Welcome to Adventures in Medialand, a blog dedicated to the analysis and critique of gender/sexual orientation, race, and class in the media through a Communication perspective. The media have become more and more integrated into our society, and it has become more important than ever to take a critical look at the messages being shown to our society and the impacts they have on people. I will be looking at these messages, breaking them down, and discussing the implications of various forms of messages, particularly relating to the construction of gender, race, and class identities.
I chose an "Alice in Wonderland" theme for a couple of reasons. First, I love the variations of the Alice in Wonderland stories. The fact that the story has been remade many times goes to show that there is more than one side to any story and there are always new ways to portray messages. This becomes ever important in our exploration of media messages. There is always more than one way to portray specific people and scenarios, and some will reflect reality more than others. We run into problems in the media because creators often times have very narrow depictions of people and society. This leaves consumers to believe that what they see in the movies, on TV, in ads, etc. is how things really are or should be in reality when it often times isn't the case. We will explore this more throughout the blog.
Second, I more specifically chose a Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland theme because Alice is very symbolic of a Communication student, or of anyone trying to break boundaries between social groups. While the hegemonic ideology (or the dominant values of a culture that has become so integrated with society that it seems "natural) is saying to believe and act in a certain way (i.e. Alice's family and friends), Alice discovers a new world and is eager to explore it and show everyone that things don't have to be a certain way (i.e. Communication students discovering alternative messages for the media). I often times feel like Alice, where I am constantly told who to be, what to think, what to do and I am searching for ways to break out of that small box society has created for me. The best way to break out of these boxes is to educate ourselves on what is going on in the world, especially in the media, develop new understandings of the world around us, and educate others on these issues--which is what I intend to do with this blog.
As you read my blog please feel free to post your comments on any of the topics I discuss. I look forward to taking this adventure with you!
