The Metanarrative of Rollins College

        There is a metanarrative that describes all Rollins students as rich, upper class white kids who wear Vineyard Vines and Lilly Pulitzer; we are all high-functioning alcoholics and cocaine addicts who surprisingly do well in our studies despite our partying habits. The Urban Dictionary definitions of the school is a supposedly all-encompassing narrative about students at Rollins, calling the college a "country club." My personal favorite part is in a sample dialogue, in which a student says, "Lets do some coke and lay by the pool and look at all the hot girls while occassionly watching some sweet wakeboarders on the lake."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rollins+College
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rollin&defid=1482733

        While these definitions do make a caricature out of Rollins, they do contribute to the school's reputation, which is a part of a metanarrative about Rollins. Lyotard argues that we must "wage a war on totality;" he was completely against metanarratives, as they claim to completely describe a group of people, though they never really can. Lyotard believes that we as a society must destroy these metanarratives because they are no longer all-encompassing, and are therefore no longer necessary. This is true for Rollins College; while I had never experienced Rollins before I came here to go to school, and therefore don't know if the Rollins metanarrative applied to the school as a whole before I came here, it is true that the stereotype of the typical Rollins student is not all-encompassing now. While there are definitely many people at Rollins for whom this stereotype applies, there are also so many people like myself who are not rich and who do not wear "preppy" clothing. There are many students who are the complete antithesis of the Rollins stereotype, who study hard and do not go out drinking every night. Lyotard has a very postmodern view in advocating the abolishment of the metanarrative, because his ideas divide themselves from the idea that society requires an all-encompassing metanarrative in order to define itself. The postmodern belief rejects the idea that our modern society is uniform enough to fit under the umbrella of a single category, as Rollins students are not all the same preppy, well-off students who act out that the metanarrative states we are.

The Last Post

After studying a semester's worth of theorists, I find Bordieu one of my favorite theorists that we have done so far. As I read his essay, I was reminded of how similar news channels are in different parts of the world — be it a news channel from China, Singapore, or United States, and be it in Mandarin or English, Bordieu's argument bears strong in all cases: TV news "suits everybody because it confirms what they already know and, above all, leaves their mental structures intact" (254). Weather forecasts, hurricane alerts particularly, are able to manipulate mass viewership through fear. For example, a family will be more likely to stay in if the weather forecast suggests a 70% chance of precipitation. Similarly, this reminded me of news segments on the recent acts of violence all around the world — people watch news anchors report on the "anywhere, anytime" nature of mass shootings (or bombings) and become hesitant to go out the door. My friend has told me on many occasions that she never feels safe in public environments anymore; she no longer goes to movie theaters for fear of being a victim of a shooting. To live in a society too terrified to be a society sounds much like a plot line out of a cheap movie, but it seems to be slowly turning into reality. 

I recently downloaded the CNN app onto my iPhone and receive notification blurbs about new articles every hour. With the recent updates on the mass shooting in San Bernardino popping up every five minutes this past Thursday and Friday, I noticed how much more fearful I was of the outside than I ever had been in the past. It's interesting that the power of the news anchor on television has shifted to the simple ping of a notification on my iPhone — in every moment that my phone vibrates with a notification, the bubble of fear and hesitancy grows ever so slightly.

Social Media and Exhibitionism

        After temporarily losing my cell phone and not having it for a weekend, I was even more aware of Bordieu's concept of voyeurism and exhibitionism than I usually am. I confess that I am addicted to scrolling through Instagram and watching my friends' Snapchat stories; these platforms to peer in on people, and to be peered in on, are a large part of our culture today, especially for people who are my age. The absence of being able to view what people were doing during this weekend left me oddly at a loss. I think that it is pretty damaging when one feels like they are missing out just because they can't check social media. I think it's interesting how people on social media distort their life to show only the best parts; this exhibitionism shows a "virtual reality," rather than the "actual reality" of events that occur outside of the sphere of social media. I admit that I am incredibly guilty of this, as I pick and choose the most photogenic pictures of myself for my Instagram profile and the funniest videos for my Snapchat story in order to make my life seem interesting and exciting. We are a generation of narcissists, and we hope to instill in one another a sense of envy through selective self-presentation. While social media can help people to connect with other people who are on opposite sides of town, the country, or even the world, it can be abused.
        The pressure to impress people on social media through exhibitionism is further intensified by the "followers" and "like" features on Instagram, and the "viewed by" feature on Snapchat stories. We are validated by a high number of followers and likes, and try to have interesting stories on Snapchat in order to gain the most views. Personally, if I don't get 100 likes or more on a photo, I feel invalidated in posting the photo. I have heard many times throughout conversations with people in my generation (and participated in conversations like this, too) about feeling invalidated and inadequate because one didn't get as many likes on a photo as they had wanted to. We scroll down our Instagram feeds and "like" photos according to the quality of the photo, as well as how well they know the person who they are following. We are amateur critics, validating only what we deem as worthy. This concept of exhibitionism and voyeurism through social media applies accurately to our generation, as we often depend upon social media in order to validate ourselves and improve our self-esteem.

The Macy's Parade Is One Big Advertisement

        Pierre Bordieu states that "the farther a paper extends its circulation, the more it favors such topics that interest 'everybody' and don't raise problems. The object - news - is constructed in accordance with the perceptual categories of the receiver" (Bordieu 254). This can apply to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I watched a couple of weeks ago on Thanksgiving for the first time in years. When I watched the parade, I was appalled by the blatant capitalism throughout it. I hadn't noticed this in previous years, as I hadn't thought as critically in the past. The parade, which reaches 22.3 million viewers, makes no political stance or sends important messages; instead, it presents advertisements in the form of floats, balloons, and performances. These meaningless, capitalistic advertisements are extremely elaborate. From a balloon featuring the Pillsbury Doughboy to a float advertising Build-A-Bear workshop, the pageantry and entertainment factor just barely mask the fact that the parade is just one big advertisement. These floats and balloons are advertisements as well as entertainment, and they are part of a system of "homogenization, which smooths over things, brings them into line, and depoliticizes them" (Bordieu 254). This also falls in line with Chomsky's assertion that "advertisers will want, more generally, to avoid programs with serious complexities and disturbing controversies that interfere with the 'buying mood'" (Chomsky 213). If the Macy's parade was a controversial event, it would never get the number of sponsors and advertisers that it gets today, as it is not a politically charged event.

        Rather than reporting on real news, the newscasters report on trivial things, such as which float is coming down the street in New York City, and interview stars of new television shows on the NBC network, advertising further programming on their channel. The newscasters themselves are examples of Bordieu's criticism on the celebritization of news anchors, as they "are treated with a respect that is often quite out of proportion with their intellectual merits" (Bordieu 254). Americans know Matt Lauer and Al Roker, and look forward to seeing them on their television screen. We as a society idolize news anchors such as Lauer and Roker, and during the parade, we trust them to host with integrity and without politicization. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has truly changed in my mind from a purely fun event to one that involves blatant advertisement and idolization of news anchors.

A Final Afterthought and a Big Thank You

As you all know by now, I am not a CMC Major. In fact, the only CMC class I had taken previous to this one was CMC 100 my Freshman year. With that said, I absolutely loved this class and I owe that to all of you. I had previously not been in a class with such engaging discussions that truly challenged the realm and depth of my critical thinking skills.  This class has been an extremely uplifting, enlightening, cathartic, and even therapeutic experience for me, one that I really had been searching for throughout my  time as a Rollins student.

This course taught me a lot about my self and the perceptual lens through which I experience the world; more so than I was ready for. As a senior, I kind of just took this class because I needed credit and I wanted to have a class with Dr Cummings. As the course progressed, I realized how much I was learning from my peers as well as from the course material. In my experience, there are typically only one or two people that add  substance to class discussion, at least in most communication classes. With this class, you all challenged my perception and pushed me to look through various lenses rather than my own. Furthermore, being able to genuinely discuss such a variety of complex works with so many perceptions was fantastic.

As far as the material goes, I can definitely say I look at the world through a very different lens I previously did, especially in regards to media. With so much theory in the back of my brain now, I will never be able to see any form of media as simply “entertainment,” I know that everything is deeper than that. I certainly will never be able to look at Disney the same either!

You all made me grow a tremendous amount this semester. You gave me everything I really needed from a college course, for the first time since I began at Rollins. Thank you all so much for being integral parts of such an amazing experience.

Social Prison

I really enjoyed the perception Foucault wrote from and many of his concepts particularly stuck out to me. The strongest part about his work was his was of paralleling our social construct to a prison.

The idea of a panopticon, as it relates to a prison, is that if the security tower is in plane sight, the inmates will assumes that they are always being watched. A perfect example of a panopticon can be seen in the prison scene in Guardians of the Galaxy, as we discussed in class.

In his work, Foucault relates the physical idea of a panotpicon to the confines that define our social norms. Although I had never heard these kinds of ideas put within the context of a prison, my mind instantly went to the idea of “Big Brother” always watching. Especially now, in the age where googling is an oxford-official verb and everyone from age six to sixty has a Facebook account, the idea of a social panopticon has never been more real. 

“Power should be visible and unverifiable” (98), which is what makes it so terrifying. The scary part about power now is that everyone has more of it at the tip of their fingers. The idea of privacy on the internet doesn’t exist, and that is largely do to the fact that once you put something out there, it will be out there forever.

In doing some outside research, I came across a very interesting video on youtube that did a very a good job of explaining a social panopticon in a modern context. I may come of a bit over the top at times, but it addresses some key topics we discussed in class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTKHI5ovyc

Propaganda in the 2016 Presidential Campaign

        In doing research for a political science assignment, I came across a blog about propaganda throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. Herman and Chomsky discuss how propaganda "manufactures" public consent for economic, political, and social policies; candidates looking to be elected are a prime example of this, as they are vying to get the consent of the public to run the country through spinning their political policies in the most positive light possible. Following the propaganda model, a political campaign is essentially a business looking to sell its product to the voting public. This campaign season is particularly fascinating because there are so many GOP candidates, and because of this, any candidate needs to stand out in order to gain media coverage and in turn gain votes; this results in propaganda, most of which is positive and focused on the candidate's own campaign. It is unusual for a campaign to launch negative propaganda, but during this campaign season, Chris Christie issued a negative piece of propaganda in the form of a bumper sticker aimed at Hillary Clinton. The sticker says, "No Way in Hill," and it includes both Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign logo and Barack Obama's 2008 logo.

        While most candidates try to get the public's consent through positive propaganda for their own campaign, Christie has decided to make voters consent to his opinion that Hillary Clinton should not be elected through this bumper sticker. 

        Rand Paul is also utilizing a form of political propaganda in his campaign; he created a campaign poster that looks like an eye chart, asking the public to see him as an eye doctor (which he really is, but which does not actually apply to his presidential campaign) who can "correct their vision" regarding American politics. His website states, "Dr. Rand Paul is an ophthalmologist (eye doctor), serving in the US Senate. Professionally, he has corrected the vision of thousands and now will do the same thing in the White House.. and we're not talking about a new prescription for President Obama." I find this to be a pretty odd statement; maybe it is my political bias, but while it is creative and plays into something that makes Paul unique from other candidates in the race, the metaphor doesn't seem to apply to Rand Paul because his policies don't seem like the most "clear" out of all the candidates'.

https://store.randpaul.com/index.php/rand-paul-eye-chart.html

Here's the link to the political blog:
http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/programs/cmd/blogs/posters_and_election_propaganda/tags/2016_election/