Blog 8 - Dr. Massie - Mass Communication

*this is a spoiler alert for those who have not seen Pulp Fiction*

Pulp Fiction is a movie one needs to keep up with. It holds the attention of the viewers by placing scenes of the movie out of order. The movie opens with the last scene. There is a couple discussing how they will rob a restaurant instead of a liquor store. After this scene, it cuts to Jewels and Vince who are retrieving the brief case. Next, shows Butch making a deal with Marcel (The Mob boss) where he will throw the boxing match; this is where Jewels and Vince drop the brief case off. The following scene is where Vince takes Marcel’s wife, Lia, out to dinner upon Marcel’s request. After dinner, Vince takes Lia home where she finds his heroin, snorts it, and overdoses. He rushes her to a friend’s house and saves her life. The next scene is Butch as a child. Here his father’s friend is giving him Butch’s father’s watch which is something extremely close to him. After this scene Butch wakes up, as an adult sweating, looking back on this event. Continuing, Butch does not throw the match. He goes to the hotel where his girlfriend is and asks for his watch. She does not have it so he freaks out and drives back to his apartment to find Vince, Marcel’s guy, there to kill him. Butch kill 

Vince and retrieves his watch. Next, Butch is driving back to his girlfriend; at a stop sign Marcel is walking by, see’s Butch, there is a big scene and Butch and Marcel end up in a shop where Marcel is raped and Butch ends up saving him. (I know weird scene, it is hard to explain). After this Marcel gives him a pass and tells him to leave LA and never come back. 

The movie jumps back to where Jewels and Vince are retrieving the mysterious brief case and kills the three kids who are watching it. They get there middle man and leave. In the car, Vince is talking to the middle man and accidently shoots him. Jewels gets mad and has to call his friend Jimmy to help clean up the mess. It takes some time but the mess is cleaned up and Vince and Jewels walk out in Jimmy’s clothes because theirs are covered in blood. The scene then goes back to the beginning scene that we see. Vince and Jewels are eating breakfast after the long crazy morning they have and the couple attempts the robbery, fails because of Jewels and Vince, and then they leave. This is the last scene.

Pulp Fiction is a great movie to watch. It is something that keeps you thinking throughout the movie. If I did not watch it with my friends I do not think I would have completely understood it right away. The annoying point about this movie is it never shows what is in this important brief case. I also like this part because it keeps the movie alive after.

I think if the plot was put in a traditional way it would lose its unique theme and identity really. I do not think it would be a popular movie if the scenes were not mixed up.

If I were to grade this movie on an A – F scale, I would give it a B+. It is a good movie but it is not something that I am usually interested in. I liked the story line to a certain point. I am not a fan of mobs and killing to be honest. I did enjoy the humor in the movie. There were a few time where I was laughing because of the stupid funny stuff the characters would say.

Overall Pulp Fiction was a decent movie and I would recommend it to others. I do not think I would add it to my movie collection, but I do believe it is a one-time movie watch.

The link provided here is a timeline of Pulp Fiction in chronological order and in its actual version side by side. It is something that helped me understand the movie.

Blog 6 - Dr. Massie - Mass Communication

For this blog I chose to watch, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. In the episode, The Gang Recycles Their Trash; there was plenty of product placement. The argument that will be made is what was placed on purpose and what was just there.

This episode is roughly twenty minutes long. In the very beginning the group is walking through a garbage dump. In the garbage dump there is a Staples and Sony box laying in the piles. I do not think either one was placed on purpose. I believe they was thrown there just to put the scene together. They did not pop out, but they were noticeable. Next (thirty-six seconds into the show), the group walks into the bar, where most of the scenes are, and to the left there is a Coors Light led light hanging on the wall behind the actors. Here, I believe that this could be product placement. The show could have used any other sign to display. Maybe Coors Light is a sponsor for the show. Forty-three seconds into the show there is another Coors Light logo. It is behind the bar as one of the taps. The other taps are not labeled. This is what brought me to believe that they are a sponsored item and this is why they are placed noticeably. One minute and seven seconds in, there is a Coors light bottle next to one of the characters chatting to the group. I believe this was placed because the logo is pointed out towards the camera which makes it noticeable.

Roughly two minutes in, the Eagles Stadium appears in the introduction. Since the show is in Philadelphia, this could or could not be considered product placement. I am going to lean towards that it is because they could have shot the intro anywhere else in Philadelphia. Next, some of the guys went to a car rental shop to try to get a vehicle so they can collect trash. At this rental place an Express, Chevy, and Lincoln were presented. I do not think these are considered product placement. I believe these vehicles were already in the lot where the scene was shot. If all the vehicles were one brand or one type, then I believe it would be considered product placement. The logos were not easily seen.

After the product placement that was mentioned already, there was a gap throughout the episode where no products were seen. Sixteen minutes into the episode a few more were noticeable. Behind the bar Bombe Sapphire, Jose Cuervo (margarita mix), and a Coors Light drainer were seen as the characters were having a conversation. Lastly, with roughly two minutes remaining, one of the characters is wearing a Diamond Cutter t-shirt. I believe this is product placement because all of the other characters are wearing plain shirts. It is tricky to wear a shirt that has a logo on it or that is not plain without it being considered product placement.

Throughout the whole episode, there was a fair amount of product placement, not too much, but enough. It seemed that the product placement is surrounding, and in, all of the bar scenes. 

Rhetorical Criticism - Dr. Ron - Blog 3

This blog is all about choosing a method. There are several methods that we have discussed in class. A few of them are as following: Neo-Aristotelian criticism, Cluster criticism, Fantasy-Theme criticism, Ideological criticism, and Pentadic criticism. It was tough to pick one that will be applied to my term paper. An idea I have is to use the Pentadic criticism method, my second would be cluster criticism.

 I chose the Pentadic method because it seems to fit memes in general best. Within this method there are a few terms Burke uses that will help with the term paper. The first term is dramatism. Dramatism is “the label Burke gives to the analysis of human motivation through terms derived from the study of drama” (Foss p. 355). Drama is everywhere with memes; memes are drama! Dramatism will allow/help take the meme apart and analyze it. This method will help interpret all parts of the “Everywhere” meme.

                A second term, or part, of the Pentadic method that will be most useful to dissect the meaning of memes, especially the meme I will be using, is the five basic elements of a drama that Burke uses. The five basic elements are as following; act, which is the what; agent, which is the who; agency, which is the how; scene, which is the where and when; and purpose, which is the why (Foss p. 356). First, the act, which is understood as, “what was done is the message”; next is the agent, which is understood as, “who performed it”; after that would be the agency, which is understood as, “the means by which the act is completed”; followed by the scene, which is understood as, “the background or situation that it is taken place at”; completed with the purpose, which is understood as, “the rational of the message” (Foss p. 356 - 357). There is an element that Burk would like to add to the Pentad. This element is attitude. “Attitude designates the manner in which particular means are employed” (Foss p. 357). Attitude is not on the Pentad because there is not enough to make it its own, however, it fits in close with agent.

                Lastly, Foss talks about ratios. Ratios can help examine the meme used. Under ratio, Foss talks about the dominant terms and how to discover them. Foss explains dominant terms in the following sentence as, “the most important term among the five [act, agent, agency, scene, purpose] and the term through which everything else happens” (p.360). She then continues later explaining, “as you apply ratios to discover the relationships among the terms, you will find that you are balancing between your general knowledge of the kinds of relationships that exist among the terms and the relationship that is being set up within the artifact [meme]” (p.361). The dominant term with the meme used will be “everywhere”. The meme is based around this word. It explains what the meme means. There is XX Everywhere.

                Overall I believe the Pentad method will be the best method for me to use to analyze my meme.

Blog 5 - Dr. Massie - Mass Communication

In “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (air date: Monday Jan. 5. 2015), Stewart had a discussion which involved who is running for the presidential position. Jim Webb, Melvin Dickpictweet, Bernie Sanders, Chris Christy, Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, and Jeb Bush are six candidates who Stewart made fun of that are running for this position. He made a few jokes about each candidate but nothing serious came out of this viewing. After the commercial Stewart then discussed the issues involving the new movie at the time; The Interview staring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Stewart goes on explaining how The Interview was canceled because Korean hackers threatened to launch 911 style attacks on theaters who showed the movie. Stewart was not happy about this and made a joke about interfering with our holiday releases.  

He slammed Korea and made jokes about how the United States has upped their security so North Korea does not smuggle arms in. Stewart started making fun of the different sanctions that the United States is taking caution with North Korea. He then continues how the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, made “the list” and can no longer attend our universities. After this discussion, Stewart brings in Steven Brill author of “America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System”. Stewart and Brill spoke seriously and in joke about his book. They talked about Obama and Obama care and how Brill needed open heart surgery. He had an aneurysm in his heart. Stewart asks, “Why do you think President Obama wants to kill you”. The audience laughed and they continued the conversation how the NSA planted the aneurysm as a joke. Overall Stewart is a funny guy and has a good show but I could never take it seriously.

I believe “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” degrades news and makes serious topic appear less serious. I understand it is supposed to be a funny show but It makes everything lighter than it should be. America should not be making fun of who is running for president. They should take that seriously. By making it a joke, Americans could elect someone who was mentioned in this show because it was funny, not because of the work they had accomplished if any at all. A second issue I have with this show because of how it degrades news would be the fact that they are joking about The Interview. It is a serious matter already that Korea is upset with America for releasing it, let alone Jon Stewart making fun of the movie even more.

Overall this is a fun show to watch but it is something that could be a problem with our news. If people decide to watch The Daily Show with John Stewart and take what he says seriously; this could be a problem. There are more disadvantages than there are advantages to this show. It would be nice to see him make fun of lighter issues going on rather than the serious one within our country. 

Rhetorical Criticism - Dr. Ron - Blog 2

It is a little crazy that there are scholarly articles involving memes. It brings up a small question. What does this say about our society today? What made us strive to create scholarly articles and journals about memes? I am sure there are better things to be discussing in our world today. Enough about this little rant, now I would like to discuss the Everywhere meme a little further. But before I get into this specific meme, I would like to discuss the background of memes in general. Why were memes created? Why did they become so popular? These are questions that come up and need some answers.

The word “meme” was originated from Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene ( Where/How Did Memes Actually Start? ). The word “meme” was always around rather the idea behind a meme was created more recently.

Memes are a lot of things. They can be symbols, catch-phrases, languages, and styles. Some are more world known some are between a few friends. Some embarrass people, some are just plain funny. Why did they start? When researching where memes originated from, I could not find a solid answer. They are something that just started. One day someone decided to put a caption on a picture and a meme was born.

The Jung Journal discusses the Great Mother and the Wise Old Man. These are two archetypes that memes are thought to have begun. These two archetypes are found consistent across several different cultures and religious backgrounds ( Hossain, 2015 ). It seems that religion and older figures are easy targets for memes to be created.

The Jung Journal mentions, “the notion behind the internet jargon of an idea ‘going viral’ in reference to the new class of concepts known as Internet memes”. Hossain then mentions Dawkins and how he introduced the concept of the meme as something that “conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission” ( Hossian, 2015 ). Dawkins linked a meme to a gene. “A replicator that follows the laws of evolution as the basic unit of cultural transmission” ( Hossian, 2015 ).

Basically memes are spread because of the funny picture along with the hilarious caption. The “Everywhere” meme is an example of a popular meme because it caught on. A meme has to catch on to become popular. People need to like a meme for it to go worldwide. The “Everywhere” meme started in a not so liked meme. It was of a pornographic phrase of “Dicks, Dicks everywhere”. People were not fans of this to they did not share it. Then others liked the idea and the picture behind the meme so they change the wording to either “drama, drama everywhere” or “XXX, XXX everywhere” ( fill in any fitting word with the X ). After this happened, the meme started to become popular and began to, as Hossain says, “go viral”.

The “Everywhere” meme became even more popular when they put the Toy Story version in. It just comes to show that anything can become popular once it goes viral. Especially memes.

"Where/How Did Memes Actually Start? | Meme Research Discussion." Know Your Meme News. N.p., 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.

Hossain, Shaikat. "The Internet as a Tool for Studying the Collective Unconscious." Jung Journal 6.2 (2012): 103-09. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

Rhetorical Criticism - Dr. Ron - Blog 1

Meme’s have become popular in our generation today. What is a meme? Google defines meme as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation”. One particular meme that I find entertaining is the meme where Woody and Buzz, from Toy Story, are standing next to each other and Buzz has his hand stretched out like he is showing, or explaining, something to Woody. Some people call this meme “Everywhere”. This meme illustrates sarcasm. It usually has a sarcastic meaning to it. Some examples that are placed with this meme are, “Memes, Memes Everywhere,” or, my personal favorite, “Drama, Drama Everywhere”. There are others as well, but these two, to me, are the best. The meme mostly stands for complaints. It is shows sarcasm when someone is annoyed at something. For example, “Drama, Drama Everywhere” is a meme that portrays drama. There are few people in the world that enjoy drama. Because of this, we as humans, like to make fun of events. The “Everywhere” meme is a great example.

The “Everywhere” meme started in 2007 with a man named Kirtaner. Kirtaner is an ordinary man who wanted to find an image, any image, which would make the phrase “Dicks Everywhere” look funny. When I first found the Woody and Buzz meme I was not aware of its background. I did a bit of research and found it amusing. Some people did not like the phrase, “Dicks Everywhere”, so they replaced it with “X Everywhere”. The X would be a replacement or a holding spot for a different word. Eventually, when the meme became slightly more popular, some people would double the X. The meme’s would then say “X, X everywhere”. This is where the Woody and Buzz meme started. There are other meme’s that show two people looking out with one of the persons hands stretched out to show the other person what they are looking at. The Woody and Buzz meme just so happened to become more popular.

I believe this meme does resonate with different audiences. Children would not understand the meme as much as an adult would. Most children would look at the meme and would be excited to see Woody and Buzz. They would not understand the meaning behind the meme. Adults on the other hand would look at the meme and could think of a hundred different phrases to go with it. I believe this meme is most effective with the high school and adult audience. These are the groups that would understand what words to fit in with the meme and have it make sense.

Overall the “Everywhere” meme is something funny but could have meaning behind it as well. A person could make a joke with the meme or they could send a message through the meme. The world has taken something so simple and funny, like a meme, and made it a huge internet sensation.  

Blog 1 - Dr. Massie - Mass Communication

Hello readers! My name is Samantha Litchert, but everyone calls me Sami so I would like to invite you to do the same. I am a senior who attends Kutztown University and I major in Communication with a minor in Public Relation. I have a few goals that I would like to accomplish before my time ends on this beautiful world. One of my goals is to change someone’s life for the better. I always wanted to be an inspiration to someone. Helping people is something I absolutely love doing. A second goal I have is to become a facilitator. I would love to be that person that companies, camps, schools, etc. call to come and facilitate icebreakers and team builders for them. A third goal I have is simply to stay positive. I have learned over the years that there is so much to life and negativity should not be one of them.

Enough about me; now I would like to share my reflection of my professor’s blog.

There are a few things that I agree Dr. Massie’s blog. First, I enjoyed the way he worded and phrased how social media takes an impact on our society today. How he put the word friends in quotation marks. It is true that people make a lot more friends online but never meet them. How is a friend defined? Can a friendship exist on social media alone? Should friendships go outside of the internet and exist in front of your eyes in flesh and bones? Who has the answer to these questions? Personally, I believe friendships could exist through social media alone, but I also believe they should exist before one’s eyes in flesh and bone as well.

This blog was short but had a lot of information to obtain. I enjoyed the quote Dr. Massie started his blog with, “You never step into the same river twice.” Quoted by Heraclitus. This had me ponder about what it meant. My understanding of this quote is if you step into a river, leave for two minutes to three years away, the water will change. The water you stepped into the first time will not make contact with your foot again. Our life is the same way. We decided to do something and we will never do it exactly that way again. The change could be something as a new air to breathe at the time or a whole new destination. Life is short. Live it the best way you can and do it the best way possible. There is always room for misstates. Own up to your mistakes and fix them in the future, do not hide from them.