(Not Very) Happy Violence

Ever seen an Indiana Jones movie? How about an Avengers movie? Pirates of the Caribbean? Nacho Libre? Any movie with some extent of action or fighting? Well, if the answer is no, you really need to get a Netflix account (especially for Nacho Libre). If it’s a yes, then you have likely been exposed to a concept known as “happy violence”. This term is used to describe scenes in the media that contain violence but in a glorified, somewhat justified or comedic way. There may be violence that ultimately leads to a happy ending in a show, which gives the impression of moderating said violence. It is often without any real consequence, and is sometimes glamorous (think; immense explosion in the background as an unfazed character played by Ryan Gosling wears sunglasses and walks in slow motion towards the camera). Happy violence has a habit of allowing those who view it to become desensitized and dazed by the amount of fighting and dismantling.

Let’s take a look at a few more specific examples:

(Links in the references at the bottom)

In these scenes, there are a series of heroes and villains, where one side is being rooted for and causes the viewer to hope the evil-do-er gets what's coming to him/her/it. It somehow allows the violence taking place to carry on with less gravity and provides more justification for their actions.  I always wonder how the city pays for reconstruction after Hulk destroys everything. They must pay a ton in taxes.

References:

The Avengers: All Hulk Smash Scenes 

https://youtu.be/tDt4HaHLp6k

Spider-Man : Peter Parker vs. Flash Thompson "School Fight" (2002)

https://youtu.be/xlQrg08AF1U

Yoda Fight Scenes
https://youtu.be/IRd9PGmAQUE

Best Fight Scenes of Avegers 2 Part 1
https://youtu.be/QkF-Rhl449U

Blog Post 2 - Who Owns the Media?

I’ll admit that I have watched many TV shows in my life and probably have more episodes memorized in my head than I should. I come from a small town, where watching shows were kind of a way of combatting chronic boredom. Now as an adult looking back, I am beginning to think that a lot of the “coincidences” and irony in shows and media were a little more calculated than I thought. 

After doing some research, I discovered a few of the main Television shows I watch/ed are run by bigger corporate influences. Here are some of them, along with which larger company owns them:

1. Time Warner, Inc. : Warner Brothers TV, Cartoon Network (literally had no idea), Boomerang, CNN, HBO, and Cinemax.

2. Comcast Corporation: NBC television network, the History Channel, PBS Kids Sprout

3. News Corp: National Geographic U.S., Fox News(not a fan but found it surprising) 

4. Viacom: Nickelodeon, Comedy Central

Seeing how connected some of these shows are, despite how different they are from one another, is very interesting.

Blog post 1 - The "Allegory"

By Emily Fleming

       

               After reading the “Allegory”, written by Plato, I most definitely saw a connection with the analogy in relation to media and media influences in our world today. What we see on billboards, on television, hear on the radio, see on Facebook, or even what we read in textbooks all shape the way we think about and understand certain concepts and ideals in life. At times, it is clear that certain ideas are targeting us and are simply not reality. In other instances, what we experience from media sources mold and shape our views on ourselves, others, and all areas in life without us even noticing. In Pluto’s analogy, much of his message can be juxtaposed to the idea of how essential it is to take what we see and hear with a “grain of salt” if you will, and discourage untruths to shape our realities.

                In the “Allegory” Pluto describes a cave where a few people are faces with their heads turned away from the cave opening. It is important to note that they are chained, and are considered prisoners. A fire burns behind them, as puppeteers stand with puppets, creating shadows that cast down where the prisoners can see. All the prisoners can see from where their heads are turned are the shadows and not the puppets casting the shadows. Therefore, what they perceive is all entirely based on the shadows rather what is really controlling it.

       This is my illustration (sorry in advance, I am by far no art major here)   

            Aside from being slightly terrifying, this illustration demonstrates the danger in having a limited perception on realities around us.

                For example, when we look at Facebook, it is certain that many fake news articles have flooded the pages of our feed. Recently, this has become so much of an issue that it has impacted our country in great amounts when related to our recent presidential election. According to Caitlin Dewey of The Washington Post, “They (Facebook users) just keep passing stuff around. Nobody fact-checks anything anymore…”  These invasions of faulty and not fact-based news sites have shown themselves to people everywhere, and it is imperative that we take responsibility with what is being shown to us and challenge our sources.

                If we are not careful, we will only see the shadow and not the puppet itself.

References

Dewey, Caitlin. “Facebook fake-news writer: ‘I think Donald Trump is in the White House              because of me’”. The Washington Post.17 November 2016.

Plato. “The Smile of the Cave.” Republic. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 240-48.                          Print.

Hello and welcome to my Media Literacy blog!