Obama vs. Osama

With the introduction of websites like Youtube, anybody can become celebrities or even disseminate their own mass media message; we all have a certain level of control over the distribution of mass media. Let's take a look at a clip posted by the ClipCritics on the ClipCritics Channel on Youtube.

[Click here to play the clip]

As we can see, this video clip touches on very sensitive topics such as the presidential election, terrorism as well as racism.

According to sociologist, Charles Wright, there are 4 media functions: surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission and entertainment. So, what are the media functions of the clip above?

1. Surveillance: The gathering and disseminating of information.
   The information being shared in this video clip may be fictional as this is not a video clip done by a certified media broadcaster, thus, any "fact" demonstrated in this video should be taken lightly.
   
2. Correlation: The analysis and evaluation of information.
   This clip affects the viewers by the "cutting and pasting" of various scenes and photographs to frame the audiences' in the mindset that they want the audience to be in.For example, the portion where they ask if Obama will support the muslims, they showed pictures of muslims as terrorists followed by a snippet from a video clip of Obama saying "Absolutely." This frames the viewers point of views in 2 ways generally: that all muslims are terrorists and that Obama actually answered the question of offering support to the terrorists.
3. Cultural Transimission: The educaton and socialization of the viewers.
   This aspect of mass communication is vaguely touched on by this video clip. It does not deal with the education and socialization of viewers to a large extent.
4. Entertainment: The presentation of escapist material that provides enjoyment and gratification.
   Most of us are caught up in the monotony of the seriousness in life. The main purpose ofthis video clip is to provide entertainment for the masses. Allowing them to laugh at the matters that matter a lot (Presidential Election) to them, they are momentarily relieved from that monotony.

Personally, after watching the video clip and browsing through the comments made by the viewers, I've learnt that the role that the audience play in mass communication may not be so passive afterall. Yes, they will interpret the message the way that the gatekeepers want them to, but they will come up with their own opinions about these messages.

One viewer, "chrisinuae", commented, "Talk about poor taste. Not at all funny, shows why Americans are disliked in most countries. Arrogant,blatant racism,it just goes on and on, doesn't it. Shame on you..Ive never felt so proud to be Canadian and so happy I'm not american"

Apparently, chrisinuae does not find this clip entertaining at all. He criticizes the quality of humor of the Americans (the people who made this clip are American) and their blatant disrespect for the people of other races.

Another viewer who goes by the psuedonym of holla221, says, "LOL!!!! This video is hilarious!!! Man oh man, I think John McCain put himself in a hole by trying the same fear tactic that Karl Rove put on John Kerry. Americans are not falling for it this time. Americans are not scared. Americans will fight!! We are Americans so if these so called terrorist want to threaten us, bring it on!!!
Obama 08!!!!"

holla221 is not influences by the placing together of Obama and the terrorists in this video. Instead, he contines to root for Obama. At the same time, holla221 feels a sens of patriotism, as he rallies the rest of America to fight against the terrorists. These emotions are unexpected if mass media really took upon the powerful effects model where the mass media has the capability to brainwash the public; rather, mass media, as I believe, takes on the or the limited effects theory or the moderate effects theory.

So, what do y'all think? How much does the mass media influence the public?

Chicken vs. Egg

According to the "Culture Onion" by Hofstede (1994), people perceive or analyze a culture by looking at certain aspects of a particular culture in this sequence:

1. Artefacts & Products
   Rituals & Behaviors
2. Systems & Institutions
3. Beliefs, Attitudes & Conventions
4. Basic Assumptions & Values

Before I begin, due to the sensitive nature of this post, I would like to first mention that the following comments are merely my humble opinions and that they mean no offense to no party.

All over Singapore, in MRT stations, Government buildings, libraries and shopping centers, we see comic strips called, Chew On It. Below are a few examples of such comic strips:



Honestly, I do not think that Singaporeans are as imbecile or as badly behaved as they are portrayed in these comic strips. Yes, they are created in the name of humor; but it carries with it as well, the puissance of International Communication.

Let's take for example the first comic strip that shows a scene in the library. It's trying to bring across the message of proper behavior in the library. I have to admit there are a handful of people who talk aloud in the library; but do Singaporeans dig their noses and flick the nose-dirt at others? I do not think so. Such exaggerations will leave a deep impression in anybody due to the intensity of the disgust portrayed that causes people to select such information more frequently. The other comic strips are no different.

These comic strips fall under the category of Artefacts in the "Culture Onion". Tourists from all over the world, when visiting our country, will come to notice these comic strips first, some even before they begin to interact with Singaporeans. Bearing these negative notions in their heads, they may tend to make judgments about the locals based on the misconception that they perceived from the comics (that the locals are dumb, lazy, inconsiderate etc.) Most of these tourists do not even stay long enough to begin looking into our Systems and Institutions, thus bringing with them such negative impressions of Singaporeans back to their countries.

What about the effects of these comic strips on Singaporeans? Generally, these comic strips have been used in government campaigns and thus have a significant level of credibility in them. Locals (especially small children who cannot discern right from wrong) ,who see these comics, subconsciously feel that they should behave like this to fit the norm in the Singaporean society; in other words, they believe that such comic strips depicts the reality they live in. Either this, or they may share similar sentiments as I do, that these comics may cause some sort of misconception of Singaporeans.

I agree that comics are meant to be looked at from a humorous perspective, but definitely not one that mocks at our very own morals and behaviors (and I'm dead sure that i don't see Singaporeans flicking nose-dirt into the mouths of others- or maybe i should hang out at the libraries more often?).

Other such forms of media includes some of Singapore's own movie productions that portray Singaporeans as uncouth, uneducated etc. Yes, these films are made to depict "reality", but how real is "real"?

It all boils down to the "Chicken vs. Egg" riddle. Did the media truly portray the image of Singaporeans? Or, did the media portray a "false reality" that Singaporeans slowly adopt as their cultural template? How then can we improve on not sending off the negative signals while reminding the public to be gracious?

*Once again, I must stress that there is no intention to offend.

If you tell us we have to give our lives now, we're ready. (Applause) [Baltimore Sun, 1979.]

On the fateful day of 18 November 1978, 909 members of the Peoples Temple, out of which 276 were children, died in Jonestown due to cyanide poisoning as a means of "revolutionary suicide", under the instructions of Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple.




How is the Peoples Temple a group?

Trenholm defined a group as "a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behavior and a collective identity."

• the Peoples Temple was established in 1955 and since then the members have been interacting with one another for over a period of about 20 years before moving to Jonestown
• Jonestown was a self-sufficient town thanks to the wide array of specialized skills within its community and thus, everybody became interdependent
• they all had a shared pattern of behavior: all wanted to create and maintain a "socialist utopia" and "sanctuary" away from media's scrutiny
• the collective identity they share: Peoples Temple

Why do the people join the Peoples Temple?

The main reason the members of the Peoples Temple joined the cult is because the Peoples Temple meet the member's interpersonal needs.
These needs, according to William Schutz, are:

1. Need for Inclusion
2. Need for Control
3. Need for Affection

Applying these needs to the case study of the Peoples Temple...

• The members needed to feel a sense of belonging (Need for Inclusion). The cult gave them that. They were made to believe that Jonestown was an utopia and they are all in a revolutionary mission.
• Jim Jones performed "spiritual healing" on new members to make them feel the "love" (Need for Affection) he had for them as he take on a messiah-like presence to the followers.
• As a kid, Jim Jones was born with an obsession with religion and death. He also learnt to appreciate the persuasion techniques of political leaders like Hitler and Stalin. (Need for Control)

Which aspect of a Group led to the succession of the Jonestown massacre?

One aspect that led them eventually to their demise is the blindness of Groupthink.

Irving Jarvis defined Groupthink as "Mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when members' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action."

Symptoms of Groupthink can be observed in the cult:

• All of them believe that death is not the end and it's only a transition (Illusion of Invulnerability & Collective Rationalization).
• The adults in the group aided in the suicides of their children, against the norm that parents are supposed to protect their children from any physical harm (Believe in group's own Morality). In fact, this belief is so strong that it overrides the basic instincts that have been hardwired into us since the dawn of Mankind. Evolution had no say in this.
• Each of them possess a stereotypical idea that all defectors are bad and thus preventing any of their loved ones from defecting from the Peoples Temple (Shared Stereotypes)
• Although at some point, some of the members broke away from the "trance" that they were in, they dared not voice out their discomfort, fearing that they will be ostracized or even killed (Self-Censorship)
• Due to the previous point mentioned, everybody believed that everyone else was happy the way things were and that they were still working towards achieving a "socialist paradise" (Illusion of Unanimity).
• Jim Jones actually indicated that members who wanted to leave Jonestown will be killed (Pressure on Dissenters)

According to research done up on this tragedy, moments before the suicide, dissents were immediately shot down by the crowd. Below is an excerpt of the conversation during the suicide:

Jones: I've tried my best to give you a good life. In spite of all I've tried, a handful of people, with their lies, have made our life impossible. If we cant live in peace then lets die in peace.(Applause) . . . We have been so terribly betrayed . . .
What's going to happen here in the matter of a few minutes is that one of the people on that plane is going to shoot the pilot - I know that. I didn't plan it , but I know its going to happen.. . . .So my opinion is that you used to in ancient Greece , and step over quietly, because we are not committing suicide-its a revolutionary act . . ..
We cant go back . . . .

First Woman : I feel like that as there's life, there's hope.

Jones:Well, someday everybody dies .

Crowd : That's right , that's right!

Jones: What those people gone and done, and what they get through will make our lives worse than hell... But to me, death is not a fearful thing. Its living that's cursed... Not worth living like this.

First Woman: But I'm afraid to die.

Jones: I don't think you are. I don't think you are.

First Woman: I think there were too few who left for 1,200 people to give them their lives for those people who left... I look at all the babies and I think they deserve to live.

Jones: But don't they deserve much more they deserve peace. The best testimony we can give is to leave this god-damned world.(Applause)

First Man: Its over, sister... We've made a beautiful day.(Applause)

Second Man: If you tell us we have to give our lives now, we're ready. (Applause) [Baltimore Sun, 1979.]

Above the cries of babies wailing, the tape continues, with Jones insisting upon the need for suicide and urging the people to complete the act:

Jones: Please get some medication. Simple. Its simple There's no convulsions with it... Don't be afraid to die. You'll see people land out here. They'll torture our people...

Second Woman: There's nothing to worry about. Everybody keep calm and try to keep your children calm... They're not crying from pain;its just a little bitter tasting...

Third Woman: This is nothing to cry about. This is something we could all rejoice about. (Applause)

Jones: Please, for Gods sake, lets get on with it... This is a revolutionary suicide. This is not a self-destructive suicide.(Voices praise, "Dad." Applause)

Third Man: Dad has brought us this far. My vote is to go with Dad...

Jones: We must die with dignity. Hurry, hurry, hurry. We must hurry... Stop this hysterics. Death is a million times more preferable to spending more days in this life... If you knew what was ahead, you'd be glad to be stepping over tonight...

Fourth Woman: Its been a pleasure walking with all of you in this revolutionary struggle... No other way I would rather go than to give my life for socialism. Communism, and I thank Dad very much.

Jones: Take our life from us... We didn't commit suicide. We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting against the conditions of an inhuman world. [Newsweek, 1978b,1979].

As seen in the Jonestown massacre, extreme Groupthink will lead to following blindly, the instructions of someone who may deal harm to us and loved ones.

Lastly, may all the souls of those who perished under the cynical and unreasonable rule of Jim Jones rest in peace.

Eyes for you

This is a print ad by the Red Cross to urge the donation of eye balls to help treat the blind.

According to communication theories, the process of perception comprises of 3 elements integrated together to form a meaningful perception of the world around us, namely: selection, organization and interpretation.

Good print ads work by allowing us to first "select" it amidst all the communicative "noises" that shrouds the environment we live in and also obscure the print ad. It plays upon our qualities of selection: frequency, contrast, intensity and novel stimuli.
Let's peer into this particular print ad to have a look at how these elements manage to turn eyes.

First of all, this ad can be found along the corridors and notice boards of the hospitals in the country that this ad is from. This increases the frequency that a random individual will be exposed to the ad. After many times of exposure, the familiarity increases and when he or she finally slows down and observe the surroundings, this ad will stand out due to its uncanny familiarity that strikes the individual.

We also notice the bold method of the blatant use of gore in the ad (if you notice, these are actually eyeballs, mounds of them, in a dumping ground). This makes the ad stand out amongst the other "normal" ads by creating a contrast in terms of the level of boldness, which then seizes the attention of passers-by quickly.The mounds of eyeballs and the level of rot that some of them are in brings the level of gore to an extreme intensity. Also, this is a new concept to us and our reaction to this is not expected, thus due to the novel stimuli, we're coerced into thinking about an appropriate reaction to this ad and at the same time ponder about the ad.

Only after these processes, will we organize these raw info and attach meaning to it based on our own interpretations. These will be other factors that will lead to the overall success of the ad. But through the use of these qualities of selection to draw our attention, this ad has taken its first step towards its success.

The Chubb Chubbs

Communication of any sort is based largely on our perception, which is the process by which we make sense of the world around us. We attach a personal meaning to the communication we receive, through an integrated process of selection, organization and interpretation. Thus, individuals decipher messages differently. How then, does an animation ensure that it's targeted audience interprets the intended message correctly? Let's do an autopsy on the above animation, to uncover the seamless workings of communication behind the pixels.

It doesn't take a three year old to tell that the underlying message of the animation is perception- do not judge a book by it's cover. It makes use of the society's common perception of the harmful and the helpless, and swap the personal prototypes around for a twist near the end of the clip. Harm, in this animation, is personified as weapon-wielding, armour-cladding, gargantuan aliens with a looming thunderstorm wherever they go. Helplessness, on the other hand, is characterized by a handful of small yellow balls of fluff, bearing uncanny resemblances with our Earth-bound chicks. These characteristic choices are meticulously created based on the degree of shared perception (convergence) that Man established through communication. Somehow, Man has came to a general consensus that angry creatures with bulging muscles and thunderstorms are threatening; while chicks are, other than being too adorable, basically helpless.

The video utilizes the various stimuli to draw our attention. The element of novelty is apparent in the setting of the video- a bar on an alien planet. Familiar movie characters, such as "Star Wars" and "Aliens", are also deployed all over the scene doing things that we do not catch them doing on screen. If these are not enough, they have included a female alien vocalist, who looks like a hippopotamus, with three boobs! (Again, that may be a male alien. But we Earthlings have already developed a personal prototype that characters with boobs are females- based on our very own Earthling experiences.) The "frequent" stimulus is seen when the main character (the loser alien) repeatedly gets kicked out of the bar for interrupting the song due to his clumsiness. This repetitive slapstick humor drives us to try to predict when is the next time he is going to do something stupid again. Furthermore, a critical message is delivered by a Jar Jar Bings look-alike alien. The "intensity" stimulus here, plays with the fame of the creature to allow us to devote our attention to what it says.

Finally, the twist develops slowly as follows. Someone finally manages to warn the bar that the "Chubb Chubbs are coming!" The entire bar flushes out of the bar, leaving the main character and the handful of innocent looking chicks at the mercy of the wrath of the "Chubb Chubbs". As the main character places the chicks into his bucket in an attempt to save them, the "Chubb Chubbs" with the thunderous storm cloud close in. At this point, audience will probably wonder why in the world will people name such monstrosity a "Chubb Chubb"? Well, they are in for a twist. When the innocent looking "chicks" found themselves exposed to the threatening horde that stood in front of them, they went berserk, revealing their rows of razor sharp teeth and pounced on the giants, tearing them up literally within seconds. Now, does the name "Chubb Chubbs" make sense when we realize that they really are chubby little angry fur balls?

So, the next time you see a chick, think twice, before you pick it up and play with it. For guys, yes, the pun applies. ;)

The "Com(m)" in Comics

Artists (sender) of comic strips employs the use of visual art (channel) to convey messages, usually something funny, to the readers (receivers). Speech, in terms of simple phrases, are added to emphasize a punchline. This being the case, whatever images, especially the characters, have to be meticulously drawn to depict the facial expressions to display emotions, as well as to set the tonality of the character. Due to the fairly simple, almost sketch-like nature of the images, to ensure that the majority of the readers decode the message as implied, universal emotions are usually used. This also means the artists are forced to conform to the perception of most readers.

Shown above is comic strip "Working Daze", titled, "Geek True Love".
As the saying goes: "A picture paints a thousand words." Merely the use of the word "geek" in the title is insufficient to convince the readers that the characters involved are geeks, the characters drawn do not fulfil the social construct in the minds of the readers.
In the above example, the artists have painted a bald chubby man with glasses and a similarly chubby bespectacled woman with her hair done in 2 ponytails, which fits the classic mental picture that our cognitive schemata paints.

Reading the comic strip, the first thing that struck me was that someone's in love. This can be attributed to the use of symbolic "red hearts", the universal symbol of love. Also, the artist complemented that with a facial expression seemingly of someone being mesmerized. To complete the picture, a somewhat colorful background of a rainbow and fluffy clouds are used in the backdrop to bring forth the idea of bliss. This is, of course, due to the cognitive scripts we have already written in our minds.

"I love you just as much as my 'Action Comics #1' in mint condition!"
Geeks are stereotyped as people who love differently from the rest of the world with just a single sweeping punchline. It is apparent that the artist understands the social construct of the interaction between the opposite gender very well to deploy such a punchline, knowing that a normal lady would turn down such a come-on from a gentleman (maybe even term him a loser or simply give him a slap for placing her on the same ranks as a comic).

Generally, if you so much as smile slightly upon reading the comic strip, you've gotten the gist of it by interpreted it the way that the artists intended their readers to. To end this week's entry, I shall leave you with a few comic strips I stumbled upon. Have fun interpreting ;)

A little comic relief...

of coffee and communication

Print advertisements are perfect life specimens of the Linear Model of Communication in action. The sender, being the company or organisation campaigning the advertisements; the receiver, being the people who are drawn to it some way or another. Its potential to draw the attention of the target audience relies on intelligent incoporation of the 3 persuasion appeals (according to Aristotle in Rhetoric) and plays on the perception of the target audience based on the 4 Idols (distortions) mentioned in the "Analysis of Perceptual Bias" by Francis Bacon.

Above is a rather 'Dare-ing' print advertisement I stumbeld upon on the internet. It's an advertisement by "DARE Coffee" in Australia. Let's cut to the chase and take it apart to appreciate its perfect blend of communication concepts (ice-blended topped with whipped cream).

No advertisement is made without the audience in mind. The response of the audience is of utmost priority when an advertisement is initially drafted. Every advertisement is designed to trigger reactions in the audience that leads to the purpose of the advertisement being met. Let's base our analysis on the assumption that the desired audience belongs to the working class. These are people who works overtime and are on a constant quest for the next caffeine boost. A copy of the day's papers are also stereotypically assumed to be the staple mind food on their breakfast tables. Pardon my Idols of the Cave.

All you Starbucks fans out there shouldn't have any qualms recalling the very recent closure of 61 Starbucks outlets. DARE coffee took this oppotunity (kairos) to lash out at their competitor, Starbucks, claiming responsibility for its lull: "It's not hard to feel a little bit responsible."

Adding a dash of ethos, a newspaper headline in clipped and pasted in the advertisement. This creates a sense of authenticity in the minds of the very people who trusts the newspaper. By placing the newspaper cutting at the top of the advertisement, ethos or credibility is established between the sender and the receipient of the message early into the communication process.

The blatant use of this particular newspaper headline displays an act of rebellion against the more reputable Starbucks, which relates to their brand -DARE. This arouses the audience's interest (pathos).

The Idols of the Tribe comes in handy for the sender when human nature kicks in and the audience adheres to their strong tendency to discern. In this case, they see DARE Coffee to be the dominant brand of the 2. "If I love Starbucks Coffee and DARE Coffee is better, then I'll love it more." This is the logical (logos) reaction that resonates in the audience's mind and this is triggered by the Idols of the Tribe, like a chain reaction.

These concepts form a clever concoction of an advertisement that convinces people to buy their product from various angles. It seized a golden opportunity (kairos), faithfully employs the 3 persuasion appeals of Rhetoric and turned the 4 Idols in their favour.

That said, it's probably time for me to grab my bottle of DARE Coffee. Dare you? ;)