Select any exhibit and analyze it with 300+ words. Use the "Critical Lenses 101" handout. Look in the EXACT way the "Critical Lenses 101" handout tells you to as a critic. Ask the EXACT questions the "Critical Lenses 101" handout tells you to ask. Have the "Critical Lenses 101" handout with you as you study your exhibit and as you write this blog task. If you do not refer to the "Critical Lenses 101" handout enough or effectively, your grade will be cut in half because you are not following directions and are not thinking in the directed way.
“EXHIBIT” = novel, play, song, job, sculpture, film, poem, concert, painting, myth, sketch, poster, artwork, photograph, t-shirt, television show, biography, board game, military situation, college visit, speech, advertisement, event, place/building (school, office), game, brochure, practice, rehearsal, ritual, haircut/style, website, routine, suit coat, celebrity (like Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears, pictured here in an Old Spice advertisement)...
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Phillips. Period 7
I’m choosing to analyze the story of Tristan and Isolde. This fable has some history to it. Tristan and Isolde are star-crossed Celtic lovers as Romeo and Juliet were. Tristan is the son of a king who passes many years after the birth of his son. As for his mother she only named him Tristan because it means sorrow. For just starting out in life Tristan isn’t much favored. Then the queen dies. After years of living in torment Tristan goes to his uncle the King of Cornwall, to seek usefulness among his court. King Marc sends Tristan to go about the world seeking and reaping adventure, for he knows the heart of an eager young man. Soon Tristan becomes wounded and the princess Isolde of Ireland heals him. Unaware of the fact this man had rid o\her land and people of a monstrous dragon. As a prize the King of Ireland says to Tristan that he may have his daughter’s hand in marriage. To much dismay he denied her saying that it would only be fitting that the princess marry his uncle, King Marc of Cornwall. Filled with horror and pain, Isolde rushes to her mother prying for a way out of the unexpected marriage to a man she didn’t love. The solution her mother gave was a love potion for both Isolde and Marc.
Many think that Tristan fell in love due to a potion Isolde was giving to share with King Mark of Cornwall. I say they are wrong. Gender had a great effect as did power in society on the ending of the story. It was Tristan who saved the villagers and struck the monster that laid waste to Ireland. Why didn’t he just take Isolde for himself and bask in the benefits of being heir to the kingdom of Ireland? He couldn’t, Marc was the one who sent him out on this “adventure” only to find the King of Cornwall a wife. So being loyal to his kingdom and his uncle, he brought Isolde back on the ship. Isolde had no say in the matter of who she wished to marry. Before she could settle on the horror of being another man’s wife it was too late for her to say anything. Her father had spoken for her and in the end she suffered greatly. Women in this novel are misjudged far too easily. Men have say in everything thing. As we are only good for baring children and being figure heads next to the men.
I feel terrible for Isolde because in the end she and Tristan are sentenced to death. She would burn for being a temptress and he would be hung for high treason. I only wished it had happened that way. Tristan escaped and fled Cornwall as King Marc took pity on his wife. After a few years Tristan became badly wounded and his wife, whose name was also Isolde, grew so jealous because she knew the only one who could heal her husband was the Queen of Cornwall that she told her Tristan that the Queen of Cornwall was not coming to aide him. With that he passed in his sleep. The Lady Isolde of Cornwall came but it was far too late and died by her loves side. In the end women in this story will never receive what they wish, nor will we in any age. We, as women, will only be seen as the mothers of children, weak and feeble creatures in need of a man’s protection.
Randolph period 3
I am choosing to analyze the movie called “American History X”. it was a stunning movie that made me have trouble sleeping when and after analyzing it. The movie basically is in modern day time in the southern states where a newnazi party was formed. The main character and his brother were raised up to be against the blacks, the Indians, the Mexicans, and the Jews. Watching this movie I couldn’t help but analyze it in a marxist point of view. It was based on a power struggle because these pure white and very racist men were fighting for power and basically trying to get rid of the Mexicans and Blacks out of the South, starting with their neighborhood. The power was very much focused on the newnazi group and the main character who led the nazi group up until 2 blacks try to break into his fathers truck and he murders them. He is sent to prison where he no longer holds the power but is now faced with the problem of being a part of the nazi gang in prison. There is a black gang and a mexican gang as well. When the main character gets a job at the prison with a black man he soon finds himself to be friends with him. His fellow gangmembers find out and rape him in the shower. In this scene the power was taken from him and put against him for befriending a black. After being one of his own gang and dealing with having no protection from anyone else he learned it wasn’t about the power you held over someone but that killing is wrong.
Viewing this movie from a femenistic point of view I saw that the woman, his girlfriend, was there for his pleasure, as the first scene consists of him and his girlfriend having sex. Another thing I noticed was that when the main character was angered at the dinner table he took it out on the women and he expected them to listen to what he had to say about the terrible things about other races. There were very few women in this particular movie and the funny thing is is that when you did see them they were either getting thrown around, beat up, or they were being used for sexual pleasure. One of the few women was shown to be a very bad person and antifamily. She was one of the nazis and seriously wanted her boyfriend killed for changing his ways of being a nazi. The movie, to me, was basically saying that women are not important for anything but a punching bag and a sex puppet.
Austin Vielmette pd.6 pt. 1
I am doing the NFL defense in general in a Marxist lens prospective. Money matters in this function because how money is power; the Vikings defense stops all their opponents to get some points or no points at all because of their effectiveness. A power system matters in this function because the Vikings defense is like #1 an all the other defenses in the NFL are ranked below them. The social classes represent each other and they interact with each other by talking to each other and communicating with each other so they can make the tackle. If you don’t communicate, you won’t know what the play, won’t make the tackle, or won’t win a football game at all. There is some greed on the defense because some of the players get really greedy about making the sack or tackle. To me, if you are constantly making the tackle or sack, you are being a “hotstuff” and not giving the chance of giving someone else to get in on a play and that is just plain selfish and greed. The players that climb the social ladder on the defense are the veteran players on the team. The veteran players are on the top because they have the most experience; therefore they will play more often. However, the rookies are on the bottom because they aren’t as experienced, so they will learn under these veteran players, and eventually be able to play when the veteran players get old or not able to play at all. The player ladder is oppressive to the people who don’t get to play because they are either not experience or not good and the system is not exploitive to its members. Some of the players on the defense are given more freedom. The safeties have more because they can cover more field like the linebackers. However, the defensive line has less freedom because they have one assignment and that is to get to the person who has the ball at the line of scrimmage. The veteran players exploit their power by making good plays every week, and therefore they will be rewarded with mega contracts, and such. If you don’ t perform to expectations, your contract won’t be renewed and there is always that chance that you also could be cut sometime throughout the season.I am doing the NFL defense in general in a Marxist lens prospective. Money matters in this function because how money is power; the Vikings defense stops all their opponents to get some points or no points at all because of their effectiveness. A power system matters in this function because the Vikings defense is like #1 an all the other defenses in the NFL are ranked below them. The social classes represent each other and they interact with each other by talking to each other and communicating with each other so they can make the tackle. If you don’t communicate, you won’t know what the play, won’t make the tackle, or won’t win a football game at all. There is some greed on the defense because some of the players get really greedy about making the sack or tackle. To me, if you are constantly making the tackle or sack, you are being a “hotstuff” and not giving the chance of giving someone else to get in on a play and that is just plain selfish and greed. The players that climb the social ladder on the defense are the veteran players on the team. The veteran players are on the top because they have the most experience; therefore they will play more often. However, the rookies are on the bottom because they aren’t as experienced, so they will learn under these veteran players, and eventually be able to play when the veteran players get old or not able to play at all. The player ladder is oppressive to the people who don’t get to play because they are either not experience or not good and the system is not exploitive to its members. Some of the players on the defense are given more freedom. The safeties have more because they can cover more field like the linebackers. However, the defensive line has less freedom because they have one assignment and that is to get to the person who has the ball at the line of scrimmage.
Austin Vielmette pd.6 pt. 2
The veteran players exploit their power by making good plays every week, and therefore they will be rewarded with mega contracts, and such. If you don’ t perform to expectations, your contract won’t be renewed and there is always that chance that you also could be cut sometime throughout the season.
Hanson, 6
For this blog task I chose to analyze the YMCA Hometown Heroes poster. On the poster there are students from all over the state who have been chosen to represent their school for having outstanding character. Only two athletes, a boy and a girl, from each school are allowed on the poster. I am going to analyze from the Marxist Lens. From this lens we can start by asking why the two athletes that got chosen, get chosen? Are they better than everybody else? Is that considered being higher up on the social class ladder? I think the answer to this is no. The students who were chosen were chosen primarily for character and secondarily for skill and talent. Money and ‘fame’ had nothing to do with it. We can also ask, is there any greed between the students who were on the poster and those who are not? Do these students feel that they are better than everyone else just because they are on a poster? Truth is, there are plenty of athletes from each school that could have been chosen for the poster, but those two were. They may not have been the only two kids with good character and skill but in the end, they were chosen and they have the role model shoes to fill. Another question we could ask is do the students on the poster feel more pressure than the one not on it? Do they feel they have more of a role to play now as a good student AND good athlete AND good person? The answer could be yes or no. But I think that it is more pressure to not make mistakes and play ‘happy’ every game. They may feel obliged to bring the team up or be the one that carries the team. This goes into are the students given more or less freedom by the poster? In a way their freedom is limited, but only by themselves. They can do whatever they want but they have to know that kids all around the state will be looking up to them and seeing what they do and they will want to do it too. They see everything we do as ‘cool’ and the ‘right’ thing to do. And finally, in any ways do the kids on the posters flaunt or exploit the fact that they are on it? Depends on the person but I don’t think most kids do. In fact many high school students don’t even know about the posters because they are mainly distributed to the lower grade schools. So, personally I think the posters are a good thing but that they can cause unwanted stress in some students’ lives. Whether on it or not!
Groninger Pd. 2
I am going to use a Marxist lens to analyze the game Monopoly. In the game of Monopoly the main rules are for players to choose pieces which range from a thimble and wheelbarrow to a sack of money and a racecar. I would say each of these pieces symbolize possibly where you come from in society that if you choose a thimble you may on the same level as a poor sewing worker and if you chose a wheelbarrow you are the same as a poor farmer, but if you choose the moneybags it would show you had money to begin with and if you chose the racecar may have shown that you are a person who was spoiled with money and had expensive toys. Each of these pieces I think show where you start from in the game but also show that no matter where you start from you can move up in life. I think the power of getting land and money is chance with the dice just like in real life on how some people may have a lucky break or get a piece of land cheap or maybe get very unlucky, that is why I think this game uses dice and luck as the main way to get around and get land and money. Money plays a role only to buy land and houses or hotels in this game but its also important because the main cause of the game is to try and run the other players out of money say if they land on a piece of land they have to pay a minimal amount but if they land on that same piece of land with a hotel on it they have to pay almost three times as much money. The overall objective of the game is taking over land and then trying to become the dominant party in the market. Pretty much Monopoly is the same as pure Capitalism.
Mitzel, Period 6
I choose to analyze a new Seventeen magazine. On the cover, you can see a gorgeous, bubbly, girl with long blonde hair. (KE$HA) Her hair is done in a crazy/natural wave. She looks like a normal teenage girl except she has on some green eyeliner that fans out from her eyes. It pulls out the color of her eyes but also makes her look crazy/rebellious with her outfit. The girl also has one tiny section of her hair braided in the front. She has a piercing through her nose and looks like a wild girl. Just looking at ads, we can tell things about the person/what their message is. Beside the girl are the words, "Best Body EVER" (look taller, leaner, or curvier--without working out!), "Get Pretty Faster" (so you can sleep later) and "Amazing Hair, Every Day (get the secrets)". These words draw attention from millions of teenagers as well as having KE$HA on the cover. Every girl wants to look like the girl on the cover, and if the magazine gives them tips on how to do it, women/girls will change the way they are. I, myself skim most of the articles, by this age I know what I want to do with my hair, makeup, etc... I like to look at an ad and guess whether or not it is the truth. Every month a magazine has to put a new magazine with 140+ pages. How do they find all that information in such short time? I wonder how much of it is made up? As a society, many believe what they are told from magazines/TV/the internet. How do we know this information is true? Many girls in American thrive on drama. In this magazine you can read 'real' stories from girls around the world, learn of good books, help with relationships, read your horoscope, and learn what's right for your body type/skin tone.
With the Marxist lens, money is shown with different advertisements and celebrities. If you have wealth like these people you will succeed and be rich. All social classes can read this magazine but each level will take something different from it. The wealthy could think nothing of it while the poor think it's amazing and wish they has the fabulous/rich life.
Feminists say that this magazine is geared towards just women. It is not made for many men to read but all about what women want. Women will gladly pick up a magazine if it say it will make them thinner without working out or that they can be prettier to attract all the guys. This magazine is ruling for girls.
Danielle Granberg Pd. 2
Lately I have been getting many college advertisements. Many of the college advertisements are all similar; telling of their chance of financial help through scholarships or through FAFSA (Free Application of Federal Student Aid). They also give brief descriptions of other activities students can be involved in while attending college. Many of these college advertisements also have pictures of college students on them. Most of them are showing fun times during college, or show students studying. Many of these college advertisements can be analyzed through a Marxist lens. For example the most recent college advertisement I received was from USD. On the front of it was a picture of a group of graduates standing in their gowns, throwing their caps in the air. In this picture it almost seemed as if they are exploiting their power, being graduates, but I think it is ok for them to celebrate that, it is important to themselves and their family. Some college students think the cost of college is “suffocating” them, by not allowing them to attend college, but this pamphlet shows them the exact opposite, that they can receive the financial help needed if they just try. In the advertisement some students are given more power because they are given the opportunity to receive scholarships for many talents like playing an instrument, or sports. I think capitalism does have a conscience for lower class citizens, which is portrayed in this pamphlet, by offering financial help with college through scholarships. I think the makers of the pamphlet wanted to make the people who need the financial assistance not feel oppressed by adding a statement that says ‘more then 90% of all USD students receive some sort of financial aid’, making it ok to receive financial help.
No, I don’t believe USD exploits its members at all. It would be hard to offer so much financial aid if they did. Many people who receive scholarships can easily climb the social ladder, because in order to receive scholarships you have to be good at what you do. Having the money available can help someone to easily become better at something. I think there isn’t as much social class problems in college, but that any greed or social class problems occur between colleges and not students.
Ryan Rohrbach period 3
In borderlands there are different social classes that interact with each other, there are six different social classes in the game. There are the people who don’t live Pandora, the people who live on Pandora, and aliens; in the game the aliens are gone but they left some of their guns behind. The people that live on pandora call the ones that don’t live there off worlders. The planet of Pandora is a desert waste land with a few remains of giant creatures that were 20 story buildings tall. For the social ladder the bandits are the lowest, bandits live on Pandora and lost control of there id and have lost there sense of humanity, which they started to attack the other people that live on Pandora called on worlders, the on worlders are one step higher on the social ladder. Next on the social ladder is the crimson lance, the crimson lance also live on the Pandora but they are following Commander Steele. One step up on the social ladder is the secret armory of General Knocks, General Knocks army is a very tough competitor against you that you need to have very tough guns to defeat them. On the top of the social ladder is the character you play as, there are four characters to choose from, they are a hunter, soldier, siren, and berserker. Once you pick your character you make a long dangerous journey to find a place called the vault where your character will get fame, money, power, and women. There is a lot of social tension because the bandits, Crimson lance, and you what to get to the vault, so all the way throw the game you are fighting bandits, half way in the game you are then fighting the crimson lance and bandits still. The on worlders help you to get to the vault throughout the game. General knocks army is only if you go online to play but they really don’t like you at all.
Kayla Sorensen period 3
For my exhibit I chose to analyze Prom. Marxist: Each year students buy expensive dresses or tuxes to wear on this night. Here all the social classes interact with each other for the most part. It’s hard to tell which people are the wealthy, popular, poor, or in-betweens. Here everyone looks like royalty for the most part. Sometimes there is greed with how pretty someone else’s dress is compared to yours. Social tensions occur when someone doesn’t dress up as fancy as the other people. Sometime the lower class isn’t happy because they didn’t have as much money to buy a dress as fancy as the upper class. But than again they could just be happy to be there and not worry about money for a night. Sometimes the upper class flaunts how much money they have and buys everything expensive and brags about it. Students are given the same amount of freedom for the most part during the dances. Feminist: In this exhibit gender plays a huge role. Females make prom a huge deal. They make sure they have good transportation, nice restaurant to eat at, and all in all make sure they will have a night of their lives. They make appointments to do their nails, hair, and even sometimes makeup. They have to make sure they buy a dress of their dreams and make sure they look fantastic. Males on the other hand just care about getting a tux to match their date and make sure they have shaved and provide the money for the night. Women make a bigger deal out of prom than the men do. Women are portrayed as princesses. They are the main focus on prom night. They are like royalty. Women get the privilege to pick out a dress of their dreams as men only have to pick out what color of tux they will be renting. Freudian: On prom night I believe the id is winning. They go with what is most expensive and what would be “cooler” than everyone else. The people who go the simple and less expensive way represent their superego. The women are expressing their true royalty dream of dressing up and going off to a dance. The women go to the bathroom at least 2 times throughout the night to check to make sure they still look okay and the men probably just maybe go once to actually use the bathroom. The men during prom are probably thinking why girls go through so much for just this one night. And the women are thinking every second about how they look and if their markup, hair, dress, etc are still good.
Trey Martin-Pd. 3
The person that I am going to analyze this week is none other than the proclaimed and praised singer/songwriter Mary J. Blige, with the Marxist lens. Not only known for her music, she is one of the world’s biggest spokes person for bringing people out of unstable environments, and making them believe that they have a dream, they can accomplish things in life, and they can be who they want to be if they try and strive. Growing up in the slums of New York state, she faced abuse and poverty, drugs, and abuse on a daily basis. Some would ask how does one face such troublesome and gruesome situations, and still come out as one of Americans most famous entrepreneurs. For her the answer is simple, her music. On one of her albums she states that the only way to know that she is in a better place from where she came from is to GROW, that’s how she knows she is improving, and coming up to the height of empowerment she fights for. Once abiding by the codes and regulations of the lower class, she did not let that suffocate her, and therefore was not suffocated by tribulations that many take much longer to get over. Her money in this case would not classify her either, cause we all now she has plenty of it. The money goes to the less fortunate, the once-Mary J. Blige people that are still sitting in those run down apartments, and abandoned buildings. Is it true that you can come from a not so stable base, but yet make a strong foundation for another? I think that in Mary J. Blige’s mind the answer would be a defiant yes. Coming from a broken past doesn’t mean you have to continue that broken path, and not let growth be apparent, or stability. Some people who come from broken homes, and unstable places know nothing else but to continue this legacy in going no where, walloping in grief, not wanting to care about another day, and turn out broken people. Could Mary have continued this thought process in her life? Of course, but it comes to show that one can rise from their trouble-stricken pasts. Sure her troubled past makes up a huge part of her, listen to her music or an interview and she will tell you. It may not have been the best times of her life, but she makes the answer to the questions can ones past have a huge affect on their future. She herself is the answer. It’s fortunate in her case though that she did come out on top, because for many others the answer to the preceding question would not be so enlightening.
Drenth Pd. 2
I chose to analyze three ads in my seventeen magazines that are all Nike ads. They all relate to each other. I am choosing to analyze these three ads with a Feminist Lens. The first one says, “Make Yourself Strong”. The picture is of Allyson Felix an Olympic medalist in track and field. To me, this ad is telling women that if they buy Nike stuff, like the sports bra that Allyson Felix is wearing in the picture, they will become strong. We will become a beautiful strong and pretty. Nike is telling women in this ad that they will be confident with their body if they buy Nike. The women are portrayed in this exhibit as skinny, strong, beautiful, and complicated to read. The second ad says, “Make Yourself Shine”. This ad has a picture of Monyca Byrne-Wickey a professional surfer. This ad is saying that if you buy Nike, you will shine and be happy. As the same as the one before, if women have Nike stuff, they will skinny and beautiful. The last ad says “Make Yourself Fit”. This picture is just of legs with Nike shoes on. At the bottom it says, “Start with your feet, and get fit from the ground up”. Even though the picture just shows legs, you can tell that they are girl legs. This ad is also aiming at women. It is telling women to buy Nike shoes and you will get fit. However, you can just get fit from buying shoes; you have to work for it. These ads aim at women and not men. I think it aims at women because Nike thinks that if you buy Nike you will be strong, you will shine, and you will be fit. You will also be happy and beautify. Therefore they think that women want to be all of those things so they can get men. All three of the ads relate to each other that all three of the pictures are shiny, strong looking, and fit looking. These ads are also telling women that they have to be strong, beautiful, shiny, and fit in order to show their body, be happy, and get men. Even though the ads tell women what they need to be, it is also not being based on genders. It gives women a chance to show that they matter. I also chose to analyze these ads from the Freudian lens. These ads are telling your id to go and buy Nike stuff because it will make you fit, strong, and shiny.
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
Good evening or morning or what have you! For this specific blog task, I so choose to analyze the phenomenal and critically acclaimed play “Waiting for Godot” as a Marxist critic. Insofar, I have only read a transcription of the lauded tragicomedy, so my analysis will lack substance in the subtle nuance of an actual performance and will instead focus more so on the biting and intelligent dialogue of the writing that composes the play proper.
First, however, a bit of backstory for those who have not yet (though should) read the play. Through a mere hundred and nine pages, Beckett, the author, orchestrates a somewhat laconic and aphoristic summary of the human experience through the discourse between two aged vagrants; sitting aside a road, waiting for Godot (whomever that might be). They talk of many things; life, luck, apparently fleeting little nothings of common conversation, and; most frequently, bizarre, misanthropic, delusional streams of consciousness that travel to the shady and dark recesses of mankind’s collective id. During the wait, they meet on two separate occasions a passing man, Pozzo, and his slave, Lucky. On the first such occasion, Pozzo is depicted as great and powerful; a business man with the world at his fingertips. However, on his second passing, he has forgotten all that he was, save the memory of how far he has fallen, and has become blind and helpless. Without spoiling too terribly much, I believe I have provided a basis of reference for this analysis so as not to confuse a reader to a greater extent than need be, and as such, I will hereby begin my analysis as
A Marxist Critic:
At the mere surface value, this work could be trivialized to the point of relative literary obscurity. From a simple perspective, the plot is lacking in substance or climax, our protagonists grow little and are often nonsensical in their dialogue. One must delve deeper into the nigh but bottomless abyss of meaning that is this book, lest they would go mad at the seeming senselessness of it all (which is, in turn, another brilliant metaphor to our own lives). Upon evaluation, I first noticed the systems around which the book flourishes, such as the oppressive nature of the time period (which is not specified, and thus makes it universally applicable) that produces the seemingly mad, bohemian, itinerant and downtrodden Estragon and Vladimir. Though one could postulate on the extent that they played in creating their own misfortune, the likes of the obvious Bourgeois Pozzo seem to repress and prevent the two from moving out of their proletariat working class. This drives the two on several occasions to suicidal ideation, though sometimes I feel it is less because they are of the lower class and more because of the lack of distractions from the pain of living that said life offers. However, Pozzo’s decrepitation leaves me pondering which was truly happier, and if the systems were the disease that caused it or were merely a symptom of the human condition. In essence, I feel that the social system that the book presents is; more than anything, a literary device to expose how suffering and humanity know no bounds of class. While the novel at first glance appears to be nothing, and at second glance appears to be a Marxist playground for the downtrodden, I believe that it defies such simple categorization and is something far greater than the sum of its parts.
Bratland P. 3
I chose to examine the new Axe Shower Gel commercial, “Wash Your Balls” through a Feminist lens. This commercial is a very sexist commercial. These two attractive women try to clean a bunch of different sizes of balls: golf balls, tennis balls, soccer balls, and medicine balls. The one woman has no idea how to “make balls cleaner so they are more fun to play with.” They state that a bar of soap doesn’t clean the balls properly. Then when they clean the first set of balls, which are golf balls, one of the women states that, “I could play with these balls all day.” Some guy asks if the new Axe Detailer could clean his filthy balls, which are dirty tennis balls, and they “clean right through the prickly surface.” A black man, who has a big sack full of soccer balls, asks if they could “clean his ball sack” and the girl says, “That’s a big ball sack!” Finally, an old man comes out as a special guest with a couple of dirty medicine balls. The lady cleans the medicine balls and the old man says, “They look like new!” Now, all of these previous statements are very sexist. They have two women saying that “balls” are not fun to play with when they are dirty. And that the new Axe Detailer will clean any pair of “balls” no matter the size or shape. A feminist critic would absolutely go crazy with this commercial. This commercial exploits men and their “balls” and how women do not like to play with them unless they are clean. This commercial to me is saying that unless you use this new Axe Detailer, no woman will want to play with your “balls” and that you will be ashamed of your dirty “balls” until you buy their product. This commercial blatantly states that you will be all alone and not having sexual intercourse of any kind with a woman, unless you purchase the new Axe Detailer.
Mariah Nachreiner Pd 2
This week for the blog task I am choosing to examine a dance competition that my team attends every year in Florida “Worlds”. This competition is different from others; you have to win a bid in order to go. Therefore only the best teams attend. Analyzing it from a Marxist lense, there are apparent social classes from team to team. If you are a team with unlimited funds and resources you are sure to compete at a higher level. Such as the team “Pace” from California; they spend thousands and thousands of dollars on their costumes, choreography, traveling, and competition fees. They are known to be the team to beat, the best team at “Worlds”. Every year they win or place in the top three in the categories they enter in. Are there social tensions between teams? Yes, it is almost as if the lower class teams envy the upper class teams. They feel as though when they go into the competition that the upper class team that has won every other year is going to win again. Yet, there are times when the lower class teams try to over compensate by not spending as much money on uniforms, and choreography but have fun and sometimes even become better. Looking at this competition from the Feminist lense, there are general roles men and women play. In the hip hop category, if you have boys on your team, you are considered more of a threat and better then the all girl teams. Almost saying without boys on the team you are incapable to be as good as the coed teams. In fact over the years coed hip hop and all girl hip hop have been in the same category; but since so many teams have complained of being scored unfairly because they do not have guys on the team, they have now made two separate categories. The people who are putting limitations on genders are the judges. They are saying if you have boys on the team your routine will score more points because the boys are able to better more exciting tricks. Making your routine more exciting and thrilling to watch. They social expectations of the men and women are also different. Bringing me to talk about the Freudian lense. The boys are to bring the tricks and thrill to the routine while the women are to bring the sex appeal. The girls are given skimpy outfits separate from the boys and are given separate moves from the boys also. By saying the boys do tricks and are the main attraction to the routine it is saying they are the powerful people in the routine and the girls are almost like the lures to the men. Such as if you were to watch a Justin Timberlake music video. He is the main attraction and the girls are all for show to add sex appeal.
Nick Vigants
Period 3
For my exhibit I chose to analyze the I’m a Mac Versus, I’m a PC commercials. We all know that these commercials are saying Apple computers are amazing and don’t have viruses, or any frustrations. Then they tell us that PC have viruses, frustrations, and that they will always be that way. But beyond what they are saying you will see. A young skinny guy representing Mac and a old chubby guy representing PC. Hmm I wonder what that is trying to say, well it probably says that young happy people chose mac and so should you. They do this on purpose because everyone wants to be young skinny and happy. Witch this commercial depicts perfectly. They also show you how it will be if u make the so called wrong choice and buy a PC. They say that you will have to do upgrades, have viruses, and not just that they even put glasses on him. But the Mac guy doesn’t, this is just one of the ways they put down Mac, they also have even put him in a wheel chair and put casts on both of his arms and a leg. Possibly saying if you chose a PC you are buying something broken that can’t do much for you, it also is saying it has a disability basically, you wouldn’t expect as much from a person who has a disability. A Marxist critic might also ad that apple has a young guy representing mac that is somewhat fashionable and good looking because, people buying macs are more likely to buy five or more pares of sneakers in a year, or to use teeth whitening products. I wonder if there commercials have influenced this? But a feminist critic would ask why are there no women in these ads, but mac found a solution to that one buy adding another person in witch happens to be a good looking lady who is also skinny and good looking. This lady is supposed to be a random lady who is deciding to upgrade her PC or get a new Mac, and of solely what she is wearing you would be able to know that she chooses Mac.
Janaye Sjoberg Pd. 3
For this week’s blog task I chose to analyze the movie Taken. I believe this movie can be seen and studied through the lenses easily. For those who have not yet seen the movie it is about a father whose daughter is kidnapped in Paris, he who is a former spy sets out to find her no matter what relying on his special skills. He tracks down the men who abducted her and seeks a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.
Feminist Lens: By Looking at the movie Taken through the Feminist critical lens you want to ask yourself how women are portrayed throughout the movie. I believe women are looked at as being fragile and an easy target. It is only for one to assume that if there is a teenage girl in a foreign country with her friend alone with no parents they would be easy to take advantage of. But say it was a young teenage male with buddies in a foreign country you might say that they can fend for themselves so they would not be approached by strangers therefore cannot be “taken”. When the father and mother, who of which are divorced, find out that their daughter, Grace, has been kidnapped in a foreign country her father wants to immediately take action. Acting invincible and masculine to the point he goes straight to Paris leaving the mother behind to just sit and wait. The director of the movie, Pierre Morel, whom is male, writes this movie about a teenage girl getting kidnapped in a foreign country so these European men can sell her body in sexual slavery. What if the movie was directed and written by a woman. How would the plot line be any different? I think it would be extremely different and also very difficult for a woman to write a story like that. By being a woman you are more subjected to be put in that kind of a situation to fend for yourself, and thinking about the possibilities of what could happen would just cause nightmares.
Neuberger. -- Period 7.
I am analyzing a Macy’s ad from a magazine. A feminist critic would say there is a woman of power in this ad. The ad shows a girl dressed very punk rock, but still girly singing on a stage. She is the only one on the stage; this gives the viewer a sense of pride and power. The girl’s facial expression is very serious but the dumb pouty look girls do. By putting the girl on the stage with no one else this tells the reader she can do whatever she wants to up there. She is holding the microphone too. The lead singer of a band is usually the most known person, which gives her a sense of placement in the world. In this exhibit I believe the id is winning over the model. She has a very I don’t care what anyone thinks about me type deal going on. She has let go of her morals and doing exactly what she pleases. She is showing her true urges, dreams, and goals. She is wearing a very tight, black, short and low cut dress. This may be perceived as a sex symbol. The creators of this ad and of this outfit named the outfit “Love Tease.” This to me seems a little seductive, as well. She is of course tiny; no flaws, whatsoever. The model is seeking narcissistic bliss by getting to sing up on the stage with no other cares in the world. This girl in the ad also looks like she goes against the system. She’s going against the social norm for sure. She is very punk rock, wearing all black, heavy, dark eye makeup. It looks like there may be some social tensions between the punk rock girl and society. All of society may not accept her lifestyle. I believe if one were to live this lifestyle they would be given more freedom. They would stay out all night partying. My guess is she has no parents or family waiting for her to come home at midnight to say goodnight. She gets to do whatever she wants.
Zins pd. 7
For this blog I chose to analyze The Jersey Shore. Marxist lens: Money in this exhibit matters a lot because the “Guido’s” are considered very wealthy and privileged. The power system in this exhibit shows that the males are the dominate figure in the “Shore House” because they are muscular and testosterone filled. The social classes of this exhibit are that the Guido’s are the top of the food chain because they are Italian and the “studs” of the social circles. The Guido’s are pretty greedy for thinking they are the highest and mightiest of the chain. The men in the house climb the social ladder by getting with every girl they can, as fast as they can, whenever they can. The girls in the house are somewhat exploited because of the clothes they wear out to the clubs to try to impress the “juice heads”. There are definitely social tensions in this exhibit because the girls in the house are always fighting over who the other girls bring home and they get in huge fights over a guy they “hooked” up with for one night. The ruling class in the house is not very happy because they are always getting annoyed by what the lower class is doing.
Feminist Lens: Gender in this exhibit shows that men are more dominate figures in everything that’s done, even in the cooking. Women in this exhibit are shown as whores or like they don’t have very good values. The women’s natural role is to do the cooking and cleaning, but in this exhibit, it is just the opposite, the men to the cooking and a lot of the cleaning. Society puts limitations on gender when people should just be who they are and if that means a woman doesn’t want to do the cooking and cleaning and wants to be the main provider then, so be it. I think we should toss out the created gender stereotypes because people should be able to do what they choose and not what people think they should do. The social norms in this exhibit are totally switched around and contorted.
Freudian Lens: In this exhibit everyone and I mean everyone, satisfies their ID, they go out and drink every night, they have sexual relations with as many people as they can, and they do whatever they want whenever they want. In this exhibit I would say that Mike “The Situation” represents the ID, Vinny represents the superego, and Snooki represents the ego. The sex symbols are a man’s muscles and they represent a man’s ability to take care of a woman and how high up on the social ladder they are. The characters achieve narcissistic bliss by primping themselves constantly with “GTL” or gym, tanning, and laundry. Most of the characters in this exhibit are thinking that they want to do as much as they can with whoever they can in the shortest amount of time possible.
McNamara Pd: 3
For this blog task I am going to analyze Dancing With the Stars. Dancing With the Stars is one of those shows that are very predictable yet at few moments unpredictable. I’m going to use the Marxist and Feminist Lenses in order to analyze this exhibit. In Dancing With the Stars, the professional dancers and the stars have to connect with each other on a very intimate level for most dances. The male dancer in a feminist point of view has a very distinct role in which they are made to look like an attractive accessory for the female to dance with. While the female role is made to have a great amount of sex appeal in general and during their dance, also the females are there to impress the male audience. Also the feminist lens would say that no matter what style of dance the female should always lead. When the couples are dancing they have to visually and emotionally attract the audience. Sexy and elegant costuming along with the song selection adds a lot of appeal to the dances; this makes it very simple to convey a story line or mood to any given theme. In a Marxist viewpoint I believe this show is titled Dancing With the Stars for a reason, because you wouldn’t want to watch a professional dance with the “average Joe” that would be why they invite famous stars to be partners with the professionals to add levels of enjoyment and entertainment. Social classes do not interact with each other for the most part because the professional and the star are higher up on the social ladder than the average person. The contestants also fight for the “power” of winning, and want to receive all of glory. The stars on Dancing With the Stars can climb the social ladder though because for example Bristol Palin is currently on Dancing With the Stars and she is gaining a lot of popularity because of being on the show. The members on the show often “strut their stuff” while dancing and like to show off their looks and flaunt their dance moves. Also as one of the male judges said on the show tonight “don’t be plastic be fantastic,” which would add to the element of not conforming and being your own individual. On this show I believe that it displays quite a lot of energy, because dancing has to affect your brain and affect your technique as well. The contestants also have to interpret the music and control the movements while dancing, which is what all seniors do while analyzing exhibits.
Erickson pd. 2
I am going to analyze “Mean Girls.” This movie shows that in order to be part of the “popular” table, you must have a lot of money. On top of that, you must be good looking. Overall you must have won both lotteries. The Marxist lens would conclude that money would be a big determining factor in this movie. Money = power. Power = happiness. The girls that seem to have everything they want show a sense of happiness compared to the girls who show jealousy towards them. The social classes don’t tend to get along in this movie. Much of the Marxist lens asks, “Who attempts to climb up the social ladder?” From what I saw from my lenses, I saw Kady trying to be more powerful than Regina George. She attempts to steal her boyfriend. Kady eventually succeeds in that. She also makes Regina fat and friendless. When she completes all of her tasks, she becomes the new queen bee. This shows how Kady climbed up the social ladder according to the Marxist lens. From what I viewed, I thought the upper class was much happier than the lower class. The lower class wants to be just like them and try to be just like them. They do everything the high social class does. Even the teachers follow the high social class because they are jealous.
Kady is given the chance to become on the mathletes. She wants to, but her social class tells her that that would be “social suicide.” This shows that it is better to be in a higher social class than show off what you know best. According to the social classes, joining mathletes is like stepping down on the social ladder. You won’t achieve the top if you are on the mathletes.
The Feminist lens is shown by the women looking like they are crazy in the movie. The girls are the ones shown that have social issues. The guys all tend to just get along. The girls have problems amongst everyone. This stereotypes girls as being witchy. It shows that girls would rather be popular and powerful than be happy.
Brianna Bly Pd. 6
I have chosen weddings to be my exhibit, and I shall be analyzing this topic with the Marxist lens. Everyone is different and has different taste, which is why weddings are unique and different from one another. To most, money is a major part of this exhibit and without it their day wouldn’t be as special. The bigger and the more extravagant a wedding is, the higher the couple is on the social ladder. On the surface, a wedding is a time for celebration and for friends and family to enjoy the day with the couple. Looking deeper into it, it symbolizes a bond between two people and a promise that they’ve made to each other to spend the rest of their lives together. The cost of the cake and the dress alone would make a stingy man cry. The families of the couple have fun for this one day, and then spend months or even years paying off the expenses. It has gotten to the point where marriage is something a couple can’t go through with until they are financially ready. Are people pressured into having big weddings? Why wouldn’t they want to save money, and have a small ceremony? Our social period influences our choices immensely, and these choices show at weddings. The way people behave at weddings, how weddings are set up, and factors like these have changed throughout history. The bride and groom are the center of attention at their wedding, giving them the ability to climb the social ladder. Some women could be jealous of how beautiful the bride looks, and traditionally they try not to draw attention to themselves knowing it’s her day. In some cases, families like to have a say in how a wedding should be and look, taking away from the individual system and focusing on an exploitive system. Marriage can also be seen as serving the larger cause. The system wants to expand and can only do so if people decide to add to it. Those who choose not to be a part of the system, such as single people, can feel out of place at weddings giving weddings an oppressive theme. Are single people actually happy at weddings because they feel they haven’t been pressured into the system? Two social classes are forced to interact with each other at weddings, and depending on their views the families may or may not get along. Whether the wedding turns out to be a total disaster or it’s the day all their dreams come true, it’ll be a day that the husband and wife will cherish forever.
Kalo Period 2
I am going to analyze the ads for the black Friday. If some of you don’t know what black Friday is , it is the busiest shopping day of the whole entire year. People will wait in lines for just one thing but that one thing may be $100 of etc… like for example I stayed the night in the Target parking lot last year because I wanted to get this iPod dock thing and they only had a limited amount of them so I slept in the car overnight and when people started showing up we started waiting in line around 1 or 2 in the morning. When you look at this scenario using the Feminist lens some women will shove and push their way through the crowd just to get what they want. For example last year I was trying to grab something of the shelf and a woman came right behind me and pushed me aside and took it. Even some women will get to the point then they will swear and some will even pay each other for what they have. Men might think this is crazy but for us (women) it is the best day in the whole year for shopping!! What else can you ask for? If you look at this scenario through the Marxist lens men are looking this day as one of the worst day of the year because all they are doing is spending all the money he/she makes, so don’t u think that men have the right to go shopping , Yes!! but about 95% of men do not get up early to go shopping and to be around a bunch a grouchy women in the morning, I wouldn’t want to be . So maybe men should go shopping with their significant other for black Friday u never know maybe you will find something u will like
Thelen-Third
If we all are a little more observant to the detail, we might be able to look behind what we see. Facebook, as we all know, is an addicting drug that gives the youth the ability to peer into the lives of one another, for the better or the worse. Right when you log on you are connected into what you have missed out on during the weekend. Wither it is pictures, statuses, or friends that have not yet accepted you, there is something you are not apart of, and Facebook is a constant reminder of existing social status bar. I’m guilty of it. I love a good “creep” on Facebook. Looking at what everyone has been up to and what new thing everyone is talking about now. But for some, the pictures and status show they haven’t quite made it to the next level of “cool”. We all know the people who update new pictures every weekend, showing they have endless good times and friends. These are the “lions” of the cyber world. So on same note, Facebook is online bragging contest. Who can have the most friends, the most photo comments,” of high school shows where they can fit on the pedestal. This cyber social ladder is addicting because people can see if they are moving up on the environmental chain with every friend request or photo comment. What person wouldn’t comment on a picture that has half your stomach hanging out and your lips puckered so you resemble one of Hefner’s girls. It seems with the technical advances, the mental progress just goes down hill. As a female, it’s devastating seeing some girls portray themselves as low as their shirt shows. But if you got it flaunt it right? (please be thinking wrong) That’s the thought most of these girls are thinking as they upload their new photo. Of course the girls who don’t have as many “friends” on Facebook, or the real world, are going to be called names that no one wants to read or hear. On the other hand, what about the girl who has more than 1,000 friends and most everyone loves? Will she be getting the same comment as the other girl with the same poise? I’m thinking the comments will be posted a little differently from the male gender, and the females wouldn’t ever say anything to a higher ranking girl. But why is it they feel the need to post such pictures? Attention, shock value, see if they can get away with it? Facebook is a way to show what you got and let hundreds (even if you don’t know them) see it. We are all interested in what the Jones’ have, that’s why we add them and continue to compare and feel put down by the cyber life they are living.
My exhibit I will be analyzing for this blog is the TV show “The Office”. First lens that I will be using is the Marxist Lens. How does money matter or function in this exhibit? On the show you have a boss named Michael who is a boss of an office but doesn’t get the same pay as other boss’s in the businesses do. That already makes Michael self aware that he doesn’t matter much, so he tries to become the funny, laid back boss that doesn’t want to do work. How does a power system matter or function in this exhibit. In this case power doesn’t work much for a boss. A boss is more powerful than the employees are but in this case it is switched around having Michael being less powerful than some of his employees. Sometimes the employees say no to him and then Michael doesn’t punish them for it. The employees are constantly trying to tell the CEO that Michael is incompetent to do is work so that they can get his job and have more of a power than what they already have. The next lens I will do is the Feminist Lens. How does gender matter or function in this exhibit? There is this one episode that has a woman is promoted from secretary to saleswoman. They make her not do good in sales, which in translation being the women don’t make good salesman. Dwight is a very sexiest man that has the women below the men, saying that the only thing a woman should do is making babies. The next exhibit is the Freudian Lens. How much does a character obey there id or superego? For id that would be Michael, he doesn’t work at all and when he has to do something he complains for hours before even starting the work. He constantly doesn’t want to be a boss which is harder than him trying to be fun and not working but avoiding the work by doing a prank or telling a joke about someone instead. Someone that only listens to his superego would be Dwight, he hasn’t been late for work, tries to work hard and doesn’t fool around as much as most people. He is the best salesman because he doesn’t waste time and constantly tries to get the upper hand to be a better salesman.
Nicole Zens Pd 2
For my exhibit I have chose to analyze Lupe Fiasco’s song, “The Instrumental.” Lupe Fiasco weaves a story about a man who is entirely addicted to Television. Through the Freudian lens it is made clear that the person in the song doesn’t want to watch TV anymore, but is becoming a corporate zombie. He can’t remember who he is, he buys new things just to “hide his scars,” and ends up locking up the TV, but is scared to look away in case the “Box” shows him how to take off the lock with then chains himself to it only to swallow the combination and forget it. The person is, I believe, representative of our Nation’s problem with sedentary lifestyles and many are “glued” to the television sets. It follows into a sense of familiarity and peoples issues with breaking away from habits that hinder us in myriads of ways. It’s a good description of succumbing to our Id; he never seems to listen to his Superego, which should tell him to stray from the box and do something productive and less depressive. In the song Lupe says that “he never lies, because he never said anything at all,” the person isn’t speaking due to he has no desire besides being completely absorbed in the “box,” but it is also said the “box” took away his voice. He mimics and adopts what he sees on the “box” most likely because he feels insecure and wants to be as the media portrays an ideal person should be. Using the Marxist Lens I can reflect on the Freudian lens and say that those things might be because he is in a lower class of society and is oppressed. Having to buy new things to hide those scars is an attempt to show that he is of an upper class. It seems that the person has little freedom if not then why is the box and scientists taking away his voice? Is he not worthy of a voice? Yet he keeps on focusing all attention to the box. Just determined to stay oppressed, and if so is he just intent on being oppressed and depressed? I’d think that a person would want to be happy and not oppressed, but it seems that in this song it’s proved that he is to remain that way as long as he is to be remained chained to the box. As Lupe says in the song, “you can’t take it back to the stars,” which to me says that he can’t think critically or wonder about anything going on in the Universe that’s not occurring directly in front of him. Needlessly to say, I think we should all do that at some point to look beyond what is set in front of us, with that we can find answers to questions that we have and at least think for ourselves abstractly and improve self-confidence through being ourselves and not just showing our instrumentals as the box intends to achieve.
Wetrosky Pd. 3
For this blog I will be analyzing the movie Wall-E. There are many references to the feminist lense throughout the movie. Eva is a huge symbol for women in the movie. She is obviously superior to Wall-E in every way. She is stronger, smarter, and has much more initiative than Wall-E. She is made with much better quality, because she has better gadgets and weapons. She has more initiative because she is on a MISSION when she is looking for the plant life on Earth. Wall-E is superior in one way though. He has HEART. He has emotions and Eva does not (in the beginning anyways). Wall-E feels emotions and has feeling for everything he does.
The entire movie is a very obvious reference to human failure. In the view of a Marxist, humans in this movie are wasteful and destructive. They are also very very lazy because they let the world go to crap and they are fat piles junk and their bones are deteriorating because they haven’t had physical activity in YEARS. In this movie, the collective power, better known as the robots, knows what is better for the individual, which is the humans. The robots think they know what is better, because they keep the humans from controlling the mother ship. The humans have to overpower the robots and overcome their previous failures, like being immobile from being lazy for years. The humans also created the robots that took them over. This is like the theory that technology will eventually be so great that it will destroy us. In the movie it almost comes true, but in the end, the humans prevail with the help of Wall-E.
Schwarz- pd. 7
I chose to view the weekly sunday paper ads in the Argus Leader in a Marxist Lense. All the big name companies make and create all kinds of showy ads to show off what great deals they have to offer this week, competing with other "markets" trying to get you to find the best deal. The main ads you might find every week would be Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart and so on. There are people who, if they aren't subscribed to the Argus Leader weekly, will buy the paper just for the ads and coupons. If there is a big sale going on, like around Thanksgiving or Christmas, the ads get thicker with more "goods", tying to entice people to get up early, beat the rush and the greedy shoppers. This happens especially after Thanksgiving on Black Friday sales. Shoppers will get so determined to have that special buy that they will go to any extent to get it. Some results have even ended in serious injury, maybe even death. Greed can be a huge factor as to how people act to weekly ads. Some companies will put at the bottom of their ad "no rainchecks will be given", giving another challenge to everyone of a first-come, first-serve basis. By having a limited quantity, the companies value will rise making them more powerful, and by having more power they can continue making the great ads, making the whole buying process come full circle. So, in the process the small name companies have a smaller chance to get somewhere in this market, even if they might have been there first.
Hansen Pd. 6
For my blog task I am going to analyze the Blood drive posters that are hanging around the school from a Marxist lens. The poster lists certain standards that you have to meet, if you are not up to par, you are not eligible to give blood. You must be 17 years of age, and weigh at least 110 pounds. If you aren’t of the 110 pounds you feel as if you have to gain that weight so you can help save someone’s life. They make you feel like if you are not 110 pounds you are not fit to give blood. The top of the poster states, “THERE’S A STORY FOR EVERY DROP!” But is that really true? They make you feel as if every drop saves a different persons life, while in reality the recipient will take much more than just one drop. Every one who is on the poster is always smiling and looking happy to have given blood. How many actually are happy? They stick you with a needle and take your blood, and give you nothing for it but a thank you a snack and a sore arm. From the Marxist lens you can ask the question, is the system oppressive to its members? Does it exploit its members? Yes, the system is oppressive; it forces you to feel obligated to give blood. All the people look happy and they are all looking at you! Saying that every drop counts and they need you! It exploits people who aren’t “good enough”. If they are not healthy enough they cannot give their blood! If you aren’t heavy enough they can’t give their blood. And then if you can give your blood they leave you with a sore arm for days after doing so! At the bottom of the page in all capitals it says, “YOU CAN SAFELY DONATE EVERY 56 DAYS!” That statement makes you feel obligated to come back and give blood every time you can. Is giving blood once not enough?! Another question you can ask from a Marxist lens is; are the characters given more/less freedom by their class? They are given less freedom because there are SO many restrictions on who can and can’t give blood.
Frisch pd2
For my blog I will analyze Lil Wayne’s song Sky’s The Limit. From a Marxist lens does money matter? Yes. Money matters to the artist in this song, he continually brags about it by saying, “Cause I'm the type to let money talk for me”. Also, there is a power system based on how he relates himself to a pimp. And the whole song is based on climbing both the social and economic ladder by making it to the sky, or the top. Hence the title “sky is the limit”.
I would also argue that the ruling class is happy or content because he is constantly making references on how he is better. He is always the one on top. If you look at the song through the Feminist lens you will see that women are being oppressed and not being looked at as human beings. Twice Lil Wayne refers to a girl as a female dog. Women are portrayed more as objects than people. Next we look at the song through the Freudian Lens. Lil Wayne follows his Id throughout the song. He states how people tell him to conform but he chooses to do the opposite. Almost everything he does throughout the song has a rebellious angle towards his actions. Lil Wayne once again re-achieves narcissistic bliss. He does and talks about things that he has been taught since a young age.
Kendra Hatle period 7
Hairspray may be one of the most feminist movies out there. It even incorporates a male actor in a female body/role. This whole movie is pretty much about women; they are the main care givers and also have the most power. Which power for women in the 1960s is strange they are just getting rights and already they have almost all power over men in this movie. The movie also shows beautifully how races play/played a part in our society. In the movie they all jealous about a local TV show that has singing and dancing. Tracy (the main character) wants to be on this but is an “outcast” if you want to say that. She is a woman so she is gaining power in society but she is overweight and her family doesn’t come from a long line of money so she is still lower on the line of priority. Her mom (played by John Travolta) is also a very prominent character in the movie he plays a female role and shows much power by doing so stating that women can change and need to use their abilities as power. You could look at this through different lenses but when I think of this movie I automatically go to feminist lens. A Marxist would automatically say something about the poverty of the races… it shows where a black family lives and where a lower class white family lives and also how the upper class dresses and acts but not where they live. So in a roundabout way you see how they depict different classes of society and how they get treated. The place where you see the most prejudice is at the TV station the white female boss thinks she is the best and wants everyone to fall at her feet. Although the colored people are the best at what they are doing and have the most passion she tries and pushes them aside and forgetting about them. When a straight minded girl (Tracy) comes along and pushes conformity away and blends the two groups together to make a really strong and well bonded team.
Steffen, prd 7
I chose to analyze the night sky with all the stars, the moon, the atmosphere, and every thing about the night sky.
Marxist Lens: A Marxist critic would ask, “How do social classes interact with each other?” The social classes interact when the moon is closer to the earth than some of the stars are but not as close as the foggy atmosphere hanging only thousands of feet above us. The critic would also ask, “Is there greed?” Between the moon and the stars there is greed. The moon shines bright so does the stars. The stars want to be like the moon. The critic would ask, “Do any characters climb the ‘social/economic ladder’? Why? How?” The stars try to be better than the moon by grouping together and being one. But the stars can’t be like the moon because the moon has two sides like two sides to every story. The moon can be seen by all if they look. The moon and stars compete with each other in order to be the brightest. The stars can only be seen at night, while the moon can be seen in day light and at night. Both the moon and stars compete with the atmosphere to be seen at night. Another thing the Marxist critic would ask is, “Is a system oppressive to its members? Does the system exploit is members?” The moon tries to show all sides. It tries to spread the load evenly. The stars on the other hand don’t. They let some shine brighter than others or not at all. The stars oppress their power on other stars. The critic would ask, “Are there social tensions? Are the ruling classes happy? Are the lower classes miserable? Or, are the lower classes actually happier because they are not as oppressed by their upper/ruling class rigid rule system?” There are social tensions between the stars and the moon. The stars also have an inner conflict; their names. Some where named by Galileo and some where named in this century. It might be the same idea about naming but it is different by who named them and what they are named for. Galileo named stars for the way they looked and how they fit with the constellations. Other people name stars to commemorate a passing friend or loved one. The moon is the ruling class. It is the biggest maybe not the brightest on some days but certainly the top dog in the night sky. The stars are the lower class. They are miserable and happy at the same time. They are miserable because of the oppression brought on by other stars and happy because there are so many of them.
Steffen, prd 7 cont.
Feminist Lens: The feminist critic would ask, “Are there ‘natural’ roles men and women fill?” The moon is the motherly figure always watching. The stars are the children of the moon as she watches over them. She is being the protective parent. Some stars shine brighter than others because some may get more attention than the rest and yet some may be smarter than the rest of them. The darkness of the night sky is the father figure, always going away at day and around at night. The darkness has a certain mystery to it like the father is hiding something. In this case the father is hiding his oppressed children from the oppressors and the world. The critic would ask, “Who puts limitations on genders?” The moon and the darkness of the night sky put limitations on gender roles by having the men be the brightest stars most likely while the women are oppressed by the brightness of the men which take away the women’s strength and shine. Also, we, humans can take the blame as well for the limitations for the stars gender roles by naming the stars a certain way for instance having gender based names. The critic would also ask, “Who grants privileges to a gender?” The parents grant the privileges to the men while the men can grant the privileges to the women if any at all. The moon and the darkness may chose to grant privileges to any star they chose if they feel that star has done their best within their limitations of course. The critic would ask, “Should we scrap our created gender roles and stereotypes?” Yes, because the men that are the brightest aren’t always the smartest. The brightest star could be just an attention hog and then know nothing at all. And the smartest girl isn’t always the dullest one either. She might be the mediocre one shining in the middle of the open darkness just waiting to be called on.
Freudian Lens: The Freudian critic would ask, “Is the id winning in any character?” The id is winning in many characters because they try to out sine the oppressed and foret about the rest of his/her family. The stars fin in to the competition with each other and with the moon. By following their superego the stars would all be shining at the same brightness which would very possibly be brighter than the moon itself. The critic would ask, “Are any of the characters repressing any of their true urges, dreams, or goals?” The stars that don’t shine very bright are repressing the urge to shine brighter among the rest. By holding back that urge they are limiting themselves from the true benefits of the circle of life. The critic would also ask, “Are there any sexual symbols? Do these symbols imply anything about power?” The way the moon is shaped sometimes like a half crescent could be interpreted differently. The moon could be interpreted as a sexual symbol when in the half crescent shape. Also the moon could be symbolized as sexual when in the round full shape. The moon brings in a power by being the biggest and sometimes the brightest in the night sky. But the darkness brings another type of power, the power of the unknown by being mysterious. The critic would ask, “What is going on in the mind of any character in an exhibit?” What is going on is that anyone can think for themselves. They don’t need to follow there id when making their decisions like how bright they should shine or how close they get to the moon. They will always be in the protective grasps of the darkness of the night sky. Some stars can’t think for themselves and that’s why they need a leader so they can be followers.
Kramer pd.7
Today I will be analyzing politicians and what they go through to get votes from you. To start, during the majority of elections today, for whatever position, we all see usually two candidates going head to head in that particular election. Freudian shows us how politicians can persuade us to think one way or the other on certain issues to favor them. Most of the time it’s easier for someone to bash another candidate than try and make themselves look good, which is sometimes true and sometimes not. You can also see how near the end of a politicians term that they will vote in favor of the majority of the people, on certain laws or programs to help them get reelected. Really, listen and watch a TV commercial next time you see one on TV because usually they will say how they can relate to you in one way or another, either from the town where they grew up or the job they had in the past. All of that in Freudians mind is to make you feel like you know them already and can relate to actual life experiences. A Marxist lens shows us how plays an important role in most elections. Different interest groups give money to certain parties that they think would benefit them the most if elected. Without funding, that particular party cannot promote its candidate to the people through signs, commercial ads, TV programs, bumper stickers, and other advertising. Using a Feminists lens, you can also look at how a person tries to get you to vote for them. It’s a fact that men hold more political offices than women do, but when either a female or a male wins over a particular party why would they want to have the opposite promote for them? Candidates who appeal to both genders just get that many more votes, hopefully giving them the advantage over the other party.
Herrman pd3
For my Blog I have decided to analyze the song Mississippi Girl by Faith Hill. The girl being talked about in this song may it be her herself or someone else is along way from home. To bigger and better things. She is still nervous even though she has done it awhile. She says "some people think that I have changed from who she was back then, before she moved away. Deep down in her heart and soul she knows she is the same way that she has always really been. By singing this song and saying "A mississippi girl dont changer her ways just casue everybody knows her name" she is saying that just because she has gone off to live her dream to be a singer and is famous shie is still the same girl she once was. It goes on to say she is not big headed from a little bit of fame. Meaning she is not stuck up from being good at what she does and from being famous. In the song she explains that she is not to caught up in all her fame to not still be there for her family. She says in the song she still likes wearing her old ball cap and riding her kids around piggy back. Family is clearly still important to her and her kids especially. In the song she goes to California and puts her name on a big movie screen. But that doesnt mean she has forgotten where she has came from its just her Chasing dreams. The way I look at this song is its telling everyone who has ever had doubt or has been concerend that she is not gonna become all caught up in the fame of her dream but is just doing what she loves and is still a Mississippi Girl.
Shabino Pd.6
For this exhibit I am choosing to analyze throught a marxist lens the novel The Shadow Rising by Robert Jorden, Book four of the wheel of time series. In this novel there are lords and peasents, Rich and poor, Social classes and econmic gain of all sorts. Social classes interact in multitudes of ways with eachother. The rich/upper class or the lords in this novel look down on lower classmen as if they mean no more than a spec of dirt to them. While the Middle class the merchants grovel to the lords in order to try to please them they treat the peasants with impatience and unkindlyness. The peasants try to keep their ordinary lives but when the lords or merchants are around they are forced to be nice or not get in their way. Merchants are perhaps the most greedy of these classes because they want the wealth and power the lords have but cant obtain it. While the lords throw their money around with careless dispassion and the peasants are generally pleased with there lives and dont have to aspire to being lords. The main character Rand in this novel climbs the social/economic ladder greatly. He starts as being a tabac farmer living in a small town with peasants pleased with their lives but he comes into power and with his unwanted power he becomes a lord and soon has a whole city underneath him. The system is very oppressive to its members. While the lords and merchants are not oppresed the peasants are brutaly punished for minor happenstances. Such as if a peasant spilled dirt on a high lord then they could be thrown in jail or even executed. Through this oppressive system it maintains social tensions. Everyone is nervous and uncomfortable around the lords while they are happy as can be. Though in certain situations the peasants are the happy ones and lords miserable. When the peasants live in small towns with no lords in it they are happy to live there lives with no worries except maby if the crop comes in good. While in grand cities the lords compete with eachother and have all out fights and sometimes wars that make them miserable. As from previous information you can assume that the lords basically have unlimited freedom where as the peasants and merchants have to sometimes follow strict and preposterous rules.
Kendall Cressman
Period 7
I am choosing to analyze the book _Crank_ written by Ellen Hopkins. A short summary of the book will now follow. The main character, named Kristina, starts off living with her mother. She's a good student, somewhat shy, and doesn't talk to boys. She then flies to Reno to visit her biological dad whom she hasn't seen in years. During her stay she meets a boy who is able to make her feel as if shocks run up and down her frame everytime he touches her. She quickly falls for him, and he introduces her to some exponentially bad habits. I say exponentially, because that's how her addicition to them grows. It starts with a cigarette and a fake name, and leads to such things as snorting lines of coke, devolping an alterego, and fooling around with a boy in the back room of a bowling alley where her father works. She then progresses, or degresses, to smoking crack, is raped by a man who she isn't dating, has a child, and gets kicked out of her mothers house. I'll choose to first analyze this with my Marxist lenses on. A marxist critic would ask: "How do social classes interact with eachother?" Before Kristina goes to visit her dad, she is almost an outsider at school. She doesn't socialize with any group in particular, and boys never look her way. After her trip though, she starts wearing more makeup and hanging out with some of the preppy girls who cheerlead and use drugs to help them slim down and stay "peppy". In turn, boys start looking her way and talking to her. A acritic would also ask, "Is there greed?" There definitely is greed, and it's portrayed in the form of addiction. She's constantly hungry for more substance to get her high, and she starts looking for better highs also. She's not afraid to use other people to get her high, and this leads to her developing a fair amount of hubris which is almost never a nice quality to have. She's also envious of some of her new friends' boyfriends; so she starts flirting with them and sleeping around. To help her popularity, she starts going by the name Bree. Bree could almost be a binary opposition to Kristina. Bree is witty, sharp-tongued, boy-crazy, full of hormones, and eager to live life in the fast lane. Her grades start slipping, she cuts classes to get high, and she snaps at her parents. The hunger for popularity is definitely an example of her climbing the social ladder. People start viewing her with respect, and in some cases fear. It would be easy to have a Freudian field-day with this exhibit. A Freudian critic asks the question, "Is the id winning in any character?" Kristina/Bree's id definitely is more prevalent than her superego. She's so selfish she becomes almost a zealot when it comes to getting high. She skips her brother's baseball games, steals and forges her mother's checks, and blows off friends just to get high and have substance-induced, Elyssianeqsue, strung-out marathons of barely concious existence. A freudian critic would also ask, “Are there any sexual symbols? Do these symbols imply anything about power?” You could view her need for drugs and the feelings that come with the use of them as a metaphor for sexual desires, and visa versa. She actually has to go out and meet people inorder to set up deals and connections to get her drugs. That's similar to having to go to social settings and meet new people inorder to have a chance at participating in a sexual endeavour. The critic would then have to go on to say that the actual bliss of being high is comparable to the euphoria of achieving orgasm.
(cont.)
Kendall Cressman
Period 7
Another Freudian question would be, “What is going on in the mind of any character in an exhibit?” Kristina/Bree's thought process changes through the course of the story. In the beginning she usually follows her superego when it comes to making decisions that impact her and others. Over the duration of her story she drifts over the median and starts pursuing a more id-based lifestyle.
Hallstrom Pd. #6
For this blog task I am going to analyze the show Family Guy. While looking through the feminist lens you will see just how bad Peter treats his wife Lois. He treats her like she is his slave yet everyone laughs because it is funny. Is this show telling everyone that watches it that men are better than women? Or does everyone understand that it is a joke. The truth is that everyone that watches this show just finds it really funny and does not actually look at or think about the racism, sexism, and everything else that is in this show. Then you have Peter’s neighbor named Quagmire who is basically a sexual offender yet most of the people that watch this show find quagmire hilarious even though it is telling the world that sexual predators and sexual offenders are funny and are ok to have in the world. In my opinion that is just completely absurd and not true. Peter also has another neighbor named Cleveland and he is a black person. He is treated a little bit like Lois he is treated like the one that is under everyone else because that is how America sees them to be. Cleveland is a very funny person as well in this show. Peter has another neighbor named Joe who is handicapped from the waist down. He is a cop and very tough. Which you could look at it as if family guy is saying that handicapped people are tough which is for the most part true. They have to go through day to day activities that would be easy for a no handicapped person to do yet quite a bit harder for someone who does not have their legs to do. He is made fun of though by all of the other neighbors because he has no legs even though Joe could probably beat up Peter, Quagmire, and Cleveland without even having to think about it. Yet Joe makes it seem like he is not even bothered at all by what they say about him. This show is loved by many because it is a very funny show, yet if you look at it through the lenses you would see how bad this show is for American society.
Matt Petersen Pd. 2
http://www.chadnelsonartworks.com/www.chadnelsonartworks.com/blood_makes_3.html
The link above is to one of Mr. Nelson’s woodcuts that I particularly like. It is a woodcut of a deer skull buried beneath the ground and the antlers growing upwards into a tree. The title is as you see, Blood Makes the Grass Grow 3. Viewing the woodcut in a Marxist lens, one would try and relate how the creator of the exhibit is in the social ladder. They would also look for symbols, possibly covert symbols. Or how does money factor in this and how does a power system matter in this exhibit. Well it looks as if this woodcut is manly. It is clearly a skull of a big, big buck. It shows masculinity and a sense of higher power. Usually the strongest, biggest buck is in control of the does. For the first question he shows that the subject of the exhibit, the dear? Possibly? Is the high power. Symbols in this exhibit are maybe the huge deer head and the antlers jutting out into the old, wise looking tree on top of the hill, shows that as the first question is that he is high power, wise, and the strong one. Is it supposed to be a hidden symbol that the deer is “top notch”? Resulting with power, the being on the hill, means you have money, you have girls, you have anything you want. The exhibit shows power and masculinity, or superiority. Looking through a Feminist lens we see basically everything in the Marxist view except the Feminist lens is against the male being the superiority. In a sense it is shown that the women are not cared for in this woodcut and they are part of the b*tches and bling prospect. Although this does NOT mean that Mr. Nelson meant this, one can come to a different view on it, as they should in their own lives. It shows that maybe that man is supposed to be the natural leaders. They are born into it? Who puts the limitations on the genders here? Is it God? Is it perhaps the buck? Or is it no one, we only come to the conclusion that there must be someone because certain people cannot face the fact that it is natural. It is true that men IN GENERAL are stronger than women. Mentally they could most of the time take in more pain, and carry a guilty conscience better than most women can. I’m not a sexist I am just saying that men perhaps were born into the leadership naturally and that there is no one at blame for limiting genders. Now the Freudian lenses. Since the deer is all alone on the hill, maybe he concurred the other deer and is in a narcissistic bliss. He is the ruler. He is in command. He is the bull “goose” he is full of masculinity and strength. He is trying to show that all the does are his.
Brian Fickbohm Pd.7
I am analyzing the Guardians of Ga’Hoole book series, through the Freudian lens. The main characters are Soren, Gylfe, Twilight, Digger, Kludd, Nyra, Ezylryb, and Otulissa. The ID is certainly winning in Kludd and Nyra, they are the main villains in the book series, and the ID may also be winning in Twilight, though his superego keeps him from doing criminal acts. The characters that represent the ID are: Kludd, Nyra, and maybe Twilight. The characters that represent the superego are: Soren, the main character, Gylfe, Digger, and Ezylryb. The characters that represent the ego are: Kludd and Otulissa. Soren does not seem to repress any urges or dreams; he is very open and honest. Gylfe also does not seem to have any repressed urges or dreams, though they do hint toward Soren and Gylfe having an interest in each other, though I am not certain. Twilight has big dreams, he wants nothing more than to become the best and most noble warrior alive, and he is a very good warrior, though his singing is one of his most potent weapons. Digger wishes to be back with his family, though they have been murdered, he misses them dearly and would love the chance to live like he had in his childhood. Kludd is a definite Hitler reference, he wants to be a tyrannical dictator and only one race to be in power, all other races should die or be enslaved. Nyra and Kludd are both in the same state of mind, both are evil and would like their race to be the only ones in the planet, they are both in a group called the Pure Ones which is a Nazi reference. Ezylryb wants there to be no more war in the world, he has seen and fought in war and has realized that it is not a glorious thing. Otulissa definitely wants to have the most knowledge of anybody in the world. She is a snob, but a very important ally, though she becomes very brutal towards the Pure One once one of her most beloved role models is killed in a battle between them and the Pure Ones. This being more of an adolescent’s book, there is no sexual symbols that I can find, though they may be very well hidden.
Koens
Pd. 3
I am choosing to analyze the advertisement “We Can Do It!” from the 1940’s. This ad came out when men were drafted into the army and women were needed for work in the factories. This advertisement portrays a woman that is strong and ready to work. Women in this time stayed home and did not work while men in this time made the living; it was part of the American culture. Also, there were very strict gender roles. Women cleaned, cooked, and took care of children and as for the men; they went to work at factories and made the money. Men are stereotyped as strong, so they are a more desirable as a factory worker than a woman. Women were definitely limited to a “women’s” job, cleaning house. When men got drafted to the army this all changed and the advertisement helped in convincing many women that they can do the same things as men by saying “We Can Do It!” above the girl, diminishing many stereotypes and gender roles. Women needed this Advertisement to picture what they could be. They saw that a woman can be strong and not have to be quit as “girly”. This advertisement also shows that a woman has the ability to work in a “mans” job or position. Society before this advertisement valued women as house wives. This advertisement promotes that a woman can be strong and works in the factories too, like their husbands. This advertisement is one of the most successful in American history; it helped recruit many women into the workforce. Until this advertisement many women had never worked outside their homes. Women going into the work force got a sense of pride and patriotism by helping out while men were fighting in war over seas. It was good for our society to have this happen. It got rid of many gender roles against women throughout America. Women now work along with men because of this era and advertisement.
Haase pd.2
(I’m trying a real challenge and am going to Marxist analyze a song and it’s lyrics. “Me and my drank” by lil Wayne)
In this song Wayne describes and declares his addiction to cough syrup. He tells that since he can’t stop he isn’t going to. This drink has total control over him along with many other famous artist these day’s. These artists have the time, money, and fame to get illegal things like this for recreational reasons. Most of them are so dedicated to these things because of their difficult backgrounds and struggle to reach fame and the stress to help their families as an excuse. Many artists should think about these decisions before they do them because many people all around the world look towards them as role models or successful figures. In these times in society things like this are becoming a more prominent occurrence. These types of actions are almost becoming an assumption in are social world that all rappers/artists/sports figures do some form of drugs or illegal activity. Be it sex, drugs, dog fighting, or spouse abuse (Tiger, Wayne, Phelps, Vick). “hey...do you know that i need ya, Cuz baby right now, It feels like the whole world is against me,” “And I would stop but believe it I cant, So till Short is gone its just me and my drink” In these lines it is obvious Wayne is zombiefied into never losing his purple lady. It is sickening to think that a chemical could have so much power over a persons every move and action. The drink also helped him make millions of dollars for this song. But thanks to lil Wayne’s money and his higher social class many people look the other way about these types of matters. This was the same situation with Michael Phelps smoking marijuana. Just because you have money and are famous you are still human so shouldn’t you be treated the same. Social class, Money, and publicity effect everyone’s lives no matter who you are or where you live.
Are there social tensions? Absolutely there is so much social tension over subjects like these. Many lower class members are all for these types of actions but are they really happier? Many of these people are given less freedom by their social class and are suffocated by this need. Those that control their own worlds are most likely much more successful and are accepted by their fellow social members. But in reality other than bad choices for recreation Dwayne Michael Carter is and will be remembered as a poet, an artist, and one of the most influential rappers of all time.
Nick Larsen Pd.6
For my blog I have chosen to analyze the event of ATV racing as my exhibit. In this sport there is competition for power, fame, glory, and bragging rights. Also racing makes people compete for money, trophies, and a rank on the “racing” social ladder. When I am racing I push myself to the limits to be better than the other riders, it allows you to be noticed/cared about because they have to worry about you beating them. The other riders will know that you are fast and have the power to get a good place at the finish and so they will be intimidated and recognize that he has talent and skill. Everyone love to win or do well at what their doing, and when you get presented a 1st place trophy you are looked up to as having power. Friends are made, and with lot of friends your get connections. With connections you have the power to buy cheaper parts from friends. As you start out racing, you have to slowly work harder and ride faster to gain ranks in the social status of racing. You fight and compete to gain that power. Once your at the top of your game and start to win people look up to you and see you as a role model for racing, and everybody that I know likes the feeling that someone looks up to you. Also not trying to be sexist, but most women are about fashion, and that applies to racing too. Through a feminist lens you could say that riders make their quads look “pretty” or “good”, which if a very nice/ expensive looking quad roles up next to me at the starting gate I do get a bit intimidated because it shows they are serious at what they do by putting loads of time and money into their machine. Your quad can represent your income level by the modifications and add-ons put onto them. It is easy to tell who is running a low budget machine and who is running a high end, top of the line machine. You ask yourself going into a race “Who is looking fast?” and also “Who hold the power in this class?”.
Edwards p.7
For this blog I am choosing to write on the movie "The Town." The director does a good job in this movie making the robbers seem more like good guys in this movie from a movie goer's point of view. But I also thought that this was a fairly predictable movie because the two lovers stay alive while the "bad" robbers die because of a jealous girlfriend. Looking at this movie from a feminist point of view women are abused and treated horribly. The movie makes most women look like drug addicts and horrible parents. Also they make it look like they are just in this world for sex and aren't good for anything else. While on the other hand men have to do everything for their families and they have to do all the hard work to help their families survive. And, to top it all off at the end of the movie it is a woman who turns the robbers in and gets all of them killed except for one man. Now looking at this movie from a Marxist point of view money equals power and the more you have the better. In this movie the lower class citizens have to work very very hard to get by while all the higher class citizens just sit around and do nothing but get rich. It makes you feel like the higher class citizens deserve getting shot when the main characters rob the banks. The robbers are suffocated by their codes like not turning anyone in so much that one of their girlfriends almost has her child taken by the police because she won't turn them in but she eventually folds. In a way though the main characters climb the social ladder by robbing these banks by becoming richer and therefore gaining more power. But the robbers are still miserable even though they are really rich from robbing all these banks. Like with most people though the robbers get greedy and try to go for one more bank heist which ultimately leads to their downfall.
Engebretson, pd 7
I chose to analyze Spongebob Squarepants the tv show. This show is a personal favorite of mine, and it is also quite easy to analyze through all three critical lenses. First, throught the marxist lens, Spongebob himself is not the smartest guy throughout Bikini Bottoms, or the most attractive, yet he seems to always have the bubbily personality that most envy. A marxist critic would than ask, “How does money matter/function in this exhibit?” Well I think that by Spongebob having a steady job at the Krusty Krab as the head cook, it shows that he can maintain this job and still have an up-beat attitude. Another frequently asked question is, “How does a power system matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, in this specific show it doesn’t seem to matter because in Spongebob’s neighborhood, Squidward doesn’t have a job, yet he has a beautiful house. Patrick Starr also doesn’t have a job and appears a little… well dumb, and yet he lives under a rock. And lastly, Spongebob has that steady job and lives in a giant pineapple. Through a Feminist lens, some people may think there are no comparsions but there are. A feminist critic would ask, “How does gender matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, I think that by having only one dominant female character, this may seem a little off, but Sandy Cheeks appears to be somewhat manly. She enjoys boxing and living a rigid lifestyle in her dome. Compared to Spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward, I would say she is the most male-like. Another frequently asked question is, “How are women depicted/portrayed in this exhibit?” Well, like I previously stated, Sandy may indeed be a female character, but she is definitely portrayed as the manlier one even though her costume is that of a two-piece bikini. Lastly through a freudian lens, I feel that Spongebob Squarepants at times can be a little pervy with Spongebob’s tight-fitted pants, Patrick Starr not wearing a shirt, Squidward not wearing pants, and Sandy Cheeks always wearing a bikini. A freudian critic would ask, “How does psychoanalyis matter in this exhibit?” Well, I think that without psychoanalysis, a young child will just look at this show and realize that this show is just filled with talking sea animals, but yet it appears to me much more than that. Another frequently asked question is, “What does psychoanalysis reveal about this exhibit?” I think the psychoanalysis reveals that compared to a young child watching this show, a teenager or a middle-aged adult could see the subliminal messages throughout this show such as the lack of clothes with the characters, the different characters voices, and the house types of the characters compared to their social status.
Engebretson, pd 7
I chose to analyze Spongebob Squarepants the tv show. This show is a personal favorite of mine, and it is also quite easy to analyze through all three critical lenses. First, throught the marxist lens, Spongebob himself is not the smartest guy throughout Bikini Bottoms, or the most attractive, yet he seems to always have the bubbily personality that most envy. A marxist critic would than ask, “How does money matter/function in this exhibit?” Well I think that by Spongebob having a steady job at the Krusty Krab as the head cook, it shows that he can maintain this job and still have an up-beat attitude. Another frequently asked question is, “How does a power system matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, in this specific show it doesn’t seem to matter because in Spongebob’s neighborhood, Squidward doesn’t have a job, yet he has a beautiful house. Patrick Starr also doesn’t have a job and appears a little… well dumb, and yet he lives under a rock. And lastly, Spongebob has that steady job and lives in a giant pineapple. Through a Feminist lens, some people may think there are no comparsions but there are. A feminist critic would ask, “How does gender matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, I think that by having only one dominant female character, this may seem a little off, but Sandy Cheeks appears to be somewhat manly. She enjoys boxing and living a rigid lifestyle in her dome. Compared to Spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward, I would say she is the most male-like. Another frequently asked question is, “How are women depicted/portrayed in this exhibit?” Well, like I previously stated, Sandy may indeed be a female character, but she is definitely portrayed as the manlier one even though her costume is that of a two-piece bikini. Lastly through a freudian lens, I feel that Spongebob Squarepants at times can be a little pervy with Spongebob’s tight-fitted pants, Patrick Starr not wearing a shirt, Squidward not wearing pants, and Sandy Cheeks always wearing a bikini. A freudian critic would ask, “How does psychoanalyis matter in this exhibit?” Well, I think that without psychoanalysis, a young child will just look at this show and realize that this show is just filled with talking sea animals, but yet it appears to me much more than that. Another frequently asked question is, “What does psychoanalysis reveal about this exhibit?” I think the psychoanalysis reveals that compared to a young child watching this show, a teenager or a middle-aged adult could see the subliminal messages throughout this show such as the lack of clothes with the characters, the different characters voices, and the house types of the characters compared to their social status.
Engebretson, pd 7
I chose to analyze Spongebob Squarepants the tv show. This show is a personal favorite of mine, and it is also quite easy to analyze through all three critical lenses. First, throught the marxist lens, Spongebob himself is not the smartest guy throughout Bikini Bottoms, or the most attractive, yet he seems to always have the bubbily personality that most envy. A marxist critic would than ask, “How does money matter/function in this exhibit?” Well I think that by Spongebob having a steady job at the Krusty Krab as the head cook, it shows that he can maintain this job and still have an up-beat attitude. Another frequently asked question is, “How does a power system matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, in this specific show it doesn’t seem to matter because in Spongebob’s neighborhood, Squidward doesn’t have a job, yet he has a beautiful house. Patrick Starr also doesn’t have a job and appears a little… well dumb, and yet he lives under a rock. And lastly, Spongebob has that steady job and lives in a giant pineapple. Through a Feminist lens, some people may think there are no comparsions but there are. A feminist critic would ask, “How does gender matter/function in this exhibit?” Well, I think that by having only one dominant female character, this may seem a little off, but Sandy Cheeks appears to be somewhat manly. She enjoys boxing and living a rigid lifestyle in her dome. Compared to Spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward, I would say she is the most male-like. Another frequently asked question is, “How are women depicted/portrayed in this exhibit?” Well, like I previously stated, Sandy may indeed be a female character, but she is definitely portrayed as the manlier one even though her costume is that of a two-piece bikini. Lastly through a freudian lens, I feel that Spongebob Squarepants at times can be a little pervy with Spongebob’s tight-fitted pants, Patrick Starr not wearing a shirt, Squidward not wearing pants, and Sandy Cheeks always wearing a bikini. A freudian critic would ask, “How does psychoanalyis matter in this exhibit?” Well, I think that without psychoanalysis, a young child will just look at this show and realize that this show is just filled with talking sea animals, but yet it appears to me much more than that. Another frequently asked question is, “What does psychoanalysis reveal about this exhibit?” I think the psychoanalysis reveals that compared to a young child watching this show, a teenager or a middle-aged adult could see the subliminal messages throughout this show such as the lack of clothes with the characters, the different characters voices, and the house types of the characters compared to their social status.
Francis pd. 6
In this blog I’ll be analyze the varsity football practice. In the critical lens 101 handout, in the Marxist, says How does a power system matter/function in this exhibit? Well I believe the power system goes like this in varsity football practices first we have the coaches who run the practice, than we have the first team players who take most the reps, third we have the second string players, fourth we have the scout team players, and fifth we have the mangers who just bring around water and take role. After this in the critical lens 101 handout we have the feminist view. The handout asks this, how does gender matter/function in this exhibit? In varsity football there are very few young ladies that play. Sure you get the stereotypical; footballs a man’s sport or better yet girls can’t play football. I believe thought that some girls could play football and hit just as hard as some of the guys can. While at our practices though we don’t have any girls so this is how the gender role functions for us during practice. The men are the ones that run, play, and coach it while the girls are the ones that manage. We do have one guy manager though he films and brings water around to us. Lastly in the critical lens 101 handout we have the Freudian view. This one it asks us to psychoanalyze the exhibit. It asks if there are any attempts for a character trying to achieve narcissistic bliss or looking for possible “oedipal complex” in parent-child type relationship. This applies to the varsity football practices because when the guys are playing they are doing what they love. They are achieving bliss from playing the game. While like I some of the guys see the coaches as father figures and follow their word and law to the T.
Karber, Period seven
For my second exhibit examination I will deconstruct the song “Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked.”
I’ll use the Marxist critic lens:
How do social classes interact with each other? Is there greed?
the song first begins, the main character is walking down a street when a prostitute shows up. She is offering herself in exchange for money, which she then explains that money doesn’t grow on trees and she has mouths to feed. Another person comes up to him fifteen minutes later, threatening him with a pistol, and saying the same thing as before. When the main character gets home he sits down and turns his TV to the news where he sees a preacher in handcuffs who had taken money from the church. After seeing this he himself explains, “No there ain’t no rest for the wicked, money don’t grow on trees, WE got meals to pay, WE got mouths to feed and ain’t nothin’ in this world for free, no I can’t slow down. I can’t hold back, though you know we wish we could… no there ain’t no rest for the wicked, till we close our eyes for good…” The overall meaning in here is that these people are oppressed and cannot find ways to make money, so they resort to a more hubris approach, which ultimately puts them in the places they are in.
Is a system oppressive to its members? Does the system exploit its members?
This is by far the most important part to realize. The system is extremely oppressive to its members. These people are resorting to horrible things. The woman is literally willing to throw herself at people to get money. The man is also in the same boat, where he is fully willing to murder someone to get money to provide for his family. The preacher, while it doesn’t specifically say he is taking money for the same reasons, it is implied. This song is showing even the holiest of people still commit sin, and are held at the same standard as that prostitute. The system itself isn’t explained in detail, however it can be summed up to be a hellish nightmare if everyone participating in this fight for money and power.
Are there social tensions? Are the ruling classes happy? Are the lower classes miserable?
The main character in this song is definitely in the “ruling class” where he doesn’t commit this sin until the end where he states WE got meals to pay… He becomes just as miserable as the prostitute, preacher, and shady man. So, there are social tensions in the fact that the prostitute and shady man come to him for his money, however eventually they are all in a social class that, if you were to hold out a bar with the main character on the right, and the other three on the left, you could easily bend it into a circle to realize that they’re a lot closer than one might assume.
Abby Moschell Pd 2
For this blog task I am going to analyze “Transformers” through the Feminist Lens. In the beginning, Megan Fox is found to be the popular guy’s girlfriend. She also doesn’t have very much clothes on which makes her look like a slut. The director of the movie probably made her look this way because they know that more males will watch this movie. Her boyfriend doesn’t let her do anything so when Shia LeBeouf offers her a ride home and Bumble Bee shuts down. She tells him to open the hood so she can take a look. He doesn’t believe that she could possibly be able to do a “man’s job”. In the movie Shia LeBeouf is found to be the nerdy outcast who doesn’t know much about cars like a “normal” male would. By the end of the movie she is the one being the hero and saving the good guys. Usually men are the ones portrayed as the hero but when I watched this movie I felt Megan Fox was the hero because without her the good guys would not be able to kill off some of the defenders. She also saves Bumble Bee who probably would have died if she did not get him mobile. Shia is always going for Megan to come up with a plan. Through the Marxist Lens I see that the Autobots and the Decepticons are trying to gain all control of the universe. Unlike the Autobots, the Decepticons want all of the human population dead. I think that the Decepticons are the lower class trying to take over the Autobots who are the upper class. At the end when the Autobots win and beat the head Decepticon, They are so happy they tell Shia that if he ever needed them they would always be there for him and they let him keep Bumble Bee for protection. The good guys win of course… just like the “Lion King”.
Sickler Pd.6
I’m choosing to analyze the movie “Knocked Up” through my Marxist lens. Most all of us have seen this creative movie, but, for those who haven’t, Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) basically gets “knocked up” by a random dude she met at a bar, while celebrating her job promotion. Throughout the movie, these two faced difficult challenges on how to raise their future baby. These struggles stem from the different backgrounds that both have come from. A Marxist Critic would ask “Is a system oppressive to its members? Does the system exploit its members?” This movie shows almost exactly that if you do not somewhat conform to society’s expectations, you will live as a bum. At the opening of this film, it shows five guys getting high, being wasted, and pretty much doing whatever they please. By fulfilling this dream to be lazy, they are looked down on in society. They do not have full-time jobs (unless you count their very unsuccessful porn-type website), so they are not rewarded with money. Having no money results in crappy living environments, which Allison does not approve of, when spending a night there. They are looked at as fools by not being married, not really having any goals for the future, and for basically doing what they please. The “system” that we live in very much looks down on people like these guys; due to that we are a society of “getting to the top” and “one-upping each other”. Another typical question a Marxist would ask is “Are there social tensions?” I would definitely say there are tensions between the two main characters. Allison was raised in a middle/high class system, based on her clothing choice and highly classy job. Also, when meeting her mother to talk about her options, they are shown at a fancy restaurant and her mother is wearing a very sophisticated outfit. On the other hand, Ben Stone (Odd his last name is part of an activity he regularly participates in? I think not) is obviously raised in an environment where smoking and getting high is not looked down upon; more looked highly upon. His dad knows of the past mistakes he has made, but encourages Ben to let things happen as they may. He even says, “Life doesn't care about your vision. You just gotta roll with it”; referring to this somewhat harsh system we Americans live in. This type of thinking is ID thinking; letting things happen without a plan. “Are the ruling classes happy? Are the lower classes miserable?” These two characters are both shown to have pretty good lives, until, of course, Allison becomes pregnant. Allison is living the dream with her dream job and dream body, while Ben is also living his dream by doing what he pleases. Their ID thinking changes everything; mostly that they will have to coincide their two very different lives. In the end, they show that it is possible to create a family from two different kinds of families, but would most likely not wish this kind of life on anyone.
Olson, Pd. 6
For my blog task I have chosen to analyze the music video “Lightning” by Eric Church. This is a country song I recommend to at least listen to once and possible view the video. Through a Marxist lens we ask how the social classes interact with each other? They interact by showing the viewer showing an older black woman crying as she is getting ready for her day. This shows she has compassion toward the artist or to the actor in the video. It makes us already start to feel bad for her or to sympathize with her. I watched the video with the volume on mute and even then I could feel the pain she is going through. Next we ask if any characters climb the social ladder? At first I would say no but as I watch it more and more I see how she almost forgives him for killing her son. By doing this she is taking a huge leap up the social ladder. Now we ask is the system oppressive to its members, or does the system exploit its members? Yes, this exhibit did have some exploited member. The man is in prison and to get there the system had to be bad for him therefore he was bad to it. The system then kicked him out by locking him in prison. Now I would like to use the packet and analyze through a feminist lens. The first question is: Are there natural roles men and women fill? I believe there are. They show the mother of the boy killed and the girlfriend of the man who did it. This plays into our senses and makes us feel bad for the women. I also see that the men escorting him to the execution run are male and the priest in the back of the room is a male. These roles are easily filled by females but society has us thinking males must do this job and females must be the nurses or whatever else our society has decieded. Also I think it was an excellent job of appealing to our emotions. It was enough to give any person a sour feeling while viewing it.
Ellis Pd. 2
I will be analyzing where I work which is Rookies a sports bar. Tonight at Rookies there is male and female strippers/wrestlers coming into to entertain scummy old nasty women and men. In the Feminist lens they would frown upon this so bad. I mean for real you are getting undressed in front of people for money, how much would your parents and grandparents frown upon this? Probably more than anything in your life. For the women they men are looking at you so they can somewhat get aroused and turned on. I don’t get how they can though since all these other men around them getting turned on by the same thing. You would think you would want a better job that is more civilized and accepted by everyone. There should be some guilt in your life knowing you are going to wake up and just having to take your clothes off again for sick old people. From the Marxist lens who is really the one in power? I mean the people watching the strippers and wrestlers are spending there money on them so they will do anything they want. The strippers and wrestlers are getting money for arousing the viewers. They can do anything sexy and those people will give them money, and once they get some drinks in them they strippers and wrestlers will be loaded more than anyone and will be walking out richer than anyone. So really the people that are taking there clothes of f and wrestling for the viewers are getting more benefits from this minus the fact they cant get a job that keeps there clothes on.
Tayler Elster, Pd. 3
Ok, so this week I am going to blog about schools (not just ours but in general) and teams with the Marxist Lens. In class we have discussed the pecking order similarities between chickens and students. I agree wholeheartedly. Freshman year I didn’t quite realize what was happening in our school and that the reason all the “cool kids” had their popularity in the first place was because they had the genetic or environmental lotteries in their favor. Meanwhile the rest of us were pushed to the bottom of the social ladder and made to think lower of ourselves and higher of them. However, I noticed these changes sophomore year and have continued to notice how many of the students here believe that just because you’re related to someone who was high on the social ladder, they should inherit that popularity. And someone who is really popular but has very little athletic abilities usually make the varsity team anyway because they have the money or the relation to someone who was exceedingly great at that particular sport. And this makes it so there are no more spots on the varsity team for a better player who gets stuck on the jv team on not on the team at all. So as long as you have good looks, a substantial amount of money that you are willing to use to “buy” your friends with, or spectacular grades so you can “help” your fellow students then you will be much higher on the social ladder. Those who may have one or two blemishes that stand out, don’t have enough money, or have a GPA of 3.5 or lower are at the bottom of the “food chain”. The popular ones will make fun of them and try to humiliate or embarrass them in anyway. Coaches that were popular when they went to school tend to put more of the popular kids on the team because they had similar lives in high school. But coaches that had average lives know the difference between talent and popularity so they know who to play and who not to.
Angerhofer
pd. 7
I will be analyzing the Bowflex workout equipment and machines from a Marxist lens.
What do we think when we see these fake, steroid injected bodies on the Bowflex commercials? It personally makes me feel like a worthless pile of crap. It makes me, and I am assuming many others feel very self confident about their physical appearance and their physic. We see those non natural, oiled up, completely ripped body builders using these over prices machines and it makes us want to be just like them. With the outrageous price of these machines, very few people can afford to have such a nice piece of workout equipment. It seems to me that a lot of the people you see with these machines are the ones that are high on the social ladder and make a lot of money (as stated in question 2 of the Marxist questions). A Marxist critic would also ask themselves and look for “How does money matter/function in this exhibit?” In most cases, these machines do little more than sit around and collect dust. I honestly believe that it is more so the thought of owning one and letting it sit in your basement than actually owning one to work out on that draws people in. Many people might view them as a “popularity booster” and not so much a machine. Basically, it’s all about the show and how rich and popular you can make yourself look in my opinion. If people aren’t drawn to it for how people think others will look at them for simply owning one, they are then the ones that want to make their bodies look like the models’ in the commercial. I know I always wanted to look like them so why wouldn’t I want a Bowflex? Also, in most of the commercials there are very attractive women, so does working out get you the ladies? This is what these ads are telling us, “If you buy our machine you will get huge and get all the ladies you could ever want, you will be a winner of the genetic lottery, you will be better than those that can’t afford this, you will climb the social ladder, ect…” Overall, with this add, the big picture is MONEY = POWER which is exactly what Marxist critics look at. Its all about the money and power that comes with it.
In response to Amber Engebretson's comment, Squidward Tentacles has a job as a cashier at the Krusty Krab.
Mork pd.2
For my blog I will be analyzing the movie Titanic through a Marxist lens. How do social classes interact with each other? In my opinion the social classes in this movie do not interact well at all (Money is definitely Power) the poor are put at the bottom of the boat, eat in a crappy area, and aren’t allowed on the small boats until all the rich get through when the ship is sinking. While the rich are at the top of the ship and eat fancy food in a fancy room. If I was a poor person I would eat in the fancy room area with the poor just to piss them off because am just as good as a human being as they are! I don’t see why they don’t get along they are all people with the same problems even if they have money or not the poor shouldn’t’ be treated like the rats which might I point out also live at the bottom of the ship. The movie is dehumanizing the poor and saying that if your poor you pretty much shouldn’t be seen in public. Are the ruling classes happy and are the poor classes miserable? No, this film shows that the poor are happier then the rich, even though the rich have money and anything they could possibly want they act like they have a stick up their butt by going day to day doing the same thing over and over again BORING! While the poor pretty much have nothing but are dancing around having a good time even though they have to share there space with the rats. Do any of the characters climb the social/economic ladder? How? When it comes to climbing the social ladder the leader male actor Jack Dawson climbs it quite nicely by falling for a rich girl and having her (Rose) fall for him as well. Which by the way really pisses off her so called very rich and evil fiancé’ who tries to kill Dawson for trying to climb the social ladder in the end (ha-ha). All in all Titanic fits under a Marxist lens perfectly.
Maassen pd 3
For my exhibit I am choosing to analyze political posters and what they are trying to get you to believe because at this time of year you see lots of them. Marxist: Is money a factor in political posters? Yes. Money may determine how nice the poster is or how many are made. For example, if the party does not have a lot of money the poster will not look as nice as the other posters, which could make a difference on how people would decide who to vote for. Also if you have more money you can afford to make more posters and get your name out there more than you would if you had fewer posters. If you are a Republican you sometimes may have an elephant on the poster to show you are a part of this party and that this party supports you. Most of the posters are very colorful to really grab the eyes of the people. Through the Freudian lens you may notice how the poster tries to persuade you to vote for them. Posters may have the other candidates name on it with a big X through it obviously showing that this person is unwanted and that that candidate is no good. They may be nice and simple to just show that they are a reliable candidate and they are not crazy and wont changed once voted for. They may also be big and bold to show that they will stand up for what they believe in congress and not fold under the pressures of the other members of congress. I believe that posters are a big part in how the candidates campaign for office. They are a very good way to get your point out there and for people to see who is all up for the election.
Jessica Peterson pd 2
I decided to do my blog task on why stores in the mall put their Christmas decorations out so early? I was walking around the mall this afternoon and noticed some stores already had some Christmas decorations out and wondered why is this? Is it because people are so excited? It’s not even Halloween yet! Then again I didn’t see many people in the mall shopping because the economy is so low. Christmas is a happy holiday in which we remember Jesus’ Birth, But we all know that’s not always on the top of some ones mind when the season rolls around. For many Christmas revolves around gifts, money, and irrelevant things to the main important point. Which also brings me to the question, Do stores do a good job at selling the right things? How often does someone buy a decoration of Jesus? I don’t know if its just me but I sure see more Santa Clauses out. Most of us Americans worship Santa Clause because he showers us with pointless gifts that will break or fall apart and wont last, when the holiday is about the bigger man Jesus Christ who gave us the biggest gift of all which is Life and will last forever. It’s also sad that some people can’t afford gifts. Maybe that’s why the mall sets out the Christmas decorations so early. The economy is down so much this year that fun shopping for friends and family now becomes stressful.
Flier Pd 6
For this blog task I have chosen to analyze the movie Social Network with the Marxist lens. The movie goes over the story of Mark Zuckerberg the inventor of Facebook while simultaneously going through the various lawsuits he went through along the way. One of the first quotes in the movie said by Jesse Eisenberg, the actor that plays Zuckerberg, says “because social clubs are fun, and meaning full, and they lead to a better life.” This quote shows what Zuckerbergs goal from the beginning is. Power and recognition for his work and intellect. He boasts the fact that he received a sixteen hundred on his SAT’s. By boasting his intellect to others he shows them all his power over them. At the beginning of the movie, Zuckerberg creates a website that had one sole purpose, to overload the schools server with users and make it crash. Then he creates Facebook around the fact that his server is better than that of Harvard’s, just to prove that he is better. Obviously by being at Harvard and scoring a sixteen hundred on his SAT’s, Zuckerberg won the environmental lottery. However by trying to beat Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss at their own game of creating a social networking site, this movie shows the struggle between social classes. The Winklevoss’es has won the environmental lottery and the genetic lottery. Both competed in the Olympics, and are extremely intelligent. Soon the drive to create Facebook is fueled by the sheer need to prove that he is better than everyone. Eventually Zuckerberg uses his friends to his advantage just to get ahead, making his best and only friend go from forty percent of the company to about a tenth of a percent. As the movie progresses the struggle for power and money becomes more and more evident. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.
For my critical lens analysis, I have chosen to deconstruct and analyze the show, "The Deadliest Catch". For those who haven't seen the show, many fishermen with multi-million dollar boats, go out into the raging Pacific Ocean and battle the seas for King Crab. The boat with the most crab at the end of the month, wins tons of cash, and bragging rights. Through a Marxist lens, one will immediately see which crew has the most cash on hand. A boat called “Northwestern”, sports a nice, automatic winch to pull in the loads of crab. This boat even has a sporty, almost new paint job. Other boats like the “Bandit”, obtain their crab by hard labor and manual tools. Instead of using winches and machines, they use pulleys and rope. All this is because the “Northwestern” has way more money than any of the other boats on the Pacific. The major difference in money also seems to affect how the crew interacts, and how much the crew is dedicated to one another. On boats with more money, the crew is jubilant, yet it seems they are not connected to the rest of the crew as well as the other boats with less money. Upon the more poor boats, everyone is just like family. They sit down for meals, talk to each other constantly, and listen to what each other have to say. The lack of money has made the less fortunate come together, become one, and power through the tough times. On the “Northwestern”, they crew tends to not want to listen to the skipper (captain), and sometimes even argue excessively about topics that have nothing to do with their jobs or what they’re doing at that time. The strength of the poor crew materialized at the climax of the series when the poor boats had scarcely less money and crab than the other boats with excessive cash. So while analyzing “The Deadliest Catch”, I have taken into account that money may bring you happiness, but will it give what truly matters in life? Maybe, although in my eyes, what truly matters in life is to have people around you who care about you, and to also find people you care about and treat them properly and watch out for them.
Natalie Turner
Period 2
For this week’s blog task, I choose to analyze the movie The Backup Plan. The Backup Plan is about a woman named Zoe, who is played by Jennifer Lopez, and wants to start a family but there’s one problem - she is not married, dating or even with a man. She takes matters into her own hands by becoming pregnant through artificial insemination but then suddenly her world is turned upside down when she meets a man and falls in love while she is pregnant. Using a Feminist Lens, I think that Zoe is a very strong, independent woman, who shows other women that she doesn’t need a man in her life to get what she wants. She also shows that you don’t need to depend on other people and should just trust yourself. This also shows how the men are not looking like the traditional caregivers and instead this shows that women are. Using a Marxist Lens, this movie shows that women have more power than men in regard to having children, because they can have babies by themselves, but men can’t. It’s interesting because back in the olden days, men had all the power and were considered better than women, but now that women can do everything that men can do, women are becoming just as powerful as men, which makes up for the ways that men used to treat women. . Women now have so many other options than they used to. Using a Freudian Lens, Zoe uses her ID because she wants kids and to have a family no matter what. She could follow her superego and decide that may be this isn’t the time to start a family because she would be faced with raising a kid on her own, but instead she believes that she can and decides that she should follow her ID
Halter pd. 2
I chose to analyze the song/video of Jessie’s Girl. Marxist lens has many questions on all exhibits. There are mainly two social classes in this song, singles or couples. The interaction with the two is no face to face but one man wanting his best friend’s girlfriend and saying to himself how much he wants that girl. Maybe his friend knows but I don’t believe so. There is a huge greed issue in this song. Like I said the single man wants to take/steal his friend’s girlfriend, and to have her all to his self. There is no remorse or any concern what so ever for his friend’s feelings if he did take his girl. The single guy is trying to climb the social (popular) ladder to get/steal the girl for his own self. I don’t believe the system is being oppressive to the single man or the couple. I do believe that the single man himself is bringing oppression on himself for not having the girl in the first place. The system also doesn’t show any heroic deed in any of the members of the film. The social tension is high for the single man. (The couple = higher class and the single man = lower class) The upper class is a lot happier in this scenario then the lower class because they are not alone. The lower class inst happy from being non oppressive, he is still miserable unless he has the girl.
Now for the Feminist lens. The girl in this song is an object completely. It’s like she is some kind of positions these men seem to get to take and receive. The dominant gender roll in this song is man. The natural roll in this song is showing that men get to pick and choose the women they want and can change their mind as they please. I believe that the single man is putting the limitations on the genders in this song.
Lastly the Freudian lens. The single man is completely trying to for fill his id and listing to his id on getting that girl. The id represents the single man and the superego represents the man with the girl his is like a reminder to the single guy that he doesn’t have that girl because it is his and to back off. The single boy is repressing himself on that girl he wants. The sexual symbol is his dancing in the video and the intense facial expirations while he is playing his guitar. That is showing that he has strength and that he is serious. I think that the single guy is done with his narcissistic bliss and wants a partner. And lastly what I thing is going on in their minds is that the single guy wants his friends girl and the couple are off in their own world.
Amanda Batzler pd. 7
I chose to analyze an ad for pep vitamins using my feminist lenses. This picture is of a husband wearing a nice dress suit that looks tired, his wife is wearing a nice dress and high heels she also has on an apron and she is holding a duster in her hands. Her wedding ring is displayed in the picture saying that she cares about their marriage but his is not shown he could possibly not care about their marriage. This ad was made during the 50’s which was a time where husbands went to work and the wives stayed home to clean and cook. This picture fits as an vitamin ad because women need energy to clean all day and then have dinner waiting on the table when their husband returns home from work all while looking beautiful. The ad is for vitamins, because women need to stay healthy and have energy to keep their husbands happy and satisfied. He is taller than his wife and he has both his on his waist, saying he owns her and no one else can have her. Most men think of women as an object that they can control, some women allow this; but why? Women often want attention from men so much that they are willing to be just set aside until they are wanted. Women are degraded so often that it begins to feel like they are no more important than how people are making them feel; but women very smart and necessary. So I believe that women should have more self respect for themselves because no matter what anyone says about them they are needed. The truth is that times have changed so much and that women are not controlled as extremely depicted in this ad but women still under appreciated. I think that women need to set their standards a little higher when searching for a husband and not just settle on the first guy that seems interested. Also I think that soul mates exist for everyone but if women settle for a man who expects them to do whatever they say no one will be able to find who they are truly meant to be with.
Danielson Pd 3 Analyzing Fallout 3 through a Marxist Lens
The Basic story line for Fallout 3 is you are a Vault dweller who escapes the vault your in and you the world fell into a nuclear wasteland. When you leave the vault you are in search for your father who left before you did and you come to a town called Megaton, named after an undetonated warhead, and you meet the town sheriff and Mr. Burke who have conflicting ideas on what to do with the warhead, the sheriff wants to defuse it and Mr. Burke wants to detonate it. This is where the Player comes in and has to decide on what they want to do; this hides the true meaning of the game. The game is based around Karma and the decisions you make good karma being awarded for good acts and bad karma awarded for bad acts. Another hidden meaning behind the game is that communism is bad and will cause a nuclear power struggle. Through out the game the player will come across raiders who are group of outlaws who kill everyone and separated from the rest of the civilizations in the game. Along with raiders, slavers are also outcasted from regular civilization but have a town ironically called Paradise Falls where they buy, sell, and trade slaves. In Paradise Falls slaves are oppressed and wish they could escape, another part where the player gets to decide their fate. There is a complete struggle for wealth and money and some people get so caught up in it they are killed by their own people. Also you could say that the player has all the power being able to kill anyone he or she pleases. The higher ups who have most of the money will bribe the player to kill someone specific and if you take the bribe the player would have a lot of money at their disposal. Through out the entire game there isn’t any spot where the isn’t a conflict or power struggle, around every turn and every door there is one more thing the player must decide to do.
Crowe, pd 6.
I am going to analyze a common household pet - cats.
Marxist: Cats can be categorized into the different economic classes. Typically a wealthy family doesn't have an abudance of cats. Though, if they do, the cat most likely receives the best cat food out there. On the other hand, "poor" families with cats may not be able to provide anything but the cheapest food for their pet. Also, if one has more than the normal amount of cats, it is sort of frowned upon. Usually the crazy lazy with 15 cats ins't filthy rich.
Feminist: Cats are extremely feminem animals. They're very graceful and prissy. For instance, if a girl has a cat, it's just kind of whatever. But if a guy has a cat, they sort of seem "sweet" or "sensitive." Reason being? The femininity of cats. Same goes for dogs but vice versa. If a girl owns a big dog, they're looked at as more boy-ish than if they owned a little dog. Apart from ownership matters, cats can be very affectionate, but they're very delicate about it. (And they can also be very snoody and bitchy - another trait among girls.)
Aaron BEARCLAW Engebretson Pd.3
For my topic I will be talking about NFL players in the Feminist Lens. To start off, Brett Favre is a future hall of fame quarterback with an “ol’ Mississippian” way of life. He lives on a huge acerege of land with a beautiful wife. He also has a smoking hot daughter. As in most simple Southerner’s way of life you have a wife, kids, a dog, and that’s the way you live until the day you die. In the recent weeks Brett has been in the news for sending a female employee of the New York Jets crude messages and pictures. Brett, right now, has neither denied nor come to truths that he has sent these things but many people believe it is true. A feminist critic in this subject should just be inflammed from this matter. In their eyes, a man with a huge reputation in the NFL, a great wife and daughter, millions of dollars (possibly billions), and a great endorsment (Wrangler Jeans) should never have the tenacity to do what he did. Then again, also in their eyes, they believe that any football player with loads of money to spend and great amount of cockiness, swagger, confidence, and good looks is just like a horny beast being let loose into a field of willing naked women. The NFL pays to much money to these people to play a game that, SOMETIMES FROM WHAT IT SEEMS, can be played by a regular, everyday citizen. There are some players in the NFL that should have never been drafted. They get paid these rediculous amounts of money and they go to work ,which was a hobby back when they were kids. They are living the life. Truth be told though, If I could get paid 12.8 million dollars a year to go fishing 32 weeks out of the year(even though I can never catch anything) I would go hogwild and party like I was a pimp/ruler of the place.
Niklason
Period 6
I will be analyzing the song, “Guarantees” by Atmosphere using the Marxist, Freudian, and Feminist lens. A Marxist critic might ask if any social classes interact with each other and I’m going to have to say no because there is never any reference to any other class besides the class that he raps about. Throughout the song the unnamed character talks about how he should have stayed in school and did something with his life because he was unhappy with the way he was living. He is behind on bills yet he still buys a lottery ticket every week just because he wants the chance and having money and a chance to provide a better life for his family and himself. A Marxist critic would say that he is trying to climb the social ladder because that will make him happier in life. Money definitely matters in this song because it mostly talks about having money problems, wishing he tried harder in school when he was younger because he doesn’t like his job, and wishing he was living better than the way he and his family were living. Through a Freudian lens, he is letting his id win when he decides to sit at the bar and have a cigarette because he doesn’t want to go to his life back home. He would rather escape his problems by forgetting about them for awhile and just “talk to my cigarette and that television set.” A Freudian critic would also looks to see if the character represses any true urges, dreams, or goals. During the song, he talks about how he wished he could live, his goals in life, and his dreams so I would have to say no on the repressing any of his urges, goals, or dreams. I would say there is almost nothing a feminist critic would find.
Weatherford pd. 3
For this blog task I’m going to attempt to analyze Brandon Valley High School and the people within it. A Marxist critic would already realize this is a power trip. It’s who is in power and about the “money.” While if you go deep into Brandon’s systems at the school you might be able to get a Freudian outlook on it as well.
For instance the “popular” group doesn’t invite the “non-popular” group to a movie. The more popular kids are more likely to be elected Homecoming king and queen. Most of the time the so called “popular” kids look down on the others. Why would they look down on the others? Is it because they want to achieve narcissistic bliss by believing no one will like them either if they aren’t in the popular crowd? Everyone knows if you’re not in the “popular” crowd to start with everyone wants to try and climb that social ladder to achieve what you want the most. To be liked by everyone. When was this social ladder created? Was it back in time when the Whites and African-Americans were separated and the whites knew they had the power. They believed they were better than them? Why couldn’t they be equal back then?
When you watch a movie you see the actors portray the “popular” kids being happy. Why are they happy? Maybe, because they have what they want. The higher social class portrays being happier. The “lower” class is fighting to be noticed by someone who is essentially cooler, when they should realize they are perfect the way they are. Do you think the lower class could even be happier because they don’t have all these expectations to up hold? This could be true. Maybe they are actually happy with who they are because they don’t have to live up to anyone’s expectation but their own. Even though they know they need to be happy with themselves, they still try and climb to be on top. Because climbing the social ladder is allowed. It just may be difficult.
Have you ever been told” be good to the system and the system will be good to you?” Well I believe that is true with Brandon Valley High School. This works as a system. We have our head guy in power, our principal, Dr. Talcott and he can take everything away. When we are good and come to school we are rewarded. Juniors and Seniors can be rewarded by having semester test exemption. Having good grades is doing something good for the system. The system rewards you. For all classes if you have superb grades you have a chance to qualify for a Opportunity Scholarship. Maybe this system we go to everyday is oppressive. Do the popular kids have a marked individual discretion on others? Are we turning into the “oppressive government?” Is this system even good for humanity? Should cliques be eliminated? Not that we could actually eliminate them, but is the cliques who “rule” becoming the oppressive government? Maybe, maybe not.
Bri Matthies .6
“Exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.” The most well know line from an amazing movie. For my blog task I decided to analyze another one of my favorite movies, Legally Blonde. In the beginning of the movie Elle Woods, a beautiful girl, is getting ready for a date with her long time boy friend, Warner Huntington III. She and the other girls in her sorority believe that he is going to pop the question and ask Elle to be his wife. Warner ends up dumping Elle and going to Law School where Elle ends up going to win him back. I used my three lenses for this movie and began to notice a lot more than I had before
With my Marxist lens it was the most difficult to find stuff with but with it I Saw that Elle was a high class girl who had a lot to offer. She grew up in Beverly Hills (notorious for being a “rich” neighborhood). She is dating Warner who comes off as a total stuck up Ivy League jock and they belong to the same social status. But during the Break up scene Warner tells Elle that he needs a “Jackie not a Marilyn” and says that she isn’t good enough for him even though she does have the money. When Elle Arrives at Harvard she finds her way to a nail salon where she meets Paulette Boneafantte (nice name huh). Paulette is a woman who is lost and Elle tries to help her out even though she is in a much lower social class than her. You also notice with these lenses that Harvard is a campus that just reeks of wealth and money. You have your students who look like trust fund brats who have spent every summer vacationing in the Hamptons and had the best tutor’s daddies (or mommies) money could buy. One girl specifically says she shops only at Chanel. With all these types of people walking around Elle looks like a total freak show. She is trying to make friends but doesn’t belong in their social circle so she is told to leave.
What movie is complete without some good old sexual references? We love them because they are what we are all thinking just don’t have the guts to say. I really picked up on these with my Frueidan Lens. Elle’s admissions video to Harvard was totally focused on her sex appeal rather than her actual value to the school. She wore a tinny tiny bikini in almost all of it and said nothing that remotely pertained to a law school but she was hot so the rich old guys working in the admissions office made every excuse in the book to justify letting her in to the school. Another unforgettable scene is the bend and snap. Elle is saying that this is all you need to get the guy. The motions accentuate a woman’s curves and that’s it. In the movie Elle also helps out her fellow student get a date by pretending that he is her ex. She comes up to him and slaps him across the face and says that he should feel bad for taking the best pleasure she’s ever had away from her. That’s directly referring to in bed and the other girl is instantly attracted to the man she said was a nerd five minutes ago. With a Frueidan Lens you’re also supposed to find examples of people seeking narcissistic bliss by putting themselves in familiar situations. Warner has seen his family and feels that Elle is not worthy of them because she is not what he has seen his past family members marry into. Elle also searches for this bliss when she follows Warner to Harvard. She is comfortable in that relationship and doesn’t want to get over him and look for something new when she can just have what she already knows.
Bri Matthies continued...
The Feminist lens was the most interesting to look with. In the beginning we see Elle as a dependent needy girl who needs a man so bad that she is going to travel across the US just to be with him. As the movie progresses we see Elle grow as a person and become an Independent woman. With our first impressions of Elle we see the sorority bimbo who is a total air head. She has the stereotypical friends who don’t understand why anyone would want to go to Law School. When she gets into law school if you pay attention closely you see she is surrounded by men or women who dress in very manly looking attire. They are trying to cover themselves and look professional to make people take themselves seriously. Well most people are not taking Elle seriously, mostly Warner. He is talking to a girl at a party and if you listen closely she is talking about how the English language is so male dominated in the way that words are constructed and is planning to make a change to empower women. Then Elle interrupts the conversation (she is wearing a sexy bunny costume, showing skin to be wanted by men because women are not complete without a man’s approval) and says that she isn’t seriously thinking she, of all people, would get an amazing internship. Elle is hurt by this and brings up a valid point that they both took the same LSAT’s, they are going to the same school, and they are both taking the same classes and she is just as good as him. I found a character that sort of reminded me of nurse rachet. It’s the only woman professor and she is shown as a manly and evil character. She tries to bring down students in front of the whole class to gain control and assert her power above all of them. In the end she empowers Elle and convinces her not to leave after Calahan sexually assaults her. This is right after he pretty much told her that she got her inter position because she was hot and not because she was a good student. Paulette shows in a very good way how women can be brought down by men and made into possessions. When she goes to pick up her beloved dog she is confronted by her ex Dewey. He talks down to her and won’t even let her get a word in. He makes her feel inadequate until finally Elle pumps her up and empowers her. And the last person I looked at was Brooke Windom. She was married to a man 34 years older than her and everyone automatically assumed she was a gold digger. When in reality she had her own money and didn’t need him for that at all. It’s sad that society assumes that instantly. Brooke is accused of murdering her husband and won’t tell her alibi because it would “ruin” her. We learn that she was getting liposuction and is embarrassed because she is supposed to be a great work out guru. This shows how women are held to a standard and can do crazy things to try to meet that standard.
With this movie I enjoyed using my lenses. Unlike the lion king this movie was more interesting looking at it from these points of view and didn’t ruin it. I’m excited to see what else I learn to enjoy more as we continue with the school year.
Hanson, Pd. 3
I have decided to analyze the music video for the song “No Love” by Eminem featuring Lil Wayne.
This video is basically about a child (for the sake of making this easier I'm going to use John for his name) who gets picked on every day at school by other kids who are “better” and in a higher social class than him and attempt to make his life miserable. The other kids give him “no love”. The only way that John can find a way out of the terrible world that he is living in is by listening to music, specifically by Eminem and Lil Wayne. Through a Marxist lens you can tell that money is a function in this exhibit. The kids that pick on John look like they are spoiled and get what they want. John looks like a normal kid that's just trying to fit in, and maybe that's his problem. Maybe he is trying to fit in with a group of kids that don't want to be his friend so they make fun of him and beat him up for it. The bullies are the major power system in this video. They think they rule the entire school and can do whatever they want and never get in trouble for it. They think that everything is always going to go the way they want it to, which is incorrect. The bullies exploit their power by beating up John and by taking advantage of him. They know they will win because he is smaller and weaker. The social classes don't interact very well in this video. The upper class (bullies) doesn't get along with the middle/lower class (John). I think that there is greed involved in this and that's why the bullies beat up John everyday. There has to be something that John has that they are jealous of and forces them to beat him up. Or, maybe they don't feel secure about themselves and take out their feelings on John. The bullies seem to be happy for beating up a defenseless kid and that makes John miserable, except for when he listens to his music. Music is the only thing that makes him feel good. There are also tensions between John's parents. There is a clip that shows them fighting which would not help John out at all. Music is the key thing here. Music is what helps John escape to a different world of happiness. Music. You can't tell what song John is listening to on his iPod but you can presume that it is “No Love” by all the Eminem and Lil Wayne posters on his wall, and the fact that it is the video for the song. John tries to get away from the bullies and his parent's fighting by listening to music, and one day, after listening to enough of a song, John decides that he's had enough of getting beat up. This fits perfectly with parts of the lyrics.
“It's a little too late to say that you're sorry now, you kicked me when I was down...you show me nothing but hate, you ran me into the ground, but what comes around goes around...”.
It's too late for the bullies to say sorry to John for what they have done to him numerous times. There is nothing that they can do to make this situation better for John. They have showed him nothing but hate when they ran him into the ground and kicked him when he was down. Now it's time for some karma, what comes around goes around. What the bullies did to John is now about to happen to them. John goes to school, finds the kids that were beating him up, and starts punching them. HE gives THEM “no love”. He knocks all of them down and walks away. He was victorious in the end. The weaker kid beat the stronger kids. The lower class beat the upper class. Being stronger, better looking, and having more money doesn't mean everything.
Greenhoff Pd.3
For my blog task I am going to analyze some Nike ads. The ads in particular are basically girls in sports bras. A feminist would have a field day with these ads. The ads are in mostly in magazines like Seventeen that target teenage girls to buy their product. So the ads have a couple of really fit teenage girls that are sweating, working out, and having a blast. The head of Nike advertising must have thought this was a great idea. If our ads have pretty, fit, and muscular teenage girls on them, then other teenage girls will want to buy our products. If they buy our clothing, they will look as fit and be as gorgeous as the girls on our ads. The teenage buyer will be more appealing to the opposite sex if they wear this type of clothing. If the teenage girl feels insecure, don’t worry, just go out and buy some overpriced Nike clothing and it will make you feel better. The ads are so colorful and bright they kind of make you feel better. Nike clothing can fill your dull world with color and life! Nike clothing will make you cool and popular and will get you a boyfriend. A feminist would not like the exposed mid drifts and booty shorts the ads are so fond of. The girls in the ads are depicted as carefree and worry free. All they have to do to stay healthy and beautiful is wear their Nike shorts and sports bra and smile. If Nike puts good looking girls on their ads they will appeal to men and give you a better chance at getting attention. Seventeen magazine has all sorts of little articles and tips on how to get yourself a guy, and then they throw in those Nike ads here and there to help persuade you. Nike is an expensive brand and buying a sweatshirt from a different store would probably be a lot more cost effective. But that little Nike swoosh on your sweatshirt makes a big difference in social classes. A Marxist lens would say it gives you a bit more power. That Nike symbol can move you up a social class and make you appear to have money. Having that little swoosh on your t-shirts or sweatpants or whatever makes it seem like you have the money spare when you are buying clothes. Wearing this brand means you don’t have to bargain shop at any other store, you can just go to Scheels and pay what the tag tells you to, even though the money it takes to actually make the product is a lot less than you are going to pay for it. But once again, you can be cool and popular, and wear those Nike high tops that everyone at school is wearing. Conform to the system and wear what’s popular. Don’t be and outcast, buy our clothes and belong.
Murtha period 6
For this weeks blog I am going to critically analyze “The Kingdom of Heaven.” This movie, this exhibit, is wonderful for analyzing through the critical lenses. First, I will first demonstrate using the Feminist lens. For starters, most feminist critics would be appalled by the fact that the princess is used as stepping stone for men to become king when she would try to lead her people into a peaceful era with the Muslims. They might leap for joy though that she does not simply sit in her palace as her people are being killed but tries to heal the infirm and beaten. There is also a part in the movie where she sees her brother, the deceased King of Jerusalem, in the mirror. I interpreted this in two ways; one is that she is like the King because she tries to protect the people; the other is that she feels that she is a leper because she holds no actual way of helping the people as a whole. You can also see so much detail through the Marxist lens. At first Balian is a blacksmith who can only be described as a hardworking yet scornful man. Once he becomes a knight and an earl he is ambitious and a level headed leader and tactician of war. He also earns the respect of his men by turning his land from a pitiful pile of sand to a thriving town by just helping to dig and find a well. There is also a scene where he knights hundreds of commoners at one time. This may seem insignificant but there is a change in the men’s eyes, it is as if they have been granted some type of ancient power that will help them to defeat the horde that stands outside their gates. Balian also gains a powerful friend by sparing his life and saving him from slavery, this man turns out to be the leader of the Muslim cavalry. This man eventually spares Balian’s life and the lives of his men. He also inspires the lower class citizens to break their chains of oppression and to stand up and become the fighters that they were born to be. They may have been farmers or salesmen for their entire lives but for those days of war they were knights.
Selken Period 6
The Runaways defined the art of women’s rock and roll. They were young and most importantly were women, in a male-dominated music industry. Although they were one of the most influential all girl’s rock and roll band of the late seventies, they were never commercially accepted into the music scene solely because they were girls. Since the music industry had no idea what to do with them, their manager Kim Fowley (who ironically is actually a man) decided to make the main focus on their fifteen year old lead singer Cherie Currie. Even though she was so young she was put on stage in a corset and fishnets singing lyrics like “I’ll give you somethin’ to live for, have you and grab you until you’re sore.” Gender matters so much in this band. You see it most with Kim Fowley. He gave the band their first chance, and then destroyed them by sexing them up and using their innocence. Women are portrayed as sex objects. They are not treated as women, but as things to be used and thrown away. One of Kim Fowley’s infamous quotes from when he managed The Runaways was “This isn’t about women’s lib (as in liberation) it’s about women libidos!” He clearly thought the only good that they could give to the music world was gyrating on stage and singing songs about sex and boys. The natural roles that are filled are that Kim is the one in charge. Even though he doesn’t hold the talent he is still controlling The Runaway’s every move. Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Sandy West and Jackie Foxx are the ones that do all of the work, being on tour away from their families and homes they have no control over where they are playing, how much they get paid if even at all. Instead of The Runaways being insanely popular all over the world like they had the potential to be, they crashed and burned the second Cherie Currie, their lead sex kitten, left. They only released one more album and then disbanded. Men never accepted them as equals, they were always beneath them. In society we value what a man can do, and what a woman looks like. In the case of music a man’s playing or singing abilities are what is tested. I have seen plenty of not so great looking men who are insanely popular, but also have amazing guitar/singing abilities. While women in the music industry are valued by what they look like and how they dress. Joan Jett wanted the sole focus on the band to be on their abilities, but Kim Fowley decided the only way to get them noticed was by having Cherie Currie sing lead vocals in little to no clothing. This may have gotten them attention and recognition, but it most certainly did not garner the respect they were hoping for. Even though The Runaways had the potential to be monumental, they didn’t go that far because of the limitations put in place by society on women. After the band broke up Joan Jett, the maker of the band and the one who wanted the focus to be on the music had one of the most successful careers in the 1980’s. While Cherie Currie went in and out of drug rehab, and now currently is a chain saw artist in the San Fernando Valley. You can see how feminism helped Joan find a career that wasn’t dominated be men. While Cherie found it hard to be taken seriously after The Runaways due to her sexed up look on stage and never truly finding her own voice in the band. The Runaways are a perfect example of male dominance in society ruining one of the best chances at rock and roll simply because they were girls.
Bakken 2
For my blog task I’m going to do the newest advertisement for the new 2011 Buick Regal. This new vehicle has top of the line everything. Leather, navigation, heated seats, anything you could possibly want in a top of the line car. Which bring me to looking at this through the Marxist lens. People that are going to purchase this car are going to be people that have lots of money and want to show that they have lots of money. The question in the Critical Lenses 101 packet asks “ Does the system exploit its members” and I think that this advisement shows that it does. It tells people that you have to buy the top of the line cars, clothes, and homes, whatever to be the best. Why do you have to have the best of everything to be the best? Does just being you count? Or just because you have all of the greatest stuff makes you the best. Also the packet asks “Are the ruling classes happy”. I think that the ruling classes are the happiest because it’s the ruling class that has all the power. In this advertisement, it shows the driver happy and loving every second that he is driving the car. He is “passing” everybody by both figuratively and literally. Literally he is “passing everybody because the car is so awesome and figuratively he is “passing” everyone because he is at the top of the food chain and he is “better than everyone else because he is driving the new Buick Regal”. The packet also asks “is a system oppressive to its members”. I think that this shows that a totally set system can be very oppressive to its members, especially to the lower members of the system. This man is not oppressed because he is driving the newest and best car but for the “normal” people they are held back in the sense that because they are not driving the best car out there, they are not as good or will not go as far compared the man/woman driving the new car.
Bruggeman
I will attempt to analyze the 1910 Fruitgum Co.'s song "Reflections From the Looking Glass" through a Marxist lens. The song is about a person's vision of a utopia.
The social classes interact with each other as though they are equals. There is no greed and the lyrics "No crying, hatred, greed, or shame" support that claim. Nobody in this song can climb a social or economic ladder because there is not a ladder in existence. No system is oppressive to anybody, because there isn't an established "system", at least in my opinion. I base this thought off of these two lyrical excerpts "You do what you want and what you want you just take" and "No reputation to develop no need to acquire fame". There aren't any social tensions between anybody. "No crying, hatred, greed, or shame, no reputation to develop, no need to acquire fame" So nobody dislikes each other, and nobody holds another person's creed, nationality, or name against them. There is not a ruling class to be happy, or a lower class to be miserable. In honesty I'm not sure that there would be any work to make up a working class in this world the writer is dreaming of "In this place you get what you lacked on Earth, of pleasure and leisure and love, a new rebirth". In saying this, I don't believe that the lower or working class is being exploited, and if people did work I don't think that they would (or anyone at that) be put into a class. Everyone in this song would be as free as freedom allows, there seem to be no restriction whatsoever. There aren't any people that the song mentions that would be wealthier than others, although the song does say "You do what you want and what you want you just take" so if you look at it a certain way, it could be saying that they are so well off that they can afford to give away and freely share as they please.
Paul Pd. 7
For my blog task of analyzing and exhibit, I wanted to do something different and out of the norm. So I have chosen to analyze the front of a Star Wars fruit snack box. On it is the brand name HyVee in a medium sized font so you know it’s from a ‘trusted’ place. Next it the words STAR WARS in the biggest sized font to catch your attention, also it has a color effect that makes it look ‘cool’ and ‘epic’ so if you eat it ‘obviously’ it will make you cool. It also has a ‘100% daily value of Vitamin C’ in the same ‘cool and epic’ color to make you feel like it is actually going to be really healthy for you, which if it is ‘healthy’ and ‘cool’ than you will get ahead in life and people will except you, right? Also on the box is a very heroic picture of Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, some clone troopers shooting, and one woman. The picture shows that everyone that has a weapon has strength and there for has power. The picture of Yoda is much bigger than all the rest and is more placed in the back which is showing that the wise and smart get even more power that people with weapons. Also in this picture it shows all the men ether shooting or running as to attack where as the woman is just standing and defending. From a feminist lens this is saying that the men always get sent out to fight but the girls always have to stay back and defend the base but can’t do anything dangerous. At the bottom of the box it has in small lettering ‘six pouches’ and ‘new wt 5.4 oz(153 g)’ this is at the bottom so that you don’t realize that you are really just getting ripped off by paying $2 a box for 6 packages of fruit snacks that really aren’t that healthy, but who knows it may make your kid cool, right?
For my exhibit I chose something that almost all of us can relate to everyday of our lives in one way or another, the lunch room. For many people lunch is a time for socialization and interacting with friends and enjoying this time. For others it isn’t as much fun, it’s a place to be judged because of who you sit with or who you don’t. When you walk through the lunch room do you feel like there are eyes watching you? Analyzing you like the books, movies and music that we analyze?
If a Marxist critic was to walk through the lunch room they would ask what influence social class has on where people choose to sit and they would see that there isn’t much of a mixture between the social classes. People tend to sit with people that they are familiar and comfortable with. They don’t dare to step out of their comfort zone because they don’t want to be judged by people they don’t know. Power has another effect on where people choose to sit. If you are a senior the chances are that you aren’t going to want to sit at a table that is located next to the annoying but sometimes unavoidable freshmen, you would most likely choose a table farther away from them and separate yourself. If there is table that a group of seniors wants to sit at they might also try and use their “power” to persuade the lower classmen to move to a different table.
There are people that don’t fit in with a group and choose to stand out, there are also people that don’t choose to be that way, they simply are. Why don’t we step out of our comfort zone? It’s simple. No one wants to interact with a different social class if they don’t have to. If there is a person in the lunchroom sitting by themselves the chances are you are going to choose to sit with a group of people that fits into a social class similar to yours instead of choosing to be the bigger person and sit with the person that is in a different class. We find ourselves confined by our social class and social or economic ladders.
The lunchroom makes many people uncomfortable; the staring, judging, criticizing, and analyzing, its enough to make some people want to hide, some people might even call it depressing. The people that enter the lunch room each day oppress the other people even if they don’t try to consciously, they just don’t want to be the person that invited the “weird” or “different” person to sit with them at their table. It doesn’t help any to be in the lower classes because they are the ones that don’t live up to the expectations of the higher classes that everyone tries to be like. Just because they don’t live up to those expectations they are judged, ignored, and criticized in most cases harder than the people that set the standards.
Erks p. 7
I chose to analyze the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel in the Marxist lens. In the movie there are two social classes. One social class is the “high class”, which would be the jocks and the popular kids at the school. The other social class is the “low class” which would be the chipmunks trying to fit in to their new school. In both classes there is greed; greed to be the best of their class. In the high class their goal is to be the best at sports or the most popular. In the low class their goal is to be the best chipmunk in their performances.
At the beginning of the movie when the chipmunks get to the new school the jocks pick on them for being small and for getting attention from their girlfriends. However, later on in the movie he begins to climb the social ladder by proving himself loyal to the system-being good at sports. By being loyal to the system more people will like you is basically what it says. Whether or not you follow the system or not determines which social class you belong to. Follow the system and the system will be good to you and you will be a high class person. Disrupt the system and the system will go against you and you’ll be part of the lower class.
There are obvious social tensions throughout the whole movie. In the beginning there is tension between the jocks and the chipmunks; later there is more between the chipmunks. When it comes to the ruling class it always seems to be the same in all movies. They’re always happy until someone else comes in and is “competition”. In the movie the football players are happy and the head of the school until the chipmunks come in and then they get replaced. The lower classes never seem to be miserable. They always make life seem normal and simple, where as the upper class seem to make things more complicated.
Austin Hanson
prd 7
Today I will be analyzing Football in general. Through a feminist lens you can see many things wrong with the game of football. For one no women play football nor are their women in any football league. The only thing that women get to contribute in, in the football game is being a cheerleader or an announcer. Also being an announcer for football they don’t get to get a booth job they are always the people on the ground. They are almost looked down upon and not as important as the guys because they “don’t know as much” or “football is a guys thing and they don’t understand it as well”. The rolls of women being cheerleaders are stereotypical good-looking women who are wearing little clothes and make them look like “whores”. A common question a feminist critic asks are what limitations are put on women and the limitations are that women aren’t allowed in football and are viewed as lesser and weak.
Looking at football through a Marxist lens is very easy. Football is set up as a very networked and regulated higher acre. Football has its class setup in the players and also in the officials and coaches. The players are set up as the perception of classes. The most important class in the view of the viewers is the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs. Then come the defensive squad and then finally the offensive line. Which in retrospect the offensive line is the most important thing about the offense. This is a fixed class system where no one can climb it. This is an unfortunate system because the offensive line does not get the respect that they deserve. The class system in the coaches is a system of higher acre also. They have the owner whom is the highest up. Then the head coach and from there it goes all of the specialty coaches for different classes of players. This higher acre of the coaches is not as fixed as the players where the coaches quite frequently move from different spots and can climb the social ladder.
Cece Hamrick pd. 6
I choose to analyze the movie Elvis & Annabelle. Through a Marxist lens, a person would ask: how does money function? In this movie, it’s clear that Annabelle is in a higher class than Elvis. She is a popular pageant girl, and Elvis is a lower class mortician. How do the social classes interact? There is an obvious tension from Elvis towards Annabelle. He assumes that just because she was a cheerleader, she was friends with the jerky football player that hurt his dad. I don’t think that Annabelle is happy, because before her death, Annabelle was bulimic. She wanted to conform with the rest of the girls in her class. Also there was clearly some sort of struggle between her and her step-father. She always leaned away from him, and he was all up on her. It seems like Elvis’s family is happier with their lives, than Annabelle is with hers because she was oppressed by so much. Annabelle flaunts her wealth, but not on purpose. She makes some comments about how old, decrepit, and scary the Moreau house looks. It comes off as a little bit snotty, because it seems like it’s not a good enough house for her to be staying in.
With a feminist lens, you can see that Annabelle is portrayed as a sort of puppet. She was saying, wearing, and eating what everybody wanted her to. Annabelle’s step-father is oppressing her mother. She says that can lead a person to infer that she is only with him because she is unable to live and support her and Annabelle on her own. It’s saying that the women of that time can’t have a successful life on their own, and that they are dependent on men to live. In the movie, women are portrayed as emotional, and sensitive, while the men are portrayed as aggressive and somewhat indifferent to some things. In their society, men are valued by their status in their jobs, and how much money they make. Women are valued by how pretty, skinny, or talented they are.
A Freudian lens shows that Elvis’s ID wins him over. When he decides to kiss ‘dead’ Annabelle, he hesitates, which shows that he knows that he shouldn’t, but he does it anyway. Annabelle’s wins her over as well. She runs away, knowing that it is wrong. I think Elvis represents Annabelle’s ID. He is everything her mother is against, and she loves it. She’s rebelling against the system her parents have made for her.
Olson Pd. 7
I chose to analyze the song “Black and Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa. A Marxist critic would ask how money functions in this exhibit. The money is clearly very important, Khalifa spits lines like “from the whip to the diamonds I do it big.” Wiz brags up his bank account in a hip hop culture where sometimes that’s all that matters. Do any characters clime the “social economic ladder?” The premise of the song “Black and Yellow” is stating that he didn’t forget the places he came from. Even in Hollywood he’s in black and yellow representing his home town of Pittsburg, where he resided before he climbed the ladder. Is there greed? I think that the song demonstrates a certain amount of greed. He claims that he “just made a million, got another million on my schedule.” He has everything and has no plans of stopping there.
From a Feminist standpoint this song is pretty derogatory. Gender clearly matters in this exhibit and females are clearly objectified. He makes comments about how easily he could take your girl. He’s bragging about his sexual prowess to push his way to the top of the social ladder. Who put the limitations on gender? I think that our society in general still looks at women as lesser to some extent. Most men assume that they could do most things better than a women could.
Psychoanalysis reveals that Khalifa is satisfying his ID. He is buying cars, diamonds, and spending money on girls, instead of investing it or saving it which would be the rational superego inspired thing to do. Wiz is in an extreme state of narcissistic bliss. He states that “You know what it is, everything I do I do it big.” Implying that before meeting him we should already know that he does it big. He uses words and rhyming masterfully to inform his audience of his dreams and aspirations.
Pacheco Pd. 7
I am analyzing a British film that caught my interest a couple of days ago. The film takes place at about the year 2050. As the sun is dying, a crew of scientists is assigned to mission to the sun to reignite it by using a nuclear device the size of a big city. The ship they are on is called the Icarus 2 (a ship called the Icarus 1 was sent on this mission before Icarus 2, but failed to complete their task for unknown reasons). As they pass the planet Mercury, the distress beacon from Icarus 1 is signaled and so they decide to find the ship so they can try to double their chances of reigniting the sun. As they explore Icarus 1, they find the crew dead and also find out that the captain of the ship is still alive, thinking that the captain of the ship killed the crew. Using the Marxist lens: I can see that the captain of the Icarus 1 probably didn’t want to complete the mission because of his beliefs that it’s probably the will of God that everyone dies such as, “people, planets, and even stars”. So he was willing to sacrifice everyone on earth just because of his beliefs. What surprises me is that the captain isn’t even a ruler of the human race. It shows how greedy an individual can get. Also, this character seems to have a scar on his face (but during the film you can barely see his face because light will never hit it), relating to Scar from The Lion King? He wants power, he tries changing the regulations, and in the end of the film, he kills most of the crew of Icarus 2 (some members of the crew sacrifice themselves for various purposes), trying to prevent the reigniting process, but fails to kill one of the crew members that finally saves Earth by finally activating the bomb thus sacrificing himself. Sounds somewhat familiar to The Lion King!
How does the Freudian critical lens matter in this film? As I mentioned before when some crew members were able to sacrifice themselves; why would they do so? In one scene there was something wrong with the exterior of the ship, therefore sending two of the members, but one dies by an oncoming solar flare, choosing to stay behind to fix the problem. It doesn’t show in the film but my analysis is that they probably were trained by the best before beginning their mission, on Earth. They were trained to have a successful mission, even if it means sacrifice. Also in the film, there was fire that erupted in the green garden, preventing them from receiving enough oxygen to survive. They had enough to go to the sun and to only complete their mission, but not to return to Earth. They choose to resume their mission.
Winterringer Pd. 2
For my Blog Task, I will be analyzing the United States Marine Corps MOS 0311 through the Marxist lens. The MOS 0311 is “rifleman”, which is the basic designation of an infantry soldier in the United States Marine Corps. In the USMC Infantry, social class makes very little difference between anyone. Everyone starts off as a Private First Class and gains rank and pay grade automatically for a little while, and then based solely on merit after that. The officers that lead the Infantry do tend to be of a higher social class than the average infantry soldier, because a Bachelor’s degree is needed to attend the USMC Officer Candidate School. Generally those of a lower socioeconomic class cannot afford to go to college or university to attain the degree because they simply don’t have the money for it. However you do get some officers that got their degree while they were in the Marine Corps on their own time, because while you are in, the Marine Corps will pay for one hundred percent of one’s tuition. By getting one’s degree while in the Corps and then attending Officer Candidate School, a soldier my climb the social ladder and become an officer.
One could say the Marines are exploited and oppressed, however that is simply not the case. The Marines follow their orders more than willingly, and many of them are grateful for their chance to do what they do. I have never met a Marine who wasn’t proud of what they did. I would argue that even the lower ranked soldiers, deemed “grunts” by some people, are not oppressed, though some of the harder work is given to the lower ranked soldiers due to their lack of experience.
There is generally very little tension between the upper class (officers) and the lower class (enlisted), however that is going to vary from a case to case basis. Generally officers are approachable, and aren’t the kind of people to just flaunt their power over their subordinates simply because they can and it makes them feel powerful. However, I can guarantee that there are some officers who do cause tension between themselves and their men/women and vice-versa. The officers definitely do have a conscience concerning their men that they send into combat, or ask to do anything. There is a general motto that as an officer, you should never order your men to do something you would not do yourself.
Sometimes, when one gains rank, they can almost be “suffocated” by their class. It would seem like a good thing to be a higher rank, but the more rank one gets, the more responsibilities come with it. Once one is at a high enough rank, their decisions start affection who might survive to see tomorrow, or who is to be a “necessary sacrifice”. If one isn’t mentally and emotionally ready for that kind of responsibility and that kind of power, they could possibly lose their mind trying to worry about everything they have to do.
For this blog, I will be analyzing the show “Weeds.”
In the show “Weeds”, Nancy Botwin, a middle aged mom is faced with many trials and tribulations, one of which being the death of her husband. As life continues on she decides that the only way that she can continue living the way she is now, is to become the local pot dealer. In the show you get to meet the two sons Silas and Shane, and their wonderful but obnoxious uncle Andy. Now, the sellers of the pot initially, were a black family with Heylia James as the leader. Later on, in future seasons, Nancy starts picking up the local business with an EDA agent as her husband. Nancy is later faced with a choice… continue on with her job and get caught or drop everything. All the while dealing with her frienemy, Celia Hodes.
Now, from a Marxist point of view, I would say that this show has a lot of ways you could look at it. Now the first thing I would notice about this show is that the power source for most of it is a woman, which is something you don’t usually look for in a TV show about a struggling pot dealer! Halfway through the first season was when they introduced Peter the EDA agent. Now I don’t think that they just threw him in for a touch of drama. Why did he have to be an EDA agent, just so he could be on top again?…
By the way… speaking of on top… did I mention this show is also about struggling, cheating, parents who decide to have sex ALLLLL the time! Now, I DEFINITELY believe that if Sigmund Freud was able to watch this show, he would be having a hay day!!! This show is a constant struggle of which side to be on, you ID or your superego. A lot of the time as well, they struggle with where or where not their libido should step in. I also think that deciding a path is something that Nancy deals with on a day to day basis. I would also say that her son Silas is one who is in need of a ID/superego reality check! Silas is a guy who is not brilliant in the books, but knows what he really cares for in life! He is constantly a character that is on an emotional rollercoaster and will not let you off until the end of an episode!
A feminist, I think would be somewhat confused on what to think of this show… Should she be excited because Nancy is the head honcho of the show? A FEMALE!! WOOP WOOP. But… in all honesty, my guess is that they might be disappointed because the lead women is a pot dealer and is giving a bad name to single mothers and what their private lives might be like! Now, I am not saying that they are all thinking that women are low lives, but this show might be hinting at the possibility that a woman, even in the darkest of times, may be tainted!
And that is why I believe the show “Weeds” is a good example of the three lenses that we have been studding!
Logan p.6
I am going to analyze weddings. Weddings have been around for as long as I can remember and probably many other people as well. A wedding is considered as a practice and also a ritual. Many different cultures do it and it is known all around the world. The way individuals celebrate them however are very different from one another. As a Marxist critic I would think that money most definitely matters. To get the nice location, food, dress, tuxes, music and pictures require lots and lots of money. If you want the happiest days of your life to be good you’re going to have to have money. If you have a good wedding, you are totally going to be the talk of the year. Who wouldn’t want that? Once you have that dream wedding it’s definitely going to be hard to top. That’s where power comes into play. Every bride is looking for the next best thing, what will make my wedding unstoppable. As a feminist critic you think that girls have all the power when it comes to weddings. This is the day the bride has been waiting for her whole life. She has been dreaming about this day since she was a little girl. Who cares what the groom thinks. In most cases women are definitely portrayed as the one in charge in my opinion. No groom is going to want to pick out every little flower that goes in each bouquet, or what colors will be placed all around ceremony. Women know what they want and will do close to everything to get it. When looking through the Freudian lens you know that when a bride is picking out a dress their id comes into play. Do I buy this 5,000 dollar dream dress when my budget is really 1,000 dollars? Some just think well if I get it then we will just have to eat tuna for the next four months. Brides just want their day to be perfect and nothing will stop them. They will do anything most times for that feeling and that dream come true. This is a day that should be unforgettable, so how far will some go to achieve that?
Henning pd. 7
I am going to analyze a Juicy Couture perfume ad. A marxist critic would ask how the social classes interact with each other. Well in this ad there is only one social class. The women and man in this photo are a part of the upper class. The women all have on beautiful satin ball gowns. The man has on some sort of satin dress thing as well. A Marxist critic would also ask if the characters are given more or less freedom by their class. These upper class people seem to have less freedom because they are all condensed in to one small room with the huge perfume bottle. Another Marxist question would be how the "uppers/winners" flaunt their wealth and power? The characters flaunt their wealth with all of their shiny jewelry. They are all wearing very expensive looking outfits. They act as if they do not have to exert too much energy to get what they want. A Freudian would ask if the id is winning in any character. The woman in the purple dress and the man hunched over the perfume bottle act as if they really want to give in to their ids and just use the perfume. They are looking so longingly at the bottle. A Freudian would also ask if there are in sexual pictures in the exhibit. I believe there is a sexual symbol because the man in this picture has his midriff showing and that may be somehow attractive to women or men. Freudians also wonder how the characters are seeking stages of narcissistic bliss. Well, the woman in the green dress is staring at herself very intently in that big mirror. She is also getting really close to it like she needs to inspect herself very closely. Freudians want to know if there are any characters repressing any of their true urges, dreams, or goals. The woman in the pink gown that is sitting in the chair looks like she really wants to just attack that bottle of perfume. She looks as if she is trying to hold herself into that chair and not give into the tempting bottle of perfume.
Skich P. 7
My topic will be on test tube babies.
Some facts are that some people are already calling these women "rented women", and are also saying that the child will not gain citizenship in their country, wether they brought the child back home with them or not. The following line from NewsDaily.com (see link below), was a shocker to me.
"Rising demand from abroad for Indian surrogate mothers has turned 'surrogacy tourism' there into a four billion dollar industry, according to a report by the Law Commission of India."
The fact that there is an industry out there with this practice is very wrong.I could see both a marxist and feminist critic having a hayday with this information, while a freudian critic would be sitting on the sidelines scribbling away on his or her notepad over the different critics arguing over this topic.
Through the marxist lens there are way to many things that have gone wrong here.Through this lens, a marxist critic would be the first to point out that the rich will exploit poor women to bear their babies. They would also say that poor women would start selling their bodies to get the money they need. This could turn into a new life style, in which the women would give her body to a rich person, in return, the rich person would provide her with everything they need, until she has her baby. Then they could just kick her out on to the street.
With this new technology the traditional roles of men and women are not needed. All you would need is a laboratory and a "rented women" to have a child.
Here are some more links on the subject:
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre6935gd-us-nobel-medicine-ethics/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946934,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948239,00.html
Moss, pd.7
I am going the analyze One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, using the feminest lens. I have noticed there are no women inside the ward, besides the nurse's. Why is this? Are the men the only crazy ones in this world? Ratched is playing a mans role by being in charge. Usually there are more males in charge of businesses or many managers happen to be men also. Ratched also acts as a witch. She takes all the pride out of the men, and laughs right in their face. Ratched gives women a bad name. She is a horrible leader, and makes us question if a man would be better. My problem with this novel is that the women are very mean. They should want to set an example for the patients, but instead they are constantly sucking them into the combine. The feminine qualities that are weak in this novel are the attitude of Nurse Ratched. Also, when Billy Bibbit dies, she shows no remourse. That is pathetic. It's like she wanted him to committ suicide. Masculine qualities in this novel are Ratched's intimidating and indomitable personality. Usually women aren't as scary as some men. In this case, Ratched is that and more. She knows how to get the patients to do what she wants. Even the black boys, who are mentally stable, do anything and everything. The lack of females in this novel makes me wonder how much different it would be if the ward was mixed with women and men. The gender matters in this exhibit because the nurse's are the only women in the ward. The males are the one who are being watched and patrolled. Does this show that men don't have any self control? The women in this novel are portrayed as mean and intimidating. Once McMurphy arrives in that ward, thats when Ratched's system becomes messed up and unorganized, and thats the complete opposite of what she wants. Women love to be in control, and that urks her when she realizes she isn't as powerful as she used to be. Thats when she takes matters into her own hands and turns him into a vegitable. Does that mean every woman is bitter and self absorbed?
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