In Munshi's article the author shares first hand observations of the attacks of September 11 and media coverage during and after the attacks. After the attacks American nationalism, religious devotion, and symbolism were at an all time high. The whole world was hurting from what had happened. One of my favorite quotes from this article is about the CNN anchor who teared up interviewing families. He said "we are trained to be dispassionate, but we are not expected to be inhuman." I think this shows that though journalists usually remain unbiased at times you can't help but have an emotional reaction to a story. Interview with families, survivors, and phone calls were played over and over again making the tv programming follow the confessional genre which provides people a language to work through stressful emotional issues. The Author also talks about how war is good for the media business because war sells better than even sex. War stories are always big stories and defining moments for journalists. After the attacks criticism of the war was hard to find basically everyone was supportive and patriotic to give the war a good face the only people openly opposing were on the internet.
Campbell article not on e-reserve.
Week Twelve
In Schmid's article he focuses on the social acceptableness of murderabilia. Murderabilia is the selling of serial killer artifacts such as artwork, personal effect, and letters. This topic has caused both outrage and fascination. There was so much outrage over eBay selling serial killer artifacts that it led to them banning it. There are now websites devoted solely to selling murderablila. How do these websites survive? People are fascinated by serial killers, they want to know what makes them tick, they are amazed by how ordinary they can be, and how bizarre their behavior is. I am personally one of these people I completely love the show criminal minds because they explore how these people think. At the same time however you wont see me on one of these sites trying to buy someones toenails. Schmid states that one reason we are so attracted to serial killers is that we are a wound culture. We drive slowly by car wrecks, love crime shows with dead and mutilated bodies, and relish in the idea of trauma.
In Conrich's article discusses the similarities and difference between serial killer films and slasher films. Both slasher ans serial films can meet the FBI's definition of a serial killer which is " an offender associated with killing at least 4 victims over a period greater than 72 hours". Differences though are slasher films focuses on groups of teenagers and shows deaths in progress. While serial killer films show the bodies post mortis. Police in slasher filma are either incompetent or not present. In serial killer films the police are committed, skilled and prepared to make scarifices.
In the Rafter chapter she differentiates the three different kinds of mass murder films. Slasher films have teens, uncontrollable and unkillable entities that get loose for a short period of time, are used as folktales to scare us, and are seen as semi-humorous. Serial killer films have more character development, are set over a long period of time, the killers are repetitious and have a fine attention to details. I would also include that most serial killers are hyper intelligent such as in Silence of the Lambs. Lector is smart, polite, has immense character development, and has every last detail figured out. In psychopath movies the killer lacks a conscience, they are cold, cunning, and calculating, they are anti social and selfish.
In Conrich's article discusses the similarities and difference between serial killer films and slasher films. Both slasher ans serial films can meet the FBI's definition of a serial killer which is " an offender associated with killing at least 4 victims over a period greater than 72 hours". Differences though are slasher films focuses on groups of teenagers and shows deaths in progress. While serial killer films show the bodies post mortis. Police in slasher filma are either incompetent or not present. In serial killer films the police are committed, skilled and prepared to make scarifices.
In the Rafter chapter she differentiates the three different kinds of mass murder films. Slasher films have teens, uncontrollable and unkillable entities that get loose for a short period of time, are used as folktales to scare us, and are seen as semi-humorous. Serial killer films have more character development, are set over a long period of time, the killers are repetitious and have a fine attention to details. I would also include that most serial killers are hyper intelligent such as in Silence of the Lambs. Lector is smart, polite, has immense character development, and has every last detail figured out. In psychopath movies the killer lacks a conscience, they are cold, cunning, and calculating, they are anti social and selfish.
Week Eleven
In Chesney-Lind's article the author talks about how violence in girls has increased 41.5%. The author relates this to increased women's liberation which led to an increase in women in all fields including the criminal. The article cites a report from New York City that claims crime rates of black females is equal to those of white males.The article discusses how the violent woman has become a prominent theme in film with movies such as Thelma and Louise and Basic Instinct. Chesney- Lind claims that like their male counter parts women are drawn to crime for the same reasons, mainly lack of legitimate opportunities.
In the article about newspapers in Washington the authors claim that domestic violence is a result of the organization of the home. They say that the gender roles and privacy of the family leads to abuse. I don't agree with this mainly because not all families have violence. If gender roles and privacy that all families have lead to violence and not every household has violence then that argument is invalid. The article also says that when women kill their husbands it's in self defense or after a long history of abuse. We can see this in the movie Enough. I enjoy this movie because I like the idea of a woman working hard and training to be able to over power an aggressor. I do see the cheese factor of this movie at the same time though and do admit this would never happen in real life.
In the article about newspapers in Washington the authors claim that domestic violence is a result of the organization of the home. They say that the gender roles and privacy of the family leads to abuse. I don't agree with this mainly because not all families have violence. If gender roles and privacy that all families have lead to violence and not every household has violence then that argument is invalid. The article also says that when women kill their husbands it's in self defense or after a long history of abuse. We can see this in the movie Enough. I enjoy this movie because I like the idea of a woman working hard and training to be able to over power an aggressor. I do see the cheese factor of this movie at the same time though and do admit this would never happen in real life.
Week Ten
In "Criminalizing Black Culture" Stabile discusses inconsistencies in how crimes are investigated based on race. She uses the Stuart murder as an example stating that had the Stuarts been black the media would have been nowhere near as interested and police would have investigated the husband more. She then discusses the criminalization of the black woman beginning in the late 60's and focused on unwed mothers receiving welfare. In the 60's black women were held responsible for crime by breaking the strong social ties that are held together by the household being run by the man. When the Watts riots broke out in 1965 this too was blamed on the black woman breaking down black society by emasculating men. Black women were then seen as whores having children out of wedlock just to get welfare, further breaking apart black society. This then morphed into crack mothers in response to the crack epidemic. Then in the 80's the big concerns with blacks were black on black crime and drive bys. To me all of the discrimination caused discrimination and violence begot violence. Whites in power have tried any means necessary to keep blacks down and further push them into poverty giving them no choice but crime.
In Schubb's article he discusses how the term racism was never used and frequently news anchors claimed that the riots had nothing to do with the Rodney King verdict but did hardly any interviews from people actually involved. I feel that the way these riots were handled by the media was just ridiculous. They threw anchors out in the streets who weren't accustomed to live tv and they got what they paid for which was crap.
In Schubb's article he discusses how the term racism was never used and frequently news anchors claimed that the riots had nothing to do with the Rodney King verdict but did hardly any interviews from people actually involved. I feel that the way these riots were handled by the media was just ridiculous. They threw anchors out in the streets who weren't accustomed to live tv and they got what they paid for which was crap.
Week Nine
In Jewkes article "Crime and the Surveillance Culture" The author talks about how surveillance has changed from being reactive to proactive. That surveillance is part of risk calculation crime control strategies including rating the dangerousness or prisoners, those on probation, and a national register for sex offenders. These risk calculating strategies have led to zero tolerance of crime and tough on crime initiatives. The author also discusses the idea of governmentality which is attempts to govern crime and to involve government through crime. One objective of governmentality is to develop situational crime control and to single out and exclude those who do not belong rather than tolerate and rehabilitate. This makes no sense to me, I think everyone deserves a second chance and the right to prove they have changed. This also makes crime worse since it targets poor whites and ethnic minorities and segments them into places where all facets of life depend on participating in crime. Another idea Jewkes discusses is using a DNA database as surveillance. This would establish identity and provide a complete genetic profile. There are problems with doing this the first is equality. In the UK 40% of all black men are in a DNA database while only 9% of white men are in a database. There are other concerns about using the databases to further segment society by using them to predict substance abuse and criminal tendencies.
Week Eight
In Mason's article " The Screen Machine" he talks about how people are misinformed about prison. he says that the media has selective, simplified, and skewed depictions of prison and that peoples familiarity with prisons is through symbolism not facts. He also talks about the violence and brutality in prison primarily between inmates and prison authorities. This is a common theme especially when the inmates are the protagonists like The Longest Yard and The Shawshank Redemption. Mason also defines prison films as an English language film that concerns civil imprisonment and that is mainly set within the walls of a prison or uses prison as a central theme. He also says there's over twelve different common themes in prison films including escape, riot, inmate and prison officer violence, wrongful conviction etc. One main theme he discusses is the prison as a machine that dehumanizes inmates. I can't think of one prison movie I've seem that doesn't have a scene of dehumanization. The author concludes but saying there are two reasons that prison movies have not led to prison reform the first is movies that show imprisonment for shock value only and second that the only reason that prison films add to debates is because they model real life issues happening at them time. I think that they have not led to reform simply because people understand they are just for entertainment and do not believe real prison is like that.
In the Rafter chapter she talks about the traditional characters in prison movies, the older, hardened,and wise criminal, a snitch, the loyal friend, convict buddies, a father like warden, a cruel assistant warden/guard, a bloodthirsty convict, and the hero.
In the Rafter chapter she talks about the traditional characters in prison movies, the older, hardened,and wise criminal, a snitch, the loyal friend, convict buddies, a father like warden, a cruel assistant warden/guard, a bloodthirsty convict, and the hero.
Week Seven
In the film lawyers article the authors spend a majority of the time trying to define what a Law film is.The authors decided on these characteristics, geography of law, language and dress of law, legal personnel and the authority of law. The authors also say that law films are concerned with the behavior and activities of legal personnel. The authors also say that when the defendant is wrongly accused the lawyer will bring justice using three techniques, physical defense of the client, acting as an investigator, and ignoring codes of ethical conduct.
Week Six
In the article "CSI and moral authority" the authors state that CSI and it's spin offs employ specific plot devices. The first is gender,CSI's main characters or ideal cops are shown less as being macho tough guys and more intelligent and tech savvy, the authors call this techno-masculinity. I agree with this. Though some shows like Law and Order SVU still have the macho bone breaking guys many others now don't. Look at Jane in the Mentalist or Reid in Criminal minds. These shows portray them as ideal characters that the rest of the cast depends on for their superior knowledge. Women in CSI are shown as being just as competent as men but when they find a key piece of evidence its because of thing like maternal instincts. The article also says that men are always in charge like a father figure but in the newest season of CSI Catherine is in charge and in orginal Law and Order the Captain was a woman too. CSI also uses emotional hooks by developing characters home life and the is exceptionally clear with Catherine. Almost every episode mentions Catherine's daughter Lindsay (you can tell just how often she's mentioned by the fact I knew her name off the top of my head) and every time the crime involves a stripper it comes out that Catherine used to be one. CSI also makes themselves racially neutral by having a black cast number but not making race a main theme of the episodes. CSI also focuses on the fact that the evidence can't lie and that science is the final word on guilt. This has led to the idea of the "CSI Effect".This is an effect when audience of programs like CSI begin to think they completely understand forensics. It gives the unrealistic expectations about scientific technology and if less than is expected is presented it gives jurors reasonable doubt. I agree with this I think that if I was on a jury and there was no physical evidence I would not feel right convicting.
Week Five
In Kasinsky's article she argues that police and media are interdependent. This is something I agree with, the police depend on the media for reporting crimes and giving the police a good reputation and the media relies on police for information. What I don't agree with is when she starts talking about how journalists construct stories. She implies that all journalists are biased and construct stories to match their own beliefs and frequently only report one side of the story. In reality reporters have to give the opposing side the right to reply. Kasinsky also says that reporters blindly take information from the police and rarely report updates. Has she ever heard of investigative reporting?
In the Rafter chapter she discusses the evolution of cop films. She says cops have gone from western hero to urban cop. This is evident in Dirty Harry, in fact in this movie I still see left overs of westerns primarily in the wild west style shootouts and draws that are modified to be only a tad plausible in the urban setting. Personally I am not a Clint Eastwood fan so his over all cheese and over dramatizing made this movie hard to watch along with the awful fake blood.
In the Rafter chapter she discusses the evolution of cop films. She says cops have gone from western hero to urban cop. This is evident in Dirty Harry, in fact in this movie I still see left overs of westerns primarily in the wild west style shootouts and draws that are modified to be only a tad plausible in the urban setting. Personally I am not a Clint Eastwood fan so his over all cheese and over dramatizing made this movie hard to watch along with the awful fake blood.
Week Four
Surette views the evolution of the criminal as going from romantic or heroic to animalistic, irrational, and predatory. Today's media focuses on the rare crimes of these criminals and underplays more common crimes. By doing this the media has portrayed criminals as evil, abnormal people whose victims are vulnerable and innocent. Because media loves to report these types of crime it seems as if they are a huge problem and are happening everyday. While in reality these crimes are rare and some people carry more risk of being victimized than others. Further more serial killers only account for 2-3% of American homicides though media leads us to believe it is more. Also the idea of the roaming serial killer is even rarer because serial killers are regional not national. So in Criminal Minds, the character Frank who drives around the country towing a RV/torture room and abducting random people would almost certainly not exist in real life. America loves the predator criminal and shows like Criminal Minds because it allows us to view criminals as a separate breed and different from us. Because of this all criminals are seen as predators on society regardless of their crime.This also effects police work making the job seen as dangerous, stressful, exciting, and full of glory. Recruits come in expecting an exciting job chasing down and nabbing the worst criminals daily, when really there is a lot of paperwork and routine disturbances. I happen to agree with everything Surette says, but it won't stop me from loving criminal minds or my sister from checking every door and window in the house before bed. The damage to society has been done regardless of how little these crimes actually happen.
Chapter two of the Rafter reading talks about the three different causes of crime
Chapter two of the Rafter reading talks about the three different causes of crime
Week Three
Chermak's article discusses crime reported through the media. I'll start this off by saying there's not a lot I agree with in it. While Chermak is writing from a outside viewer stand point, I have seen the other side working for a student paper and taking journalism classes here. When he speaks about why the media cites sources he talks about objectivity like its a bad thing. A newspapers main goal is to report the facts not personal opinions. So reporters have to be unbiased and objective. People don't want to read random opinions from someone who isn't involved in the event so reports get quotes from those who are so people get a first hand view. Next he talks about news organizations selectively choosing the source organization's version of truth. This is waaay off base, one of the primary parts of journalism ethics is, as stated above, remaining unbiased. Reporters do this by getting BOTH sides of the story, not just their sources. He also talks about ordinary crimes not being news. To that I say it depends where you are first of all. Small towns will probably report every crime committed. Second a newspapers goal is to sell papers and do that by writing about what people want to buy and read. Nobody wants to read about a 14 year old kid stealing a shirt, or someone jay walking on a quiet street. I do however agree with his explanations for the prevalence for crime news.
In the Rafter reading she argues that crime movies have included 2 themes at once. The good-bad guy who challenges the system and the character who restores order in the end. Mainly this is before 1970, since then movies have had less happy endings and focused more on a delight in violence. She also speaks of cultural criminology as a resource that generates images of crime causation and control. She argues that crime films are not a genre but a category focusing on crimes and their consequences. She also says crime films are a pleasure for viewers.
In the Rafter reading she argues that crime movies have included 2 themes at once. The good-bad guy who challenges the system and the character who restores order in the end. Mainly this is before 1970, since then movies have had less happy endings and focused more on a delight in violence. She also speaks of cultural criminology as a resource that generates images of crime causation and control. She argues that crime films are not a genre but a category focusing on crimes and their consequences. She also says crime films are a pleasure for viewers.
Week Two
The article by Yar gives examples of three theories sociologists use to explain and analyze crime in movies. The first is content analysis which from my understanding dissects movies into quantitative parts and analyzes occurrences of certain words, phrases, and images. The example my group used was making a list of the victims in shows like criminal minds and analyzing them. The next is the Marxist theory which says that media conveys a set of truths and values to reinforce the beliefs of the ruling class. My groups example was cop shows portraying the cop as the good guy who can never be wrong such as in Law and Order SVU. The last theory is postmodernism which to the best of my understanding means that nothing in media is symbolic of anything and there are multiple meanings to every word and image used in media. I find content analysis useful for quantitative research but what I really agree with is the Marxist theory. While I think some elements of media have no meaning other than entertainment I can see a lot of belief reinforcement in many forms of media. I think Law and Order SVU is a great example of this. In every case the bad guy is this horrendous person who commits a crime that we have been programmed to believe is "the most heinous" and the cops are the good guys who are never wrong and are there for the good of the people. Often times also the perpetrators are stereotyped, a black man mugs someone, a white guy commits incest, a crazy white lady kidnaps a kid.
In Young's article she focuses on two main concepts- affect and a scenographic method. She describes affect using a quote from Massumi who says affect is the ways in which the body can connect with itself and with the world. She goes on to say that crime connects people through images that interrupt our sense of proper, reinforce ideas about the "state of society", or exhilarate. Her next concept is the scenographic method in which she deconstructs key scenes and discusses details of their construction. For this she deconstructed rape scenes form Kill Bill and The Accused and compared the use of actual and implied rape. She says both methods get the desired effect using action, character, music, cinematography, editing, sound, etc. Using these elements both scenes affect us by binding our beliefs about sexual violence, justice, and crime. For me reading about this article and watching the actual scene were two totally different things. I personally have never scene Kill Bill and reading this article I couldn't really grasp the effect she was describing. Once we viewed it in class I saw how all the elements were used to convey acts not necessarily shown and also disturb viewers in a strong way.
In Young's article she focuses on two main concepts- affect and a scenographic method. She describes affect using a quote from Massumi who says affect is the ways in which the body can connect with itself and with the world. She goes on to say that crime connects people through images that interrupt our sense of proper, reinforce ideas about the "state of society", or exhilarate. Her next concept is the scenographic method in which she deconstructs key scenes and discusses details of their construction. For this she deconstructed rape scenes form Kill Bill and The Accused and compared the use of actual and implied rape. She says both methods get the desired effect using action, character, music, cinematography, editing, sound, etc. Using these elements both scenes affect us by binding our beliefs about sexual violence, justice, and crime. For me reading about this article and watching the actual scene were two totally different things. I personally have never scene Kill Bill and reading this article I couldn't really grasp the effect she was describing. Once we viewed it in class I saw how all the elements were used to convey acts not necessarily shown and also disturb viewers in a strong way.
A little about myself and my media consumption
My name is Amanda, I'm a Sophomore. I'm majoring in Advertising and minoring in Art and Sociology. The focus of my Soc minor is going to be in criminology type classes because I am obsessed with shows such as criminal minds and other crime shows. Also when I took Soc in high school the sections on crime and deviance interested me the most so I'm trying to learn more about those topics.
During this week I have watched my boyfriend and his friends play hours of Assassins Creed on Xbox, which is a heart warming game about killing authoritarians and trying to avenge the wrongful deaths of family members while overthrowing the establishment. We also watched Super Troopers which portrays highway patrol as the goofball under dogs who are always right in the end and shows the local police as corrupt villains. Then we watched Sweet Home Alabama (we finally got our chick flick in) and according to this film "Felony Melonie" can raise all sorts of hell and go to jail many times and suffer no consequences at all other than having to pick between two very attractive men (which per the rule of romantic comedies the scruffy guy always wins, in this case her husband). Other than that I didn't really have much media consumption other than Facebook.
During this week I have watched my boyfriend and his friends play hours of Assassins Creed on Xbox, which is a heart warming game about killing authoritarians and trying to avenge the wrongful deaths of family members while overthrowing the establishment. We also watched Super Troopers which portrays highway patrol as the goofball under dogs who are always right in the end and shows the local police as corrupt villains. Then we watched Sweet Home Alabama (we finally got our chick flick in) and according to this film "Felony Melonie" can raise all sorts of hell and go to jail many times and suffer no consequences at all other than having to pick between two very attractive men (which per the rule of romantic comedies the scruffy guy always wins, in this case her husband). Other than that I didn't really have much media consumption other than Facebook.
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