Brynne post 1

Part I:
The image of the US Navy’s Blue Angels flying team serves as a representation because it communicates the message of what a person can achieve in the Navy. It influences, and therefore helps construct, the viewer’s opinion of the Navy. There is definitely truth value in the photograph—the Blue Angels actually fly in such fashion, so what is shown in the image can be done. However, the Blue Angels reflect a very small part of the Navy’s work and very few naval officers hold this position, so the image only displays what one might call the apex of the Navy and not all the “middle ground.”

This advertisement for the “Rosetta Stone” product aims to represent the possibilities opened up by learning a new language, while seeking to emphasize the distinct advantage the “Rosetta Stone” provides in the process. The truth value to the image and its accompanying text is somewhat questionable as the suggested outcome of using the “Rosetta Stone” seems exaggerated. Furthermore, the viewer has no way of knowing if the farm boy won over the supermodel so one cannot properly assess if the product truly works as well as the advertisement insinuates.

For the Suzuki advertisement, the image serves as a representation by means of influencing the viewer’s opinion of the experience of driving this particular automobile. The image helps construct our opinions of the Suzuki Company and its products. As the image has obviously been manipulated, its truth value immediately becomes debatable. The image attempts to convey the truth (in the advertiser’s opinion) that driving this car is a thrilling, perhaps rugged, experience. This is done by pairing the vehicle with the shadow of the motorcycle (or dirt bike).

My fourth image is the CD cover for the album “History” by Matthew West. Through a simple illustration of a jumbled mass with two lines emerging in opposite directions, the picture is a physical construction and representation of one way to look at the concept of history. The truth value of this album cover’s message is dependent upon the individual viewer’s opinion of history. However, the image demonstrates the artist’s perception of truth in that history might seem an overwhelming twisted mass, but it does not have to be confining and people can move on.

A final everyday image come from the recycling bin placed in my dorm room. The well-known recycling triangle serves to represent the material result of recycling—a continuous cycle that does not require the input of new resources or the waste of older ones. What interested me in this image in terms of its truth value are the words “We Recycle.” Not everyone recycles and not every material good can be incorporated into the recycling triangle, so this image represents a truth for some parts of society, but not everyone.

Semiotic analyses of the images of the Blue Angels and the album cover for Matthew West’s “History” reveal a bit more of the ideology behind the two pictures. For the photo of the Blue Angels, the actual planes and their flying formation serve as a signifier of military precision and power (the signified). Together the signifier and signified form a sign with a denotation of physical planes performing acrobatic maneuvers that seeks to implicate an ideology of military greatness. For the “History” album cover, the signifier is the illustration of a tangled mass with the two arrows exiting in opposite direction. This signifier combines with the signified, in this case the concept of history, to form a sign. The ideology promoted in the image is one that believes history can be overcome and is not a completely restraining force.

An example of high art that can be found on campus is the painting of the ceiling of Knowles Chapel. This intricate work can be classified as high art because it has been assigned significance due to its pedigree, setting, and the painstaking method by which it was done. Essentially, it is high art because the Rollins community and other parties have given it an intrinsic value. My final image is an advertisement from a surfing magazine. It serves as an example of low art because it might be classified as current “pop culture” and is not recognized for its aesthetics, artist or message. It is a simple advertising image meant to get one’s attention, not to be framed, hung or admired.

Part II:
I believe mass media can have a democratic or oppressive function, dependent upon the society where it is used. However, understanding “our society” to mean “American society,” I would say that mass media serves a democratic purpose. It makes media of all sorts widely available, and in most areas there is a sufficiently broad range of viewpoints offered as to provide individuals with the ability to view, listen, or read media that agree, disagree, or are wholly neutral in relation to their own beliefs. With a simple online search and a few clicks I can listen to Howard Stern, but with equal ease I can tune in to Dr. James Dobson’s radio program. Politics is the prime example of the ability of mass media to be democratic. When President Bush makes a nationwide televised speech, the screen does not fade to black afterwards. The aftermath includes pundits on both sides—Sean Hannity and James Carville for instance—discussing and debating the president’s words. Since the livelihood of mass media depends upon appealing to a broad group of people, it is in the industry’s best interest to be democratic and deal with many cultural groups, personal interest and differing opinions.