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American political culture chapter 1
American political culture chapter 1
American political culture chapter 1
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Russell Brand has a newfound fame—not in Hollywood but in the political realm. Brand speaks very elegantly toward social issues, especially to an American ear. Taking command of any interview, he speaks quickly and clearly. However, as with most postmodern thinkers, his points and arguments seem to lack depth or critical consideration of the points made. In this article, Russell Brand comments on the recent events he was involved in at the GQ awards. His comments, entitled “Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems,” were published in The Guardian. Brand defends himself and his actions because of the criticism he received at the awards and criticism that followed afterward.
Russell Brand has been in the public eye for some time now. Between his movies and his relationship with Katy Perry, most people, at some level know who he is. Because of this, whenever Russell Brand speaks, or, in this case, stirs controversy, people listen. He is also a master of words, creating wonderfully written articles and providing well-spoken commentary on current events. He has gained an ear in both America and the UK. The influence that Brand has over people allows him to gain readership around the world.
While giving his acceptance speech at the GQ awards, Russell Brand correctly connected the sponsor of the GQ awards, Hugo Boss, to the Nazis. Hugo Boss did in fact design the Nazi uniforms that were worn while Nazi Germany attempted to destroy entire races of people. The public was only able to see the awards from the camera’s point of view and watch Brand’s speech; they didn’t see anything behind the scenes. In defense of what occurred, he comments on the complete event, from the time he stepped out of his vehicle to the ...
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...ce, it is safe to say that this type of argumentation works. Russell Brand does a fantastic job of clearly presenting his point, doing so in an entertaining way, which may contribute to his success today. While Brand may alienate a few people with his lack of logical depth or consistency, many will find his arguments appealing, particularly those of the younger generation, looking only for something to be a part of, not a consistent argument.
Works Cited
Brand, Russell. "Russell Brand and the GQ Awards: 'It's Amazing How Absurd It Seems.'" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Russell Brand’s commentary and defense of what occurred at the GQ awards.
"Russell Brand Rips on GQ Hugo Boss and Syria War." YouTube. Ed. MrSon2k. YouTube, 08 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. The video of Russell Brand’s speech at the GQ awards.
Our lives are influenced by visual rhetoric on a daily basis. Rhetorical components go unnoticed unless one is intently searching for them. Companies carefully work visual rhetoric into advertisements and use it to their advantage to lure in potential consumers. The German car company, Bayerische Motoren Werke, or more commonly known as “BMW”, uses a clip from NBC’s Today Show in 1994. In the clip, the characters are discussing the newfangled idea of the internet. BMW uses nostalgia of the 1990’s as bait to attract an older audience who remember the ‘90’s and when the internet was a new invention. BMW uses the rhetorical elements of character, dialogue, and focus to sell their product.
In Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, he analyzes the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines the causes of why the majority of Canadian hockey players are born in the first few months of the year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, how the Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts, and how cultural legacy plays a large part in society. On the back of the book, David Leonhardt explains, “In understanding successful people, we have come to focus far too much on their intelligence and ambition and personality traits. Instead Malcolm Gladwell argues in Outliers, we should look at the world that surrounds the successful – their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.” Besides telling the stories of the many successors, he gives adv...
Vance Packard, a journalist turned social critic, exposed truth to post-war society. The best-selling author of the 1950s challenged consumerism beliefs and unmasked the truth about social status. Packard believed that society was being highly influenced by the nation’s advertising industry. Companies would slip messages into popular networks in order to silently persuade people to buy their products. They wanted anything to boost their sales, even if it meant manipulating people to value things that were not necessary. Packard’s words echoed throughout communities, challenging people to recognize the malignant voice of consumerism. His passion for truth continued to flourish as he continued writing. His voice grew louder and louder as he began
Thomas Frank’s book entitled The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism takes a poignant look at the advertising world of the 1950’s and 1960’s, exploring how advertising played a role in shaping the next generation of consumers. Frank points out that he believes many misunderstand how important the key industries of fashion and advertising were to the shaping of our consumer culture, especially in getting Americans to rethink who they were. The industry of advertising was not conforming to the upcoming generation, instead the new consumer generation was conforming to the ideals of the advertising industry. Frank believes that the advertising and fashion industries were changing, but not to conform to the new generation, instead to shape a new generation of consumers.
There is an undoubtedly enormous influence on the world by consumerism. Consumerism and capitalism shape the nation that we live in today. Everyone knows this because they see advertisements all day long on television, on the radio, on billboards and through hundreds of other mediums. Unfortunately, what the world is not exposed to is what goes on behind the marketing and the ultimate final sale. There is a dark side to capitalism created not only by shady merchants, but the worldwide multi-national companies as well. What both of these excerpts portray is the idea that there is more to the products we buy than we are told, or unfortunately, that we bother to ask about. Through the use of interviewing, traveling, and criticism, these authors do a fine job in analyzing the relationships between branding and marketing, and more importantly, between our modern day consumption habits and hidden production processes.
Hoards of people, distracted by catchy advertising and creative logos, fuel the machine that feeds on exploiting human beings. Addidas, Nike, Banana Republic, all just a few of the brand names that encroach on poverty stricken countries and exploit the people there. As a country, society contributes to the oppressi...
MARKS AND SPENCER, 2013. How We Do Business Report 2012. United Kingdom: Marks and Spencer.
When flipping through Vogue, a well-known high fashion magazine, one can see that almost all the advertisement scream wealth and status. The magazine’s beautiful models as well as its expensive brands are major characteristics of the famous magazine. Members of the middle class skim through the magazine thinking, “Wow, if only I could look like this!” In Gregory Mantsios’ article “Class in America,” he says, “We are, on occasion, presented...
Celebrities are often used to endorse products for businesses to increase profits. Sue Jozui in her passage, explains that she believes using celebrities in advertisements is insulting to the buyer, and this action should be boycotted. The author supports her argument by first defining what using celebrities does to the consumer and how it portrays the consumer to be. She continues by stating that legislative rules should be enforced. The authors purpose is to convince the government and businesses to stop this action so that people aren't being persuaded to buy products just because a celebrity is advertising it. The author establishes a serious tone for all consumers that also support her claim. Jozui’s allegations of celebrities endorsing
The deception of media consumers allows for the abuse of economic infrastructures of society. An obsession with celebrities’ lives passifies ordinary people in accepting the stratification of the elite businesses and the ordinary citizens. Though pseudo-events and celebrity worship may not be exactly complementary, the similarities of both leaves the public to be utterly vulnerable unless they begin to critically think for themselves.
-Status symbols: Sophisticated customers who value the distinctive, exclusive collection seem to value the corporate-branded version of luxury. –Philip Martiz, chairman of the board
Lachover, Einat, and Sigal Barak Brandes. "A Beautiful Campaign?." Feminist Media Studies 9.3 (2009): 301-316. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
It contained articles covering various current Canadian issues such as, “The Mouse House” regarding four Toronto hospitals collaboration to create animal-research facilities, “The Defence Debate”, a discussion of how Canada’s chief of defence staff, Rick Hillier, is viewed within government. The issue also examined world issues such as, “No Beacon of Hope”, discussing the current state of Afghanistan after the end of Taliban rule, “Head-Scarf Protests”, about Turkey’s head-scarf ban being under fire because young women of Turkey are demanding their right to attend secular universities and “Argentina’s Hillary”, discussing Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a political wife, who is poised to take the presidency in Argentina. The magazine also covered additional articles regarding health, “Concussion Alert”, discussing research suggesting that concussions may induce psychosis later in life, and business, “Helium Dries Up”, about a global helium shortage’s far-reaching repercussions. The cover of this issue highlighted six articles including: “Why Charlie Brown Was So Sad”, explaining that every bitter memory of author Charles Schulz’s long life made its way into “Peanuts”, “Coffee $130/LB.” introducing a new café, Manic Coffee, in Toronto that sells $15 cups of coffee, “Will Your Child’s Concussions Make Him Dangerous?”, the health article earlier discussed, “Stephen Colbert’s Secret Agenda”, reviewing the Comedy Central network’s show, The Colbert Report, “Harper to Dion current level of toleration towards the multi-cultural community. The cover of this magazine can be analyzed using different theories, including the semiotics of symbolic theory, performance as political action idea and postmodern theories within cultural studies.
Movie stars. They are celebrated. They are perfect. They are larger than life. The ideas that we have formed in our minds centered on the stars that we idolize make these people seem inhuman. We know everything about them and we know nothing about them; it is this conflicting concept that leaves audiences thirsty for a drink of insight into the lifestyles of the icons that dominate movie theater screens across the nation. This fascination and desire for connection with celebrities whom we have never met stems from a concept elaborated on by Richard Dyer. He speculates about stardom in terms of appearances; those that are representations of reality, and those that are manufactured constructs. Stardom is a result of these appearances—we actually know nothing about them beyond what we see and hear from the information presented to us. The media’s construction of stars encourages us to question these appearances in terms of “really”—what is that actor really like (Dyer, 2)? This enduring query is what keeps audiences coming back for more, in an attempt to decipher which construction of a star is “real”. Is it the character he played in his most recent film? Is it the version of him that graced the latest tabloid cover? Is it a hidden self that we do not know about? Each of these varied and fluctuating presentations of stars that we are forced to analyze create different meanings and effects that frame audience’s opinions about a star and ignite cultural conversations.