketplace? Where is our sense of free choice? Where is our *freedom*?

BIG PIMPIN hehehe on a waldorf blog

2006-09-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

Does on artist have to capabilities to go anywhere with his/her artwork? Where is the boundary? Can a song that speaks of a man being promiscuous with women be considered art? Well, in my opinion the first verse of the Jay-z song big pimpin’ is phenomenally written and should be considered as art. It may not be virtuous, but is a novel like A Clockwork Orange virtuous? A Clockwork Orange throughout the novel portrays very graphic imagery of rape and violence. It is, however, very well written. Is this art? Are paintings that are sacrilegious art? And is so what is the boundary that separates artwork from tasteless graphic imagery ?

It's wednesday....class was good

2006-09-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

Hi all--
Today was an excellent class--Mr. I even compared you to college freshmen, which I find quite apt. I am quite pleased with this group--you are intelligent and you bring diverse perpectives, which is important for good conversation. I have included a link to an article which shows some paintings and photographs that are widely considered sacreligious (there is some nudity, so beware), with a comparison to their high art counterparts: (http://www.almalopez.net/ORnews2/040500.html).
Just food for thought regarding our conversation today.

The previous posting really says all that I wanted to get across today, though I am happy that we were able to preview some of the problematic things that we have to discuss. The question as to how we countenance morally quesitonable (or repugnant) art is critical, I think, to being a responsible adult in this day and age--the world you inherit and its attendant responsibilities has changed considerably from the one your parents inherited....

But I am getting ahead of myself here. Viewing media in its function as art is crucial, I hope you see, because this perspective allows that media can be judged on its merits. Rather than get pulled into whether (the) media generally constitutes a Good or an Evil--a debate that is nonsensical at best (why?)--we (you and I) allow that it is art and we can strive together to answer the question as to what is and is not good art (and by what standards!).
So there we go....I look forward to your postings.

Welcome...and some initial thoughts

2006-09-11T19:50:00.000-04:00

So, this is the Waldorf Media Studies Elective weblog.
Here is a place for you to comment on topics that we discuss in class, media content that you find on the web (links to interesting pages are especially encouraged), or other media-related items that you think would be of interest to us. Your participation in conversations is required, but I hope that you will find it desirable to contribute as well.

After the first day, I was quite sad that we forgot to mention one of the functions of media. We spent some time talking about how media manipulates us (sells us, models values, creates fame as a commodity), but we failed to discuss that media also functions as ART. I would argue that a significant quantity of what you find on the TV, in popular music, online, and in printed media has artistic merit. Anyone ever watch Deadwood (HBO) or Rescue Me (FX), ever read a Pulitzer prize winner, ever listen to The Roots, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, Neko Case? My tastes are obvious, but you get the point. There is virtue to be found in mass media artforms, or so says me.
Now the questions:
Why didn't we mention artistic value earlier?
How does the artistic merit of these types of media relate to those of the higher artforms (classical music, jazz, dance, theater)?
How does this artistic merit relate to those of the lower artforms (Insane Clown Posse, anything involving Tommy Lee, Flavor of Love, Jerry Springer)?
If media is/can be artistically virtuous, then why do "people" (you know...adult people) go to such great lengths to tell you how awful it is?

Just some thoughts to get us started....looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
JH