In his article “Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Media Convergence”, Tyron contends that the emergence and rise of popularity of digital special effects such as computer-generated imagery (CGI), which was popularized by Hollywood, resulted in the demise of movies’ ability to represent reality because of the technology to manipulate the filmed (Tyron 2009). However, I disagree with him on the basis that I believe at the very point at which reality ended in movies, fantasy replaced this void and edged out, to an extent, the ability of viewers to discern between fantasy and reality. I attribute this loss of ability to discern between fantasy and reality to the extending effects that movies have on the audience. First and foremost, where …show more content…
We become mere consumers of the capitalist system, without the ability to exercise our critical thinking. Accordingly, McLuhan also highlights the danger of an overly consumerist society, contending that the media industry creates a society of “mass man”, referring to man as the masses because there is a loss of private identity or autonomy (McLuhan 2001). When individuals lose the ability to understand the text critically and reflect on it, there is a loss of private identity because we cannot re-appropriate the text to our preferences and instead just consume what has been placed on the plate for …show more content…
This global village would cause the rise of the phenomenon of mass man and the loss of private identity. McLuhan attributes this to the new media forms connecting our senses to the world in new ways - “Media as extensions of ourselves”. In this sense, films become faculties of humans, which act as extensions of our senses, as can be perceived from our disposition to consume and celebrate the lifestyle and ideas that film producers bring across the screen. (McLuhan 2001). Through such a way, film restructures our consciousness, allowing for the ruling consciousness – that of the dominant group – to triumph over self-consciousness of man (Enzesberger). This occurs when we become uncritical receivers of the culture industry, which has been shaped by capitalist producers, and we accept and ingest the ideas and ideologies brought to us through a film without queries. For example, in our quest for a “celebrity lifestyle”, we are unconscious to the power dynamics behind the exaggeration of our needs and desires; the capacity of culture or film producers to beguile us to fall into an entangled trap of
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
It is a common mis-conception that films are merely entertainment, and serve no other purpose than to provide for the viewer a two-hour escape from reality. This is a serious under-estimation of the power, purpose, and potential of film, because film, upon reflection, revea...
The realm of fantasy does not only exist in stories, myths, or legends but also finds its places in the film industry. Film just like stories can capture an audience. By the use of metaphors, film gives us a visual experience that not only expands our horizons but also creates dimension. In Terry Gillian’s 1981 film, Time Bandits, we see the metaphorical value of his film as they share with their audience the themes of biblical good verses evil along with a secondary theme of man and nature verses technology.
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to break all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske’s ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
A new edition to the course lineup, this week's film classic, Sunset Boulevard. This film will focus on the culture and environment of the Hollywood studio system that produces the kind of motion pictures that the whole world recognizes as "Hollywood movies." There have been many movies from the silent era to the present that either glamorize or vilify the culture of Hollywood, typically focusing on the celebrities (both in front of and behind the camera) who populate the "dream factories" of Hollywood. But we cannot completely understand the culture of Hollywood unless we recognize that motion pictures are big business as well as entertainment, and that Hollywood necessarily includes both creative and commercial
... as well as a socially important idea. The theory art imitates life and life imitates art reveals important connections between literary structures and cultural beliefs. Media literature is mirroring important parts of American life and selling the images back with a product attached. However, the cultural and social myths that are being promoted are not always evident on the surface of the text. A new movement to read media literature critically has begun. As the emerging way to view texts is reading them deconstructively, we must promote other critical approaches that allow a more open translation of literature and provide balance to the political act of reading.
Most of the fantasy stories that were produced made use of film as a tool to expose the shows. Study proved that the world of film has a various capacity in persuading and changing the perspectives of a viewer. A film functions as an int...
Within every history class, English class, and even some science classes, the art of storytelling is a primary foundation for human communication and understanding. Whether it be through myths – Greek, Roman, Egyptian, you pick – or wives tales or even Grandpa telling his old war stories, stories have power. Now, through technological advancements in the last 150+ years (thank you Thomas Edison for your obsession), we have film as a mode to tell stories. Fictional or not, films tell a story; they have the power to give you not only entertainment but enlightenment too. Through continuing advancements, filmmakers have the ability to challenge and manipulate the power of the story through creative resistance; by exploring other elements of storytelling via film, filmmakers can create dramatically different films from similar ideas by using a multitude of techniques. Films are even used to create social commentary.
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, he proposed that we focus on the way each medium changes cultures and traditions and reshapes social life, rather than the content. He describes the content of the medium as a “juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.” (McLuhan, 32). To him, focusing on the medium was important because he believed that different types of media change the balance of our senses. We start isolating and highlighting different senses.
It is increasingly clear that media and culture today are of central importance to the maintenance and reproduction of contemporary societies. Cultures expose society to different personalities, provide models, which display various forms of societal life and cultivate various ways to introduce people into dominant forms of thought and action. These are the types of activities integrate people into society and create our public sphere. Media and technology surround our society; engrained into the fabric of our existence so much so, that it has become hard to find an aspect of life not influenced by its effects. For this reason, media controllers, wield extreme power and influence over the lives of everyday people. Although, they increasingly continue to feed the audience trash, despite their authority as the creator of our social/cultural interactions, and justify their actions by calling themselves industries. Reducing themselves to just businesses whose sole purpose is to create a profit. This admittance of what they feel to be their true purpose however does not hinder their control and power but instead adds to it. Creating a need for there to be some way to analyze and discuss whether they are using their position and power wisely. Filling this void, scholars have theorized ways for individuals to be critical of the media that they intake. One of these critical theories is the “Culture Industry” theory. Using Cultural Theory, as well as other complementary neo Marxist theories, it is possible to determine how Stacy Peralta, once urban youth culture advocate, became incorporated into the superstructure through media use, thus making him a tool for the continued commoditization of society, and a youth marketer for industries l...
As society becomes more engrossed in the capitalist side of the culture industry, the use value is taken over the exchange value of the particular item. People can become isolated within society and unable to make successful decisions for themselves. Through standardization of production, distribution and sales, people are treated as a commodity. People begin to lose the aesthetic appeal of cultural events and people become consumed by the fact their attendance to an event gives them status. Adorno and Horkheimer successfully show what will happen to society if the culture industry takeover of mass media continues.
Many people don’t think about it so much, but movies (or just film in general) have become such a big part of our lives that we don’t think much of it because it just feels like a usual part of living. But have you ever wondered why this is, and how far back film started? Movies and film have been around for a long time, have developed in big ways throughout time, and has advanced in such a big and new way to this day.