Question 10

10) Using a video or image you find online, apply three critical texts we read during the semester (each at least two weeks apart), and discuss how they relate to and build on one another, giving us different but related perspectives on critical media and cultural studies (250-300 words).



The video I found online deals with a news report about the recall of a talking doll. Apparently someone programmed a specific set of dolls to say that, “Islam is the light” and over the course of their release numerous people have reported this. Whether this is true is subjective and found to be on a case to case basis, as many report to not hear those words in their entirety. This news report can relate to many of our readings and cultural studies as a whole. Beginning with “The New Politics of Consumption: Why American’s Want So Much More Than They Need” this article is relatable to the consumerism of goods, for instance these talking dolls. “We shop on our lunch hours, patronize outlet malls on vacation, and satisfy our latest desires with a late-night click of the mouse” (183). It is no wonder that whoever decided to release this message would begin with using dolls, because clearly America is consuming hungry. Every time a child watches TV they are flooded with messages that say you need to buy this to be happy, a talking doll is only a stepping stone in the escalating ladder.

Another way in which one could relate this video to our texts is through the actual report itself, although not purposefully using humor it did occur. This brings us back to Baym’s article about The Daily Show and how we often listen more intently and remember more when information is presented through the use of humor. I found the ignorance of the people commenting on the “hatred” of the words “Islam is light” entertaining because there is nothing really hateful about that sentence. Although it is obviously inappropriate it relates back to how America is often not critical about the information that they are receiving, because there is so much negative publicity surrounding people who practice this religion many assume that it too is “bad” or “hateful”. This is the same with consuming goods and being sucked in by advertisements without even realizing it, people are sucked into the perceptions that the news creates.

And finally with this idea follows another text that surrounds globalization and the article “Con-Fusing” Exotica. This idea deals with a false perception of certain cultures, including understanding their religions as well. “Because mass media are a major arena where the struggle over national (racial) identity is played out, the lack of any or diverse images of minority groups in mainstream media is both significant and dangerous” (274). Recent news and situations like this can give America ignorant views of different cultures and their religions, such as Islam. Overall, by consuming which also meanings allowing one to be overwhelmed and controlled by advertisements and the news, Americans gain a false perception of what is “reality”. To think more critically about the thousands of messages one habitually receives every day is impertinent to not being sucked in by the mass media and possible false pretenses; we must think for ourselves.