The Voice of Abuse

This is The Voice of Abuse, produced by the Beta Productions team of myself, Terese Marszalek, Brittany McKee, and Beth Kribel. Many thanks to Vanessa Ford Taylor for bravely sharing her story. According to Mr. Bradley Weaver: Westminster students, armed with consumer available video equipment, produced this documentary about the survivor of domestic violence. The project was part of a cluster course at Westminster College where students enrolled in Mass Communications and Majority-Minority Sociology.

What role do I want to play in my life?

The role that I will choose is that of an informed educator. To do this, I will stay abreast of information in the media and be careful of becoming influenced by what I see in the public. Additionally, I will work each day to see and embrace all forms of diversity so that I am sure to treat each of my fellow humans equally.

My largest goal is to work with students of all ages and encourage open minds and forward thinking. I feel that if I can inspire young people to work for equality and opportunity, I will have made a difference.

Even more than this goal, I want to inspire in the way that I live my life daily. If I show my beliefs in what I say, do, and don’t do, others may be more inspired to do the same in their own lives. Saying is one thing. Acting is quite another. I hope to act out and perform the change that I seek.

Additionally, I want to be an active member of society, being sure to vote, communicate, and work with organizations that promote the beliefs that I hold true. If I can participate in the world in these ways, I will feel that I am doing my part to promote my ideals.

Education!!

Although I agree that people need to become more involved in our democracy, I do not necessarily share Lippmann’s viewpoint that the information put to the public must be controlled by the elite. After researching and presenting on Edward L. Bernays, I’m more likely to agree with him, that “Today the privilege of attempting to sway public opinion is everyone’s (p. 51 of his Manipulation Public Opinion text).” Although he wrote that article in 1928, I think it extremely applies today in the blogosphere and citizen journalism. We DO have the power to change things, we just have to get out there and do it. Lippmann’s ideas are grand, but we will never have a media free of outside control. It just won’t happen.

So, I think the viewer must learn to take what they hear and add their own view. It’s easy to get caught up in the news and what is being emphasized in the media, but if we honestly work for what we think is right, we have the power of swaying the public. As Bernays pointed out, similar to Dewey, education is key. Swaying public opinion is based on providing more information. As an educator myself, I see daily in the eyes of students that in order to have a change of mind, you must be presented with more information. Let’s go seek out some of that for ourselves and bring the power back to the democracy.

The Voice of Abuse Opening!

On Tuesday, May 8th, at 12:30 pm in Mueller Theater at Westminster College, our documentary, The Voice of Abuse will be shown. Featuring Vanessa Ford Taylor, it tells a story of abuse and the circumstances involved. Please come watch and hopefully learn more about what abuse constitutes and how to overcome the stereotypes we have of it. We hope you come to support such an important cause!

From Behind the Mask Update

I think I'm falling more and more in love with our topic for the documentary. Not to say that it is a pleasant topic, but the more film we shoot, the more powerful information we get. This past Thursday, we spent a good bit of time in Beaver shooting with our amazing participant Vanessa. Her story is truly one of inspiration, and I really think her message needs to get out there. We also filmed Dr. Pataki on Friday, so I think we're done shooting. We've got the footage of students giving their stereotypes, Vanessa and her story of abuse, Ann from the Women's shelter giving her information and statistics, and Dr. Pataki with her take on the issues involved. I think it will be easy to see how our topic ties into sociology. Now, we're on to the editing portion. We are meeting Wednesday to log what we want, and should be making the final decisions after that! I think our working title is also going to change to something relating to Vanessa's project called 'From Behind the Mask.' More details to follow!!

Taking the Real out of Reality

My Monday night television experience was certainly an interesting one. Filled with reality TV, I was easily exposed to many situations that I have not been around before. First, would be the Roloff family in TLC’s Little People, Big World. This show follows a family for 6 months, 10 hours a day and shows what it is like to survive as a little person. The parents, Matt and Amy, who are both little people, work very hard to be successful in their jobs and raise their children well. Of the four children, only Zach is a little person, and it’s interesting to see the dynamics of the entire family. Never having really known what life is like for little people, it was fascinating to get that look into their lives. Additionally, the family lives on and owns a farm. Now, although I do live in the ‘country’ by some definitions, I have not ever experienced what it is like to run one! This experience also is one that I would not have seen except for on television.

ABC’s popular reality show, Dancing with the Stars, was my next Monday night foray into TV. Now, I consider myself a cultured person, but I do not typically run into ballroom dancing in the area joints that my friends and I choose to frequent. That in itself sets this show apart, but this season especially adds another interesting element. Heather Mills, the contestant most well known for having formerly been married to Paul McCartney, provides another atypical experience. Having a prosthetic limb, Mills works hard to do the things that all the contestants are required to perform on stage. In competing, Mills undoubtedly inspires many others with prosthetics to push themselves and do more.

Finally, the end of the night was filled with The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Now, never in my life have I experienced one man dating sixteen women. I don’t know about you, but this just isn’t something you run into everyday. The drama involved between the women might be easily seen on a sorority suite, but the fact that they’re all fighting for the same man is one that is definitely not part of my reality.

Now, when framing this discussion between Joshua Meyrowitz and Jean Baudrillard, I believe that it is necessary to find a happy medium. Without intending to, I viewed three reality television shows. When looking at the three shows I discussed, it is easy to see how Baudrillard’s theory relates. Each of these reality shows has many contrived elements, some more than others. In choosing participants for each, the producers are looking for what will get more attention and viewers, not which person will really represent the ‘reality.’ Media continues to represent a version of the truth in many reality shows, creating what he would call a “simulacrum” of what these people’s lives are. Additionally, I can also see where Meyrowitz comes into play. In watching these shows, I am no longer separated from little people, a person with a prosthetic limb, or even a rich navy doctor. Although Meyrowitz’s theory comes more into play with the news and more factual based television, walls are still being broken with reality television and what the world can see.

In terms of our Mass Communications class, I think it is very easy to tie in two theories. Cultivation theory argues that television will change people’s outlook on the world which may dictate their actions. Baudrillard argues that we can no longer distinguish between fantasy and reality, especially in television, and I believe that Cultivation theory ties into this. Additionally, Meyrowitz can be discussed in relation to ‘The Gatekeepers.’ Although Meyrowitz argues that television brings down boundaries of place, he is doing it relative to television. Although these walls are broken, the means of breaking them come through the gatekeepers known as the media. Both perspectives are arguing that television has a great impact on people’s lives today, and I am not disagreeing with them. However, we, the viewers still have a choice on what we pay attention to and assimilate into our daily lives.

Paging Dr. McGrey’s

Seriously, It’s easy to say that Grey’s Anatomy is one of the most popular shows on television. I just happen to have wonderful taste and love it as well! As the number 3 show for the week shown on the chart below, it’s easy to say that it beats out its competition in the time slot. In the top 20 list at Zap2it, no other show at its time slot is shown. As you can see, a little over 16 million households watched the show this past week, and it has had similar ratings when a new episode is shown.

Rank Program Name Net Day Time Rating/Share Households Viewers
3 GREY'S ANATOMY ABC Thu 9:00 PM 14.4/22.0 16,008,000 22,304,000

If we look at Grey’s’ main competition, CSI, on a personal level, it’s interesting to see which show people choose to watch. When talking to a set of friends, 3 out of 4 of us had decided to stick with CSI, while I stood alone and cheered on Meredith and the McMen of Grey’s. Obviously, In terms of ratings versus share, Grey’s got 22% of the viewers, and CSI, its competitor in the time slot, was no where to be seen. It’s interesting to think if we were to move Grey’s to a Tuesday or Wednesday and pit it against American Idol. Although some viewers would be lost, I think Grey’s could still carry their loyal viewers anywhere. I know that I would be one that sticks around. (Unless they try to kill Meredith again…I don’t know if I could support a double reincarnation.)

Overall, in terms of viewer ratings, you need a show like Grey's Anatomy to carry the most viewers. American Idol always does well, but it does not run year round, creating disparity with the Tuesday/Wednesday shows. Grey's loyal viewers will most likely stay true to the surgeons of Seattle Grace.