Rough Draft Final Paper

So I am really struggling guys. Tell me if you think that this direction is good. I'm worried the topic is too dry. Please comment below!

“Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It’s how true friends talk.” These words were spoken by Peggy Noonan, an American author and Wall Street Journal columnist. Her statements perfectly encompass the situation pertaining to the LGBTQ community and American society. The general public has made large steps towards acceptance and progress in gay issues but the movement still has many things to fight for. The most influential factor in this movement has been mainstream media’s introduction of gay society into mainstream society. Media’s inclusion of gay issues into mainstream media has positively influenced the acceptance of gay issues by the American public. The combination of news coverage, television inclusion, and social media influence has positively shaped a younger generation much more comfortable with the idea of gay equality. Peggy Noonan’s statement accurately reflects the hopes of the gay community. When gay issues and concepts can be spoken of openly and honestly without prejudice or bigotry, then true equality will have been met.

To understand the changes in gay issue acceptance in media, one must first understand its origins. It was not until February 7^th, 1991 that the first homosexual kiss took place on network television. The television show was L.A. Law and ran for eight episodes on NBC. The scene was so controversial that many advertisers threatened to pull advertisements due to its broadcasting. It wasn't until three years later in 1994 that we saw the first advertisement with a gay couple in it. The advertisement was a television commercial for Ikea featuring two men shopping together. We wouldn't see the first gay engagement or wedding on television for almost 14 years. The two aired in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Now almost every major television program has at least one character to represent the LGBTQ community. We even have programs on the air that specifically focus on the community in its entirety leaving heterosexual characters as the minority. So why such a drastic change?

Media and GLBTQ Issues

So I have decided to change my research topic. This may sound pretty crazy to do so late in the game but I just wasn’t feeling as interested in my topic as I got into it and one of the responses I received on my topic pointed out a huge flaw in my foundation. I have decided to focus my research to a new topic. I want to examine how new media has changed pre-existing attitudes towards gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues. The GLBTQ community has become vastly more accepted in the world compared to where we as a society stood only a decade ago. I want to examine how media has influenced that.

The first area I want to examine is television. Television was and still is one of the most actively used forms of media distribution in the world. In the 20^th century it was the absolute most influential and that is why I want to start here. I want to examine how GLBTQ issues were first introduced to the mass public and track that growth pattern so that I can identify the variables that influenced opinion. It is my hope that I can then apply these variables to GLBTQ information disseminated through social media and compare the effectiveness of the two mediums.

When I address social media’s impact on the issue I believe that I can target key concepts that were first examined through the inter-web. These very concepts lead to the formation of numerous organizations, groups, and new understanding of GLBTQ issues. Of the top of my head I can think of things like the Trevor Project which is an organization who tries to reduce the amount of teen suicide in the GLTBQ community. We see social media celebrities like Tyler Oakley who have become GLTBQ icons due to the strategic use of social media.

I believe that this new concept will keep me engaged and prove quite interesting to examine.

The Power of Media: Government Overtaking

What are airwaves? These are the radio frequencies that broadcasters use. A more broad definition of public airwaves would be the invisible world in which all forms of communication take place; such as the internet, telephone lines, radio frequencies, and more. The fact is that these airwaves are public property. This is why government regulatory administrations like the Federal Communications Commission exists. Political Campaigns are one of the largest expenditures when it comes to media advertisement space. These campaign advertisements when executed effectively are often then mentioned in news and blogs across the globe. These messages shape elections, legislation, and mass political movements, but who exactly controls them? The messages presented by their declarants are often so misrepresented by media gatekeepers that at the end of the day, they are the sole part with any claim to control. Media shapes the public opinion and they capitalize on those trying to buy but a piece of that notice.

Now that we have established that media gatekeepers hold public opinion power over political offices, lets look at what they can do with that power. Is their presentation of material biased? Do the media outlets have personal investment in key legislation? How does this effect the message they project into the public opinion? This is what I would like to research. How deep does the ownership go? At what point can we separate the message into what the media wants and what the public needs? My hope is that a line is drawn somewhere that they hold themselves true to. We shall see what I find.

Review: The Good Wife (Rough Draft)

The Good Wife is a show that airs on CBS and first aired in 2009. The show is a political and legal drama that was a commentary on the multiple political scandals between wives and husbands in the political world. The show began with the main character, Alicia Florick, being cheated on by her husband who was the governor of Illinois at the time. The show has since carried the plot of how Alicia responds and moves on. Each episode however also carries individual plots pertaining to either the law firm Alicia works for or the political scene being established by her husband.

The show at face value is a drama. However, the show also requires the audience to think critically of the information argued within each episode. The icons of wife, husband, lawyer, and politician are all examined and the roles of each are renegotiated almost each episode. As a whole I appreciate the commentary made on these different roles. In society, men and women are held to strict stereotypes of how to act in relationships. I think it is important that shows like this break gender stereotypes like who takes care of the kids, who makes the decisions in a relationship, and more.

The show specifically addresses the double standards between the genders in instances of infidelity. The show may have originated with the moment that Alcia’s husband was caught having an affair, but throughout the show, Alicia also finds herself in bed with someone who is not her husband. The commentary on this issue stands out the most. Society seems to market itself with values of fidelity yet the value of marriage continues to deteriorate. Right now in America, around fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. I find it interesting that fidelity is still presented as such a high value when the value of marriage itself continues to drop.

One attitude that has been recently addressed in the show that really caught my attention is the view that we as a society have on the limelight. We are constantly discussing celebrities and stars and the lives they lead. Part of those discussions fall on how we feel about youth that grow up in the limelight. There is a common attitude towards youth in the limelight that makes it look that we as a society see them as unreal and incapable of being normal. We judge children who are thrust into the media’s attention and mark them as future burnouts and delinquents but no one considers what they themselves are going through. The show recently addressed this topic when it followed the sub-plot pertaining to the daughter of Alicia Florick. The daughter has just begun high school and due to a high government ranking father and the scandal behind his name, she is being recognized as a pseudo celebrity name. Specifically she is being identified by her looks when a popular website lists her as one of the top ten hottest politician’s daughters.  

As a whole I believe that the show is effective in representing the world the way it truly is. It's not black and white or at least not to the degree that we would like. There are different shades of gray and it's our job to discern which ones are acceptable.

An Immobile America

Advertisers are now viewed to have more power over public opinion than the public themselves. I would like to argue that this is due to an inactive public, not because advertisers are abusing their access to main stream media. Consumers can argue that their privacy is being infringed on; that their information is being used against their will. I ask them how many social media accounts do they own? How many rewards cards have they signed up for? The general public, educated or not, has participated in the free market long enough that they should understand its most basic building block by now; NOTHING is free. Every time you click ‘Accept’ or create a media profile, you are giving someone the rights to your information. Until someone can come forward and tell me that they have truly abstained from the marketing game by separating themselves from the bodies that collect information, I will continue to argue that the general public not only had it coming, but they asked for it.

I’m not saying that I like the situation or approve of it. I do, however, believe that it is the responsibility of the public to take ownership and responsibility for the role they play in the game if they want to truly call it quits. It requires the same active dissension that massive government revolutions require. I recognize that the messages portrayed by mega-advertising companies are not always productive to the public psyche, but if a citizen is not part of fixing the problem, then they’re part of the problem. Mass media moves billions of dollars every day and we both benefit from that flow and we suffer. The only way to change the odds in our favor is to take control of the media. Your average American has accepted the life of a follower and has a strong dissimilarity towards challenging the status-quo. Until we as a society break this trend, then mass media is free to lead and shape everything they see fit. They didn't take the power from us, we gave it to them.

A Silent Majority : A Response to The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch by LeRoy Ashby

One of my favorite arguments made in this article are that of the distinction between popular art and elite art. Many people still believe that elite art is true culture. That somehow experiencing and understanding elite art makes one better than the average man around them. In the article, it explains how Russel Nye explained that Popular art uses less to appeal to a Majority and that Elite art uses more to appeal to a minority. Maybe I'm wrong but I much more value something that unites than something that separates. The truth is that Popular Art, Popular Culture, these ideas speak to people in a way that makes them better understand the world around them. It still educates, it still questions, and it still empowers. Just because it is popular, doesn't mean that its average, sub-par, or below that of other projections around it.