Gazing

On page 119, I could only find one traditional convention I interpret from the reading. The image convention was the woman posing nude with a gorilla mask on her face. This was a great attempt to get peoples attention for woman artists rights. Especially male spectators. The gaze in this image was clearly the naked woman, but the image also got it's point across also with the caption below explaining the percentages of female artists in the Metro Museum of Art.

When John Berger wrote "men act,woman appear" he was trying to explain the nudity in the paintings which was predominately based on naked woman and male viewers. The image of women as whole sells and grasp the spectators attention. A good example of this is on page 125 with the Ralph Lauren ad. You have a man on top of a beautiful woman that is gazing at spectators. I would definitely say this catches quite a few viewers attention.

I believe I have a dominant-hegemonic approach towards the whole reading. I totally except the images that's been presented and understand there translation towards the spectators. I also like how the book used the movie Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock on the example of gazing. The character in the movie named Jeffries had a broken leg and was confined to the wheelchair in his apartment. He ends up spending most of his time staring at the window of his apartment at various of people that walk the street, but the people on the street can't see him. This is a good interpretation of gazing and we as humans perform this act unconsciously at times.

Modernity and Modern

The difference between modernity and modern is that modernity is a term that scholars used in the eighteenth-century. They used that term when they was talking about certain historical,cultural, and political conditions relating to the Enlightenment. Modernity is also associated with industrialization, human intervention in nature, and mass democracy. The term modern means present or recent times. A German scholar Jurgen Habermas explained that modern is when a culture is at it's present existence and it starts to see itself as a product. A product that transitions from a old era to a new era.

One of the topics Foucault's study for discourse was the concept of madness. In the nineteenth century psychiatry science was improved and medical definitions of madness was formed. The mentally ill also was consider to be influence by "folly". This term means a benign way of thinking. Foucault defined madness through the discourses of medicine,law, and education.

On page 101 and 102 they talk about the relationship of Gaze and Spectatorship. These terms are a natural instinct in the human element. Any type of art we look at or film we see, were engaging in these practices. Page 102 explain some of the concept practices that we might experience through spectatorship and gaze. The name of these concepts as follows, the roles of the unconscious and desire in viewing practices, looking in the formation of the human subject as such, and looking is always a relational activity and not simply a mental activity engaged by someone. By looking at these concept practices we can have a better understanding of what happens in the process of looking.

Decoding Televison

There are several shows that are based on small claims court. You have abundance of these shows from Judge Joe Brown, Judge Alex, and Judge Judy just to name a few. Personally, one of my favorites to watch is Judge Mathis. He seems geniune and he's there to help people in need. When I watch his show I believe I take a hegemonic position. When I view Judge Mathis I get entertainment and plus a sense that someone cares about individuals.

On page 85, I admired Copper Greene cleverness by using a well-known iPod poster and used it as a campaign for the Iraqi people that were mistreated in Abu Ghraib prison. On the poster there is a man with a hood standing on a box with electrical wires attach to his hands. In the upper left corner it says iRaq instead of the slogan iPod.

Meaning of Interpellation,Taste and Kitsch

The role of interpellation with advertisements is to address their consumers and recruit them in a particular ideological position. The images that we see on television and magazines speaks to us and grabs our attention. An example of interpellation is the EAS commericals that I see on television. They have well-known athletes advertising powder drinks and eating protein candy bars. When you see these images you might think to yourself, "That's all I have to do is take these products and I can look and feel like this athlete on television." Personally, I know this is not possible, but when some people look at these commericals they think this can really happen just by taking the product that is advertise.

Taste is based on experiences to one class, cultural background, education, and other aspects of identity. Taste is also refer to one's middle class or upper-class background. High/low culture is also asscoiated with this concept. For example, high culture might be link to 60 mintues show and low culture can link to music videos. Kitsch is associated with objects that are often cheap. An example of this is the lava lamp.

Images and Ideology

I believe the image icon is connected to ideology by the strength and siginfanance of the image that is portrayed. Ideologies represents systems of beliefs that exist with in all cultures. Images helps generate belief and confidence towards a specific ideology.

I also found a few interesting paragraphs on page 24 and 25. They talked about portrait images and how they're used for personal indentification purposes. When you think about it passports, driver licenses, credit cards are just a few examples on how our government tracks us. The surveillance cameras are installed in public places such as banks, stores, and even at street corners. I understand that we have to keep our citizens safe, but our privacy is at risk at well.

Page 25 the book mentioned the O.J. Simpson 1994 arrest for the alleged murder. Simpson's image as a public figure has always been viewed as positive until this incident. He was in sports media, advertising, and celebrity news as well. Once that arrest happen and his mugshot photo was on Time magazine as well as other magazines covers, people opinions changed instantly. This goes to show you how much a image can persuade people judgements and opinions towards a individual. Even with a iconic figure such as O.J. Simpson.

Myth Of Photographic Truth

Roland Barthes made a valid point about the myth of photographic truth. "A photograph, unlike a drawing,offers a unprecedented conjunction between what is here now and what was there then". You have to wonder if the image you are looking at is actually the image it's suppose to be? With all the digital editing software and programs that exist it raises many questions.

Barthes Thoughts On Myth

Roland Barthes used the term "myth" in a variety of ways. He believes "myth is a hidden set of rules, which has meanings and are specific to certain groups. Myth also allows a connotative meaning or image to appear denotative. In one example,Barthes disagreed with the French advertisement for Italian sauce and pasta. They advertise the product by using concepts such as "Italianicity". Barthes believe this was a connoted message. This product wasn't for the Italians, it was specifically for the French audience.