Veganism as Perceived in the Media

Veganism as Perceived in the Media

Veganism as Perceived in the Media. (2012, April 16). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.theveganwoman.com/veganism-as-perceived-in-the-media/

Summary:
This article analyzes both the news and fiction's perception of Veganism and compares how these outlets present vegans. A study of UK news showed that three quarters of news on Veganism is negative. The mainstream news represents vegans as either associated with Asceticism, being overly sensitive, or extremely hostile. There are also many subcultures associated with vegans that the mainstream media likes to highlight such as the Straight Edge movement and other spiritual movements. However, these representations have some truth behind it. The mainstream media likes to use these associations to present Veganism in a negative light. In film and television, however, there have been more vegan characters being seen. Although not all of these are positive, the majority of the characters that are vegan are shown in a positive light. This article goes into detail about different vegan characters in film and television and whether or not they are viewed positively. 

Quotes:
"Just as contemporary works now contain plenty of gay characters, ethnic minority characters, disabled people and strong women, so I believe future artists will incorporate more and more animal rights themed characters. It will start with the arts, and eventually seep into news media."

"Todd Ingram in Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Cleverly written so that he can be seen in a positive way by vegans (veganism gives him superpowers and makes him better than others) and negatively by non-vegans (better than others = smug). Neutral."

"A study called “Vegaphobia: derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers” looked at all the references to vegans in the UK news media in 2007. Unsurprisingly, 74.3% of the coverage was negative, 20.2% was neutral, and only 5.5 % was positive."

Reflection: 

I believe the news media is presenting Veganism in a negative light because no one really fully understands the movement. Although, people have different for motives for going vegan whether it's for health or ethical reasons mainstream media doesn't explain the movement. Many people have a preconceived idea that vegans don't eat anything, and are against every type of food if it is unhealthy. I think that maybe even the mainstream media, or the people behind it for that matter, don't understand that there are many foods that vegans can eat. Recently, I have seen that Veganism is becoming more and more popular. Because of this people are learning about the implications of Veganism, what vegans can and can't eat, and why people make this choice to be vegan. Slowly but surely, media is progressing and many film and television productions have dubbed popular characters vegan. I agree with the author of the article that this negative idea that comes with Veganism will soon shed in both the news and entertainment world. 

Environmentalism in Popular Culture

Environmentalism in Popular Culture

Hulkkonen, J. (2012, February 15). Environmentalism in Popular Culture. Retrieved February 5, 2015.

Summary: 

Television and Films portrays environmentalists as one of two extremes either the naive hippie or the very radical extremist. Over the years, environmental issues have had little to no representation in the media other than the negative stereotypes of the people who support these ideas. Issues of oil-dependence and global warming are addressed either vaguely or they are pushed to the side in many media productions. Gradually, however, these issues are starting to become more prevalent in media. With shows such as Revolution and Snow Piercer issues of what environmental problems can do to our world. With the increase in environmentalist awareness in the media, however slowly these negative stereotypes are being shed. 

Quotes:

"Mainstream movies and television have long tended to portray environmental concerns and those advocating their significance as either overly-idealistic hippies or militant, radical extremists."

"However, as such issues as climate change, greenhouse gas pollution and renewable energy become increasingly more imperative to our collective society the mainstream media is gradually beginning to take heed."

"However, rather than merely dealing with themes related to pressing environmental concerns, these new cultural products are evidence of a more significant shift in attitudes regarding environmentalism. Whereas popular culture has traditionally tended to depict environmental issues as being limited to naive or militant mindsets, this recent crop of cultural products has begun to make these issues both mainstream and admirable."

Reflection:
With the idea of environmentalists comes the negative stereotypes that the media creates. The idea that environmentalists are either naive, optimistic hippies, or the extreme, radical militant type activist. The media has portrayed these environmentalists as hippies, and have them as side characters. Other issues that the media neglects to represent or presents them as myths are global warming, oil-dependency, and recycling. The actual word "environmentalist" is something that turns people off to the whole movement. Its similar to how people find the actual label feminist too aggressive, yet they still believe in equal rights of genders. Similarly, I believe that is the case with environmentalists. 

Another representation that is often seen with this type of activism is the extremist. People believe that this type of person is the kind that's going to throw their beliefs in your face. While, in every group of people there are some who live up to the stereotypes, however media's portrayal of environmentalism itself has slowly started to become more positive. I think that with this new progressive thinking that the current generation possesses being environmentally aware will be seen as something positive instead. Recently, more news program have dropped the idea of bashing on the ideals of environmentalist, and instead have begun to really explain what's going on in the environment to their audiences. I think with this gradual progression, the negative stereotypes will eventually diminish and people will stop focusing on the people associated with environmentalist and instead focus on the issues that these people advocate for. 

Week 8- 1/26-1/30

'Once' And Again: A Love Story Gets A Second Life

Lunden, J. (2011, December 6). 'Once' And Again: A Love Story Gets A Second Life. Retrieved January 29, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/2011/12/06/143147174/once-and-again-a-love-story-gets-a-second-life

Summary:

In the film Once, the story is centered around an unnamed guy and girl whose love and passion for music brings them together. This Irish indie film was created on a low budget, and made in three weeks in Dublin. The majority of the music for the film was written and recorded by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who also starred in the movie. Recently this small indie film has been transformed into a Broadway musical that just ended its time on Broadway this month. The musical was a great hit that brought much more attention to the movie. 

Quotes:

"We made this film two years ago, we shot on two handi-cams, it took us three weeks to make, we made it for a hundred grand," said a clearly stunned Hansard at the Oscar ceremony.

"In the film, it's more about two people who meet, they fall in love, and they have this thing for a week. In our show, it's about a guy who's broken — really broken — and a girl who's broken, and [they] find a way to heal themselves through each other."

"There's something about Once that makes an audience feel as if they've eavesdropped on a series of intimate, emotionally touching moments."

Reflection: 

This film is a raw love story about two people's passion for music and each other. However, this film wouldn't have been nearly as successful as it was if it weren't for the amazing music sung in the film. The hit song from the film 'Falling Slowly' actually won an Academy Award. The fact that the film was shot on such a low budget shows that it's not necessarily about the A-list actors, or elaborate plot lines that make a movie successful but instead it's about telling a beautiful story. I think that the music is what made this film because although this film is technically a musical it doesn't feel like one. The music is so raw and has an acoustic sound and folk aspects to it, which creates this intimate relationship between the viewer and the characters. The acoustic guitar and piano playing also add to the romance between the two characters. The video below is a scene from Once, where girl and guy play together for the first time. The story is essentially about music and told through music, and the beautiful lyrics and voices of Hansard and Irglova create a memorable film. The fact that it was made into a Broadway musical shows the impact of this film. Although the directors and writers of the musical had to embellish the plot and add more characters it still stayed true to the film. The musical used the same story and the same songs, and it did incredibly successful winning 8 Tony Awards and creating more viewers for the actual film.  

      

            'Falling Slowly' from the film Once

    

'Gold' from Once the Musical 

Week 7-1/19-1/23

'The Fault In Our Stars' Soundtrack Might Be This Generation's 'Breakfast Club'

Rosen, C. (2014, May 18). 'The Fault In Our Stars' Soundtrack Might Be This Generation's 'Breakfast Club' Retrieved January 22, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/19/the-fault-in-our-stars-soundtrack_n_5348768.html

Summary:
This article goes in depth about the selection process of the music for the film 'The Fault In Our Stars.' This soundtrack is said to represent the movie beautifully and for our generation could become a classic. The music supervisor for the movie, Season Kent, went into detail about the selection for each song and how they determined what they needed for each scene. Some of the artists such as Birdy created original songs specifically for the movie, while they also used some already created songs such as Jake Bugg's 'Simple As This.' While picking the music for the movie, Kent had to make sure that each song captured the moment right and that it went with the style of the film. Some of the artists that were featured in the film are Ed Sheeran, Birdy, Charli XCX, M83, Grouplove, and Tom Odell. 

Quotes:
"The veteran music supervisor recruited a variety of big artists for Josh Boone's forthcoming adaptation of John Green's best-selling book, including Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX, Grouplove and M83, giving "The Fault In Our Stars" soundtrack a true event feel for tweens and millennials of all ages."

"You need a moment [after the film finishes]. You need to breathe. This song (All of the Stars) comes in really quiet and it eases you in. It's really bittersweet and emotional, but it still feels uplifting. That was the biggest thing we wanted to make sure people felt walking out of the theater."

"The thing about this movie is that it's about first love. It's about their disease and the loss of things, too, but it's about first love. We wanted everyone who hasn't experienced first love yet to understand what it feels like, and everyone who has been through their first love to remember it. "

Reflection: 
This article really gave me insight into the meticulous thought between each and every song that's put in a movie or on the soundtrack. The Fault In Our Stars' soundtrack really captures the essence of the movie, and the instincts that the music supervisor had were spot on. The soundtrack consisted of music that is appealing to the target audience, and each song has a powerful impact that will help the viewers feel what the characters in the movie are feeling. Almost each scene was specifically scored or had a specific song put in at the right moment. Although some of the songs that were put in the movie aren't a typical film score the music was created with the film in mind, which helped make the movie special. The supervisor had to reach out to artists, and search for music that already existed as well as know the movie so well that he knew exactly where each song should be placed. I feel like this job is overlooked a lot of times because there are so many factors that go into making a movie. Music is a very important factor in film, and this article really shows the knowledge of both film and music that you must have in order to perform this task. 

Week 6- 1/12- 1/16

Why Disney's Marketing Campaign Doesn't Do 'Frozen' Justice

Chang, J. (2013, December 3). Why Disney's Marketing Campaign Doesn't Do 'Frozen' Justice. Retrieved January 16, 2014, from http://variety.com/2013/film/columns/why-disneys-marketing-campaign-doesnt-do-frozen-justice-1200908996/

Summary:
This critic of Disney's film 'Frozen' criticizes the lack of inclusion of the music in the movie. It also goes in depth about how the marketing for this film was extremely manipulative and left out the storyline. People went into the movie thinking it was music-less and about a goofy, talking snowman. Although, 'Frozen' was very successful and the message of the film is empowering the marketing completely lacked those components of the film. Disney also felt the need to market this movie so that the male population would be interested completely expelling the feminist elements from the film. 

Quotes:
"Of course, you wouldn’t know any of this based solely on the film’s shrewdly deceptive marketing campaign, which has gone out of its way to avoid even the slightest suggestion that “Frozen” is (a) a musical and (b) about princesses and queens, snowy or otherwise."

"And while previews for the studio’s pastfilms have been awash in source music, no one here sings so much as a note, never mind that they have at their disposal one of the more impressive Disney song scores in recent memory (courtesy of composer Christophe Beck and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)."

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but this a movie that quietly declares, in scene after scene, that a powerful woman is not someone to be loathed, feared or hidden from view."

Reflection: 
I agree with the points made in this article. When I first saw the trailer for 'Frozen' I had no interest whatsoever in the movie because I had no clue what it was about or what kind of movie it was going to turn out to be. The fact that they didn't incorporate the music into the marketing for the movie is disheartening considering the soundtrack brought in millions of dollars, and 'Let it Go' was nominated for a Grammy. The music was widely popular, and although sometimes I believe 'Frozen' is overrated the music is catchy and well-received by the population. Not to mention they completely left out the feminist empowerment that the story line entails. I didn't find out till after I watched the movie and read reviews about it that the message of the film was so powerful and impactful. Disney's need to manipulate audiences into seeing a movie is shameful considering the actual movie's message and music is great. 

Week 5- 1/5-1/9

Should Film Music Stand Alone?

Ezell, B. (2014, July 10). Should Film Music Stand Alone? Retrieved January 8, 2015, from http://www.popmatters.com/column/183430-should-film-music-stand-alone/

Summary:
The opinions of many composers and film scorers are presented in this article, and their argument of the idea that a film score is not synonymous with a symphony. There is a whole informal debate going on as to whether or not film scores can stand alone separate from the film. The author's opinion is that film scores can stand separately from the film. Obviously there are exceptions and film scores that are better and more relevant than others, but the idea still stands that it can stand alone. The label "film music" is necessary, but comes with assumptions. Critics such as Stosuy have said that some film scores stays perfectly within the lines of the film, and therefore cannot stand alone. 

Quotes:
"Movie music is functional, it sets action that goes on in the screen, when I work with film directors I seek to make a good movie with them, not a good score independent of the movie."

"Film music necessarily must bolster the cinema it accompanies, but its identity is not entirely bound to that purpose; its function need not limit the form it takes."

"Of course, the music would have likely never been were it not for the specific visual images that Mansell got inspired by in creating the score."

Reflection:
Music is music. Whether it's specifically "film music" or some other genre, any form of music can stand alone. Although film music is made and composed for a specific set of visuals, separated from the film it can be just as beautiful. With instrumental music, the context isn't always prevalent. There is a certain aura and theme to the music, but it can easily be interpreted differently by different people. Especially if someone wants to listen to the film score without seeing the film, the music is left up to the listener to decide what he/she thinks of it. There are some film scores that might not be considered beautiful music by itself such as the film score for "Psycho," or even "Pirates of the Caribbean." However, music is very subjective and therefore it is hard to leave it up to the critics to decide what film music can and cannot be separated from the actual film.

Week 4- 12/15-12/19

Lorde's Curated 'Hunger Games' Soundtrack Isn't Really a Soundtrack

Loring, A. (2014, December 8). Lorde's Curated 'Hunger Games' Soundtrack Isn't Really a Soundtrack. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/movie-soundtracks-with-no-movie-music-lorde.php

Quotes:
"The word soundtrack is defined as the “sound recorded on a motion-picture film” or, more specifically, “the narrow band on one or both sides of a motion-picture film on which sound is recorded.”"

"Having one of the film’s main characters sing a song will certainly help get it attention, but more importantly, when music is allowed to play an active role in a film’s narrative, an emotional connection between the film and the music is created, instead of keeping the two apart as separate entities."

"But isn’t a soundtrack full of songs that have no real connection to the film itself (other than some lyrics that may reference certain plot points) really just a bonus feature like behind the scenes footage or commentary?"

Summary:
Lorde was the sole curator of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Soundtrack. Although she did a very good job on creating a song for the album, and compiling various artists to do work for the soundtrack critcs weren't sure if it actually counted as a soundtrack. Many films are recognizable for their soundtracks, however a soundtrack has to have music that was featured in the film. It would be strange to have a Lorde song in a post-apocalyptic society. This article then goes into detail about how a soundtrack shouldn't just be a companion piece, but it should have something to do with the film itself. 

Reflection:
I do feel like the Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack would be more effective if the songs were actually featured in the movie itself, however it did a really good job of creating hype for the film and the music was awesome. In a previous blog post I talked about The Great Gatsby soundtrack, and although a lot of the music on that soundtrack was created by popular artists most of the music was in the film. Although modern day hip-hop and pop music does not seem like it belongs in the 20's it was an artistic choice made by Luhrman. I agree that the Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack isn't technically a movie soundtrack, however I feel as if it did the same job as any other movie soundtrack. The purpose of a movie soundtrack is to set the tone of the movie, and help market the film which I believe this soundtrack did. So even if it might not follow the exact definition of a soundtrack it is definitely an risky thing to try that paid off.