Week 12

How has the documentary genre influenced reality TV and how it presents the ‘real’?

Documentaries, in general, are basically a snapshot of an aspect of normal human life, or are an insider's look into "another world" we may never experience once in our lives. Compare that to reality TV, which is simply "real" entertainment involving "real" people in "real" situations, and we have a small problem. Sure, they both entertain viewers, but in wholly different ways. Documentaries aim to mostly educate and alter the perceptions of viewers, get them to think about what it is they're doing, while reality TV just simply entertains viewers without any kind of heavy thinking necessary.

Documentaries are very real, in that the people shown in them are real people and not necessarily actors. How does the average viewer know that though? They may simply be people hired on temporarily to help with filming, and are considered real people because they don't sound like they're reading a script. This is where reality TV comes in, as it takes this thought process and creates just that: real people reading off of a script. A good example of this is the popular MTV show "Date My Mom", which introduces a guy going out with the mothers of 5 potential girlfriends. Out of those 5 girlfriends, he has to choose one of them to go out with via elimination style. The show makes very good use of scripts, which is slightly annoying, as the scripts are EVERYWHERE: on the dates, at the elimination, pretty much everywhere. Not only that, but they are read, not spoken, which removes the viewer from the immersion completely.

Reality TV, compared to Documentaries, do not present a true reality, as the situations thrown at the people in reality TV are most often scripted and pre-planned. Also, there are likely scripts   involved in certain points (or everywhere, as shown above). Sometimes the real people aren't exactly real at all, and are instead renowned actors paid to appear on the show for easy money.

Overall, Documentaries and Reality TV present the 'real' in different ways: through real people being insiders into other lives or circumstances, or by showing real or "fake" people through a camera lens, giving them situations to get through in different ways. This can work as entertainment, or it can work for educational purposes. Either way, they both present the real as a completely different object: Documentaries present it as a factor in determining how we perceive what is shown in the documentary, and reality TV presents it as something to be trivialised and entertained through scripts and situations.

Week 10

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

The Buffy series was notorious for the changing faces of the various characters, as they would follow their own wants, needs and desires in accordance with the situations presented to them. Good and evil are defined by the Free Dictionary as being "of moral excellence; upright" and "morally bad or wrong; wicked", respectively. However, the characters in Buffy can be both good and evil at the same time, or they can be doing something inherently evil, in order to do a good act or for what they perceive as good.

An example present in the episode "The I In Team" was when Buffy joined up with the secret group called the Initiative, who were supposedly doing "good" by capturing demons and monsters. Unfortunately, those lines were slightly blurred when the viewer finds out about Walsh's ambiguous motive behind the Initiative's goal, which was to create a creature using parts extracted from the captured demons , with help from Buffy. This in turn made Buffy leave the Initiative, along with Riley doing so only because of his morally unambiguous feelings towards Buffy (he goes back to them later on). Therefore, throughout this episode, traditional ideas of good and evil are very much blurred, and are sometimes unrecognisable to almost be neutral.

The next example is in the very next episode  "Goodbye Iowa" where Buffy and the viewers find out about Walsh's hidden project (the creature mentioned previously) and the consequences associated with it. The creature named Adam escaped and is wandering around causing havoc, a la Frankenstein, and being the supposedly evil character he is. He then comes across a boy playing in the woods. Adam asks him deep and meaningful questions about who he is and what the boy is, after which the boy calls him a monster. After killing the boy, we can see that Adam, being the creation he is, has no morals and therefore does not care about who he kills, so long as he finds out about himself and what his purpose is. The line between good and evil then becomes slightly blurred when Buffy and Riley go back to the Initiative and confront Dr. Angleman about Walsh and Adam. Angleman is killed when Adam appears from the ventilation ducts and stabs him in the back, and once he escapes, the other Initiative soldiers take Riley back with them, effectively switching the Initiative's position to evil.

Overall, the notions of good and evil switch constantly within the Buffy universe, as characters who stay the same throughout the series would be very boring to watch and relate to. Also, it would mean no progress through the plot, as there would be no real character development associated with the changing of alignment.

Week 6

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?

The term shojo is defined, literally, as "young girl", and when put into the context of anime or manga, shojo can mean that the anime/manga has a young female main character, or that the anime/manga is intended for young girls. In the case of Princess Mononoke, it is the former, as the story can get very mature at times, along with a lot of blood and gore. Definitely not a young girl's anime.

Usually, the 'shojo' (when looking at anime) is a young girl with whom the viewers can relate to on a very broad scale. This, in turn, brings in a select audience that may enjoy watching something like this, or those who can easily relate to the character. In Princess Mononoke, San is classified as the female lead character, and as such is classified as a 'shojo' character, as she looks to be no older or no younger than Ashitaka. However, she does seem to have a wild streak, akin to her wolf 'family', which gives her a sort of feral look and attitude towards people. This is not exactly typical of normal shojo characters, as they are frequently portrayed as being the ideal good girl character: nice to everyone they meet, kind-hearted, and slightly naive. Then again, that is what she briefly turns into once she rescues Ashitaka.

Compare this to western movies and TV shows, and there are only a select few shojo characters, examples of which are Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons), Gabrielle (Xena) and Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), just to name a few. Young female leads are still somewhat hard to find, but they can still be found within very niche TV series'. Nowadays, western media is concentrating on the gritty and realistic, and none of what was mostly shown earlier on (examples being Life with Loopy, Clarissa, Full House etc), which was mostly just boys and girls having fun and overcoming barriers in the world they live in and not necessarily fighting against it.

Week 4 - Archetypes

What are some archetypes (e.g. common character types) of fantasy fiction?

An archetype is defined by The Free Dictionary as being "An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned" and "In Jungian psychology, an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious."

Looking at this, an archetype could be anything from a skater to a hippy, to an intellectual and to a artist, as well as Jungian archetypes like the Shadow and the Self. However, those are typical archetypes in the real world. In fantasy fiction, it goes beyond that and introduces a whole group of generic archetypes within a specific genre.

To start this off, we'll go with the basic of the basic: The Hero. In "A Wizard of Earthsea" that Hero archetype is, of course, Ged. After having his village attacked by Karg raiders, then saved by his timely use of a fog-gathering spell, he heeded the call to adventure after the Gontish mage Ogion heard of this feat and called upon him to learn more about magic. He did so because if he didn't, he would possibly become a danger to everyone, including himself.

This then introduces another common archetype of fantasy fiction: The Mentor/The Wizard. Ogion is the quintessential mentor, as after Ged saves the village, he takes Ged on as an apprentice and tries to teach him all he knows about magic. He also acts as a father figure, more so than his real father back at the village, as he understands Ged's burden of magic and the usual problems associated with growing up.

Once Ged leaves Ogion after growing restless under his tutelage, as well as almost summoning the shadow who is the main villain in the story, we move on to a third archetype: The Shadow. In Earthsea's case, the shadow archetype is literally a shadow; a being of pure evil that is unwittingly summoned by Ged, and is basically a manifestation of his innermost fears. The shadow in Earthsea acts as the villain, but isn't one of the typical villains in normal fantasy stories as the shadow isn't human. Once Ged leaves Ogion, he goes to the school on the island of Roke, and learns a lot within the school. However, because he is still so young and prideful, he turns all that around when he tries to summon a dead spirit. The shadow that manifested while under Ogion now finds a way to be summoned into the world. During this ordeal, his face gets scarred by the shadow before being driven off by the Archmage of the school, Nemmerle. However, Nemmerle uses up all of his power driving it away, and ultimately dies.

week 6

God – man+ woman

From the scene when San and Ishitaka were lifting and holding the God of nature’s head to return, and when the God takes their offer, his head I thought the scene describes the unity of a man and a woman who can become one to overcome problems. Back in the past, both east and west societies, men have dominated in and out of their house. Despite of the background history of the film which was medieval era when people think women should stay at home raise children and do housework while men go out and make money, this animation has defamiliarized and changed image of Japanese traditional female to active. In this film, women were working in ironwork, commanding men what to do and shooting rifles and even kill the God. However what I concern about this defamiliarzation is people who do not know Japanese culture would misunderstand traditional Japanese women roles in that time. People would think Japan had modernized women's social position as this film is not based on an actual historical event.

Human vs human

The history of human tells us, there were many wars and there are still. The force of Lady Eboshi and the emperor’s forces had battles for the ironwork.

Disaster + nature vs human + greed

As a result of destroying environment, people are having a hard time because of natural disasters. for instance, Japan was hit by a number of devastating natural disasters in recent year. In the film, a guy from emperor's side wearing strange but traditional wooden shoes were trying to take the head of the god of nature to have the power of god to develop production of the country by cutting and destroying forests.

Destroy vs new life

it is like a cycle that humans destroy the nature to develop and natural disaster occur and it ruins what human have established. Naturally no matter how human's have high technology, men surrendered to the nature

There are many underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke, but as a viewer or audience we have different interpretations of what we believe to be the themes in this anime. This film has many female characters especially those women who are under the care of Lady Eboshi. We clearly see that the women who are always carrying riffles are in charge and most likely have the authority figure within relationship status. There is also the greed of materialism where the humans who want the power from the gods of nature almost end human race itself.

 

Week 12

Reality TV is a television programming that presents "humorous" situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors,. The genre exploded as a phenomenon around 1999–2000 with the success of such television series as Big Brother and Survivor. Programs in the reality television genre are commonly called reality shows and often are produced in a television series. Documentaries, television news and sports television are usually not classified as reality shows.

The genre covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game show or quiz shows to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as Big Brother Reality television frequently portrays a modified and highly influenced form of day-to-day life, at times utilizing sensationalism to attract audience viewers.

Hill (2005) states ‘Reality TV’ has undergone changes over years and first explains it is a ‘genre in transition’. From legal and emergency report programs, Hill looks to analyse the threshold between factual and fictional TV. ‘perhaps the most traditional industry term for reality TV is factual entertainment. The term usefully merges factual programming with entertainment-based television, and highlights hybridization, a common generic feature of most reality programmes.’
Hill (2005, p. 108) clarifies; ‘Another traditional industry term is that of popular factual, a term that links popular audiences with a variety of factual television genres and formats.’
Hill uses the name of ‘popular factual’ as a basis for his analysis.

Public television audiences interviewed gave a loose consensus that ‘viewers equated reality TV with ‘cameras following people around.’’

Hill (2005, p. 114) concludes ‘There is no one definition of reality programming, but many, competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre.’

Weeks 9&10 (Cult TV)

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

Traditionally or religiously the notion of good and evil can be distinguished by that bad people will go to hell and good people will go to heaven. Perhaps the Buffy as a person, she is good. However as looking through her life, she isn’t a good one. Braun (2000), It was season 2, it was called "Innocence". Angel experienced a true moment of happiness when he and Buffy had sex, and because of that, his curse was broken.“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” broke the traditional notion of good and evil. Probably Angel is a big factor in that.

When people like the contras between the two, it’s just a matter of awareness. Has nothing to do with "back sliding" as much as it has to do with the denial of human experience that serves a purpose. Attitudes toward good and evil are very rigorous and unbending.

Braun, B. (2000) The X-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The ambiguity of evil in supernatural representations. Retrieved 18 October, 2005 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_2_28/ai_64688900

Weeks 7&8

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction?

Speculative fiction is best described as "What if something was different to how it is now?"
Science fiction and fantasy are both speculative fiction (What if, in the future, mankind lived on Mars? What if there was a world where unicorns were the dominant race?)

 Some historical fiction could also be considered speculative, if your story looks at what would have happened if things had turned out differently. Example: After a short time as a republic in the 17th century (or thereabouts; I forget the exact date) England brought back the monarchy. Speculative fiction: What if England had remained a republic? How would this have affected its relations with the rest of the world?

Week 7&8 Science Fiction

What is the difference in emphasis between the terms science fiction and speculative fiction? Which is The Man in the High Castle?

 Science, technology, aliens, and space travel come under the genre of science fiction, which are ideas that have a realistic background to them. Science fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction which covers almost all fictional types such as fantasy, horror, supernatural, history, literature and of course, science fiction. We cannot say that there is a major difference between the two types of genre because science fiction is a sub category of speculative fiction.

The story in “The Man in the High Castle” reveals the idea of what if World War II was won by the opposite side. Philip K. Dick describes the outcome of how the world would be in the form of racism in different cultures. He then continues the story in a setting of outer space and starts to develop aspects of science fictional.

Philip K. Dick uses a real life historical background and fictionalizes it, adapting science fictional aspects into it. Due to the mixture of different categories of fictional ideas, we cannot entirely say that it is science fictional because it did not have a major role in the story. I believe this story is not reflecting its main idea on a science fictional theme but a historical one, and showing more characteristics of a speculative fictional story.

Weeks 11&12

How does Hill define reality TV? According to Hill (2005), ‘the category of reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming. The process of categorising reality TV highlights the inherent problems for the television industry, scholars and audiences in defining a genre that by its very nature is concerned with multiple generic participation, and constant regeneration Television industry. Hill stated that Reality TV on television industry is a successful genre and he mentioned that the most traditional industry term for reality TV is factual entertainment. It tells about how variety of heading for reality TV has been used and how game shows led to more frequent use of ‘reality TV to notice popular factual. Television scholars According to Hill (2005), television scholars have defined reality TV in a variety of different ways. Kilborn proposed reality TV is ‘fictional drama rooted in real-life situations. Reality TV employs different people, but there are still about the same number of jobs and it just gave us new up and coming actors with just a different way of getting started reality TV is no more "real" than the conventional scripted kind. Television Audience Hill (2005) indicated that reality TV viewers classify programmes according to fact/fiction criteria. Key characteristic of television is to let people to see for themselves. For example, reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother, What attracts audience is what people will or will not do for money. Will they stick to their morals or do something out of character. "People will do anything for money" including going through much physical, emotional and ethical discomfort / mental struggle. Evil Dick was the best Big Brother winners ever. He sniffed out people who were false and had the balls to call them on it to their face. He had a partnership with his daughter that lasted the whole game. He was a real character before he was on the show and seemed to behave exactly like he had behaved all his life so he didn't change his behavior for the show. Reality TV draws a viewing for several reasons: 1. people are very into watching other people's lives, many escaping form their own lives while staying in the comfort of their own home 2. it changes constantly. It's rare that a reality tv series will recycle a plot line like scheduled programming will. Conclusion According to Hill(2005), there is no one define of reality programme. However it may competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge w

Weeks 3&4

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guinn Le Guinn (2005) stated that ‘science fiction is a branch of realism’ and ‘fantasy deliberately Science fiction is concerned with what could plausibly happen, given what we know about the laws of physics and how technology and society could plausibly be different in the future, or in some other universe. Science fiction usually involves some highly advanced technology (the science in science fiction), space travel, and often aliens, and is usually based in the distant future. A good example for Science fiction could be Star wars Fantasy is concerned with things that could never happen in our world, either now, or as we know it to have been in the past, or as it might plausibly be in the future. Fantasy usually involves magic, mythological creatures (dragons, elves), low technology (swords, horses as transportation) and is often based in the past. The best example for Fantasy is Earthsea Reference: Le Guin, U.K. (2008). Plausibility Revisited . Retrieved from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html

Week 11 & 12 Reality TV Shows.

Hill (2005) defines reality TV shows in few different categories such as Television Industry, Television Scholars, Television audience, real lives, showing and telling and more.

Why do people choose to watch reality TV shows?

In today society, reality TV show popularity is increasing worldwide. There are a lot of different reality shows such as “The amazing Race”, “Fear Factor”, “X-Factor”, and much more. Reality TV show can cover a wide range of topics. It sometimes can be a race between participants such as “The Amazing Race” or even auditioning shows such as the “American Idol”   I came up with some ideas why people may choose to watch reality TV shows.

I personally love watching reality show such as “Survivor” and I am a big fan of it. The question is why do people choose to watch reality TV shows? In a survey conducted in America, most repeated answer that the people gave was “truth.” Reality TV shows clearly tells the audience how the real people react when they are fighting for something. The something maybe price money or missions that they have to accomplish. The price money amount is huge, so each participant are very competitive. This makes the TV show more interesting. They fight, revenge, and trick other people so that they can survive and other people to be eliminated. These stupid and silly acts they do make audience more interested. Also it makes the next episode really interesting and unable to miss a single episode. This is because viewers are dying to wait to see who is going to be eliminated next week.

Another reason why people choose to watch reality TV show is because people fantasize about gaining status through automatic fame. Winners of Reality TV shows such as X-Factor, they become really famous and most likely to become a celebrity. Audience also fantasize about the participants who are good singers, actors, even dancers. They wish, fantasize and imagine themselves as the participants that are in the audition. Lastly, many of the participants are commonly known as “nobody.” However, these “nobodies” can be a star in immediately. Ordinary people such as I tend to watch these TV shows, wishing and imagining that they could be a celebrity and gain fame.

Reference

Information Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200109/why-america-loves-reality-tv

Week 5&6

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime? 

The Japanese word ‘shojo’ literally means ‘young girl’. When applied to anime, it traditionally means a storyline that would appeal more to girls than to boys. It's themes and elements are in general much more interesting to girls than to boys. In general, shojo series contain plot elements of romance and friendship between girls, and also have a lot of bishonen boys.

 Miyazaki’s most of anime, the shojo characters are not as innocent or powerless compare to other anime. also The shojo characters in Miyazaki’s anime, they are not identify as men or women as adults In Miyazaki’s anime, there are several ‘shojo’ has been appeared. For example, Lupin The Castle of Cagliostro (Lady Clarisse), My Neighbor Totoro (Satsuki and mei), Warriors of the Wind (Nausica), Laputa: Castle in the Sky (princess sheeta), Future boy Conan (Lana), Kiki's Delivery Service (Kiki), and Princess mononoke (San). As above, there are variety of Shojo have been appeared as a main character in Miyazaki’s work. In Japan there are several anime which ‘Shojo’ has set up as being a main character or an important character. Such as sailor moon, bishojo in the anime. So not just Miyazaki’s anime As it was mentioned above, bishojo in ‘Sailor Moon’, they are fighting the enemy by protecting friends. However, Shojo from Miyazaki’s anime, they are more likely to fight for save mankind and Earth The Function to this shojo character seems to be making a reader or audience to make a curious about them. Many authors use the shojo characters to explore the concept of innocent and the weakness.

According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (ie comparing China and Japan)?

According to Lent (2000), One thing for sure about early animation in Asia was the prevalence of a western (meaning Disney for the most part) influence. For example China has copied of Mickey Mouse and created The smiling Monkey. India, ‘the pea brothers(1934) was also heavily influenced by Disney. Lent (2000) stated, “In some cases, pioneer animators such as James Wang of Taiwan, Payut Ngaokrachang of Thailand, Tezuka of Japan, and Shin Dong Hun of Korea proudly accepted the title "the Disney" of their respective countries, handed out by journalists and adoring fans.”

Asian Anime was first started from China. The four Wan brothers, in the 1920’s, credited with starting first animation ‘Uproar in an art studio (1926)’. It was influenced by American style of cartoon.(Lent, 2000). This succeeding generation continued until 1980s. However Mingxing Company published an article about Wans stressed and praised the importance of American cartoons. Thus they have started to make amines based on their culture ‘real Chinese traditions and story” (Lent, 2000) and it was for education basis. In the meantime Japanese combined with Western animation in 24-hour broadcast.

In addition, Chinese authorities have banned foreign Animation to make a space for local animation. Moreover other Asian countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippine, Singapore and Malaysia had complain about American and Japanese animation. “It’s the main objections to the importation of American and Japanese animation have to do with the presenting of values which are anathema to Asian cultures or the depicting of violent or sexually explicit content.” (Lent 2000).

Lent explains about how those country begin accept animation in the late 1990s.

Therefore, animation in Asia has benefit for culturally and economically. For example, Korean government found that animation represents most of country’s cultural product export and Singapore government found “the economic advantages of attracting computer animation firms to that techno culture” (Lent 2000). Lent has explained how animation have set and fit into Asian countries, especially Japan, throughout the years and how they have used animation for culturally and economically to make a benefit and success to their society.

Lent, A. J. (2000). Animation in Asia: appropriation, reinterpretation, and adoption or adaptation. Retrieved from http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr1100/jlfr11c.htm

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime.

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime.

Shōjo, shojo or shoujo (少女, shōjo?) is a Japanese word originally derived from a Chinese expression written with the same characters.(Wikipedia, 2012) It created as an independent, strong,  innocent young girl in the anime, contrasting the evils during the story.

Reflecting the shojo in the “Princess Mononoke”,Susan J, Napier suggests that “Miyazaki uses the fantastic and the feminine to defamiliarize and even subvert conventional notions of history, progress, and gender coding in Japanese culture”. Japan is a male dominate country, but the San created by Miyazaki is an untamed warrior shojo who brought up by wolves in the wild. All the other female appeal to be identify as hardworking contrast to the male in the anime. This is “subverting convention” the gender dominating power in the nation of history. For example, Lady Eboshi is the leader of Iron Town in the story, the town is representing the large scale industry in civilized society, where San is representing the Natural. The two major parties in this anime are leading by female. The function of shojo in the anime is to emerge the other complicated beings. When we compare the Shojo- San and Lady Eboshi, people start to be aware of the different between them. As a shojo, San live in the world of black and white. There is no grey area in her knowledge. It is because that she is still young and has not contaminate by reality yet and also shaped with ideal humanity. Unlike Lady Eboshi who is complex person to evaluation, she had her own reason to hurting people. San believes there is no reason to hurt others. Unified the function of shojo and center idea of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki’ fantasy is a historical epic which based on problematized nature of historical identity on relation to the modern world through its complex mixture of fantasy and fact.(Napier, 2001)

Reference

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.

Wikipedia (n.d.) Shōjo. retrieved: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Djo

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guinn

How is science fiction different from fantasy, according to Le Guinn

According to Le Guinn, fiction is not based imagination but always based on reality, he suggests “fiction didn’t happen”, and fantasy is “Fantasy is shamelessly fictive” (2005).  My understanding is that science fiction is creating a new world based on the observation of reality world, but the fantasy is based on the author’s imagination which is the ideal world for the fantasy to happen.

If like Le Guinn suggest “What validates fiction is plausibility “, then science fiction is based on science plausibility. And the story background is often based on future ideal development of science technology. It will relate to the reader with the rational possible idea, unlike fantasy is gains the laws of nature. For example, the book of “The Man in the High Castle” is a science fiction, the story is based on the alternate history event. In the book, it implies fifteen year after Second World War and involves countries include Japan, Italy, Germany, North America and U.S so on… This science fiction is based on the observation of realism and extending it in author’s ideal future after the Second World War. According the study of  “Parallel universes/Multiverse” and “the many world interpretation” imply the same theory “approach to quantum mechanics according to which, in addition to the world we are aware of directly, there are many other similar worlds which exist in parallel at the same space and time. The existence of the other worlds makes it possible to remove randomness and action at a distance from quantum theory and thus from all physics. ”it is just a theory, but there might be the possibility that story “The Man in the High Castle”is happening in a parallel universes. In our world we can never authenticate the possible from other parallel universes. But Philip K. Dick’s book offer the possibility of history have been changed, the dominate structure of the world have been changed, and the America/U.S. have been changed. Even the book is faction, but according to the theoretical ideal, there is a sense of realism in it. Which obey the principle of Science fiction- “pretends that the future is the present or the past, and then tells us what happened in it.” (Guin,n.d.)

Unlike fiction, fantasy it is happened in an ideal world, where/ what/ how/ is happened does not matter in the reality. Reflecting on the book called “A Wizard of Earthsea”, the story was based on an imagination world called Earthsea, the young wizard growth and development while exploring the Earthsea. Then the fictionalise world setting of A Wizard of Earthsea continues in The Tombes of Atuan and The Farthest Shores. It is established the facticity of the Earthsea. Ged the main characters was related to many non-human being in the book. Le Guinn suggests that it is impassable to predict what will happen in fantasy, or where the story will lead you to. Therefore the event in the book and movie has suggested a lot of the impossible factor which happened around Gen. For example, the powerful spell, shape shift, and dark-side of Gen…The law of nature is not applied, but the invention of Wizard capability in “A Wizard of Earthsea” is contradicted within the fantasy imaginative authority and inner coherence, Guinn said” the coherence of the story, its consistent self – reference” is the principle of constitutes plausibility within the fantasy. It is very different from the science fiction. Science fiction implies the law of nature according to the realism.

In fantasy, the reader will enjoy the story happen in a fictionalized world and admire the powerful being in the story; but science fiction empathizing with reader. 

Reference

Le Guin. (n.d.). Plausibility Revisited: Wha Hoppen and What Didn't. Retrieved Oct 5, 2012, from http://www.ursulakleguin.com/PlausibilityRevisited.html

Le Guinn, U. (1993; 1968). A Wizard of Earthsea. In The Earthsea Quartet (pp.13-167).London: Penguin.

Dick, P.K. (2001; 1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.

Vaidman, Lev, "Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/qm-manyworlds/>.

How does Hill define reality TV?

How does Hill define reality TV?

Hill (2005) starts his article off with a very broad definition of reality TV

“The catergory of reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming”

 And then goes on to talk about the types of features commonly used in reality TV.  However, he does go into talking about the difficulties of defining reality television stating that it is a diverse subject which is constantly changes. To help in defining reality TV he decides to look at how three other sectors that have tried in defining reality TV namely the television industry, scholars and audiences. However, although he looks at these three sectors he does seem to have a negative attitude for their definitions saying they are “contradictory” and contain “confusing terms” which may indicate that he does not fully agree with their definitions.

Television Industry

Hill states that the most traditional form of the television industries definition is that “reality TV is factual entertainment”. This means that reality TV is a hybrid of real life events and people and entertainment.   According to BBC there are six different categories that make up reality TV: documentaries and contemporary factual, specialist factual, current affairs and investigation, arts culture and life skills. However, Hill points out many times that the definition is changed loosely whenever it is beneficial.

Scholars

Scholars tend to define reality television in numerous ways many of which Hill included. The earliest of which being Richard Kilborn who defines it as “slice of life observational modes of documentary film making, fictional frama rooted in real life situations and also infotainment” a definition which it seems Hill seems to prefer to the other given ones. Hill again goes over how reality TV is to vast of a subject to cover when he talks about how scholars are in danger in of straying in the outer sections of the reality TV.

Audiences

To gain an audiences definition Hill looked at focus group discussions.  They came up with definitions such as “people programmes”, “fly on the wall stuff” and “public, real life sort of thing”. Hill stated a problem with this was finding a neutral category which he was seemly unable to do without confusing the focus group.

Conclusion

Hill concludes that there is no one definition of reality but rather many definitions that come to be called reality TV. He goes on to say that this is because there are too many components that make up reality TV such as genres and hybrids.

References

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A, Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. Oxon: Routledge 

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of SF?

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of SF?

In Brown’s (2001) article he talks about he talks about the author Philip K. Dick as well as his work the man in the high castle. While talking about Philip Dick we learn about his life and hardships as well as types of themes he favours in his writing these are all important as they all relate to his work in the man in the high castle. His personal life and also helps us to show why he may have chosen to use features of science fiction.

Personality and Central Themes

According to Brown (2001) “Philip Kinderd Dick was a maverick, a self-taught anti-establishment intellectual with an appetite for knowledge and an intimating ability to absorb information” knowing this is important when looking at themes in the man in the high castle. The novel is not an easy read and the themes in the novel are quite complex.  Brown stated that Dick liked to write about the themes of perceived reality and how good and evil only be illusion in which the truth may dwell. This theme is seen constantly throughout the novel especially in the character of Hawthorne Abendsen the man who lived in the high castle who lives in the false perception that his jail was just a fortified isolation.  Brown also wrote that Dick liked to write about people who are put in extraordinary situations as seen in the Robert Childan story ark. Dick also liked to draw inspiration from his personal life and people around him which may have helped him in developing his characters and storylines so well.

Central Themes in The Man in the High Castle

Brown (2001) also talked in his article directly about the novel. He talks about the I ching, the ancient Chinese book of divination to suggest that the world presented in the novel may just be an illusion of a perfect world and that other better worlds may exist. The main Characters use the book to develop their own stories and lives. In the end although characters make breakthroughs and have revelations there is however no happy endings which is a common feature in his stories.

Generic elements of Science Fiction Dick Used

According to Brown (2001) Dick used pretty standard elements in his writings these included rocket ships, space aliens and space-suited heroes.  However, although he used common features in his works he did use them in his own ways conforming them to his own themes and unique story lines. From reading Browns article it gives me the feeling that he used these elements to help gain some popularity as such elements were already popular with science fiction readers. As his works were not immediately popular and he seemed to move away from such generic elements when his popularity rose this may have been the case this is however just personal opinion.

References

Dick, P.K. (2001). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin

Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K, The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin

Week 9&10 "Buffy the Vampire slayer"

What role does Hills (2004) suggests the fans play in construction of cult TV?

Fans play huge role constructing cult TV. For example, fans of “Buffy the vampire slayer” turns and uses in their daily lives. They collect all the episodes and series for DVD, posters and even toy figures. These clearly show how much the cult TV can influence and impact on the fans. In addition, according to Hills (2004) have stated that, that "cult TV is centrally important to cult fans' 'lifestyles and identities' that such fans are so keen to legitimate, defend and analyse their own consumption of cult TV." Without fans, cult TV cannot grow. Hills also have stated that even if the TV show finishes, fans will still remember it. Big fans still purchase rare items such as DVD, and figures since “Buffy the Vampire slayer” was one of the “quality cult TV shows”

What are the main themes present in “Buffy the vampire slayer?”

I think the main theme in the show is feminism. The main character Buffy is independent who has her own goal, strong idealistic.

Most male have stereotypes about females and how they are supposed to be weak, dependent and that needs to be protected. However this TV show gives different ideas about them. It flips around the idea of stereotype about females. Buffy is a slayer who kills demons to protect the people that she loves. She uses weapons such as guns, mace, swords etc. In addition she fights demons that even males are no match against. She is also an independent woman who makes her own choices to overcome conflicts. This TV show clearly proved that females don’t always need protection over man. They can be strong and independent and even save other males. Female audience will feel more overpowered than man by watching this and also feel more confident.

WK12. Reality TV

For as long as I remember reality TV shows have been quite popular. Even I myself watch and enjoy reality TV shows like…

That’s only two examples but I actually watch a lot of reality TV shows if they’re on TV and for some reason I find myself hooked most of the time. I’ve always like America’s Next Top model (ANTM) and I only got into watching Geordie Shore a few months ago, which is weird because I thought I would never actually get hooked. 

So, what defines reality TV? Hill (2005) states that “reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming… a variety of styles and techniques associated with reality TV, such as non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the camera.” I noticed in Hill’s (2005) definition it says unscripted dialogue but a similar popular reality TV show to Geordie Shore, called Jersey Shore is apparently scripted. Online articles from softpedia.com by Gorgan (2011) claims that the producers would have the cast members do several takes until they are happy with it; she goes on and says in September 2010 (the year of when the show aired) there were pictures from the set of the girl cast member getting their hair and makeup done by professionals before going out to the clubs. I also heard that Geordie Shore started off being unscripted but by season 3 the show became scripted. 

It makes me wonder with a lot of reality TV shows of how many actually started unscripted and then turned to being scripted. With that being said why is reality TV called “reality” where in fact it is all staged and the “non-professional actors” become actors anyway. I think that audience including myself forget that we shouldn’t believe everything we see on TV. With reality TV sometimes audience know that the show isn’t real yet we forget because we’re so interested and caught up with the dramas and the problems that the people face, we want to see how they deal with it or solve it. 

Usually a reality TV show would be about high-class people for example “Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ because they’re famous but “Cathy Come Home” was different, it was based on the working-class people and their difficulties.  Biressi and Nunn (2005) states “Television producers, directors and writers increasingly aimed to depict a ‘history from below’ that could give a voice to working-class experience and touch the social conscience of their audience. When I was watching it I completely forgot it was a documentary. Even if it wasn’t a real and it was scripted and staged, what Cathy and her family had to go through was in fact more of a reality because it deals with an important issue in society. 

Reference

Biressi, A. & Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In Reality TV: realism and revelation. (pp. 35-58) London: Wallflower.

Gorgan, E. (2010). ‘Jersey Shore’ Is Scripted, Fake. Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Jersey-Shore-Is-Scripted-Fake-155981.shtml  

Gorgan, E. (2011). More Proof that ‘Jersey Shore’ Is Fake Emerges. Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://news.softpedia.com/news/More-Proof-that-Jersey-Shore-Is-Fake-Emerges-209335.shtml

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.