COURSE BLOG for GWSS 3307: Feminist Film/Media Studies (Fall 2007)

As a quick preface to the details of my media consumption, let me say that I loathe many forms of media exposure. I hate that I can’t sit in my house, let alone step outside, without being bombarded by some form of media. It is on billboards, the sides of buses, flyers handed to me on my way to class, even trying to fight its way out of my cell phone through internet access. I am also very disturbed by the role of power in mainstream media exposure. Only certain groups of people have easy access to the mainstream. Because of this, I feel like the media we are exposed to daily gives us a skewed sense of the world we live in.

That being said, I can’t escape it and do absorb media everyday. In terms of film, I mostly stick to rentals or DVD’s I buy. Going to the movies is way too expensive and I rarely have that much free time. I am a huge Johnny Depp fan so I will buy any movie he makes/has made and give it a chance. I have recently become interested in documentaries and indie films and I try to keep my eyes open for them. I tend to be more interested in the stories they tell, as opposed to the generic plots of mainstream movies. As an artist, I am also very interested in the role of theatre as a form of media. The political nature of theatre allows it to function as juxtaposition to, or reaffirmation of, our current society. I love working in the theatre and attending whenever I get the chance. I receive most of my news information from the Internet but I rarely believe any of it. I try to keep myself informed on the current situations but I am aware that I will only know what someone wants me to know. I do not have cable television because it is too expensive.

I do think there are many positive forms of media, but they are usually the ones that reach the least amount of people. I hope to learn more about the ways in which we absorb media and how to analyze it from a more informed perspective.