culture

Media Awareness 9/3/2012 – Everywhere And You No Longer Care

by

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m doing an experiment on better understanding how I consume media – something important in a high-tech media-saturated age, and relevant as I often speak and write on geeky careers, which are quite media/technical.

The basic technique is simple – keep a journal and write down when you game, watch TV, or something similar and why you do it.  Just asking “why” is pretty informative.

However, one of the things I noticed quickly is that those of us in America are in a very media-saturated society.  I’m sure many others live in similar societies, but I’m focusing on my current situation.  My current situation is very loud, noisy, and distracting to say the least.

Televisions running in bars and oil change shops.  Advertising everywhere.  Celebreties famous for being famous hawking perfume when I go to buy a shirt.  Giant media events with film releases or book releases making news.  New shows to watch, new DVDs, etc.  This is even before we get to the internet.

Then there’s the tie-ins.  Products and promotionals.  Branded candy.  Games based on the movie of the book.  We are surrounded by media, by information, by things that go into our brain or tie into things already there.

This of course is understandable: we’re human, we’re creatures of information.  But media is everywhere, all the time.  Culture is not something we carry or act on, but something being poured into us.

When you start monitoring your media habits, you start realizing very quickly how much is coming in, at times involuntarily.

A few takeaways:

  • I think the love of “media” jobs – writer, actor, etc. is so popular as such careers are so visible.  If you see actors, hear about writers, etc. all the time then people will want to be them.
  • Media competition is competition for attention, and at high saturation points that can get pretty intense.  Just look at concerns over ad hit rates on web pages.
  • Control of your own media consumption is a way to prevent dilution of time and knowledge.  I’d love to see media-use strategies of successful people analyzed.

 

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

50 Shades Of Shut The Hell Up

by

So, yes, we all know the story.  Woman writes Twilight fanfic.  Twilight fanfic gets repurposed as erotica series known as “50 Shades Of Grey”.  Woman makes money.  People make fun of situation.

Really the only problem as a progeek for me is the latter one – the mockery.

From what I hear about “50 Shades of Grey” is, to put it mildly, is rather purple and the content is may disturb some.  It’s not Shakespeare or Pratchett, and there’s elements that sound rather squicky.  But really the only criticism that seems relevant to me may be some of these quality issues, and even then there’s only so much I can say because I actually watch films like “2 Headed Shark Attack.”*

Read more

Fandom, Critique, and Art

by

In order to criticize a movie, you have to make another movie.

– Jean-Luc Godard (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000419/bio)

Fellow blogger Serdar turned me on to the above quote, which speaks volumes really about media, culture, and profans (and fans doing pro-activity as fans).

I’m a great believer in people practicing an art, be it writing, or music, or drawing.  Some form of communication is worth practicing and even mastering, for the sake of expressing ourselves, understanding how others communicate, understanding how others manipulate, and to create a dialogue.  To have an art is to engage other people.

This is one of the reasons I love fandom, geeks, nerds, otaku, and more.  Many of them are engaged in their art, from fanfic to fanart to fan games.  They are practicing their creativity and communication.

Godard’s quote made me realize that in a way, they’re really engaging other creators in a dialogue and in a critique.

Think of many fanfics go down paths that authors avoided.  Yes at times there were damn good reasons for that.  But still, the dialogue is there, even if it’s more telling about a fans desires or a misinterpretation or a wish fulfillment.

Think of the artists who show characters in new light, from the humorous to the deep to the bizarre.  Each piece of art is a glimpse into an opinion, and analysis, and/or an artists ideas.  Even if it’s just pandering or a simple piece for fun it tells you something.

Fan creations are a kind of dialogue.  Often about the fans themselves and among the fans themselves, but it is a dialogue.  So many of us are following Godard’s advice in writing, art, music videos and more.

In some cases however it breaks into the larger world (even if not always well received). Hasbro’s engagement with the Bronies.  50 Shades of Gray bringing fanfic and taboo subjects to the fore.  User-created content being encouraged by gaming companies.  There are moments the fan/otaku/nerd/geek dialogue breaks out – and it’s magic when it does.

In a way, I think that’s part of what I’m trying to do in my work here and elsewhere – connect people up and expand the horizons of what they do and who they reach.  I want to see the dialogue expand.

Of course I also want to see you make money at it too.  That’s a given.  Seeing what it can be can help.

The fanart, fanfic, games, RPGs, and more are all, in a way, a form of dialogue.  We’re all doing a critique or commentary on previous art, even if we never go as far as Godard and make a movie to critique another film.  It’s powerful and amazing, and it should be appreciated as such.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/