Discussion: I want my MTV! Or do I?
Music Television (MTV) started broadcasting in 1981 and went on to change the music industry around the world. By the second year of broadcasting, “I want my MTV!” became the advertising campaign slogan.
This simple advertising hook articulated the channel’s goal of a larger broadcast area but put it in the mouth of the intended viewer—a young rock and roll fan. People who did not have access to MTV but heard about it from friends or the media called their cable provider saying “I want my MTV.” Well-known rock artists like Billy Idol, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Jagger appeared in commercials saying “I want my MTV.”
By 1985, the media conglomerate Viacom had bought the parent company of MTV and the programming moved away from 24/7 music videos to music pop culture news shows, and by the 1990s, reality shows like The Real World, 16 and Pregnant, Jersey Shore, and adult-themed animated shows like Beavis and Butt-head dominated the programming. Although the channel is still called MTV, it rarely shows music videos. The original sense of rebellion that MTV capitalized on had disappeared. The shared experience of being in the know, having seen the latest music video also disappeared.
Each summer, the United Kingdom shares a musical experience called the Proms. Started in 1895, the Proms (short for promenade concert) is a series of concerts that takes place across the U.K. and is broadcast on the taxpayer-supported BBC network. The Proms has become one of the largest shared experiences in the U.K., bringing the nation together over music. Sharing a musical experience can bring a community together, but first the community needs access.
To prepare for this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources.
For this Discussion, your Instructor will either assign groups to threads or direct you to choose one thread from the choices listed this week. If you are directed to choose a thread on your own, follow these instructions: Each thread is limited to a maximum number of students based on class size. A thread will close if the limit is reached. If a thread is closed to new posters, select from the open threads.
Thread A
By Day 3
Post a 250-word response in which you:
Reflect on one or two of the popular culture artifacts that you are working with for your final project, and consider ways that you access the artifacts and what challenges others might have accessing them. For example, can they be enjoyed by people in another community or country across the world? Is there a financial cost to access? Is special equipment needed?
Explain how access to popular culture affects community.
If people and especially children are constantly exposed to violence, do you think that it would have a real-life effect on their view on what is to be expected? For my popular culture paper, I am discussing the possible effect of having violence in movies and video games. In the Journal of Adolescence 2004 Edition, there is an article talking about Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and Internet: is there desensitization? In this study, if the children played violent video games and watched violent movies, they showed more violent behaviors. For example, if a child’s family was not able to afford day-to-day life and they had different priorities then they may not have been inclined to want to play video games or watch violent movies. “Playing violent video games can lead to automatic learning of aggressive self-views” (Funk, Baldacci, Pasold, 2004). Per the Journal of Communication of 2015, it states that media plays a big part in how much attention video games and movies are getting. The media encourages people to think and believe in the ways that they are thinking.
Some of the ways that could affect these artifacts would be a financial cost in the community. Every community has lower-income people and true lower-income people. The first lower income group of people I am talking about are people that do not work but get government financial aid but then go buy nice cars, get their hair and nails done, and or the latest fashion. The other lower income group of people are people that try to work multiple jobs to support their family and can not afford the luxury of fun things to do. To be able to play video games with other people it needs to be connected to the internet. If people want to watch movies, they have to either go to the movie theater to watch them and or rent or buy them online which would require internet access.
References
Funk, J. B., Baldacci, H. B., Pasold, T., & Baumgardner, J. (2004). Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the Internet: is there desensitization? Journal of Adolescence, 27(1), 23–39.
Parks, M. (Mac). (2015). Editor’s note: “Does movie or video game violence predict societal violence? It depends on what you look at and when.” Journal of Communication, 65(1), 192. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12143
sample 2
The two artifacts I chose for my final project are violence in movies and video games. There are many ways I access both, such as tv, cinemas phone, tablet, computer, laptops PlayStation 4, and X Box 360.
Many challenges can affect someone from being able to access any one of the artifacts. One major one is money. Most electronics are not cheap. Then you must have internet, cable or satellite provider, cellphone carrier, and electric. For gaming systems, you need controllers, batteries, chargers for the batteries and controllers, accessories, subscription for PlayStation Plus and X Box Live to be able to fully be able to access all aspects of the apps and games. All of this can be accessed no matter where in the world you are. It can be very pricey to partake and enjoy these.
Another challenge can be religion/culture. It may be looked down on or frowned upon in some religions and cultures. It may even be taboo in people’s eyes around you. Some of them may even be deemed evil or a “gateway” to the Devil.
Yet another challenge can be accessibility. The further you live out of town or city, the harder it is to get good enough internet speed and reliable signal to be able to watch tv and movies as well as hard to be able to stay connected to the internet to play games online or on your phone.
Pop culture reveals what society believes about itself and it can also be used as an instrument for affecting social change. The youth are most influenced by modern pop culture, and they are the biggest consumers of it. The first way pop culture affects society is how it builds/strengthens interactions with people that are into the same kind of things. It also helps people to grow and be more accepting.
https://uniter.ca/view/pop-culture-influences-society
https://medium.com/@thenewswell/impact-of-pop-culture-on-society-fde92ae986f0
sample 3
The artifact I am working on is the Savage X Fenty fashion show by Rihanna. At this moment, the Savage X Fenty fashion show is available on Amazon Prime for views who have paid subscriptions. As with any other show or movie, there are people who record shows and movies and upload them to other platforms such as YouTube. I currently have an Amazon Prime subscription, so I have no problem accessing this particular show, but there are some people who not only has no access to the internet, but may not be able to afford the subscription with is about $14 a month. Amazon Prime is an app that can be downloaded on your phone, tablet, computer, laptop, and television. Some people cannot afford any of these items because of the high cost and low wages.
Access to popular culture affects communities in a number of ways. One way in which access to popular culture affects communities is by creating these lives that most people want. There are social media and television programs that shows women with these perfect bodies, expensive cars, big houses, and stacks of money. Not saying there is necessarily anything wrong with that, it is just that your average everyday people strive to live these lives and look like the people they see on television. Most of the women that are on these television shows and these social media platforms do not even look like what we see. This phase of “keeping up with the Jones’s” has gone way too far in our communities. Women are out here getting plastic surgery and are actually dying on the table from the complication of the surgeries and foreign substances being put into their bodies.
Another way that access to popular culture affects communities is not having adequate means to access popular culture. The lack of access to internet and continuous power blackouts like the ones that happens in Kenya impends the ability to connect to the internet.
References
Rotich, J. (2013, June 18). Meet BRCK, Internet access built for Africa. Retrieved from TED Global: http://ted.com/talk
Sorokach, J. (2021, September 23). Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3: Time, how to watch Savage X Fenty on Amazon Prime video. Retrieved from Decider: http://www,decider.com
By Day 5
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:
Has your classmate considered all possible access challenges?
Are there creative ways to access your classmate’s artifact(s) that they have not considered?
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to the week’s Learning Resources or your student-contributed resource.
A part of me agrees with you and a part of me does not. I agree some people/ children could be aggressive or have aggressive-like behavior from watching too many movies or games. However, there are some whom it does not matter what they watch or see, they still do not become aggressive. I think that this has to do with parental interaction. Parents that are more involved in their children`s lives are less likely to become so aggressive from watching/ playing the movies/games.
Thread B
By Day 3
Post a 250-word response in which you:
Describe how much control production companies or/and governments have over access to popular culture.
Explain the role of the web/technology in providing a shared popular culture experience. Analyze how access affects the shared experience.
Describe how much control production companies or/and governments have over access to popular culture.
As stated by Lumen Learning research, “One risk is the potential for censoring by national governments that let in only the information and media they feel serve their message, as is occurring in China” (Lumen, n.d.). Interestingly, while many people are aware of the restricted popular culture in China, China weighs in at number eight of the top ten most censored countries on the 2015 list according to CPJ research (CPJ, n.d.). Based on their study, CPJ looked at tactics varying from imprisonment and stringent laws to harassment of journalists and restrictions on Internet access. CPJ list indicates Eritrea is at the top, and Cuba is last. Governments or dictators want to attempt to control media and pop culture to narrow the people’s minds and lean towards what messages the governments desire to express.
Living in the United States, we are restricted and controlled by organizations that dictate offensive, given a three-part test. Today in the United States (which has no government-owned media), just five companies control 90 percent of media outlets (Lumen, n.d.).
Explain the role of the web/technology in providing a shared popular culture experience. Analyze how access affects the shared experience.
Nowadays, the worldwide web has expanded to allow people worldwide to experience more pop culture than in years past. Although many countries are regulated, like the ones listed above, many are free to access what they like. Those who live in nonremote locations, such as Africa as we learned for this week’s resources, affect how popular culture travels, or lack of, across countries and continents. Lack of access to the web impacts how quickly others can access and share pop culture.
References
Committee to Protect Journalism (CPJ). (n.d.). 10 most censored countries. Retrieved from https://cpj.org/2015/04/10-most-censored-countries/
Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Introduction to Sociology. Pop culture, subculture, and cultural change. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-introtosociology/chapter/pop-culture-subculture-and-cultural-change/
By Day 5
Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ postings that contain a perspective different from yours.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to the week’s Learning Resources or your student-contributed resource.
