1	English 149: Media Culture: the History and Theory of 20^th Century Media: Film, Radio, Television and the Internet An Introduction to the Concept of Media Culture
2	The 20^th century: the age of the “modern” In 20^th century, people got used to the arrival of new forms of media The shock and pleasure of the first time Have you had a “oh wow” new media experience lately? New media technology—because it is new and fast—allows you to be modern
3	Defining “media” Dictionary definitions plural of “medium” a substrate that sustains life (biology) material through which we receive information (e.g. print on paper) the agents of mass communication, such as newspapers, radio, television Paradox about “media”: its modest medial function versus it vital importance in the modern era
4	History Instituting New Media Studying media history helps to denaturalize and defamiliarize media The “institution” of new media forms crucial technical inventions the hype by the salesmen promoting new media the resistance of critics and potential users the grafting of the new media into everyday life unintended consequences The institutions of new media entail bursts of creativity arbitrary decisions
5	Radio’s Metamorphosis in Physical Form and Cultural Function 1910s amateur ham radio 1920s radio broadcast 1930s car radio 1950s cheap small radios and TV arrives 1960s portable transistor radios 1980s walkman with ear phone 1990s Internet radio two-way communication Big console in living room Enhances “car culture” AM radio top 40 and “youth culture” Beach movies and boom boxes Radios for exercise and blocking out the world New levels of copy-ability and portability
6	What is radio? What are the essential traits of radio when compared to other media? First complication: radio keeps changing along with its social contexts In the 1920’s this question is profoundly political: ~ “what should we configure radio to be?” Second complication: the relationship with other media Radio versus print in the 1930s Radio versus TV in the 1950s The concept of media ecology: every medium takes its character from its relation to other media.
7	Why study media theory? Definition: “a systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances“ “Theory” comes from the Greek word, theoria, “a perspective and vision that centers on specific topics” Theory may be compared to optical lenses that allow us to see new aspects of media culture. Warning Label: Theory is difficult and abstract and labor intensive Theory will help make you an independent and analytical critic of media
8	Why “media culture”? Defining “Culture” "totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought” = an inclusive anthropological definition of culture “the products of intellectual and artistic activity” (e.g. painting, poetry, novels, films, …) = the restricted aesthetic definition of culture, more appropriate to English or Art History Inclusive approach to media: study both Cultural products and cultures of use High and popular culture Technology and policy
9	Why study media and culture together? The warning of media critics in the 1980s about gaming: arcade, video, computer “These games will produce the isolated, compulsive game player; game playing will replace social interaction, exercise and reading.” To avoid “media determinism” Focus on the uses to which media is turned we need to study media (Sims versus Grand Theft Auto) The example of the pager Repurposing media technology The phenomenon of “unintended consequences”
10	Once a media form is established within a society, there are debates about … The issue of effects: what is the effect of the media on users? Are we rewiring the minds and bodies of our media users (sex, violence, …)? Issues of power: who controls the media and to what end?: propaganda; mindless spectacle to promote unending consumption?; What media policy will sustain more varied and richer set of media forms? Issues of value: How do we adjudicate between the claims of art versus entertainment? Fun versus improvement? Cultural monuments versus trivial effluvia of everyday life?
11	Mickey Does Ownership: born into © 1928 released to the public [2003] à [2019] à ?
12	Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) Voyeurism and the medium of film
13	Rear Window (produced 1953, released 1954) James Stewart plays L.B. Jeffries ("Jeff"): a photographer confined to his wheel chair by a serious leg injury. This causes him to begin to watch the lives of his neighbors our the rear window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Thelma Ritter plays Stella, Jeff's nurse, who quickly gives him warnings about the dangers of being a voyeur; and prods him to marry his girlfriend. Grace Kelly plays Lisa Freemont: his long time girlfriend, and a gorgeous society girl working in the fashion business. Raymond Burr plays Lars Thorwald, the neighbor who Jeff suspects of killing his wife.