The Spotlight Is Nothing Without You

Can you think back on a book you read a month ago and tell me in specific detail what it was about? The answer to that may vary but many wouldn’t be able to tell me in full description what it was about, but if I were to ask what happened in the last episode of MTV’s hit show “The Hills”, I would have gotten the full detailed description of what happened with Heidi and her new makeover. In today’s society the hit new TV shows are getting more attention that any new hit novel that comes out in stores. The truth being that many of us remember a book in detail because we are compelled to read it for a class and are forced to remember it due to an assignment that is assigned to us, but otherwise given the choice to read it we would choose not to. Now why is it that this is happening? I find it to be because many of us are quicker to pick up the remote than to pick up a book on our spare time. We have become very attached to the television set that gives us all the information we believe we need instead of picking up a book or a paper to know what’s going on in the world. We become attached to technology and it becomes a part of our daily lives, turning to our cell phones for the time and date, the internet for the latest news and to our iPod’s to keep us engaged in what we are doing and out of touch with the outside world. It seems as though societies has created a new product in the form technology and in this case of real live characters in reality shows and found a way to profit off of their everyday situations. It is to say that without us the viewers having a need to watch them these characters would not exist. In doing so the producers create the idea of consumerism them being the product and us being the anxious buyer, not necessarily needing this new product but wanting it because something is telling us we need it. This becomes great for the producers who use this system in order to get the necessary ratings to keep them going in show business.



The hit TV show “The Hills” has gotten a lot of attention since the premier of the show “Laguna Beach” that aired in 2004, where the stars such as Heidi Montag, Kristin Cavallri and Lauren got their debut to the show business as young rich teenagers dealing with the day to day situation’s of high school in their perfect little world, as they realized how life could be outside their safe circle. From the drama of rumors being spread around each other and who said who about the other girl. As they grew up their lives changed from the young minded teenagers with minor problems and seemingly perfect lives to the woman we see now on the new episodes of “The Hills”, dealing with what is seen as the same drama just in a different scene, that scene being Los Angeles. Now Marxism would claim that one can’t be a self because we are a product of society. In watching the episodes from “Laguna Beach” to “The Hills” I found myself putting the show on auto tune in order to make sure that I was there when the show came on to find out what new juicy drama was going on in the show. Knowing I had homework or chores to do, I always found myself being glued to the television set when the show came on. I found it very interesting that the drama that these women dealt with in their teenage years followed them in their adult years. In analyzing it even more, it became clear that the drama that these teenage girls were going through, was getting the attention of the audience and so the TV producers used that concept and attached it to the new episode “The Hills” that followed their lives in their adult years as they journeyed of into their careers and new lives with new loves. In being in that scene of the continuous fighting and arguing the cast found themselves creating a new product that the audience wanted more and more. This new product of drama filled situations became so popular that DVD’s were made and the companies were making major profit off of these cast members and the issues they dealt with on a daily basis that any “normal” person such as you or I would deal with everyday. The only difference being that these teenagers were rich kids that lived in Orange County in California. Us as the viewers became the anxious audience that stands around the Gorilla exhibit at the Zoo waiting to see what funny or dumb thing the Gorilla is going to make.



Karl Marx would claim in “The German Ideology”, that “As individuals express their life, so they are. What they are, therefore coincides with their production, both with what they produce and how they produce. The nature of individuals thus depends on the material conditions determining their production” (Marx, pg 653). What Marx is referring to is that these rich teenagers are being watched due to their way of acting and in the setting they are placed. The setting being in that they are located in Orange County a beautiful place where many wealthy families live and choose to raise their children in. In choosing these teenagers in 2004 for the hit new show “Laguna Beach”, they found themselves in search of a particular lifestyle that involved the lives on the children of wealthy families and how their life was different to those that found themselves living miles away from this lovely place. As outsiders to this seemingly different world where kids at the age of 16 had a new BMW or a Mercedes Benz and had beach side houses to sit and relax and soak up the sun, we became attracted to their lifestyle and wanted to know more about them and so we found ourselves looking forward to each week’s episode to find out the new juicy drama. In doing so the producers used these young teenagers as bait in order to get the ratings they needed to keep the show going and make more money, and to market all the other things that were involved with these characters. They used consumerism in the way that they were selling to us a product in the form of these characters and eventually we started to feel as though we needed them in our lives. I know I found myself staying up and waiting to watch the new episode about who was going out with who and what drama was going on with Lauren and Kristin trying to get with her crush. In having our time consumed by these TV shows we are allowing ourselves to be submitted into believing that the fashions and lifestyles they are living are one’s we should follow. The producers create an eye candy for both boys and girls, showing us what looks good to the point where we begin to imagine that we need to act and dress the way they do on the television in order to get guys and girls like the ones you see on TV. In watching these characters, none would have imagined that these normal teenagers in their own little world would become who they are today.





As mentioned before Marxism claims that one can’t be the self because we are a product of society. Now this claim is very clearly seen in the life of Heidi Montag, a young high spirited girl that was very close to her family and followed her parent’s values. In watching her in the first episode of “The Hills”, she was the hard working girl that didn’t much care about her appearance. A very easy going girl working towards her future which would be a great thing for many viewers to see, but the producers clearly didn’t make the show to produce a girl who’s hard working towards her career, but were focused on the drama that surrounded Heidi and her best friend Lauren that soon was falling apart because of Heidi’s new boyfriend Spencer Pratt. In the world we live in and in the ideals of consumerism many want to see the sexy girls on TV with their bathing suits on and a perfect body.



This idea became what changes Heidi as we watched her in the next seasons after her debut in the first season of “The Hills”. We saw how her appearance slowly started changing, as we start looking in Season 3 where she is engaged to Spencer Pratt, we start seeing s different Heidi, a more fashionable girl with more make-up on her face and more into the new fashion that is coming on.
The speculation that she might be following an image of Barbie is clearly seen in the recent season where Heidi changes her whole appearance in submitting herself into multiple plastic procedures in order to enhance her appearance to somewhat resemble the Barbie image. She has a breast augmentation, cheekbone implants, nose and butt procedures that completely change the person who entered the show in the first season. It was in the beginning of the sixth episode where Heidi reveals her new look to her mother that she reveals that she wants to resemble the image of a Barbie. She begins resembling the clear picture that all women can think back on as little girls playing with their Barbie dolls. Barbie had the perfect smile, petite body that was perfectly proportioned with the perfect boyfriend and the beautiful car and home to go along with it. This was the life that Heidi pictured as she began her life and picturing her future with her husband Spencer along with their new home. Now the idea of ownig her own hoem and getting married is one that all girls envision as they are growing up but it is society that tell us that we need to be a certain size and look a certain way because its admired on televison.



The ideas that society bestow on us bring us to believe that being average and normal is no longer acceptable. In his article “The classless Utopia of Reality TV”, Alessandra Stanley shares her claim mentioning. “Reality shows are more honest, but they also breed a kind of country dimorphic disorder: half the nation is blond, beautiful and driving sports cars through Beverly Hills, while the other half is blond, sleazily oversexed and prone to hair-pulling and name-calling”, this helps support the idea that in order to be beautiful you need to fit the criteria that the TV shows are showing. Society gives you a rubric of what is acceptable or should I say admired and watches you try and resemble what it is you see on TV. From the clothes that the cast members are wearing to the cars they drive or the accessories they wear, we all want to resemble who they are. I wake up every morning extra early in order to look at my closet and figure out how I will be dressing that day with the idea of what I had just seen on TV the night before. I also find myself wanting to buy new clothes in order to look like the girls on TV. Not only are the fashions being resembled from the TV but the way they physically look. As in Heidi’s case she wanted to look more like Barbie, giving herself the confidence she was searching for. Now a day’s people are trying to resemble the stars they see on TV physically by undergoing the plastic surgery themselves. In the show “I want a famous face” that aired on MTV in 2005, where we saw average people undergoing surgery in order to look like their favorite stars on TV. In that season we saw a 26 year old woman who went in to get plastic surgery in order to resemble her face and body to look like Pamela Anderson in order to keep her business going of a porn star look alike of Pamela Anderson. Some of the procedures involved chin implants, lip injections and a bigger breast augmentation. It is needless to say that in the case of Gina she had been inspired by the image of Pamela Anderson because she stood for a great sex symbol in the adult industry. Once again it was a character shown on the TV that influenced a viewer because as a viewer they saw how much in this case Pamela Anderson was admired for her looks.



None the less it is clear that the claim of Marxism that one can’t be the self, because they are a product of society turns out to be true. From the beginning of the season of “Laguna Beach” with the new fresh faces of those rich teenagers that consumed our minds with their stories and drama, gluing us to the TV set every week in order to find out the new issues going on in their lives. These characters found themselves being a product to be had by us the viewers, the consumers wanting more and more. Moreover with the help of society in telling us that we needed to tune in every week to know what was going on in their lives. The producers used a group of teenage kids and used them as bait in order to get the younger audience to tune in giving them higher ratings and thus a bigger paycheck. The idea of giving in to society hit very close to the character Heidi as we saw her evolve from an innocent, quite girl following family morals to the woman we see now on the TV, who submerged herself into the idea of what is beautiful in society and giving into plastic surgery. Not only do these things happen to those on the bug screen but us as viewers find ourselves trying to copy what we see on TV and so keep buying into the idea of beauty through clothes, accessories, cars and even more changing our appearance physically. We did see the drastic impact it had on Gina from the episode of “I want famous face” on MTV, where she decided to submit herself into the world or plastic surgery in order to be who society made her believe she should be in order to get ahead in her life. Society brings up everyday a new product in hopes of grasping the viewers attention and with not much effort they are doing it, whether it be through a television show or through the latest technology telling you you must have it! As I am writing this paper I feel the urge to grab my phone and begin text messaging or grab the remote control and see what is on TV, a perfect example of what society has already instilled in us to be accustomed to in our daily lives.




Marx, Karl. “The German Ideology.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Victoria, Aus. Blackwell Publishing, 1998. Print. 653-658

Stanley, Alessandra. “The Classless Utopia of Reality TV” New York Times on the web 2, Dec. 2007. Television. 14, Dec. 2009

http://www.mtv.com/shows/the_hills/season_6/series.jhtml

http://www.mtv.com/shows/i_want_a_famous_face-2/episode.jhtml?episodeID=81832

The Effects of Marxism

Marxism says that you really can't be a self because you are a product of society. This brings me to my point in regards to Britney Spears, who started at a yound age in the music business. In the first clip from the music video "From the bottom of My Broken Heart", we see that her clothing was more on the reserved part.

In this video we see what Britney Spears used to be like as she was introduced into the music business, but as Marxism claims thar one can be a self but really infact is a product of society is where things do begin to change. The sweet looking girl, with the conservative clothing no longer works for society because as an artist she had to appeal to everyone and not just young teenage little girls. The music business begins pushing a new look in order the feed the need that society creates and the idea that sex sells more.
So here is where we clearly see that society does shape a person and so marxism claim, that one is a product of society, becomes clear. In the second clip we have the music video "Hit Me Baby One More Time", this clip was shot not far after the first video that was shown. Now the sweet conservative looking girl has turned into the entertainer that is fullfilling every man's fantasy about a girl dressed in a school girls outfit saying the words "Give me baby one more time".

She has now become the so called "product of society" because she has allowed society's demand to dictate the way she portray's herself in her video's in order to sell records and not be left behing making less money than those that allow themselves to be shaped by society in order to make money

Ideology in The Working World

After watching the video in class and getting into groups, we began discussing the ideology of the clip and what exatly it meant. After much thought we came up with the conclusion that the ideology in this clip was that men were defined by the income they bring to the household. Furthermore was the fact that being a good loving father and husband and nothing to do with what made you important in that world. We were also looking into the hegemony, and it this it meant that it explained the difference between what they called the "closers" and the "losers", it was apparent that if these salesman did not sell an adequate amount of houses they were to be considered losers compared to the salesman who went out of their way to go the extra mile and sell more houses. Here we noticed that the ones that were dominant were those wh made the sales, and in this case were the one's who had a guaranteed job offering and were not at risk of loosing their job. A great point to brung out here was that the main man had the authority and the higher standing to tell the workers they were fired and had a week to try and get their job back. Another key point we looked closely was the interpellation of the clip and in this we found that the main guy was being dominant towards them in order to show them that they need to be dominant as well. In order to accomplish this he builds up a competition between all of them to separate the strong from the weak. he follows this by breaking them down by claiming that a loser will always be a loser and that they will never rise from where they are. Finally we looked at the allienation aspect and realized that the main guy allienated himself from the rest by shpwing off all the money he had made and making the rest feel less that him.

My Habits!!!

It was very interesting to find out that my habit landed in a category of touching. As we did the group activity I started learning a little more of why I had picked up the habit of continuously touching my hair or touching my jewelry. It came to my attention that the reason I touched my jewelry was because I always felt the need to have my hands occuppied. I found myself having to have something in my hand when i was walking because I felt uncomfortable with my arms swinging along my sides. It was this uncomfortness that made me always hang on to my purse with one hand and have my phone or ipod in the other hand.
The interesting part with my obsessions in touching my hair comes from my background which i found to be very interesting. I always found my self touching my hair to test the lenght of it. I am a latina of Mexican descent where our hair is looked at as our pride, a very important part of us. Men and woman look at hair as women's main beauty. So it was what my parents looked at and loved, specially my father. Unfortunately i found myself not looking at my beauty through my hair and at the age of 18 decided to cut my hair very short. I no longer wanted to be looked at because of the lenght on my hair but for other things. It is not to say i was going against my background but becoming an individual within my culture. So the obssession with touching my hair which i came to realize was that i didn't want my hair to grown past a certain point.

Freudian's Theory In Hamlet

Freudians theory in clearly shown in the movie "Hamlet". We are able to see that Hamlet's actions depict that of a child who goes through the Oedipus Concept in which he desires to be with his mother and take his father's place. The Oedipus Concept is represed as he identifies with his father and decides to take revenge upon his uncle who has married his mother and taken control. Hamlet sticks with this plan until he is faced with his mother again and finds himself wanting to be with his mother again as he tries to force himself on her. This feeling continues until he is brought back to the reality of what he has to do by the appearance of his father's ghost and the sense of fear that a child gets with his father arises in his being. Freudian's theory showd that Hamlet's feelings as a child for his mother never really went away, they were simply repressed by the fact that Hamlet identified with his father and chose to take revenge on his uncle. Unfortunately his desire for his mother got the best of him and stalled his original plans until his father's ghost snapped him back to the original plan.

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

A man wakes up at the crack of dawn and is embraced by a loving wife who prepares him his lunch for his long day at work. He makes his daily route towards the corner market where he is picked up by the white working truck already filled up with other working men. As they make their way towards the fields they take a look at all the houses that are beginning to light up in the sign of their awakening. The workers finally arrive to their destination, a place that has become so familiar even come close to being called their second home. No need to explain the day’s work, it has become second nature to them, the workers head out to their station and assume the position as they begin picking out the potatoes. Fellow workers gather as the bag becomes full and simply replace it with another empty bag to be filled up soon. The hard work seems to be endless especially under the scorching sun, but this is the only job an undocumented worker can obtain. He spends his whole day on his knees until the relief of the bell that informs them it’s time for lunch break, but the lunch break and the freedom from work is short lived as the fifteen minutes fly by and he has to go back to work until the sun sets and it’s time to go home. There are no wall clocks letting him know how much longer there is for work, it is the sun that tells him the time and how much further the days tasks are to remain. Once the day is gone and the sun has finally set the worker makes his way to the white working truck and follows the same route home until the next break of dawn when he once more will rise and set out to the same route till the sunset lets him free to his home.

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

The artist portrays the big basket which seems to be the main focus by the size of it and the fact that its centered in the painting. We then notice the man under the basket and we begin to understand that the artist main focus is the story behind the man and the big basket he is about to carry. The woman putting the basket on his back doesn't seem to be forcing it on him but seems to be doing it with ease. The painting overall doesn't have dark tones but instead halm calm warm and bright colors that give a sense that the artist Diego Rivera wanted to show the beauty of the hard work of a campesino instead of using this piece of art to portray the negativity. Instead Rivera uses the painting to glorify the hard work the campesinos go through everyday

What An Experience

In getting together as a group to figure out our presentation was very interesting. The feeling of nervousness in being the first group was one of our first thoughts but once we got our concept together I started feeling a little better. Being the only girl in the group it was interesting when Nakia presented his idea of showing the two views of birth, so to those who might have believed it was my idea you are mistaken. It was very interesting in putting our ideas together and hearing everybody's reactions to our findings. As i started searching for real live birth videos , I began debating on how raw the video should be in order to get our point across, so with that in mind I found a very graphic live birth video and then thought about the story I had seen on MTV on the show "Teen Mom", a show about the experience of teenage girls in their transitions from being a teeneager to motherhood. I chose the story of Farrah a high school cheerleader who after learning of her pregnancy chooses to keep her child and become a single mother. The clip showed a combination of the raw concept of a real birth with the universal concept of the births we see on the big screen. Unfortunately it wasn't able to play the day of the presentation so for those of you interested in watching the video here is the link

http://www.mtv.com/videos/16-and-pregnant-ep2-farrah/1628036/playlist.jhtml

you have the option of viewing her whole story or you can far forward to the birth portion it is up to you. This group project cleared up the idea that Plato had when it came to "Republic 3" and "Republic 10". The idea of showing the "Friends" video was to show what many see when it comes to birth, a comical thing, but it was clear after viewing the live birth in seeing and hearing the reactions, that there is a reason why the the "Friends" video is more acceptable in the world because people can not find themselves comfortable with the raw footage. This was a fun experience while helping understand Plato's ideas and concepts.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

We live in a world where you have to compete to be on top. Men and women both struggle day to day to have the highest paid jobs available. The question of morality comes to play, how far will you go to achieve the ultimate job opportunity and what is the price of obtaining that job and the lifestyle that comes along with the job. It could involve having to stay away from loved ones for long periods of time due to traveling or long days at the office. Every choice has an outcome that can be positive or negative; it is really up to the person if they view it in a positive or negative eye. In the discussion in the last class we concluded that
Plato was trying to sell a sense of morality through his writings.In the video “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga, shows the reality of what striving to be famous in the crazy world of entertainment and what comes with being famous. Plato’s idea of morality is very important because to what extent is it morally correct to pry in the lives of people for the sake of earning the big bucks for the best picture and for capturing the next best scandal on film. Furthermore the idea that the world needs to know the every move of a person who happens to be talented vocally or artistically and it involves going to the extreme to capture the moment. It is to say that the role of the famous subject is to be followed and the paparazzi to pry into every aspect of their lives until they can no longer find interest in them.
In Plato's "Republic 10" in the book Classical Literary Criticism, he expresses an idea of a utopia in which each person has a role. In his ideas he expresses the importance of everyone’s role in his world and how they should go about their jobs. The paparazzo’s role in this case is to keep the readers or his audience updated on the lives of the rich and famous and do whatever it takes to make sure their shot or their story makes the biggest headlines. While this is all great for the audience, who is interested in how the rich and famous live , they don’t stop to think how the rich and famous feel in regards to being followed 24/7. The role of the rich and famous becomes that of an ant under a magnifying glass, they become the main focus of the world until the next hit star appears. It is very clear how Plato’s idea of a utopian place, a perfection where everyone knows there role and keeps up with it. The role of the famous is to continue being rich and successful so that they can provide for themselves as well as for their family members, but then comes to play the question, of how far will you strive to achieve the highest paying job. The question begins to be clear, “Is it really worth it?” and surprisingly many will say yes and back it up with its part of the job tying back to Plato’s idea of each person having its role and following it in his utopian world.

FIRST THOUGHTS

On the first day of class the professor asked us a very interesting question. He asked, "What is the most important concept to consider when analyzing a text?" After hearing this question I thought that the most important when analyzing a text is to look at the historical context, meaning the when and where of which the book was written on. It would be very helpful to see what was going on during that era to view how it affected the story and how it was written. Another possible concept would be what the author's purpose was in writing the text, what he wanted us to feel after reading the book.
For example the video clip "Doll in the music Box", that the professor let us view depicted a very light mood, nowhere was it intended to make one smile and laugh because that is how it made me feel at first. At a closer look i began noticing that the clip had a bit of sexism in it. It became clear that the era in which this clip was based on was possibly in a time where woman were seen much beneath men. We also saw this in the character of the doll and the clown that came out of the box. The doll was only able to function at the turn of a key handled by a man. It was as if the doll was not existant until the touch of a man controlled her movements.