Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Fang pre class propaganda

In his first piece, Pierre Bordieu explains the current problem with how we, as a society, view culture saying "the denial of lower, coarse, vulgar, venal, servile- in a word, natural enjoyment which constitutes the sacred sphere of culture, implies an affirmation of the superiority of those who can be satisfied with the sublimated, refined, disinterested, gratuitous, distinguished pleasures forever closed to the profane" (251) meaning that the gap between high and low brow culture has increased and that distinction has dramatically affected society. The difference between opera and rock show is no longer just different types of music, but different sects and factions of people in relation to social status, education level, and socio-economic backgrounds which augments divisions in our culture which "fulfil[s] a social function of legitimating social differences" (251).
His discussion of television further develops this divide as TV is mostly determined by audience ratings which are used by advertisers so immediately it is apparent that there is a social construct made that most television viewers don't know about and are certainly not a part of and yet, it dominates their media consumption. The advertisers are put in a position to control the programming of television by a whim based on ratings and their primary interests.
The ratings system "is the sanction of the market and the economy, that is, of an external and purely market law"(259) as it seems just but really allows a small portion to dominate what many people use.
The is further developed in Herman and Chomsky's piece that explains the filters in propaganda as propaganda is put forth by advertisers in an effort to persuade us and they utilize media vehicles like television to exhibit those notions,
The biggest propaganda of all however is supported in Rollins's tradition of Fiesta as it supports the idea that there is only one Fiesta king and I frankly believe that is false.

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