The article I chose to analyze is “From Chick Flicks to Millennial Blockbusters: Spinning Female-Driven Narratives into Franchises” by Ashley Elaine York. This article was the 2009 William E. Brigman JPC Award Winner.
The target audience for this article would seemingly be women. While I do believe the target audience includes women in the age range of 18-40 years, the article also speaks to those interested in movies and different movie genres. It discusses in detail different types of movies from the early days of cinema to today.
The article starts out by making the points that women’s films have changed over the last decade and while they still contain the key ingredients of consumerism, romance, beauty, and escaping from reality, a new theme has emerged, validation.
The article focuses on three major motion pictures that fall into the category the author coins as Millennial Blockbusters; The Devil Wears Prada, Sex and the City, and Mamma Mia!. She makes the point that these movies take an ordinary “chick flick” and create a blockbuster hit. These movies did extremely well in the United States as well as internationally. They feature strong women, with strong storylines and big time actresses playing these women. These movies feature beautiful and glamorous locales that just add to the overall escape from reality theme.
“From Devil Wears Prada, Sex and the City, and Mamma Mia!, this new brand of women’s film is successfully competing with male-driven action and superhero tales in terms of both box office and global franchise success. In 2008, the number of women-headlined movies among the top 100 worldwide grosser is fifteen, including Mamma Mia! At number six and Sex and the City at number ten.” (York, 2010)
The author discusses three key characteristics that make the new women blockbusters in a league of their own. The first key difference is they are high-concept. They also tell a story that has far reaching wide audience appeal, and finally a global setting that reaches beyond the local and the ordinary. “Instead of shot ‘em up and special effects, women’s blockbusters utilize different aesthetics to create their movie spectacles.” (York, 2010)
The final concept the author looks at is the soundtrack of these movies. Music draws an audience in, and keeps the memory of the movie experience fresh long after it is over through the music of the movie.
The author did a great job of wrapping up all of her key concepts throughout the article. It was easy to read and understand. Her works cited contained many great sources with sound research. I enjoyed reading the article and learned a great deal about the concepts of female driven movies and what makes them successful and so enjoyable for both women and men of all ages.
References
York, A. E. (2010). From Chick Flicks to Millennial Blockbusters: Spinning Female-Driven Narratives into Franchises. The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2010 , 3-25.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Weekly Written Analysis 5
This week we are talking about formulas, meaning what the formulas are in popular for things such as movies, books, video games, and music. I was really interested in learning about the formula used for commercial and marketing towards women especially.
The portrayal of women as a homemaker, a wife, and a mother was prevalent in magazines and television in the 1950’s. Women were depicted as valuable in the home only; women were valued for their cooking and cleaning skills, and how well they could comfort a child after a scraped knee.
When marketing products or ideas to women today, women are shown as being in the workplace, on the go, and doing it all. Women can be interested in getting the best dishwashing detergent while still having more important goals outside of the home.
Commercials are a great example of how formulas can and do change over generations.
The portrayal of women as a homemaker, a wife, and a mother was prevalent in magazines and television in the 1950’s. Women were depicted as valuable in the home only; women were valued for their cooking and cleaning skills, and how well they could comfort a child after a scraped knee.
When marketing products or ideas to women today, women are shown as being in the workplace, on the go, and doing it all. Women can be interested in getting the best dishwashing detergent while still having more important goals outside of the home.
Commercials are a great example of how formulas can and do change over generations.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Assignment 4-3 Weekly Written Analysis
Currently in the news we are hearing the details of Mel Gibson’s private relationship with his soon to be ex wife Oksana.
We are being bombarded on a daily basis with his words of hatred and violence towards her.
Mel Gibson has been a celebrity his entire adult life. He is an actor, director, and producer of movies. He has been hailed the sexiest man alive by People magazine even. He has starred in and made mega huge movies in Hollywood, and has been considered a power player in his business. He was married for years to the same woman, having many children together, and living what appeared to be charmed life. His morals always appeared high and consistent with what middle America values. He was not only a celebrity, but even somewhat of a hero to some I am sure.
Hero’s and celebrity’s are similar in that they are both celebrated individuals. Hero’s are celebrated for doing something of greatness, or for having qualities that make them worthy of admiration. A celebrity is an individual that is celebrated for the mere fact of being known or famous in popular culture.
Mel Gibson’s recent actions in the news have pretty much sealed his fate. He is no longer being held to the high standards he once was, and I’m sure he never will be again. As I write that, I almost don’t fully believe my own words, because we have a history of forgiving even the most unthinkable acts committed by celebrities.
Time will tell what effect his recent transgressions will have on his future celebrity status.
We are being bombarded on a daily basis with his words of hatred and violence towards her.
Mel Gibson has been a celebrity his entire adult life. He is an actor, director, and producer of movies. He has been hailed the sexiest man alive by People magazine even. He has starred in and made mega huge movies in Hollywood, and has been considered a power player in his business. He was married for years to the same woman, having many children together, and living what appeared to be charmed life. His morals always appeared high and consistent with what middle America values. He was not only a celebrity, but even somewhat of a hero to some I am sure.
Hero’s and celebrity’s are similar in that they are both celebrated individuals. Hero’s are celebrated for doing something of greatness, or for having qualities that make them worthy of admiration. A celebrity is an individual that is celebrated for the mere fact of being known or famous in popular culture.
Mel Gibson’s recent actions in the news have pretty much sealed his fate. He is no longer being held to the high standards he once was, and I’m sure he never will be again. As I write that, I almost don’t fully believe my own words, because we have a history of forgiving even the most unthinkable acts committed by celebrities.
Time will tell what effect his recent transgressions will have on his future celebrity status.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Assignment 3-1 Weekly Written Analysis
The OLD and the NEW Brawny ... still the same message ...
Have you ever seen the Brawny Man? The burly lumberjack who comes in to save the day?
This advertising image has been around for years, and has undergone some change, but the bottom line is the stereotypical message that a woman needs a man, even when it comes to how successfully she cleans her own kitchen.
The most recent commercial depicts the lumberjack “Brawny Man” watching over her, offering her, his help to the tune of the old song “Lean on Me”. It’s cute and catchy, and I must say, they did improve upon his looks, the whole idea and concept is corny.
The bottom line is he creates a better, stronger, paper towel to help women get through their long, dreary, helpless days of house cleaning and child rearing (insert sarcasm).
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Weekly Written Analysis 2
This week I am going to talk about the latest controversry on the reality series The Bachelor. The Bachelor is a reality show where at the end, the supposed prize is a proposal, followed by a wedding and a happily ever after fairy tale life with The Bachelor.
Last season Jake and Vienna were the final couple standing to become engaged before the world. After several short months in the spot light they recently broke up. The break up led to a massive media blitz by both sides. Part of this coverage was a sit down interview with the host of the show to discuss what went wrong.
What went wrong was the myth that two people could get to know each well enough to create a romantic relationship strong enough to sustain a relationship created out of falsehoods.
Both Vienna and Jake felt they were in love and believed in this love until the myth of the promise of love on television proved to be untrue. Now that they are no longer together neither one of them has a kind word to say about the other.
Our culture is conditioned to want to see and know more about what really happened and who was really at fault and why. This is also backed up by their faces being plastered with headlines of the break up on every tabloid you could find. I for one hope that their 15 minutes of fame is over … of course not before I tuned in to hear what really went wrong as well!
Last season Jake and Vienna were the final couple standing to become engaged before the world. After several short months in the spot light they recently broke up. The break up led to a massive media blitz by both sides. Part of this coverage was a sit down interview with the host of the show to discuss what went wrong.
What went wrong was the myth that two people could get to know each well enough to create a romantic relationship strong enough to sustain a relationship created out of falsehoods.
Both Vienna and Jake felt they were in love and believed in this love until the myth of the promise of love on television proved to be untrue. Now that they are no longer together neither one of them has a kind word to say about the other.
Our culture is conditioned to want to see and know more about what really happened and who was really at fault and why. This is also backed up by their faces being plastered with headlines of the break up on every tabloid you could find. I for one hope that their 15 minutes of fame is over … of course not before I tuned in to hear what really went wrong as well!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Assignment 2-2 Icon Analysis
The first icon I chose was Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey came from very humble beginnings, born to a teenage, single mother in 1954. She had a difficult upbringing and was raised by several different family members. She started out in journalism and reporting, and eventually became the world wide icon she is today. There is much coverage currently about child actress turned singer and teen actress, and finally turn young adult actress, Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay got her start in show business at young age, most notable playing twins in the movie Parent Trap. She is very well known, both for having a great deal of success as a young child, to being known today as a child star turned bad girl. Finally, the current music industry “IT” boy, Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber is a 16 year old Canadian musician, songwriter and singer. He became an internet sensation when his mom posted videos of him just playing guitar and singing at home.
I chose these three contemporary icons each for different reasons. I chose Oprah Winfrey for her mega success throughout so many areas in her life. Lindsay Lohan because she was an actress who I once admired and who sense I can barely tolerate hearing about. And Justin Bieber because of the media frenzy he creates is an interesting statement on what draws young fans to pop sensations today.
Oprah Winfrey has always been a fascinating person to me. She came from very humble beginning, and tremendous hardship. She overcame these obstacles and worked her way up in the journalism arena to become a multi-media mogul. She is an inspiration in perseverance, and her philanthropy is very admirable in a world where greed and envy can sometimes over rule all things good. Lindsay Lohan is an interesting example of how people in trouble can easily become a fascination in our culture. Lindsay started in show business very young, and had success very early in life. This, along with a notably unstable family life, has led her personal and professional life down a bumpy road. She was just in the news a great deal this past week for violating her probation conditions and is sent to jail to serve 90 days. Justin Bieber is interesting to me mostly because I have two sons who listen to his music. Through them I have learned more about his upbringing in a small town in Canada, and how he was discovered online through viral videos. It is always interesting to watch a person rise from a “normal” life and circumstances to become an overnight sensation such as he has. It will be even more interesting to see how long his fame lasts.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Weekly Written Analysis 1
The popular culture topic I am going to be analyzing each week is our cultures growing obsession with vampires. Vampire books, vampire movies, vampire television shows, vampire books made into vampire movies – you name it and you can find it if it has anything to do with vampires.
Interest in vampires is not something new, but it is definitely on the rise in the last decade. One of the original vampires was created from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
Currently in the news is all of the media attention of the Twilight book series and the subsequent movies, Twilight, New Moon, and just released this month, Eclipse. With one more in the series, time will soon tell just how big the obsession has gotten.
Along with the Twilight series, television show such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries are huge successes with large followings.
That is start of my vampire blogging … more to come soon!
References
Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture. New Jersey: Pearson.
Interest in vampires is not something new, but it is definitely on the rise in the last decade. One of the original vampires was created from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
Currently in the news is all of the media attention of the Twilight book series and the subsequent movies, Twilight, New Moon, and just released this month, Eclipse. With one more in the series, time will soon tell just how big the obsession has gotten.
Along with the Twilight series, television show such as True Blood and The Vampire Diaries are huge successes with large followings.
That is start of my vampire blogging … more to come soon!
References
Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture. New Jersey: Pearson.
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