Alienation in American Society

Alienation in American Society

I agree that there are three different types of alienation. Man’s alienation from himself, alienation from fellow man and alienation from the world in which he lives.

I don’t necessarily agree with the example related about the photographer. “He is alienated from the situation in which he is involved and, at the same time, alienated from himself,” the article says because, “when he witnesses the agony of a dying man, can only think of taking a picture, it shows the cleavage between prize-seeking photographer and the human being in him.” Just because he took a photograph of the man doesn’t mean he is alienated from the situation. If he were a doctor and could have helped the man and he stopped just to take a photo then I think there would be a problem there. However, since he probably had no way of helping the dying man he used his skill in photography to capture the moment.

The article says how the examples illustrate how far indifference toward others has gone and how alienated the man of our time is. I think the examples about the segregated church and the attack in Kew Gardens shows that people would rather have other people act first than to act themselves. I’m sure everyone who overheard the screams of the victim thought that someone else would call the police therefore they didn’t have to. Is this alienation or just plain laziness or lack of initiative?

Advertisements

The NHL suffered a PR nightmare in the 2004-2005 season when the entire season was lost to a lockout. In order to regain the support of the fans who were upset about the loss of the entire season, they started a ‘My NHL’ campaign with advertisements on television and in print. The ads from this season (2006-2007) all focus around a superstar player and show him in a situation everyday fans would find themselves in. The tag line at the end if “NHL players are just like me and you… Plus they’re really good at hockey.”

In the first commercial two players from the Tampa Bay Lightning are at home playing a video game. Brad Richards argues that Vinny Lecavalier is cheating and then he gets up, knocks the remote from his hand, and storms off.

The second commercial features many of the stars from throughout the leagu. This was filmed during the All Star weekend. It shows the players in a hotel. We first see Alexander Ovechkin on the phone ordering room service for one person- but he orders enough for 30. It cuts to other scenes of players- some throwing water balloons off a balcony, others playing hockey with miniature sticks and breaking a vase, others racing in the hallways on luggage carts, others scratching a sleeping player with a feather after putting shaving cream in his hands. The commercial ends with Ovechkin telling the room service operator that his name is Sidney Crosby and we then hear a knock at the door. Crosby opens the door to find room service at his door with all of the food Ovechkin ordered.

The third commercial features Ovechkin once again. This time he is alone in a hockey rink. He stops at a vending machine to get some chips but it gets stuck. He tries shaking the machine, kicking it, putting his stick up the hole, and even gets the owner of the team to help him get his chips.

The fourth commercial featured Joe Thronton reading the paper at breakfast. A plate of toast is in front of him and he tries to butter it. The toast is burnt and the butter won’t spread without breaking the bread. He tries another batch but he can’t get the toaster to work.

The fifth commercial features twin brothers who play for the Vancouver Canucks, Henrik and Daniel Sedin. We first see a hotel room with guys sitting around watching tv, playing poker and talking at a bachelor party. They are excited because “Swedish twins are coming.” They all get themselves ready- fixing their hair, unbuttoning the top button on their shirt, etc. A knock is heard at the door and they open it to find the two hockey players dressed in full uniform- the Swedish twins. Not exactly what they were expecting. One of the guys puts music on and the players begin dancing.

Each of these commercials ends with the “NHL players are just like me and you…plus they’re really good at hockey.” The commercials aren’t shown that often except during games but the fans appreciate them. They are basically shown not to get new fans but to reinforce the NHL among thepeople who are already fans of the league.

Everyone can definitely relate to most of them, especially the one with Alexander Ovechkin and the vending machine. It brings the players to a level attainable to the fans who watch them and makes them more real.

Here are the links to watch them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZUTiEdhL30

(LeCavalier and Richards)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OMk1s9s8K8&mode=related&search=

(All Star Road Trip)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=M2dlS47aync

(Ovechkin)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zKH8TZdWRdw

(Thornton)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Iw7xpdwmSE4

(Henrik and Daniel Sedin)

Massa, Come Home

Assignment #3

As I was reading Mark Crispin Miller’s article I was amazed at the attention to detail in the commercials he wrote about. For the Come to Jamaica commercial, Miller analyzed every little aspect of the thirty-second advertisement.
The second part of this article (Getting Dirty) surprised me the most. As I was reading it, I could not believe that every little placement of an object was manipulated for a specific reason (the name of the wife, the man looking down from the window, the flower pot placed over his groin, etc.). I know that in films, television shows, and commercials many things are well-thought out about placement and color and things like that, but this article made every little object that appeared in the commercial a matter of great importance. I have a hard time believing that this is true and no object is just set-up without great analysis of what it means in that particular position.
“Of course, most of what we see in a good commercial was probably calculated by its makers, who are quite sophisticated, and who spend immense amounts of time and money on each thirty- or sixty-second bit. Nevertheless, some of these nuances might have been unconsciously intended, details that just “seemed right” as part of the commercial’s general drift.” (Page 32)

I believe that this has more truth to it than every little detail being overanalyzed by numerous people to manipulate the audience to think a certain way about the place being advertised. Even if everything was analyzed as closely as the article says, I don’t think the majority of people give great thought to these advertisements like the writer has done.

Messages

Assignment #2
On my way to my internship last week, I left a few of the messages on the ferry and trains. I left two papers on each mode of transportation I took (train-ferry-subway) They were notes about helping the environment by conserving the amount of energy/fuel we use. Ironic since three days later I drove into Manhattan instead of taking public transportation. On the BQE, I drove under an overpass and a piece of ice (I’m assuming it was ice but I didn’t see anything) fell, hit the top of my windshield, and cracked it. Maybe the environment was telling me I should have taken public transportation to conserve the Earth, ha.
I don’t think anyone saw me leave the messages there- I hope not anyway- but if they did I’ll probably never see them again and even if I do they wouldn’t remember it was me.

Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse

Assignment #1

The beginning of this article was a little unclear to me but as I got deeper into it I understood what Sut Jhally was saying. The point I liked the most that Jhally made was when he wrote about the envoironmental impact we are having on the Earth.  He made some excellent points, such as people do not care about future generations beyong their own children as long as they can keep up and even expand on the luxuries they currently have. I think that everyone should conserve the planet’s resources- not only for the future generations of humans- but to make our planet a better place. If every person did a little bit in terms of recycling and conserving fossil fuels and not wasting resources it would make a huge difference in the lives of everyone.

I also like Jhally’s point about all the advertisements for the different types of breakfast cereals. People in the Western World have a surplus of all these things while others in poorer countries are struggling just to find any kind of food to survive.  I never looked at it this way.  In the United States, going into a supermarket you are used to aisles and aisles of different varieties of the same food. In poor countries though people are starving and looking for just the bare minimum to sustain life.