The West Wing
Technology is growing fast, as is the new generations branching off with new forms of media and devices that provide us with the news. News and politics have had difficulty when informing its public and community of the events that happen in their community. Now the media and news are growing to reform to the earlier generation’s way of receiving the news and events related to them, by using media and popular culture. According to Wodak, for politics to air and to engage and intrigue its public, it must need scandal, rumour, and speculation (45). The West Wing, is a clear example of where the news and politics enter into the world of entertainment, but still informing its audience of the political world and events they may face. I will be analyzing The West Wing television series in relation to the representations of gender, race, and politics with support from examples and scholarly sources.
The West Wing, is a show that is set within political parameters, focusing on each character with their own side stories, with a main emphasis on political events and how it gets dealt with within the White House. We have the president of the United States played by Martin Sheen, having a team made up with C.J. a female is the White House press secretary, a strong and stern woman that seems to show highlights of assisting everyone within the White House, who is also shown as the saviour of the team and who takes the fall when faced with the media public (journalists).
The office contains Leo, Toby, Josh, and Sam, which are all part of the White House staff, part of the team. The four male figures mentioned focus on certain aspects dealing with the president and their image in the news and media coverage. The team mainly cons...
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Hungerford, Kristen. "The Male "White" House Of Hollywood: A Feminist Critique Of What It Means To Be Presidential." Ohio Communication Journal 48. (2010): 55-75. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
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“Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”. The West Wing. 29 Sept. 1999. Video. 29 Mar. 2014.
Wodak, Ruth. "The Glocalization Of Politics In Television: Fiction Or Reality?." European Journal of Cultural Studies 13.1 (2010): 43-62. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
There are similarities and differences in how the authors of “American History” and “ TV Coverage of JFK’s Death Forged Mediums’ Role” use Kennedy’s assassination in their writing. The intended effect of “American History” was to entertain and show how TV news and news in general affects people. In contrast the intended effect of “Tv Coverage…” was to inform readers how John F. Kennedy's assassination affected the news. The author Joanne Ostrow and Judith Ortiz Cofer both use Kennedy’s assassination in their writing to explain how TV news affects people in a community.
Kurtz, Howard. "Jon Stewart and Kumar Go to the White House." The Washington Post 13 Apr. 2009: 1-2. Print.
A president has to have character, right? I mean, if the leader of the free world has no substance, nothing special about him, then how do we as citizens know that he is capable as far as foreign policies go. How do we know that we can trust him to make wise decisions? How do we know that he will tell us the truth? This concept is exactly what fictional president Andrew Shepherd successfully conveys in his “Address to the Press on Bob Rumson and the Crime Bill.” In the movie, The American President, Andrew Shepherd becomes romantically involved with crime bill lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade. Many characters, including Bob Rumson, believe that the relationship between Shepherd and Wade is hindering the advancement of the country. They believe that this relationship shows lack of character, and it is made apparent to Shepherd through the side comments and actions of those opposing him. In the closing scenes of the movie, Shepherd is found defending himself and his character through the form of a rhetorical speech. He convincingly uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s sense of nationality and pride.
Media directs the thought processes of society. Daya Kishan Thussa says, “US popular culture… is steeped in Hollywood spectacles on war, battles and conflict, as evidenced by the international success of films about war, conflict, and battles between good and evil,” (p.265 reader). Hollywood –the media—portrays war as a conflict between good and evil, redefining war and conflict to be something that is black and white, with a sure winning side. The show 24, produced after 9/11, at the start of the War on Terror, represents a conflict between the good and the evil by paralleling the distrust and suspicion of the real world with the distrust and suspicion of the world in the show. By using elements such as windowing, zooming and panning into faces, dark lighting, and slow, eerie music, Season 2, Episode 1 of 24, creates an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust similar to post 9/11 United States that explains why officials tried to resolve conflicts even without all relevant information present.
Tuchman, Gaye. The TV Establishment: Programming for Power and Profit. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., l971.
In American culture today, women continue the struggle of identifying what their roles in society are supposed to be. Our culture has been sending mixed messages to the modern day female, creating a sense of uneasiness to an already confusing and stressful world. Although women today are encouraged more than ever to be independent, educated, and successful, they are often times shamed for having done just that. Career driven females are frequently at risk of being labeled as bossy, unfeminine, or selfish for competing in many career paths that were once dominated by men. A popular medium in our culture such as television continues to have significant influences as to how people should aspire to live their lives. Viewers develop connections with relatable characters and to relationship dynamics displayed within their favorite shows. Fictional characters and relationships can ultimately influence a viewer’s fashion sense, social and political opinion, and attitude towards gender norms. Since the days of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie, where women were commonly portrayed as being the endearing mischievous housewife, television shows have evolved in order to reflect real life women who were becoming increasingly more independent, educated, and career oriented throughout the subsequent decades. New genres of television are introduced, such as the workplace comedy, where women are not only career oriented, but eventually transition into positions of power.
Schwarz, Frederic D. "The Demagogue’s Downfall." American Heritage Nov.-Dec. 2004: volume 55, issue 6. Web.
"Kennedy, John F." Television in American Society Reference Library. Ed. Laurie Collier Hillstrom and Allison McNeill. Vol. 3: Primary Sources. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 65-76. U.S. History in Context. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. Source.
"Kennedy, John F." Television in American Society Reference Library. Ed. Laurie Collier Hillstrom and Allison McNeill. Vol. 3: Primary Sources. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 65-76. U.S. History in Context. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. Source.
The American President is a romantic comedy that takes place in the White House during primary season. The president is hoping to be reelected and to pass two bills, one on gun control and one on fuel restrictions. During this movie, the president meets Sydney, a lobbyist, and goes out with her, and because of this he takes a hit on his ratings. The American President shows many different themes covered in politics and government 101, these themes are the rolls of the media, polls, primaries and elections, and the process of introducing a bill to congress. This movie also shows the relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch while detailing the relationship the president has with interest groups, and his White House staff. While covering all this the movie The American President shines a positive light on politicians, this movie showed politicians having a genuine concern in human life and truly wanting to improve life. This movie wasn't all optimism though, it also criticized some politicians for muckraking and it criticized the media and the American public for thinking that the private lives of politicians is their business.
Pika, J.A., & Maltese, J. (2004). The Politics of the Presidency. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
Both CNN and Fox News influence these immense populations with how each utilize pathos, ethos and logos in the topics discussed during the broadcasted show. For example, Fox News 's audience seems to be primarily conservative, while CNN’s audience seem to be more liberal (Engel). So each network’s stories “focus on the issues that” conservatives or liberals “want to watch and talk about” (James). These topics are used to develop a more conservative or liberal fan base in the respective news networks. As the dominant news network on cable television, Fox News impacts the greatest quantity of citizens, bringing in an audience of over two million for primetime (James). Therefore, Fox News influences the largest percentage of Americans listening to news networks by effectively using these manipulative literary techniques. However, CNN has a younger audience than Fox News (Carter), which contributes to CNN’s audience growing from 350,000 a night, in 2013 (Agee), to 629,000 viewers a night (James). CNN and Fox News compete with each other to influence the greatest amount of people and the public’s opinion of current events. Each network appeals to pathos, logos and ethos differently and similarly to coax the greatest amount of listeners each night.
Johnson, Allan G. The Gender Knot: Unraveling our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1997.
“Nowadays in the modern world, society if affected by more things we can think of. Society is affected by movies, TV shows, TV reality shows, magazines, and books. A report was recorded over a six-month period about Television shows and daily news broadcasts. From September 1, 1999 through February 29, 2000; The Grand Rapid Institute recorded and viewed a few programs and at the end of the month the Institute tallied up the number of letters sent after a recorded program and it showed how unfair the programs were and how people became a democracy to let them know” (TV News 1).
According to A Novel Approach to Politics “Questions about the very nature of reality seem to be common in fiction of all sorts.” Especially, The Boondocks, a fictional cartoon, uses satire to describe real events that happen in society. The episode I tuned into was “The Trial of R. Kelly”, which explained how R. Kelly won his trial and the views of the people about his case. In the episode, the people outside the court house showed different cognitive frameworks of how they view R. Kelly situation. In other words, the media made sense of the reality of R. Kelly situation in different ways because of the media wanted to select certain information. In this paper, I will explain how the media exemplified mediated reality and agreement reality in the “The Trial of R. Kelly” episode of The Boondocks.