Post #9: War Movies as Media Ethnographies

War movies appeal to me because of the human factor: old war movies, more often than not, focused on ultra-patriotic themes, but newer movies focus on the individual soldiers fighting the war, and the conflict’s effect on them. Several character tropes exist within this genre: the grizzled old veteran, the level-headed leader, the anxious new recruit, the fast-talking New Yorker, the black man from the Deep South, etc. These movies often focus on a close-knit squad or platoon of soldiers in which these tropes are allowed to manifest themselves naturally. Very often, this squad must accomplish some sort of mission—whether issued from a superior commander or, more abstractly, from within themselves—and naturally, with a variety of people comes a variety of opinions on the best way to do so.

The most commonly occurring themes can vary from the aforementioned ultra-patriotism (The Green Berets, any war movie involving Mel Gibson) to the loss of innocence (Platoon, All Quiet on the Western Front, Full Metal Jacket), to the overarching ideologies that factor into war (Kingdom of Heaven), to a simple look at how normal people behave when thrown into combat (Band of Brothers, The Hurt Locker). This genre is limited in the sense that war, in its most basic sense of one group of people killing another, has remained fundamentally unchanged since the dawn of time, and some would argue that there are only so many times that one can watch people getting killed in various nasty ways before it starts to get old. It can also be argued that the character archetypes that I listed above appear in many, if not most, war movies and that there is little or no room for character development or expansion.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)


Platoon (1986)


Full Metal Jacket (1987)


Gettysburg (1993)


Saving Private Ryan (1998)


Band of Brothers (2001)



Kingdom of Heaven (2005)


Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)


The Hurt Locker (2009)

Post #7: Personal Media Ethnography

The first thing I thought of for this assignment was a Facebook group I'm in. It's a group for fans of hard rock and heavy metal, but the regulars (I'm one of 40-50 people who post regularly) discuss all kinds of music. I don't mean to brag, but my identity in this group is that of an expert: a lot of the regulars who aren't necessarily as "experienced" in metal as I am ask me and a few other people for recommendations. However, the best thing about the group is that it's reciprocal: for every recommendation I give, I get four or five from someone else. It would be a fair estimate that I first found out about half of the bands in my iTunes library via this discussion board. This exchange of information makes for a tight-knit group with its own inside jokes, jargon, and protocol. For instance, if you're new to the forum, you can't just jump in and start posting; most of us regulars consider that rude, and we have a whole thread dedicated for newbie introductions. Also, when one of us says "tr00 kvlt blakk metuhl," most people would have no idea what we're talking about. However, that phrase functions as both an example of our own little version of the English language, and as an inside joke (I won't explain it here, because that defeats the purpose of an inside joke). However, we don't abuse the English language, either: we usually type grammatically correct posts, and people who tYp3 lYk Th15 in seriousness are often ridiculed for being an idiot.

Something like this group I'm in could function in the classroom as a way for students to share ideas. The Ning for this class is an excellent example. Students can post their own material, get feedback from their peers, and respond to others' work. Not only is this a way to facilitate discussion of class material, but it also allows students to sound out their ideas and writing abilities, enabling them to both better understand the material and improve their writing and critical thinking skills.

Post #6: VoiceThread

Representations of family in the media:

ed.voicethread.com/share/1422021/

When teaching representation in the media, it can be helpful to ask students about their perception of the lesson's topic first, in order to gain some insight into their mindsets. After that, one could show a certain movie clip, commercial, etc. and ask both how the clip conforms to and deviates from their perceptions, at which point one can then ask them about the factors that lead to those perceptions. Using this process, one can enable the students to think critically about what they think and why.

Post #5: Teaching Critical Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz2ET5K6zY0

The clip I picked was from one of the most memorable scenes from The Big Lebowski: the "Gutterballs" dream sequence. For this analysis, I will use both semiotic and feminist critical theory.

The dream sequence is highly symbolic and referential: almost everything seen is a reference to something earlier in the movie. The repairman's outfit that the Dude wears was also worn by Uli Kunkel, a.k.a. Karl Hungus, in the porno that Maude Lebowski showed the Dude in her studio. The man behind the counter is Saddam Hussein; the Stranger mentions at the very beginning of the movie that the story takes place during the first Gulf War. Bowling, the Dude's favorite pastime, is manifested several times, including the towering rack of bowling shoes (when Kenny Rogers & The First Edition play the line "I tripped on a cloud and fell eight miles high"), and Maude and the chorus girls' outfits. When the tone of the dream changes, we see a topless girl falling through a black frame; it is the same shot that opened the scene in which the Dude shows up at Jackie Treehorn's party. The three men in red are the three nihilists who kidnapped Bunny Lebowski, and the scissors they carry can be seen (on a red background) in a painting in Maude's studio.

The sequence is highly sexualized as well. There is a widely believed theory that The Big Lebowski's main motif is castration and the male fear of same; the three nihilists wielding gigantic scissors is one of the most cited examples. In addition, Maude is portrayed as an attractive Viking princess, complete with horned helmet. Though she tells the Dude earlier in the film that feminists are wrongly portrayed as hating sex, the dream sequence takes place inside the Dude's head, not hers, so she becomes a woman who needs a man to accomplish something (which proves important later in the movie, when Maude needs the Dude to impregnate her). He shows her how to throw the bowling bowl, as if she could not do it before he came along. The chorus girls are clad in bowling-themed outfits that reveal most of their bodies below the waist, and when the Dude helps Maude throw the ball, he becomes the ball and passes under the girls' spread legs as he travels down the bowling lane, sneaking a few peeks in the process.

In order to teach these approaches to students, I would first have them watch the necessary movie, clip, etc., paying special attention to a) allusions to other points in the movie, b) recurring symbols, images, words/phrases, etc., c) how women are portrayed, and d) the relationship between men and women in the scene in question, as well as the overall film. We would then discuss as a class the different interpretations that could be made.