Challenging the ideological underpinnings of Disney's construction of common sense is the first step in understanding the ways in which corporate culture has refashioned the relationship between education and entertainment, on the one hand, and institutional power and cultural politics, on the other.In other words, a critical understanding of Disney is part of a more general critique of corporate and consumer culture.
Building on the quotation from Giroux, can you cite any specific examples of how corporate culture has refashioned the relationship between education and entertainment, either here at JMU or at other schools you've attended?
(Khyre Dean)
ReplyDeleteI think that the medias portrayal of the college experience effects what students expect from their JMU experience.
Before coming to college I had no idea what to expect, but from watching various television shows and movies about college and the college experience, I was able to form an idea of what college would be like. In various mainstream media such as the American Pie, Animal House, Drumline, and Waterboy, college is portrayed as a place that is full of attractive students whose focus is not primarily scholarship, but partying and other social events. These movies label the typical college experience as one that is not gratifying unless one participates in wild parties, binge drinking, and promiscuity. Popular movies and television shows about college rarely show the academic side of college or other experiences that occur college that don't involve partying and sex.
I hypothesize that this is done to help market alcohol to the college-aged market by making it look cool, and synonymous with the college experience.
I may be wrong, but after attending JMU for five years and meeting students from various backgrounds and locations, a strong majority of the the JMU population has the idea that the college experience is the one that is shown in the media. I have spoken with students who have expressed that they are having the college experience when they participate in binge drinking, wild parties, and promiscuity.
From my personal observation I think it is safe to conclude that the medias portrayal of college and the college experience has refashioned the image of what the true college experience is.
I meant to reply to your's as part of my comment, so I will just copy and paste what I said:
DeleteI really agree with Khyre's example of how high school graduates think college is going to be like. In the same sense, I believe many high schools are misrepresented in film. If you look at high school-situated movies such as Mean Girls, it is obvious that high schoolers do not look that mature or act in those same manners.
It is almost disturbing in some films to see the way in which underage children are portrayed.
Melissa Peale
I really agree with Khyre's example of how high school graduates think college is going to be like. In the same sense, I believe many high schools are misrepresented in film. If you look at high school-situated movies such as Mean Girls, it is obvious that high schoolers do not look that mature or act in those same manners.
ReplyDeleteThe gap between education and entertainment elements is slowly starting to close. The use of multimedia in today's society can be used in many different ways and helps to spread information like wildfire. Video hosting sites such as YouTube allow for millions of videos to be shared daily.
Many organizations are now turning to multimedia sources to help educate the public about their institution. For example, in the aftermath of the Penn State scandal, the university released several videos with information about the occurrences to save the image of that university. There were also more videos from the university that promoted to educational aspect of the university, as opposed to the athletic teams. At the same time, the scandal was making national news, so larger organizations were even using these tactics to spread their side of the story. These videos were used to fuse the idea of an educational empire and multimedia in one. This really highlights the idea of institutional power and conflicts that I believe Giroux was describing in the Wasko text.
I believe the above offers a variety of ways to look at the Giroux statement.
Melissa Peale
The lines between entertainment and education are definitely blurring. High school and college students these days have a hard time focusing on mundane material, like dry textbook readings. We constantly have to be entertained. I had a history class in high school where we would draw, color, and even act out certain lessons in order for them to stick in our heads for the test in the future. Maybe those are effective, juvenile, but effective methods, but they don’t really prepare us for the real world. Corporate culture is very “go, go, go.” Everyone wants to get things done quickly so we can move onto the next task. Melissa mentioned YouTube allowing videos to be shared daily. This also holds true in the classrooms. Professors use videos to keep the class entertained in ways they couldn’t. It takes twice as long to read a chapter in a textbook when you’re not focused and if you can gain the same information from a more interesting source, then why not do that?
ReplyDeleteRegarding the political side, look at Obama’s campaign. He had Katy Perry perform at two of his campaign rallies. Katy Perry presented the entertainment part, and after Obama made his speech, educating the people on his political views. But what are the people, especially young teens, really going to take away from that? Are they voting for Obama because of his political views or because Katy Perry endorses him?
- Kelsey Fisher
Disney has done a great job of shaping and reinforcing social norms that lead to building great consumers. Disney directly benefits from this, and attaches itself to the consumer’s ideas of Imagination, magic and childhood. Although the company is primarily concerned with entertainment through visual media, there is no denying that the prevalence of their media, and the values that they represent, are educating the population to those values.
ReplyDelete— John Huffman
Disney is only one example of a corporation that has educated society in this way through entertainment. I find Disney most interesting though because their media most often addresses expectations for families and for love. They are educating the world that the way to happiness is through the creation of a family. Disney is a company that feeds off of the— matching fanny pack— family.
Media doesn’t just change education through promoting values. They also affect attention spans and expectations of visual stimulus.
I would argue that because current generations are so used to getting their lessons through visual media, ala Blues Clues, they have come to expect a level of entertainment in their education. One example of this can be seen in the explosion of the “visual aid,” style of teaching. Most every class I have had since middle school has included some interactive or visual aid component. It’s not just that I am used to learning through entertainment, but I expect the learning process to be entertaining.
While the initial sting from critics, especially regarding entities we value and are used to, is somewhat of an affront, it is a valuable insight into what does not get broadcasted or generated as content associated with the reputation of a place. The challenge of deconstructing Disney ideology and subsequent produced content is key in the process of understanding the role of politics in the mass media in this country. Corporate culture dictates consumer culture. The media controls a great deal of what we think, because they control what we are being exposed to, repeatedly, day in and day out.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to education and entertainment, lines are often blurred. So much of our education as young people comes through how we interpret entertainment, thus affecting how we experience certain events; through the lens of what we think we are going to experience, based on media portrayals we’ve been exposed to. The media shapes images about so many things, but especially the college experience.
Through my Vh1 glorified childhood, college to me looked like an experiment of youth, a necessary passage in order to converse with smart people for my lifetime..It was Jeremy Piven’s PCU, American Pie, the show Felicity even. I was always shown that synonymous with getting an education, was getting experiences from elsewhere; be it spontaneous road trips, mistakes made with friends, drinking and partying and generally feeling free spending money that I don’t have. Now that I am reflecting, I have lived these experiences because I held myself accountable for getting those experiences, because in my mind-that is what college was. Media influences shaped that.
I agree with John H. when he says that our generation is used to learning through entertaining visual media; because as our technology rapidly advanced, so did the need to keep us focused in class.
-Maddie Wigle
I think that the media’s portrayal of college life is kind of funny. During my freshman year, my friends and I did our share of making poor decisions and all the things one would generally associate with going to college, but when compared to movies like the American Pie movies, it was entirely different. When we would watch those types of movies that show what a “college party” is, we would jokingly say to each other “That’s what every college party is like right?” I didn’t come into JMU with the expectation of there being wild parties and endless girls with low morals like these movies portray. These things certainly exist, just not to the scale that they are shown in movies and television.
ReplyDeleteI think that the expectations when going from high school to college rely more heavily on the environment you come from than what you see “college life” portrayed as in movies. In my experiences at JMU, people who were more sheltered in high school were the ones who were wilder in college. Among my group of friends at JMU, in their high school days, drugs and parties weren’t very prevalent until their latter years of high school. These are types of people who look more for the college experience shown in movies. In my high school, drinking and parties were relevant through all four grades, with a fair share of kids smoking marijuana as young as late middle school, and other more intense drugs being more common than expected into the middle years of high school. Many people I know who came from this type of background are a little calmer about living out the stereotypical “college experience” shown in movies like the American Pies.
steven schmucker
People have been talking about how college is portrayed but I think it is also important to look at how even elementary, middle, and high school students get their education. I’m sure most of us remember the School House Rock videos teaching us math, science, and history. Even at that age students are taught education through the form of entertainment. In middle school the entertainment takes a turn away from catchy songs and jingles and turns into informational videos that resemble powerpoints and lectures. Some of the videos include Bill Ny the Science Guy, learning about science, learning Spanish, and the ones they show about puberty. In high school the videos normally follow after you read a book. After reading “Beowulf”, we took a field trip to go to Regal Cinema to go and see the recent movie with Angelina Jolie. Later, when reading Edgar Allan Poe’s works we watched the “Edgar Allan Poe Collection”, a movie collection of all his works.
ReplyDelete~ Jocelyn Allen
I must completely agree with Khyre about his ideas on the media’s portrayal of the “college experience” for prospective students, especially on the JMU campus. JMU does not market itself as the “party school” (that the school itself has come to be known as through the years), but it has been portrayed as one from various poor choices made throughout time (even capturing the media’s attention). During orientations and tours, JMU promotes its various academic programs, facilities, and opportunities in a positive light that may be somewhat deceiving for students who are unsuspecting of the fairly high drinking culture here (as well as many other schools around the nation). I do believe that “college films” (like the ones Khyre mentioned) impact the way young high school students believe college to be like, and almost instill a notion of how it “should” be like once they finally enter college (which could possibly lead to the various poor behaviors that result from these “expectations”).
ReplyDeleteIt truly saddens me to also admit that many students seem to boast about the wild parties and binge drinking as being the “highlight” of their college careers, yet, there are so many great clubs/organizations/other responsible groups around campus that rarely shine through the mess of the “party scene” when it comes to talking about JMU…students seem to forget about the opportunities that college has to offer in making them well-rounded, educated, and mature individuals. Before coming to JMU, I didn’t even know what to expect either as both of my parents were not from this state nor went to school nearby (they were off in Hawaii and Colorado—completely different cultures from this state alone). I knew JMU was considered a “party school” from hearsay, but I just assumed that every school partied to a degree so that title didn’t mean much to me (until I finally moved into my freshmen dorm and found out the hard way). But the thing is, I never gave in to peer pressure, stereotypical college expectations/behaviors, or poor choices because I came into the school with a strong determination to become “somebody”, the motivation to succeed and make something of my life, and a background filled with diversity which helped me find like-minded people in organizations that place me as part of the minority amongst the majority (and I love that).
If we want to change the way the media portrays the “college experience” and effect what future students perceive college to be like, then we need to make the change ourselves. People need to learn that conforming with the crowd (by peer-pressure) just to fit in should not apply in college. That is a high school mentality for children, and college is for “adults.”
-Kaitlin Silver
Khyre was the first one to reply, and I think everything he stated is something I would have easily said myself. So I agree with him in almost every aspect that he has written.
ReplyDeleteI also didn’t have an idea of what to expect in today’s college culture. I don’t have older siblings and my parents attended college in different states, many years ago (times and legal laws, like the drinking age, have changed).
I think the movies, as he stated, do make an impact on the image that students believe to be the “ideal college life.” Many movies tend to emphasize the importance of the “social scene” instead of the actual purpose of attending universities: to receive an education. (And keep in mind education extends beyond the facts you learn in a textbook.)
I agree again that the social scene is usually not portrayed favorably. It usually emphasizes behavior that includes irresponsible behavior like binge drinking and destruction. Because the media has conditioned us to believe those behaviors are the “norm,” that’s what many people who attend universities in this country, expect (or are pressured) to do. I do think the media in the United States is responsible for creating this culture.
This past August, I attended a seminar with JMU at Hiroshima University (Japan). I was particularly interested in the “college lifestyle” that the students experienced at their university and was surprised to learn how different it was. “Parties” are not the same; in fact they don’t even come close to being the typical “wild, loud music” experiences that you can find in the U.S. I feel this has to do with culture norms. I feel the emphasis in the U.S. is on individuals, so socially, an individual may gain a feeling of empowerment if they are the center of the fun in wild situations. People are much more outgoing and aren’t afraid to act “crazier” to let their hair down after a long week. The culture in that country is a lot more reserved, and one observation from this is the idea that the people don’t like to create awkward situations. To give one example, the whole “clubbing” culture, just doesn’t exist.
So, from my experience, I do think the media’s portrayal of college life is influenced by what is socially acceptable in a country.
Kristin Silver
I cannot think of a single movie or television show that portrays college as anything but a giant party. And, if your major is easy enough, you can probably make it one giant party. But for most people, that is not the case. My decision to come to JMU was actually partially because it is known as one of the big party schools of Virginia. I came here, though, and I realized that a lot of things I thought about college were not true, or were at least partially untrue.
ReplyDeleteAnother way where I've seen a blend of entertainment with education is with Youtube and other things on the internet being shown in class. In high schools, some of my teachers would show Youtube videos occassionally, but now it seems like my professors do it a lot more. Most of the time it has to do with whatever is being taught, but sometimes it is purely for entertainment. I like watching Youtube videos in class because they keep me interested and more excited to pay attention to the rest of the lecture. I just think it is funny that it is now not very out of the ordinary for a teacher to show a video of a cat falling off a fence or something to get the class's attention at the beginning of a lecture.
-Braden Tanner
Disney has definitely defined much of the experience for the child growing up during the 1990s. Before taking this class, I understood that a story formula was used to simplify the themes for the audience in movies such as Pocahontas and Lion King. However, I was blindsided to how much of an effect it had on the wider consumer audience. I feel that as more and more Disney films are being produced, the less pragmatic our society has become.
ReplyDeleteThis does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing but it can have an impact when kids graduate from high school and college and do not reach the expectations that they had from when they were younger. It’s the idea that if you try hard enough, you can become anything you want to be. A lot of recent college graduates are doing jobs they did not normally expect to do but when they were younger, they were exposed to movies such as the A Bugs Life and Finding Nemo in the essence that if you put your mind to something you will get what you want. It is important to enforce these ideals among children but it can also have unattainable expectations if hard work and discipline is becoming less emphasized.
-Sarah Hasnain
I agree with much of what has been said about how the way education is portrayed in the media shapes the way students behave and feel. However, I think the media goes even further in influencing behavior in school, especially amongst younger children. I came across this video awhile back published by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a British “enlightenment organization committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges.” In the video, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U, Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally-renowned expert in the field of creativity and innovation in business and education, talks about how the media environment that children live in drastically affects their performance in school. While he does make a few controversial claims (he suggests that whether or not ADHD is an actual disease is up for debate), the overall message is interesting and thought provoking. He brings up how kids these days “are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the Earth.” This claim is accurate because kids today have so many options for entertainment. They can watch TV, play video games, go on the Internet, and do so many other activities that stimulate them much more than by reading and doing other “old school” activities. Much of these activities have become so ingrained in our society through corporations like Disney and McDonalds. For parents, it is easy to pop in a Pocahontas DVD to keep their child entertained while they do other tasks or go through the drive-thru and pick up a Happy Meal with the child’s favorite toy instead of a home-cooked meal. As a result of the children are raised, their behavior changes, affecting how they learn, and ultimately affecting the education system’s effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteSir Robinson argues that when these children are forced to sit in a classroom and engage in one-dimensional learning, it is hard for them to focus on the lesson being taught because they are so used to the multi-screen entertainment design that we are used to today. In this sense, I think it is safe to say that the actual medium of entertainment is affecting the way children learn and the education system as a whole. While some teachers are still teaching with a static lecture and reading model, others are doing what they can to incorporate more multimedia aspects into the classroom to keep students engaged. While it is a problem that so many children and young adults are engrossed in the television viewing and Internet activity culture that they can no longer learn through traditional means, this is a sign of changing times that must be addressed.
Corporate culture is constantly refashioning what is cool. Whether it's clothes, hair styles, music, art, or anything that can be promoted by a famous/beautiful spokesperson. The same goes for the blurring between education and entertainment. Corporations influence what we should be wearing or how we should be acting in a school setting, and that too has changed with time. Looking back over the generations of television shows and movies about college and high school, one can detect distinct fashion trends from the time period portrayed; from the slicked back hair and leather jackets of "Grease", to more recently the independent fashion styles of "Glee".
ReplyDeleteOur appearance changes as media changes. It is they that determine what is cool for people to be doing/wearing. This influence is apparent at JMU, and in college in general, but less so than the social norm dominated halls of high school. Though binge drinking is popularized in the media, it is most often in a joking way. High school stereotypes are much more influential on young minds.
Daniel Benn