Standing Ovation: Reading Response #5

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Reading Response #5

In his article “ On Reading a Video Text,” Robert Scholes comments on our societies lack of criticizing its own culture to try and bring about positive change. As he says during his article “what they (people) really lack, for the most part, is any way of analyzing and criticizing the power of a video text.” What he is trying to convey is that instead of continuing to idolize and not question our authority, we should instead criticize and point out flaws in our system so that we can work together to change them to form a more utopian society. What seems to be the main problem with this is that we have become so unaccustomed to doing so because of what Scholes calls “cultural reinforcement.” What he means by this is that we feel much more comfortable as part of a single entity and having a sense of belonging. Because of this, we trick ourselves in to believing that if we support a system, we should not disapprove of it in anyway.
I think the best way to try and explain Scholes complex claim is to do what he did and analyze a piece of media that uses tactics that can mislead people who don’t intellectually engage and question what is put in from of them. During the super bowl this year, a very perplexing commercial featuring Kim Kardashian came on. She was promoting the sketchers shape-ups shoes that work leg muscles in a way that normal shoes do not, to give you a better workout. The video shows her “breaking up” with her gorgeous fitness trainer and instead trying out the shape-ups. Then as the commercial ends, Kim turns to another “less attractive” man in the gym and says “nice shoes” because he is wearing shape-ups thus giving the man some encouragement to continue using them. The double meaning of leaving her trainer aside there are plenty of problems with this commercial. First off on a very obvious level, you cannot get in overall shape any better with these shoes than regular shoes. While they may tone your legs better they don’t give you an overall workout like a trainer would. However the much more deep narrative that is trying to be presented here is that working out and getting in shape will automatically make you look much more beautiful. This glorifying of working out is easily conveyed by the appearance of Ms. Kardashian. It gives the temporary illusion that working out is as beautiful and flawless as Kim Kardashian herself is. The commercial gives those who prize material looks over actual health of your body a lot more initiative than if some “ugly” woman were to be in shape. Of course the commercial is not just for women. When Kim complements the man at the end of the video on trying to get in shape, it reinforces that myth in our society that looks are far more important than intellect. Now for some (very sad) people this may be true, but for the most part there are much more complex things that create desire for another human being. What this video should be trying to do is show how you can create a healthier lifestyle for yourself by working out with the shape-ups and eating properly so that you can live longer. However this is not nearly as marketable as catering to the materialistic tendencies that people have.

Link to Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWG__N9so0

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Welcome

Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Standing Ovation”! The title of this blog refers to the audience of active readers we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. I hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it!