For this blog post, I watched both the Formation and This is America music videos and analyzed their importance. There were many things that I noticed within each of them.

Formation

The formation music video holds a lot of symbolism within the production. Beyonce used this song to show the injustices that the black community is facing, especially black women. I found this video to be very empowering as the women within the music video take on all roles that traditional white women assumed back in the day. At moments Beyonce was in a formal gown sipping tea and then she was on a cop car underwater. All of the scenes within the video symbolize different aspects of the hardships that black women have to face every day. I thought one of the most recognizable aspects was Beyonce herself. In each scene, she was in a new outfit and had completely different hair. Not only does this show her success but it puts a lot of focus on her. She proves that she is using her platform to make a difference for her community.

This is America

This is America is additionally a very important music video. Even though it takes more of a direct approach, it is just as effective. Within the music video, the audience is able to see Childish Gambino and the black community around him. At one moment he is happy and dancing and in another, he is seeing his friends die. I think this is to show how this is normal for his community. It is to show that it is not shocking to see in the media anymore. It is in some ways disturbing for the audience to watch. The music video is so impactful because it is more of a realistic video that society can relate to.

Both music videos achieve their purpose of sending a message. Both have a deeper theme of displaying injustices within the country. By doing so, both artists used their platforms to spark change.

“Everything that has a story, has a lesson”(Bezio). I find this statement to be really interesting as it puts value on everything we communicate. While words are weird symbols on pages and seem as though they don’t have true meaning, they are prime attributes to our lives as humans. Along with words, there are symbols. Symbols are things that stand for something else. Symbols make things so much more complicated within our lives and the stories that we create. As humans, we are faced with words, signs, and symbols. The process of figuring out how to interpret all of these different categories is the process of close reading. 

Within the process of close reading, it is vital to look at what is being read or shown, the how, why it is being shown that way, is there a context that’s important, and why is this important to me? This last step is important because in some ways many ideas connect to real life. Many aspects of pop culture represent bigger ideas or fight for bigger pictures within our society. This can be seen within music, television shows, movies, and more. I’m doing my end of the year essay on The Handmaids Tale and this is a prime example of symbolism and ideas having a larger impact on society. This series represents a deeper image of sexual assault, motherhood, and leadership. All of these ideas apply to our modern-day system and therefore, many people can learn from the show.

The Yellow Wallpaper is an additional example of using words or symbolism to represent a larger image. Within this piece of writing, the theme of feminism surrounds the audience. It is a deep piece of literature that goes deep into the roles of a woman and represents their inner struggles. While this piece of writing was published a long time ago, it is still prevalent today. It shows that pieces of writing or culture can resonate with us forever.

I think the podcast and its take on pop culture is really interesting. While we may view pop culture as being useless and something we don’t pay attention to, it is actually vital to analyze. While we still can enjoy our pop culture, we should not dismiss anything as just being entertainment. I especially found it very interesting when the podcast talked about the influence of entertainment over facts. While this is concerning, it is not hard to believe. Our lives are full of forms of entertainment. In some cases, the sources that should be providing us the facts such as different news outlets, are our main sources of pleasure. However, entertainment can be good. Things such as different bands, movies, or books that bring attention to important topics such as racism or sexism.

Culture has influenced the world for a long time. While it has done so much good for society, it can also be harmful. When the wrong people come into power or provide different sources of social media to their audience, it is possible they are presenting the wrong ideas. Pop culture can be impactful as long as it is used in the right manner.

I found the reading by Hayter to be really interesting. The reading was effective in showing the struggle for voting rights and the effect it had locally in Virginia. The growth of black voting was vital in challenging ideals such as Jim Crow Laws. As Hayter points out, by 1960 the African American Community had out-registered the white community in voting. This promotes changes and tries to challenge the systematic environment we live in. I can connect these challenges and ideas to my own final project that I am working on. I am studying leadership through the handmaid tale, so I am analyzing the misrepresentation of women within government or other leadership positions. Alike to what Hayter is saying, if people do not put themselves in places of power, they do not have the option to change their own fate. Looking at it locally, it was interesting how local voting had large impacts nationally.

My favorite advertisement out of the 1984 election was Reagan’s ad called “Peace.” I like this advertisement because it took less of a political approach and focused on the value of family. Within the ad, Reagan and his campaign team focus on changing America for the kids and finding peace. It shows young kids playing happily together and pulls the audience in emotionally. Surprisingly, this ad showed a variety of ethnic kids but still gives off the typical white family sense. Within all the ads, Reagan gives off a white american dream vibe. It does not address the issues of racism, crime, immigration, or other diverse problems within the United States. This was very interesting to watch especially when analyzing his opponent, Mondale. Mondale solely addressed taxes and what his opponent was doing wrong. He never addressed the other social issues going on during that period.

I found these advertisements interesting when comparing them to the podcast. The media has completely changed leadership in both good and bad ways. Presidents and other people in government were able to attract people through their visual appeal. I also find this interesting because social media has only gotten more apparent in the present-day through sites like Twitter, Instagram, and more.

To be honest, I was a little confused about how to run the village. I don’t think I maximized my resources to the fullest as I decided to play it safe. In my first round, the village received no rainfall and so I prioritized supplying water to the village. I did not engage in any of the small businesses and I taxed at 50%. I should have taken out a loan sooner but the interest rate was too high in the first couple of rounds so I decided against it. At one point one of my villagers became very sick and I had to cut their labor and take them to the doctor. This did not hurt me too horribly but definitely took out a toll on the efficiency of my labor.

Overall, the game showed me how to allocate my resources. It was very hard choosing between scarce objects and the littlest of things that could impact my success such as sickness or pregnancy. The game was very easy to die in and could be a big representation of several impoverished communities.

When listening to the podcast, I find the discussion about systems to be very interesting. Many things have the ability to impact all other things it is connected to. Within Universities and Governments, if one person makes a mistake or wrong decision, it has the power to negatively impact everyone else. I also find it fascinating that people study systems and their interactions. I wonder how systems have impacted roles in society. Such as gender roles or roles in the workplace. Roles in the classroom or in athletics? How has it impacted the world we live in? Has it created ideas that some people are below others?

I chose the “Dream Crazier” Nike Ad as my favorite ad that I have seen. As a female and an athlete, this ad speaks to me and applies to my life. The ad shows various female athletes performing in their sports whether it be basketball, tennis, track or more. While these women are competing in their sports, they show emotion or different behaviors. Nike acknowledges the burdens that women take on with that emotion and how it may label them as being soft. Nike strips away the stereotype of being a “classy” woman and shows that emotion that females feel are not because they are soft but because they are strong.

Just like Professor Bezio said in the podcast “Nike ads hit me in the feminist every time these days.” This ad is one of my favorites because Nike is one of the first companies to speak solely to women in their campaigns. They focus on building women up and speaking to their interests. In this particular ad they shows the labels that women endure when we show emotion whether it be sad, angry or happy. Lastly, I like this ad because it is inspiring. As a student and an athlete, I am always aiming to do better. Nike ads always encourage this behavior and show women that stereotypes are just ideas and our endless emotions are what make us successful.

This is one of my favorite charts as it is a direct explanation and display of male dominance in sports. Unfortunately, males lead women in revenue when it comes athletics and a lot of the reason is due to the interest of the fans. While a lot of people enjoy women’s sports, the majority of people mainly watch the men, creating a large pay gap between genders. This graph shows the innate bias for mens sports within the world and is the reason why teams such as the Women’s National Soccer Team does not have the opportunity to be treated the same. Hopefully, in the future, these numbers are changed. Women, especially in soccer, are starting to prove that many people enjoy and respect their sport. While the fight for equal pay continues, many women are speaking up.

Graphs such as these are important because numbers make us feel something or sure of ourselves. This graph shows a lot of high numbers and therefore may infer differences within genders. Due to the lack of female representation, what does this graph insinuate about women? Does this suggest that females may lack talent or entertainment? This graph and the ways in which numbers work is interesting to look at as numbers are always manipulated.

Upon reviewing the revisionary view, it is interesting to analyze the immigration restrictions within our country and if they are permissible. Immigration restrictions are hard to measure as they do not draw a line for how to keep a country safe and how to be accepting at the same time. This mentality applies to a lot of things in life. It is hard to respect others while creating rules in order to stay safe or alive. Who is the judge of what is right and wrong when it comes to human lives?

After reviewing what we did in class and thinking about it more, I agree with what my classmates were saying. Kendall, Celia and Tess all acknowledged that we need to remember history in order to make corrections. Therefore, I think it is a serious consideration to keep the names of buildings on campus. I can see both sides of the argument. While many people want to change the names as they remind them of the worst parts of history, others want them to stay because they are part of history and it is important to remember our past. It is important to remember our past because then we can make adjustments to the present in order to be more accepting. While I do believe this, these names of buildings do not directly impact me. Thus, I can not fully understand what others may be going through or thinking.