In
our day in age, symbols are everywhere we look. Whether they come in the form
of an advertisement, product placement, or a subtle cue meant to wink at a
deeper meaning, the power of imagery is ubiquitous. This week’s reading dealt
with semiotics, or the study of signs. Philosopher George Herbert Mead
asserted, “Symbols mediate and structure all our experience because they
structure our ability to perceive and interpret what goes on around us.” (Baran
& Davis, 318) As humans, we rely on symbols every day to inform our
interactions with others, and how we understand occurrences in our daily lives.
So
how does this apply to media? Producers use symbols constantly so that they can
effectively communicate their messages to audiences. This is based on the
theory of “social constructionism” which assumes that audiences are actively
processing media, interpreting it based on their personal experiences, and then
relaying their understandings. This understanding is only half of the equation,
however; “Active audience members use the media’s symbols to make sense of
their environments and the things in it, but those definitions have little
value unless others share them – that is, unless the symbols also define things
for other people in the same way.” (Baran & Davis, 324) Media is not simply
about one individual’s interpretation of content – it is about the larger
interpretation, and how society uses it.
Think
of your favorite television show, or shows. While you might watch it by
yourself, it’s always more fun to watch in a group when you can discuss and
dissect plot lines and character’s motives. Or, even if you would rather watch
alone so you can concentrate on the show, being able to contribute to a
water-cooler conversation the next day is always fun because you can compare
notes with your peers, or go online and read many different interpretations.
Right
now, my favorite television show would have to be Mad Men. Though my number one spot fluctuates with what’s currently
on-air (until we meet again, Real
Housewives of Beverly Hills,) I have to say that Mad Men consistently holds a high ranking in my extremely long list
of shows that I watch. Last week was the two-hour season premiere, after an
extremely long hiatus of 17 months. After the premiere, I was delighted to see
so much Internet chatter on the new season. (Spoiler Alert!) Between the
discussions on Don Draper’s new apartment, the inclusion of a Civil Rights
plot line, and the music and fashion choices, fans were actively discussing the
much-missed show. However, the loudest discussion, which resulted in a top
Twitter trending topic, and countless news articles, was a song performed by one
of the characters during a party scene.(See here for the performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXoILGnHnv)
The cover, a French hit from the
1960’s, was released the next day on iTunes and vinyl, and landed on the Top
100 charts. (Wiedeman) This was all extremely entertaining, and
led to an insightful write-up by New York
Magazine on the symbolism of characters singing on Mad Men. The article, written by Margret Lyons, states “Mad Men is
a show about artifice, how we convince other people that who we are is who we
are, how we manipulate people's wants to seem more desirable or right, how
people lie to themselves and each other all the time, just to get through a
day. But singing punctures that, and suddenly we see the man (or woman) behind
the curtain.” (Lyons) Singing, and sometimes even dancing, are actually tools
that allow audiences a glimpse into who these characters actually are, rather
than who they want to be, or who they appear to be to others. I never realized
until I read this article that singing and dancing are symbols used by the show
creators to reveal deeper character traits. Obviously, every viewer takes away
different meanings or notices different cues in a television show – it’s the
basis of Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding method. Every viewer brings their
personal experiences and perspectives when interpreting media. Hall recognized
this, and created labels for how viewers interpret, and subsequently understand
media – they produce dominant, professional, and negotiated readings. (Hall) In the case of my understanding of Mad Men and Margret Lyon’s, I think that
we both had dominant readings of the content, but our backgrounds and
experience levels in reading media text made our interpretations different.
Do you think symbols play an
important role in every television show you watch? Or do you think symbols only
have deeper meanings in shows with dramatic plot lines like Mad Men? Additionally, can you think of any symbols in shows that
you watch that you think are important to the program that maybe not every viewer notices?
Works Cited
Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis.
"Media and Culture Theories: Meaning-Making in the Social World." Mass
Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. 6th ed. Boston, MA:
Wadsworth, 2012. 318-24. Print.
Hall, Stuart. "The Television
Discourse; Encoding and Decoding." McQuail's Reader in Mass
Communication Theory. By Denis McQuail. London: Sage Publications, 2002.
302-08. Print.
Lyons, Margaret. "Vulture." Vulture.
New York Magazine, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/mad-men-megan-singing-peggy-joan.html>.
Wiedeman, Reeves. "Vulture." Vulture.
New York Magazine, 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/mad-men-s-zou-bisou-frenzy-who-will-profit.html>.
You stated in the beginning of your blog “the power of imagery is ubiquitous.” I agree with that because “symbolic interactionism was one of the first social science theories to address questions of how communication is involved with the way we learn culture and how culture structures our everyday experience” (Baran, Davis 316). It practically relates to fandom in a way because the meanings of symbols may be interpreted differently from each individual and may or may not control the person (Baran, Davis 316).
ReplyDeleteYou said that “we rely on symbols every day to inform our interactions with others, and how we understand occurrences in our daily lives.” Like Baran and Davis explain, people do not learn a sport by reading about it but the “players teach each other how to play the game while they are playing it” (316). We do everything with a reason, and that reason is because it is the way everyone does it (Baran, Davis 317). Even though the sport example was an analogy, it show’s that “mass media might affect socialization” (Baran, Davis 317). Whether we understand symbols, or social roles in life, we are always interacting with them even if we do not realize it. I definitely agree with your comment that “media is not simply about one individual’s interpretation of content – it is about the larger interpretation, and how society uses it” because it is about interpretation.
I agree that people may watch a certain show in order to have a “water-cooler conversation the next day.” I say this because a guy in our class said he watches a show just to one-up his friends and be that guy that everyone looks to for something to talk about. It is like his friend’s expect him to know the most about the show, somewhat like a job. In other words, hegemonic culture- “culture imposed from above or outside that serves the interests of those in dominant social positions” (Baran, Davis 212). It is as though he (and whoever else) needs to maintain their friendship and their “position in social order” (Baran, Davis 212).
Your show, Mad Men, stirred up a lot of Internet talk, and even landed a song in the Top 100 Chart. It seems that this is “focusing on the use of media to create forms of culture that structure everyday life” (Baran, Davis 212). This goes to show that if someone’s friend is watching a show or listening to a song, it would be cool if we watched it too so we would have something to talk about. Soon, everyone will be doing it. In order to conform and to join in on the social talk, you need to be watching that specific program too. Therefore, it seems as though media does create the culture of everyday life.
To answer your lasting questions, I believe that symbols play an important role in television shows. I agree when you said, “every viewer takes away different meanings or notices different cues in a television show,” because each person is different. We could do a study for our own class to watch a short clip and some people would notice the clothes being worn, or the background, or how someone spoke. Hall says that people “pick up visual-perceptual codes at a very early age, without formal training, and are quickly competent in its use” (306). This is because everyone has their own life experiences to perceive and compare with the characters in the show. As a final point, symbols are important to the program but not to the point where every viewer notices.
Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis. "Media and Culture Theories: Meaning-Making in the Social World." Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012. 318-24. Print.
Hall, Stuart. "The Television Discourse; Encoding and Decoding." McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory. By Denis McQuail. London: Sage Publications, 2002. 302-08. Print.
Isabel ended her blog post by asking us a couple of questions, “Do you think symbols play an important role in every television show you watch? Or do you think symbols only have deeper meanings in shows with dramatic plot lines like Mad Men?” Symbols are used many different ways and for many different purposes. It all depends on the show you watch or the genre of shows that you are attracted to. We often talk about how show genres have a formula for success and so ever show copies that formula. Symbols differentiate shows in the same genre from one another but they are used in the same way, for the most part. The symbols in show are meant to add to more drama, make an association with a show, and to add to a characters role within a show. Theme songs are huge in television show symbolism. The entrance and exit music gives the show an identity and if we here that tune somewhere, we automatically think of the corresponding show. That is just what the producers wanted to do.
ReplyDeleteSome people recognize a symbol and are able to put clues together based on those symbols to make a conclusion about what is happening in the show. This is most common on crime shows where you are left to guess who the killer is or a perfect example is Lost. There were so many symbols used by that show that even the producers confused themselves at some points. Baran and Davis explains the symbols impact as, “Active audience members use the media’s symbols to make sense of their environments and the things in it, but those definitions have little value unless others share them – that is, unless the symbols also define things for other people in the same way” (Baran & Davis, 324). The point of these symbols is to get your friends talking about and watching the show so that you can put these clues and symbols to make some sense of what is going on in the show. These things attract us to the show and keep us tuning in week to week. The symbols in a show can make for great discussions as it used to develop characters and the plot.
Violent television shows, movies and video games are often under scrutiny because as a society, we believe that these things can make people do irrational things. Well, that may be true if taken out of context but Stuart Hall, in McQuail’s Reader, makes an interesting point, “…representations of violence on the TV screen ‘are not violence but messages about violence’” (Hall 303). This is the case for all television shows. Everything that is shown is a message towards that subject. This is what can put shows in hot water if they portray the wrong message about something. This is why there are limitations to what kind of language can be used and how much skin can be showed. These things can lead to the wrong message for some people, as we all interpret things differently.
The symbols used by a show can really make or break that series. The better the symbolism, the more people will want to talk about the show with their friends. My friend recently convinced me to watch The Wire so that he would finally have someone to talk about the show with. This is what makes television so interesting and so popular. It gives us something to talk about.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that symbols play a vital role in every show on television. I thought Isabel brought up a very interesting topic when she wrote, “Producers use symbols constantly so that they can effectively communicate their messages to audiences.” My favorite shows are Revenge on ABC, Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo. Although I enjoy watching these shows with my friends, I prefer if we discuss the show after it ends, so I’m able to pay attention. All three of these shows consist of wealthy families, which you can see through the producer’s use of symbols.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Baran and Davis, “Audience members don’t simply passively take in and store bits of information in mental filing cabinets; they actively process this information, reshape it, and store only what serves culturally defined needs.” They continue, “They are active even when this activity largely serves to reinforce what they already know- to make them more willing to trust and act on views of the social world communicated to them by media” (Baran, Davis, 324). Revenge is an ABC series about a rich young woman, who attempts to get even with the family that ruined her father’s life. The show takes place in the Hamptons during the summer. Most scenes take place in gorgeous beach houses on the water, or at summer white parties on yachts. Just by noticing where the scenes take place, you can already make assumptions about the main characters and their lifestyle.
Both Revenge and Pretty Little Liars use the same technique and symbolism when it comes to flashbacks. During Revenge, the main character (Emily Thorne) will have flashbacks to her childhood. The screen will softly fade out and becomes a darker color, almost like a black and white during the flashback. In Pretty Little Liars, the main girls have flashbacks about their dead friend Alison back when she was alive. The screen will softly fade out onto one of the girl’s faces that are having the memory. You know when it is a flashback because the edges of the screen are always blurred and the image is never sharp. This is a way the producer’s of the show can effectively communicate their message to viewers.
Isabel also noted that one of her favorite television shows is the Real Housewives. In Real Housewives of Beverly Hills everything you see is related to money and wealth. In “Meaning and Ideology”, Williamson writes, “The fundamental differences in our society are still class differences, but use of manufactured goods as a means of creating classes or groups forms an overlay on them (Williamson, 300). All the housewives live in beautiful mansions and drive expensive, luxury cars. You constantly see Lisa Vanderpump driving around in her white convertible Bentley, and Adrienne Maloof cruising through the streets of Beverly Hills in her Mercedes SUV. The background is usually placed in their house, with a lavish chandelier in the background. Baran and Davis discuss how some symbols are already defined, and they use a Lexus and a Porsche as an example. The book states, “How these drivers are treated by other people may also vary, not because of any true difference in them as humans, but because the ‘reality’ attached to each car is used to define their drives” (Baran, Davis 324). While interviewing the housewives, they are always dressed in designer clothes and shoes, with expensive jewels. We as individuals have limited power to control the realities of status symbols like materialistic things.
When reading Isabel’s blog post regarding symbols in the media, she points out how music was used on Mad Men to invoke emotions from the audience as well as reveal character traits deeper than what the script tells us directly. The cover of the 1960’s song was released the next day on iTunes and on vinyl. However, this made me think, did the original song also sneak its way back onto the charts as well? A show that commonly uses music to teach us more about the characters than the plot and makes the audience feel something through song, is obviously one of my favorite’s, Glee. Glee dedicates each week to a certain theme, genre, artist, etc. for the so-called “gleeks” to focus and perform within.
ReplyDeleteWith the rise of Glee songs making the top songs on iTunes, not only are these covers exciting for fans, but fans seek out to buy the original as well. Old songs are becoming “new” and “hip” again. For example, in Season 2 of Glee, there was an entire episode dedicated to the band Fleetwood Mac. After this episode aired, the “gleeks” renditions of all of the songs performed appeared sporadically on the charts as well as the originals by Fleetwood Mac originally released in 1977. But, why? Why did fans suddenly react? “Both the original and the Glee versions of “You Can Go Your Own Way” and “Landslide” topped the charts the day after the episode airdate. The producers of Glee allowed the characters to tell their own stories through song. Characters Santana and Brittany, with the help of their Spanish teacher (Gwyneth Paltrow) sang “Landslide” with such emotion that the audience at home watching the show felt their relationship come alive through the song.
As Isabel stated, signals like this could be Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding method where every viewer brings their own experiences to interpret their media and feel emotions when doing so. However, this also holds true for the definition of “phenomenology”. “Phenomenology is a theory developed by European philosophers focusing on individual experience of the physical and social world” (Baran, Davis 324). Viewers of Glee brought their own feelings and emotions regarding relationships when watching Brittany and Santana’s performance of “Landslide”. Santana told Brittany how she felt about her through the lyrics of Landslide while the audience at home felt the emotions of the song. But, why? The powerful lyrics of “Landslide” in addition to the emotions on Santana’s face had audiences really feeling for her because they could relate to the feeling of love. A potentially unrequited love. The concept that audiences use their own experiences to relate to characters because it hits closer to home, makes the characters more relatable. Fans want to relate and feel a sense of belonging and this concept helps do just that.
All and all, I believe symbols definitely play a role in any show we watch. There are different types of triggers. Music tells us how to feel. The dramatic music kicks in when the couple in love starts running towards each other, causing many audience members to tear up. Lighting, images, costume choices, product placements, all tell us more about the characters, their emotions, and how to feel when viewing these signals. These media aesthetics trigger audiences to feel sadness, happiness, love, sympathy, jealousy, etc. because we, as viewers, can relate in some way to what is happening with the characters on screen. This is the way that the media industry allows us to connect with characters, making them relatable for audiences.
Symbols can sometimes be an important part of shows on television, especially when the show has deep and serious meaning. It’s safe to say that symbols aren’t a part of every show on TV, simply because of the fact that many of the shows on TV don’t have any kind of serious substance to them. Many of the shows that air nowadays are purely for entertainment purposes and often don’t provide any kind of important messages. The original purpose of TV shows and movies in my opinion was to be able to entertain people with shows and movies of different genres that would allow people to experience different moods, similar to what was talked about in last week’s blog. “The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963) were gigantic productions filled with color and grandeur. But a different kind of movie was appearing on theater screens with increasing frequency. In the United States, these were called message movies, and they depicted an America that was not universally fair and democratic, a jarring message for the world’s mightiest power” (Baran and Davis, 209). Here, Baran and Davis are talking about the arrival of new films in America, ones that weren’t anything like what the public was used to. These films changed peoples’ outlooks and made many individuals reevaluate what entertainment, particularly movies, was trying to portray.
ReplyDeleteLike already stated, obviously not all shows and films have hidden messages that they want the audience to be aware of, especially when the show or film isn’t geared for that type of response by its audience members. I’ve personally never seen Mad Men, so it’s difficult for me to comment on that show, but there are certain shows and movies which I’ve seen that do contain symbolism and deeper meanings. A show like American Idol is obviously strictly for entertainment purposes, but a show like Rescue Me arguably could have deeper meanings. Understandably so, I feel as if many of the dramas that are on TV are mostly the shows with the heavier amounts of subliminal messages, and many of the reality shows on TV are the ones that producers create simply so viewers can feel emotion while watching them, regardless of what that emotion may be. According to Stuart Hall’s article The Television Discourse; Encoding and Decoding, “The ‘object’ of production practices and structures in television is the production of a message: that is, a sign vehicle, or rather sign vehicles of a specific kind organized, like any other form of communication or language, through the operation of codes, within the syntagmatic chains of a discourse” (Hall, 303). Here, Hall seems to basically be saying that the purpose of creating a TV show is to create a message along with it. He is also saying that this is often done through the operation of codes, hence the title of the article, The Television Discourse; Encoding and Decoding. Hall is arguing that when producers of a show create the show itself, they are simultaneously creating not just codes, but a subliminal message within those codes. Whether or not we experience hidden messages in TV shows or movies almost always depends on the genre of show or movie. Simply put, a show like Jersey Shore isn’t going to provide much of a message, but you might find yourself trying to reveal some kind of deeper meaning while watching a movie like Fahrenheit 9/11, based simply on the motives of the creators.
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ReplyDeleteI think that symbols can be found in any program on television, they just need to be looked for by the audience. Certainly, symbols in the media play an important role in the way the viewer perceives themselves and society. Symbols can have either a positive or negative influence on an individual and society. According to Mead, “we use symbols to create our experience of consciousness (mind), our understanding of ourselves (self), and our knowledge of the larger social order (society)” (Baran, 318). If someone constantly watches reality shows and Jerry Springer on television, they might get a false sense of the society around them and a distorted view of reality. Reality shows and talk shows like Jerry Springer can’t be taken literally, and obviously I don’t think many people do take them literally. But as we learned in class, television is a hypodermic needle; and has the ability to have a direct affect on society, both positively and negatively. I also think the news often gives an individual a distorted view of society. So often violence is portrayed in the news in order to bring up the ratings; and this gives the viewer the sense that are society is a symbol of constant violence. Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of violence in our society, but I think the news focuses way too much on it.
ReplyDeleteI do think that shows that have dramatic plot lines contain symbols that have deeper meanings than say a comedy sitcom. Along with dramatic shows on television, I think that meaningful symbols can be taken out of dramatic movies. There are a lot of movies where an individual can learn about themselves and society. A movie such as “Rocky” symbolizes hope, and that with hard work anything is possible. Or a movie like “Remember the Titans” symbolizes acceptance and unity. These are just some examples of movies that convey positive symbols and messages to the audience. Obviously, not everyone takes out the same message in these movies. As we know from Hall’s encoding and decoding method, every individual interprets media differently. However, every movie/television show produces a dominant reading, and it is the dominant reading that is able to understand what the producer is trying to say through his or her work.
I think you could make an argument that symbols can be found in sports as well. Athletes can be seen as symbolizing hard work and team work. And fans can be seen as symbolizing unity, passion, and community. The majority of people who watch sports may not think of these things when watching a sporting event on television, but these symbols certainly exist.
Symbols contained in television or movies are a matter of interpretation by the viewer. So many factors can influence what message an individual takes out of television or a movie. Some of those factors include personal experience, age, and gender. But every show or movie has a dominant reading that interprets the message that the producer meant to convey.
Symbols are things that are important in our everyday lives so I do think that they play an important part in television and media. Symbolism can be shown in media in many different ways and I personally think that it works the best in television shows. From an early age we all watch television and that is how we learned about society. According to Stuart Hall when watching television we pick up, “visual-perceptual codes at an early age, without formal training, and are quickly competent in its use” (Hall 306). It is no secret that a child learns from seeing, and visual codes are the easiest for us to understand. So from an early age we can learn a lot about the world around us by watching the way people interact and what they do on television shows.
ReplyDeleteSymbols are also used in the media to make television shows more interesting and to engage the audiences. When I think of the use of symbolism in shows my mind automatically thinks of Lost. That show would not have been so intriguing without all the symbolism. According to Baran and Davis audiences “use media symbols to make sense of their environments and the things in it, but those definitions have little value unless others share them” (Baran and Davis 324). I agree with this because I personally think the best part about watching shows like Lost is being able to talk with others about what happens. Symbolism creates a great water-cooler conversation because of everyone’s different interpretations of the symbols. Since everyone can have such different interpretations, it keeps the audiences interested in the show because they want to see how the symbolism will play out.
I feel that the types of symbols used in dramas are often the kind that you have to watch the show in order to get. For example if you never watched Lost before, how is someone suppose to explain the black smoke to you? I think that the use of symbols helps audiences form relationships with the characters and the plot lines of the shows, that outsider viewers cannot have. But this is not the case for all television shows. I think that there are symbols that producers use that have a universal meaning for everyone. For example Emily mentioned in her blog the show Revenge and the use of flashbacks. I think that every time the screen blurs, or is somewhat a different color most people understand that to be the past, or a dream sequence. Symbols like these are ones that have been used over and over again by producers to help add different dynamics to the show in a way the audience will be able to understand what is going on.
I think that without symbolism we couldn’t have the in-depth plot lines in shows that we currently do. Also, producers do a good job in using symbolism in certain techniques and cues to let the audience know how to interpret what is happening. I think that symbolism is very important in media, and can keep audiences active in watching television.
When looking through the various forms of media we do in fact encounter many signs for different companies or just signs referring to everyday objects. Signs come as a way to reference different areas of media and it’s these signs or logos that allow viewers to match what it is to a specific genre in term. In our day and age it is very common that individuals will be able to look at a logo and tell exactly what company it is for because we have been so exposed to it through the media.
ReplyDeleteLook at the golden arch logo, I bet that if you were to just show the arch to fifty even a hundred people they would be able to tell you that it is for McDonalds. Why is this? Maybe because of the countless commercials that run on television or the side ads on websites but nevertheless the sign is recognizable to all. In Roland Barthes article, rhetoric of the image, he states “If the image contains signs, we can be sure that in advertising these signs are full, formed with a view to the optimum reading: the advertising image is frank, or at least emphatic.” (290). With this I view it as each sign or image has to be justified forming some type of relationship with the actual company. This should be a no brainer in that when you choose and image or logo to represent your company it should be something dealing with your company. I can remember back to a commercial that ran on TV dealing with business card and it showed a person’s business card then showed then in the line of word they did. The cards were made way off from the type of work they actually did. Making the case that don’t you want business card that represent the correct type of work you do. It was a very good marketing campaign in that it showed the importance of being represented with the right look or image. Another form of media where we see a lot of signs and symbols is in films. Two of my favorite films are The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. In The Da Vinci Code it starts off with the Professor (Tom Hanks) showing traditional signs that in some other cultures mean different things then here in our culture. The swastika, if it is reversed is a common sign used in Hinduism and Buddhism. Judith Williamson in her article, Meaning and Ideology, states “Certainly advertising sets up connections between certain types of consumers and certain products (as in the example above); and having made these links and created symbols of exchange it can use them as ‘given’, and so can we.” (300). These symbols that we see and have grown to know that sometimes depict hate, fear, and crime might in fact have other meanings to them but since the media shows them in their negatives we associate them as being negative. This can even be applied to everyday instruments. Take a fork it is a three pronged utensil but yet you hold it up and down it can be looked at being related to the devil pitch fork. This can even be applied to the symbols we see in gangs, not all gangs apply because their symbols are made up but others can be seen to have some kind of religious correspondent to them.
We associate certain symbol with certain areas of good and bad because that is the way in which we see the media associating them. If an individual really wanted to learn the true meanings behind the symbol or logo then they have to do their own research. It is like any area that we see on the media today, not every piece of information is shown so we might not get the whole story. It is up to the viewers to further the research to uncover the true meanings.
It is a rather obvious idea to grasp that symbols exist everywhere in our daily lives, especially in the media. These signs “are ubiquitous, an inevitable part of everyone’s lives: even if you do not read a newspaper or watch television, the images posted over our urban surroundings are inescapable.” (Williamson, 299) Sometimes we do not even realize that we are being exposed to signs and symbols whether it is on our favorite television show or on a long road trip with our friends. Simply put, they have become a normal part of our existence.
ReplyDeleteNot only do television and movie producers use symbols to convey necessary messages to their audience as Isabel mentions, but they also throw them in there to spark discussion amongst viewers and to keep people coming back for more. This brings us back to Stuart Hall’s theory of encoding and decoding. Semiotics really goes hand in hand with Hall’s ideas, at least from the way that I see it. When an audience member witnesses what they see as a sign or a symbol, they are going to use it to “make sense of their environments and the things in it”, thus trying to decode the symbol. (Baran & Davis, 324) Since these “definitions have little value unless others share them,” active audiences will typically discuss the potential meaning of the signs and symbols with other viewers, or may spend hours alone trying to decode the meaning of what they just saw. Yes, signs and symbols are great for communication; however, they also serve the huge purpose of getting people to keep watching. Especially with crime or drama programs, when watching in groups, people are always discussing what they think something meant, or what they think will happen next because of it. Again, without symbols, there would not be much to talk about after viewing a particular show. (This is of course genre sensitive, as some genres may incorporate more signs and symbols than others.)
I almost think there could be two types of symbols that get put into the media- abstract and concrete. An abstract symbol would be something a bit more under the radar or less recognized, such as the signing and dancing in Mad Men. A concrete symbol would be something more along the lines of an advertisement, logo, or particular product placement. It is the abstract symbols, however, that add the most to the show or film, and are what the audience enjoys.
Yes, semiotics is used in television programs, but it is also used heavily in advertising. With advertisements getting more and more like mini television show episodes, there is more room for more symbols, and more room for more interpretation. Even advertisements play off of Hall’s encoding and decoding theory as they “must take into account not only the inherent qualities and attributes of the products they are trying to sell, but also the way in which they can make those properties mean something to us.” (Williamson, 299) Therefore, the audience members have to interpret the signs in the ad and relate them to their own life, thus justifying their need to purchase that particular good or service.
Semiotics in television, film, and advertisements are actually more similar than we would think. There is a common goal of communication, along with the process of interpretation afterwards. Signs and symbols are here to stay, as their presence is only going to increase in years to come.
Symbols and messages impact the way that we view America. From the tender age of three we are bombarded with messages, especially on the television. Our culture is With all the new medias, such as the IPod,web based cell phones, the Internet it is interesting to see what the next generation will come up with. Our culture is based on these symbols and messages. What themes come to mind for me personally is competition, beauty, wealth, drama cleanliness, food, and power. These themes could simply be referring to commercials alone. Baran and Davis claim that macroscopic researchers, “...view media as industries that turn culture into a commodity and sell it for profit” (213) Regarding my own personal culture, microscopically it would include my family, my friends, and my school. Macroscopically my culture consists of being an American, and a woman. Thus the symbols and messages I consume about what it means to be a female in America I listen to the most. Microscopically I may be interested in the same things that my family and friends care about. However it is media that produce the content that society consumes.
ReplyDeleteI wish that media producers would use their power to change culture in a more beneficial manner than currently. I think of movies that push boundaries, such as “Crash” and “Precious” and television shows such as “To Catch a Predator” or “Dateline NBC”. These movies and television shows gives the audience the message that our world is imperfect and there is something that needs to be done. Mast and Karwin state that movies in the 1950s and 60s “emphasized the poverty of the worker, the squalor of working-class life, the difficulty of keeping a home and keeping one’s self-respect at the same time, [and] the social assumptions that sentence a person with no education and a working-class dialect to a lifetime of bare survival...” (Baran & Davis 209) This relates to the messages in the movies I mentioned, “Crash” and “Precious”. In movies such as these we see that America is neither universally fair or as democratic as percieved by our government. Cultural theories argue that media may have the power to change society and culture. It has the power to change how we see the world we live in and who we are. I agree that media changes culture through its messages. But I feel that in order to see these messages, the audience needs to have active role with the intention to have an opinion.
However unlike the 50s and 60s “social unrest” is not apart of our culture. I feel everyone has their opinions about issues, yet no one is taking aggressive action the way that they did in the 60s. With the amount of media usage and varied mediums, there should be more actions being taken to change society. Take for instance the “Kony Project” is the only movement I can think of that is currently using media and social unrest of Generation X to boost the message to take action. By agreeing with other people in your society you are forming a culture.
Being a media studies major, I feel we are more conscious than the average viewer on semiotics in television and other media. Some say that being so aware takes away from viewing, but I have to disagree and say I really enjoy picking up symbols or underlying tones the producer or director has added. Isabel asks whether symbols only have deeper meanings in shows with dramatic plot lines? I do agree dramatic shows are filled with symbols, I can vouch for comedies and say comedy does have its fair share of symbolism. One of my favorite shows on television is Psych on USA about a fake psychic helping out the Santa Barbara Police Department. There are several symbols that are frequently on the show and that I believe were placed there initially for a dominant level. Stuart Hall says the dominant message level is “perfectly transparent communication”, which basically means it is what it is. Each episode, fans are encouraged to find a pineapple throughout the hour show. The pineapple was first introduced with lead actor James Roday was improvising and used a pineapple in one of his scenes. The producers thought it was funny, and they left the scene to be in the aired episode. The episode had rave reviews, and it is expected for a pineapple to make an appearance. And just because I am studying media, I know I had to search for a possible negotiated method, or another interpretation. I found out the pineapple symbolizes hospitality, and hospitality fits in perfectly with Psych’s theme of close knit community. Another dominated interpretation in Psych would be Gus and Shawn’s “blueberry” or their small bright blue Buggie they drive around to fight crime in. It’s adds comic relief to a serious situation, especially since Gus acts like he is a “real man” and acts serious in awkward situations. Looking more into it, I interpreted the car as one of Gus and Shawn’s outlets of doing whatever they want, acting silly, and realizing everyone is a kid at heart.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of product placement in media, I immediately think of Wayne’s World when they exploited product placement. Wayne purposely held up a box of Pizza Hut and a can of Pepsi and broke the fourth wall to say how great those products are. Many producers are paid by corporations to strategically product place in movies. Watching Wayne’s World, we have a sense that the producers are saying, “no, we are not going to product place, and instead we are going to laugh at everyone who thinks it is a good idea.” To those others producers and corporations, the Pizza Hut box and Pepsi can could symbolize a need for a new approach on advertisement. For viewers, they symbolized how commercialized American culture has become.
Hall, Stuart. "The Television Discourse; Encoding and Decoding." McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory. By Denis McQuail. London: Sage Publications, 2002. 302-08. Print.
Part I
ReplyDeleteSymbols and signs are important for any type of media that is trying to convey a message. The symbols may visual or could be words that have a secondary meaning. The ability for people to learn from the semiotics is what media producers rely on. Media consumers might not remember every word that was said or every action made, but they do take something away from the symbols they are supposed to interpret. When viewers pay close attention to a program they may be looking for something deeper than what is being said or done. If everything media producers were trying to communicate had to be said, television shows and movies would have to be much longer so every word would fit in. It is not just dramatic plot lines that depend on symbols to convey deeper meanings. Comedies, crime shows, action movies, musicals, ect, all use symbols and signs to express more than what was said and done. The way in which the symbols are used between genres may be different, but are none the less used frequently across all genres. In addition, the message that is trying to be conveyed does not always have to be deep and profound. The symbol just has to mean something other than what it is.
An example of a television show that does not have a dramatic plot line but still makes use of symbols to convey a message is The Big Bang Theory. This sitcom follows the lives of four young men who work at a university. Through interpreting symbols present in the show, the audience can determine that the men are nerds. For example, the love of comic books, plethora of knowledge about computers, career choices, and television and film preferences that these characters have are all symbols of what is considered nerdom in current society. In Mass Communication Theory Baran and Davis quote the work of consumer researcher Michael Solomon, who states, “The overlap of ‘shared meaning’ by people in a culture means that individuals that learn a culture should be able to predict the behaviors of others in that culture” (Baran and Davis 321). In the case of The Big Bang Theory, American culture has a definition of what it means to be a nerd. Keeping this in mind, the media audience members who interpret the symbols in The Big Bang Theory should interpret the symbols as representative of the “shared meaning” of what constitutes nerdom. Furthermore, those who develop this interpretation should be able to predict other things the characters in the show may do or like.
Part II
ReplyDeleteAn additional recent media that I watched that that I believe is full of symbols is The Hunger Games. As a class we have already discussed the books and movie at length, but it goes to show the power the symbolism in these media have. The symbols conveyed in the films and books serve to critique current American culture and society. For example, the actual Hunger Games are symbolic of reality television that is so popular with current society. Competition reality television shows like The Amazing Race, Fear Factor, and MTV’s The Challenge are physical competitions that force the participants to engage in extreme physical acts. The participants fight through challenges in order to win money, and for the enjoyment of the audience watching on the other side of the camera. The Hunger Games further serve to critique society by expressing what is wrong with a society that takes pleasure out of seeing others in the physical and emotional pain that comes from competing in these types of shows. The fact that the Hunger Games symbolize these actually television shows is not stated in the media themselves. The meaning of the Hunger Games is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. In Mass Communication Theory, Baran and Davis state, “Symbols mediate and structure all our experiences because they structure our ability to perceive and interpret what goes on around us” (Baran and Davis 318). By understanding the symbolism in The Hunger Games, people can understand the negative aspects of reality television better and consequently will interpret one aspect of what is going in current society more fully, as Baran and Davis proposed.
Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis. "Media and Culture Theories: Meaning-Making in the Social World." Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012. 318-24. Print.
Part 1
ReplyDeleteWhen the show “Chuck” was still on the air, a save-the-show campaign ended with the fast food sandwich chain Subway promising funding to keep the show afloat. I never read about the financial details of this deal but I was curious to see how Subway would integrate itself into “Chuck”, thinking the most obvious method would have been having the character Sarah stop working for a fictitious hot dog company any simply start working for Subway instead. The show, however, took a different approach – they had the characters regularly bring in Subway sandwiches for their lunches and dinners, often taking considerable time to extol the virtues of the sandwiches in question. I don’t think it hurt Subway that the fictional store the main character and his friends worked in, the Buy More, shared the same color scheme as Subway – green and yellow.
Talking about the sandwiches with a wrapper clearly visible is an obvious bit of symbolism – it shows that Subway has helped “Chuck” and that the writers of “Chuck” have acknowledged this by praising the values of the sandwiches Subway has to offer. This display is meant to act more as a “signal”, or “artificial signs that produce highly predictable responses.” (Baran & Davis 322) After watching the characters Big Mike and Morgan talk about how delicious a meatball marinara sandwich is, the idea is that audience members will go out and purchases the same or similar sandwiches. I think that noticing the color scheme of the Buy More matching with Subway is more akin to noticing a “symbol”, described as either “artificial signs for which there is less certainty of response” (in symbolic interaction) (322) or “[objects] that represent some other [objects]” (in social constructivism) (327). There is no certainty of what will arise from making that connection, or whether even that connection was even supposed to be something to be aware of. Maybe it was meant to be as subtle as the Buy More Nerd Herd driving around in Toyota Yaris cars, without there being explicit mention of those cars. Maybe it was supposed to be something considered par for the course, such as all the main characters in the show using every generation of the Apple iPhone as their current phone. Perhaps the symbolism was meant to be as commonplace as the constant video games, comics and Star Wars references the main characters Chuck and Morgan made in public to establish their roles as “nerds”, “geeks” or both.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteI’m always confused as to whether, being media studies students, we are somehow violating the normal reception protocol by knowing too much about how things “work”. According to Stuart Hall, receiving shows through a “dominant code” would mean accepting them as they are portrayed, taking them in “straight” as they were meant to be taken in (Hall 306). In the case of “Chuck”, that might mean accepting Subway as a sponsor and buying sandwiches. A “professional code” applied to such receptions would mean accepting the previously mentioned “dominant code” but applying different criteria and operations to it, “especially those of a technico-practical nature” (306). I interpret that to mean trying to see just who else “Chuck” has managed to snag in for money, and just how obvious or subtle the Subway references will be in each episode. But that’s only an example.
As Shannon mentioned in an earlier reply, being media studies students does tend to give us more awareness into the workings of such symbolism and I think it makes us renegotiate how the show will reach as audience members because we are not typical passive or active audience members – but it doesn’t really do much to take away from the show. I think there is a sense of enjoyment in deciphering symbols that only media studies students can interpret in every show on television, whether they are obvious product placement promotions for Red Lobster on “How I Met Your Mother”, or the subtle retelling of all fairy tales by adapting Disney retellings as canon legend in “Once Upon A Time”. You never know where symbolism will take you.
Hey Isabel, I agree what you stated when you said symbols are used by the show creators to reveal deeper character traits. I see this symbolism occur in one of my favorite shows, Desperate Housewives on ABC. When that show first came out I didn’t even want to watch one episode because I thought the show was about boring housewives that just cook and clean all day, but once I gave the show a glance I was clearly mistaken.
ReplyDeleteWhen I did Semester at Sea I got really bored on the ship so when a friend of mind bought all five seasons on the black market in China when we got back from there so since my mom constantly talks about the show I figure it was a way to pass the time. The show was so interesting because of the four main women characters who were each distinct in their own way. In the article, “The television discourse: encoding and decoding”, by Stuart Hall , he states, “The level of connotation of the visual sign, of it contextual reference of its position in the various associative fields of meanings, is precisely the point where the denoted sign intersects with the deep semantic structures of a culture, and takes on an ideological dimension” (Hall pg.306). In Desperate Housewives the denoted connation in the show is in their fashion which intersects with the different and there different cultures. Bree is from a very conservative woman who comes from a background where the woman cooks and cleans for their husbands and bends over backwards for their husbands no matter the situation. Therefore the way she dresses resembles the woman from the 50s in the sweaters and pearls. Lynette comes from a background where her mom was an alcoholic who constantly abused her children; therefore Lynette is very controlling and very strong woman; business woman. When Lynette’s home she has her weekend clothes on which include tank top, jeans, and sneakers. Gabby is a Mexican woman from another abusive background, where she was molested by her stepfather then became a model known mostly for her good looks. Gabby constantly looks like a model no matter where she is, unless she’s doing her daily yoga on her porch. Susan is an artist who also writes children’s books and her style is very wholesome and innocent. All of the characters fashion styles symbolize the kind of personalities that bring the show together. Bree’s the controlling stern one, Lynette is the smartest, Gabby’s the selfish wife, and Susan the naïve wife.
Another symbol that people might not catch people’s eye at first is the red apple that all the wives hold in the opening theme song for every show. In the article, "Rhetoric of the image” by Roland Barthes, he states,” It appears linguistic message is indeed present in every image; as title, caption” (Barthes 293). The apple is a biblical message from the creation story of the Old Testament about Adam and Eve. In the story Eve is the one that sins first and convinces Adam to eat the apple. People say that because of that story women are the reason that there is no utopia; if it wasn’t for women there would be less evil in the world. Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and caused the beginning of a world where people are in pain and suffering. It’s interesting that the women in the show are holding that same apple in the beginning of every show; it symbolizes the pain and dangers they’ve been put in as suburban housewives.
In the world of media, there are symbols everywhere. However they may not always be noticed by the consumer. “There is less certainty of response” when it comes to symbols (Baran & Davis 322). One may not know how an audience will defiantly react to a symbol or if they will even notice when consuming their media. Whether the audience knows they are consuming these symbols or not it still affects how people are viewing media. These symbols can trigger emotion inside of us at times. With symbols, “we can be transported anywhere on the globe or even into the far reaches of space” (Baran & Davis 314). Getting that emotion out of people is a great way to sell a product. Symbolism that I think has the most emotional affect on consumers is through music. More and more television shows and even advertisements are placing high emphasis on their music placement. In a recent episode of the show How I Met Your Mother they played a popular song at the end of the show by recording artist Florence and the Machine. It was during a pivotal and emotional scene of the show. This isn’t really typical of the show in earlier seasons to feature such a popular song but it conveyed a lot of emotion and added to the sadness of the episode so people would really notice it. Sure enough after the episode I went on Facebook and there were many statuses about how awesome the song and episode were along with commenting on how sad it had been. People noticed the song but they didn’t necessarily notice the symbolism behind it, the feel of the song matching the exact emotions of the main character, symbolizing the heartbreak. Not only are TV shows doing this but it’s seen a lot in advertisements asw well. “Advertisements are one of the most important cultural factors molding and reflecting our life today” (Williamson 299). Symbols are used in these advertisements all the time. People are identifying with these symbols and affiliating it with media or even products they are consuming. “Advertising sets up connections between certain types of consumers and certain products” (Williamson 300). People are seeing these ads or commercials and want to associate themselves with a specific brand because of it. They want to identify with it so they can feel they have more of an identity themselves. “Advertisements are selling us something else besides consumer goods: in providing us with a structure in which we, and those goods, are interchangeable, they are selling us ourselves” (Williamson 300). For example in a recent Chevy Sonic commercial they feature the song “We Are Young” by Fun. I think most would say the chorus of this song symbolizes freedom and youth. The commercial features young men doing crazy stunts in the car looking like they are having a great time. The song really adds to the fun, freedom, and youth they are trying to convey. At the end when they say the all new Chevy Sonic they throw in, “from your first time to the time of your life”. I think the symbolism of the song really amplified the feel they were going for. Perhaps more people will buy this car because they want their personal identity to be young and free and therefore they will affiliate that with the Chevy brand and want to make it apart of their lives.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Isabel’s questions at the end, I do think that symbols play an important role in television, but also in advertisements more over, thus my response will include my analysis of both. Symbols allow directors and producers to say something without actually doing so which lets the audience make of it what they want, or feel that they have some insight to what is coming. Advertisers work similiarly in their methods for contriving a certain appeal for their brands.
ReplyDeleteTo start, a show that has a lot of symbolism is Dexter. As a newly addicted fan, I started watching the first five season over Thanksgiving and winter break. In my race to watch as many episodes as possible I noticed numerous symbolic references in the background of scenes, in things the characters would say, etc. While a lot of this could be seen maybe as foreshadowing – there is much more represented in specific symbols. In the first season there are many clues that may lead you to believe that Deb’s boyfriend is the Ice Truck Killer, but never are you made to believe that he is also Dexter’s long lost brother. The show intentionally puts in symbols that allow us to potentially make this connection, if we are looking for it. Like Isabel mentions, people take symbols to mean different things, therefore not everybody has the same read on what something was meant to represent.
Stuart Hall writes in terms of encoding and decoding television that a message’s significance “depends on it relation – or the sum of the relations of similarity and difference – with other elements or units… Violent or wicked acts of a villain only mean something in relation to the presence/absence of good acts” (304). Though Hall is referencing a Western-style show, this is applicable to Dexter in relation to good versus bad. If we decode Dexter’s behaviors without the other elements of the show, he is just a psychopathic serial killer. However, when we combine all of the elements, plot lines, and character relationships, many people find themselves identifying to some degree with Dexter, and actually really liking him. What we make of a television show or scene truly all depends on the sum of all parts.
On the other end we have advertisers and the way in which they choose to use symbolism. Judith Williamson opens her article with saying, “Advertisements are one of the most important cultural factors moulding and reflecting our life today. They are ubiquitous, an inevitable part of everyone’s lives; even if you do not read a newspaper, or watch television…” (299). She goes on to discuss how advertisements try to get personal to a point where they can be translated into “being a certain kind of person.” This instantly made me think of a debate I participated in for the marketing of Coca-Cola versus Pepsi… then I turned the page and noted Williamson’s “Pepsi People” reference (300). With that said, as a non-soda drinker, I fell on the side of Pepsi’s advertising as much better than that of Coke because they tended to target the younger, more fun demographic. At the time, it seemed that Coke had reverted back to the polar bear advertisements, as seen during the Super Bowl this year. Pepsi definitely tries to zero in on a type of consumer as the kind of person who is young, likes to have fun, and has a lot of energy. I tend to think of their commercials as ones that make you feel like you’re having a great time and are guaranteed to have fun when using their product. Therefore Pepsi becomes a symbol for the kind of people who drink it.
In this day and age most of our peer to peer conversations are based on the media. I cannot go one day without discussing a television show, a youtube video or a song I heard somewhere. We define ourselves with this attachment to the media and without it we would lack a big social element. I would define myself as an active audience member. And Baran and Davis define the way I use media’s symbols, “Active audience members use the media’s symbols to make sense of their environments and the things in it, but those definitions have little value unless others share them – that is, unless the symbols also define things for other people in the same way.” (Baran & Davis, 324)
ReplyDeleteI guess this is true. When I’m watching a show there are many symbols that make me connect to my own life. For instance, if there is a big rainstorm in a show, symbolizing death, I think of the day where my childhood pet died. A day that was all grey skies and puddles. But the use of symbols is not just about how I see it, it is about how society as a whole views it. The symbol for happiness is a smiley face, sadness a frown, life is a flower, love is a heart, and cancer a ribbon. All of these symbols without society’s definition would seem mundane. It is the people of our world who made these things be an important staple in our culture. Without definition, a use, or an understanding, a symbol is just an object. It means nothing. Baran and Davis say the use of a symbol is to, “mediate and structure all our experience because they structure our ability to perceive and interpret what goes on around us.” (Baran & Davis, 318).
Even though I do not watch mad men, I watched the clip. I remember how in my favorite tv show One Tree Hill, you see the true side of Nathan Scott when he dances and sings karaoke on a few occasions. You are used to him being all high and mighty, a jock, and someone to be jealous of. But when he gets up on stage he makes a fool of himself, he has absolutely no rhythm and I believe my mother may dance better than him….which is saying something because my mother embarrasses the hell out of me. But it is the encoding and decoding method described by Stuart Hall that I really found interesting. Every person is going to interpret this scene differently. When I saw Nathan dance I felt embarrassed for him, because I know I have been in a situation where I did not feel comfortable. I do not like getting up on a stage and talking infront of people or singing, even though I have done it time and time again. If you saw me you would not know I was nervous, but I am. My friend who watched the episode with me however, found this scene endearing. It made her like the character more because she thought since he couldn’t dance that he was cute. I looked at her and said really? You find this attractive? But as Hall explains not everyone is going to interpret the same thing the same way. Everything that we have experienced or came into contact with shapes the way we will view the media. I think symbols have the same depth in say a drama like mad men or one tree hill as they would in a comedy like Easy A. The themes of Easy A are bullying, rumors, sex, embarrassment, and growing up. We all can sit together and watch that movie discussing the plot lines, but the most interesting thing would be to discuss how the plot affected us. What it made us think of in our own lives. And that is what makes symbols so complex and interesting.
Part 1: Symbols, signs, and messages are everywhere. Some messages, symbols have a latent meaning and some are very obvious, but the whole purpose is to get a reaction out of the audience. Commercials are designed to appeal to the people using simple, yet clever words, creative pictures, images, fun background music, funny puns and numerous other ways to gain the attention of the certain people the commercial is directed towards. “Advertisements must take into account not only the inherent qualities and attributes of the products they are trying to sell, but also the way in which they can make those properties mean something to us.” (Williamson 299). Commercials are about selling a product using different symbols, signs and messages to gain our attention and reach us at a personal level.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of TV shows I don’t watch TV very often because of my busy schedule but when I do get the chance to watch TV I watch Investigation Discovery Channel (48 Hours on ID, Deadly Women, Nightmare Next Door, Unusual Suspects, Disappeared and many more) or I watch my recorded shows which are Coming Home (the show about military men & women surprising their loved ones by coming home early). But each show has a message but I may take something away from it that would be different from someone else. I watch these shows alone or sometimes with my mom and there is an obvious difference in reaction which makes for a healthy discussion among my mom and I, which is also very entertaining. There is also a huge difference in likes because she doesn’t like the shows I watch but she watches them with me anyways sometimes. But I digress, when I watch shows on ID I find myself fearing life more then is healthy but I also find myself being more aware of my surroundings depending on the show but I also find it very interesting because some of these shows bring to light the facts of what goes on within the mind of a killer(s) as well as showing how far we have come in technology and being able to solve cases that have been cold for 25 years or more. As well as solving murder cases that happen faster then we would have 10 years ago. Although the shows are really depressing they are also sometimes entertaining which in my case means the bad people who get caught and punished etc. Each show on ID results in a different reaction from me but each one carries the same type of message to me that is to be aware and careful.
The show Coming Home which airs on Lifetime every Sunday is a show that I will admit makes me cry and feel more emotions then I would like but I can’t help it. Watching military families struggle with the fact that their husbands/wives are deployed overseas is emotional but its also very inspiring because the husbands/wives of the deployed are raising their children, working their job, worrying about their husband/wife and still standing strong. So, when you watch the host of the show Matt Rogers goes to the different families and helps prepare the surprises and then you watch it all unfold its just so moving. They also show home movies from other families that have done their own surprising and so much more. But, each episode carries such a huge meaning and impacts me because I find myself realizing that so many families are struggling with their important someone be husband, wife, brother, sister, mother, father, etc., fighting overseas and spending as long as 2 years apart, helps me realize that I am lucky to have my family right here next to me.
Part 2: But I also have personal experience with having a person that you are close to being deployed overseas fighting for my country and my freedom and its not easy. I don’t support the war I support my troops and I have so much appreciation for them especially knowing everything they give up in order to ensure our freedom. In Baron & Davis, “…the meanings we give to symbols define us and the realities we experience.” In the paragraph following that statement is an example involving the American flag colors and the meaning. When the colors and shapes of our flag are put together they result in a meaning that is different among individuals but the same when shared. The show does exactly that I see the flag, the soldiers, the families and our troops and meaning with all of these symbols and messages are pride, love, freedom and sadness and hope. I cry throughout the entire show almost the entire show but I take so much away from the whole experience of watching it. The shows I watch aren’t the same or anywhere near the same category of what most people watch but I don’t have time during the week to watch those shows but the shows I do watch have a pretty intense aftermath for me personally. Having a minor in Psychology I have learned that symbols and messages sometimes have latent meanings and some are designed to have an effect on one’s subconscious and some are designed to effect one’s cognitive reasoning and so on. However, when symbols or messages are interpreted collectively the meanings are most times interpreted in a similar understanding. I don’t have the collective reaction because I don’t watch shows with anyone else and when I do its with my mom which is like once a week if time allows.
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