WWW/EBI for the TEST - Mr Halsey

8/12 Level 3 - C+

WWW: Some excellent points and you have addressed the main debate well.

EBI: Theory is a weakness: surely the video would support Butler's theory even if she would object against the video itself. McRobbie's is also a little confused. 

LR: Look again at the Theorists:

 How would they respond to the video?

For McRobbie, it may depend upon how she would react to the Blurred Lines video as, as she believes that women have the right to flaunt what they have in magazines, television etc. Blurred Lines may make her struggle within her decision as the video is far too explicit including the naked version and may get her to change her views upon the women in society in general. 

For Butler, as she disagrees with women being represented in a less dominant way, she may also have mixed feelings towards this music video as the believes that gender roles are constructed and that if you are born a woman then in society you will be shown to be lower but as she disagrees with that, she may disagree with the music video due to the way the women are portrayed in the naked version. 

How does music influence society? - sources

http://openingband.hubpages.com/hub/Music-Influences-Society -

Music Influences Us
“Singing and music have always played an important role in learning and the communication of culture” (Shermon). Throughout the years music has changed the way it influences people. In earlier years music was used more for celebration and now music is used to voice your opinion and try to influence your audience to believe what you stand for. In time of war musicians tend to lead the way in protests and like to call out their government. Religion has always had music of some form and the songs that they sing influence people to believe in their god. Music influences how people act, what people do and our religion.

http://itstheskittlee.hubpages.com/hub/Music-and-the-Influence-on-Society

  Music can have an intrinsic  meaning or can have an extrinsic meaning. The meaning of music may be interpreted from the viewpoint of the formalist or from the viewpoint of an expressionist. Some people may listen to music just because they are bored or they like the beat; others listen to it for the lyrics and the expression the artist is trying to send out. The media says that rap should be blamed for the gang violence, drugs, devaluing women and male control; rock and metal is blamed for satanic rituals, suicides as an “alternative” or “solution,” sadism, and masochism.
    Rappers are blamed constantly for crimes across America. In 1988, Ice-T who was a well-known rapper was all over the media because of his song “Cop Killa”. Once he song was released numerous police were murdered; the media said they did it because of Ice-T’s song. Was it Ice-T’s fault for these crimes or was it the fault of the people committing the crime? The answer is no, cops were getting shot before the song came out, policemen know they have a dangerous job and the know the consequences. Rap music is growing rapidly, it has gotten many people out of poverty and out of the ghetto. Rap musicians donate thousands and thousands of dollars to charities all over America, but they don’t get any credit for that. Media only looks for the worse in all cases. Rap musicians rap about their life, the only way to fix what they rap about is to fix the society around you; they rap about what they see and hear. Rap music does not influence bad actions, but reflects it.

http://uk.ask.com/question/influence-of-music-on-culture

Music can have a big influence on culture. Often times a musician and things they sing about can have an influence on how people who listen to their songs act. When the actions of many people change, the culture begins to change. For instance, during the 60s, the musicians sang about peace and love and that was the start of the hippie culture in America.

http://musicmagic.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/music-in-society/

Music is a very powerful medium and in some societies there have been attempts to control its use. It is powerful at the level of the social group because it facilitates communication which goes beyond words, enables meanings to be shared, and promotes the development and maintenance of individual, group, cultural and national identities. It is powerful at the individual level because it can induce multiple responses – physiological, movement, mood, emotional, cognitive and behavioural. Few other stimuli have effects on such a wide range of human functions. The brain’s multiple processing of music can make it difficult to predict the particular effects of any piece of music on any individual. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJbKwU3I3Kw&safe=active   - video answering my question

Presentation

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3bBvyHL2y_tdlkzeVI1LTVYVXc/edit?usp=sharing

Presentational feedback

• How your research contributed (or failed to contribute) to the presentation

As my question was 'How do artists in the music industry influence the youth and the society?' My research contributed to the presentation as I talked about a range of things such as target audience which was the youth in this case. For example, I talked about youngsters would look up to their role models such as Bruno Mars and how he talks positive within his music however, when it comes to his personal life, it was well known that he was a cocaine addict and this leads to binary opposition as it is a constant battle between good and bad. The society may argue about him being a good role model or not for the youth.

Some of my research that I failed to contribute was that I talked about the positive sides of some artists such as Eminem but I didn't talk about his negatives such as his alter-ego of Slim Shady and some of the things he's done in his past and some spiteful lyrics which would get society to see him in a negative way, however the target audience of the younger generation would still see him as 'badass' and still a good role model. 

• The delivery of the presentation

I believe that the delivery of my presentation was fluent and confident as I made direct eye contact with the audience and I faced them 

• The topic area chosen
• How you plan to develop the presentation into an extended academic essay

Www ebi

Www: well designed slides, both sides of argument, wide range of examples, good use of images, textual analysis, very fluent. 

Ebi: more terminology, more depth, include conclusion. 

Homework #2

Ignore the GTA 5 sceptics: adults do play video games?

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/20/grand-theft-auto-5-adult-gamers

This article was written by a 42 year old man, therefore I believe that this article was biased because he might like to play video games and has a different take on this subject. As quoted 'When I am feeling less reasonable, the "do adults really play these things?" comment really gets to me. Partly this is because I am 42 and I review these things for a living. I've dealt with my insecurities about this before, but to have people questioning the mental faculties of mature gamers is something of a personal slight. But it's not just that. It's something else. Something more important. '

He also believes that adults share video games with their families and their children etc. And that they learn new things everyday from video games just besides the violence.

Homework

Digital Media

The Guardian:
Ghost: the UK blogging platform that won't and can't sell out to Facebook
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/23/ghost-uk-blogging-platform-facebook

Ghost is a new  blogging platform which offers a simple, clean and free publishing tool for independent bloggers. John O'Nolan is one of the few people in the world to turn down $1BN from the Facebook producer Mark Zuckerberg. O'Nolan stated "If Facebook came to me tomorrow, and said ‘here’s $1bn, we want to integrate Ghost into Facebook’ … no matter what the human side of me wants to do, I cannot.” He added “We don’t want to make millions,” he says. “I personally, categorically do not want to make millions. I had huge ambitions for making a million before I was 25, the start-up dream… but then I realised if I had a lot of money, I would buy a Lamborghini and a house, and six months later I would just be bored.”


My View:
O'Nolan wants to be target high end audiences; well known brands/companies such as CNN, The Times & The Guardian, if he's successful with his product. However, to start off with, he wants to start approaching beginners. The ultimate question here is 'How will be keep the platform easy to use for beginners and will it still be powerful enough for large enterprises?' Also, by rejecting Zuckerberg for $1bn, did he make a wise move or not?