Money is Power November 26, 2008

 

Many issues and aspects of life revolve money. Without money the world wouldn’t function, people wouldn’t want to the economy wouldn’t grow and how would anyone get resources which are essential for survival? Therefore money makes the world go round.  Many people want and need and strive for money, it makes people happy yet it makes people sad just like question does money brings you happiness?  If money can have all these different affects on people then it must hold a strong level of power. 

I was reading an article about a girl who got addicted to selling cocaine because she loved the money so much.  She didn’t feel that bad about it because she only sold a small amount to women only, this way she felt safer and thought the police aren’t likely to catch her.  Eventually she started selling more and more to one of her good girlfriends to the point her friend was looking a mess it, her condition crossed the dealer mind however she still sold it to her.  One night she had some cocaine in the car whilst driving and a police officer pull her over and she panicked but it wasn’t anything serious and she then had a wake up call to stop selling because she was frightened to go prison and did feel guilty about her friend. 

Here is the article:

The story identifies the extent to which someone would do something so bad for money, and for what to buy designer clothes with.  The media is making people think that these material things are essential thus perpetuates crime because people want the money to buy better things and yet it helps businesses because they still profit in the end.  Its a vicious circle, money gives people power making they so obsessed they don’t see what they do to other people.

Shakespeare looked into the power of money and explains the is only powerful in divinity  whereby we feel weak as humans not to something therefore we have money which can get it for use.  An example is if your ugly you cannot find love yet if you have money the female will love you .  Contradicting this example of the power of money it only gives us the power to gain objects not human attires such as love and trust.

So the question is still is money powerful? yes to a certain extent

Here is a link with more information: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/power.htm

This has made me think about strong artefact ideas, money could really portray power well however it is an obvious subject yet works in a vicious circle as described earlier, so i will still research until i find what i will center around for my power artefact.

Media Representation November 26, 2008

There are so many things in the media we see, hear and listen to that can have a positive or negative effect on someone.  The media uses it power to enforce something onto us which in turn achieves something else.  For example advertisement works in this way, they sell the product by making it believable and essential so  viewers feel they need it. Thus the marketing companies make profit from their publicity by people buy into their products.

I looked into media representation especially focussing on how women are presented as opposed to men. It’s not a new thing in addressing that females are the weaker sex however this is exploited in the media.  Examples of this is the Sun tabloid well known for its page 3 nude models, who is this targeted at? women are exploiting their body for the men who read the paper.  Stereotypes of women are perpetuated in the media from hair colour to body size, meaning all blondes are bimbo’s and to follow a life of models and fashion, it’s a hot topic, the media play on this when representing females.

 

The presentation of women for pleasure of man was called the ‘Male Gaze’ coined by Laura Mulvey in ’Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’.  This term was exampled well through Hollywood film where by the use of particular shots and angles of the women, her glare as if she was flirting with the camera are all examples of how this male gaze is achieved.  This male gaze is present in many obvious films such as ‘Mean Girls’ whereby the story is based around popularity and fashioned obsessed teenage culture,  thus the image of a women is reinforced from stereotypical interests.  Nonetheless the male gaze is still presented in many other genres such as the action film. There are common trends in actions where the protagonist always has a damsel in distress who looks attractive, and also a strong women in e.g. ‘Wanted’ where Angelina Jolie shows traits of a man being strong, in control, confident yet still sexy for the pleasure of man.

 

Researching into this, Frued did some writing on unconscious mind and desire, thus this male gaze could be an unconscious element of our mind.  Many film makers are male and have these thoughts of women an without realising it, they use their discourses to shape their vision of the way the film is to be perceived.  In many cases they know that they are produce exploitative footage however they hold the power to do so which then benefits them from film sells.

Overall Mulvey explaines this male gaze on a psychoanalysis level however now thats exploitation has been address why does it still exist because of money.

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/michaelwalford/entry/laura_mulvey_and/

Surveillence November 26, 2008

One of the images from Banksy shows a CCTV camera which brings to mind the power of surveillance.  We as a society and as individual are watched every single day in many different forms.  The obvious is CCTV to help prevent crime, passwords and pins on credit cards, oyster cards in London to detect the travel around London, Passport allows access to another country – it’s tracked to see if you fled the country. Social networking sites date and post everything you blog and keeps count of when you last logged in.  This explains the world we live in is far more advanced by the introduction of technology however is this level of surveillance a good thing? what is it for?

According to Michelle Foucault it is through discourse that we are formed as subjects. Thus we are the sum of our experience and those in control of our early experiences have an immense level of power. This is usually the parents who hold responsibility for the formation of their children.  However discourse is communication and a children is fed other means of communication not only ones from its parents. Its also the media around the child that holds the power in a sense because it control the things we dicuss e.g gossip instead of human right atrocities of what we should be discussing.

What i understand from this is people control they place we live in and watch we are exposed to.  These aren’t just anyone they are of some level power or hierarchy. Therefore the Queen is one of thee people, the government  and one person people tend to forget about is God.  Religion is the reason behind war and terror in may countries around the world. Extremists Muslims will put there life at risk to be a suicide bomber to get their message across.

  

A prime example of this level of power and surveillance is ‘The Truman Show’ whereby a mans whole life has been filmed without his consent because he is the star of a reality television show.  This film is a really good example of the world we live in on a literal scale.  We don’t know the details on what is happening with the economy and other aspects that the government take control. but we are time and time again ask to produce ID, have our every move monitored but by who? 

Here is the trailer for ‘The Truman Show’:

Surveillance is another aspect of power which is strong in my opinion and arises up possible ideas to be able to produce an artefact on. This surveillance topic can be quite obvious and if not produced from a good angle can become boring and pointless.  Therefore i will keep researching until i feel passionate about a particular topic to work on around the power theme.

Authority November 26, 2008

Other than police officer there are other people who have authority in society these are parents, grandparents, teachers, and elders.  This is contradicted because the level of authority an elder has does depend on the person an who they are trying to use their authority on.  For example an old age pensioner is an elder and most people should have respect for their elders however if a group of youth were on a bus making noise and the old lady says be quiet she is most likely to be ignored because society today lacks discipline which is part of the adolescent behaviour.

On the subject of behaviour youth have been responsible for anti-social behaiour which is a power within this sub culture.  The progressive link to crime, violence, vandelism, gangs is a way for the youth to show off to their peer they are cool and get respected. Their power sustained bythe aggression, fighting, the weapons etc. Boris Johnson the Mayor of London is in power to change this status on anti- social behaviour thus created a law on all London transportation that drinking alcohol is prohibited.  His power is an act to create social change.  

Graffiti is a well known characteristic of an anti social youth today however is started of as a revolutionary approach to make a statement against political power. Contradictory to this there is still revolutionary graffititoday also seen as quite controversial yet he is still praised for his work. I’m talking about the influential work of Banksy.

I really like his work his touches upon powerful measures in society  a lot to do with the war in Iraq.  His work also holds comical feel and can be quite powerful to just look at it’s a spectacle because the stenciling effect is his own unique style which makes a powerful statement about his anonymous persona.

Here is some of his work:

   

 http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/media.html

All of the above our aspects of power i find quite interesting which may develop into an idea for my power artefact. maybe photography again however i don’t feel very confident in the photography element because my photographs didn’t really come out very well. I have a choice of video and audio which i may consider to for my second artefact.

Physical Power/ Appearance November 26, 2008

Centering on physical power for example being attractive, it’s common to get an advantage due to appearance in terms of job offers, and discounts thus holds a certain element of power. Also Bullies have power use aggression and violence sometimes quite stereotypically being large and strong.  Sometimes the bullies can be skinny and attractive or even ugly but respected thus remains powerful.

However in the classroom who has the power the smart “geeks” intelligent, knowledgeable yet not powerful in different surroundings and vise versa.  This brings alight contradictions to physical power so depending on the circumstance the power is limited.

They school environment came to mind whilst watching a programme called ‘The Law of The Playground’ it was made up of a selection of interviews from celebrities remembering their childhood with relation to their school life.

Here is a clip of the show:

 

The Queen holds physical power in terms of the appearance of what she owns, shes powerful due to her structural position, family and inheritance without this she has no power.

The police force hold an element of physical power based on appearance because people in society recognise there uniform and obey as it a symbol of their position in society.  There was a psychological experiment carried out on power of authority and obedience.  Zimbardo ‘The Stanford Experiement’- It was a role play set in a prison where volunteers would act as prisoners and guards. They were suppose to act as the person the were allocated to be to simulate a formation of prison not a real prison.  The results of this experiment were quite shocking for outsiders as well as the people involved in the experiment.  The guards had become overwhelmed in their role and really treated prisoner very badly, abusing them, striping them naked, and humiliating them.  Was it down to their uniform?, their position of power?, or the level of authority given to them? which may have impacted on their mental state leading them to perform vile things towards the prisoners.  After the experiment the guards felt traumatised that they could be so uncontrollable and guards were depressed and stressed after six days into the experiment. Thus can power take over your actions and abilities.  A prime example is Hitler and the Nazis as discussed previously.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

Police Article November 26, 2008

Here is an article i got from the sun about racism in the police force:

 

The sun tabliod is sending out a strong message to the public by publishing an explicit story evidently telling the public not to join the force.  It holds immense power opposing the recruitment of ethnic minorities in the the police force whereas not long in ago there has been an increase in targetting ethnic minorities to join the force. 

It was publically advertised in a positvie way shown through radio etc. this explains that the advertising companies and journalists know people are influenced by what is said in the media as it’s now a fast, growing means of commmunication. They hold power ti impact,and encourage viewers, readers and listeners.

Referring to the article the member of the metropolitan police coincidentally at a high high position in his job role as a union chief thus holds power as his word will be taken seriously because he has this power. This story is written and delivered in a way that inform the public not to join, individual bias.

The headline connotes authority the journalist implies that the public will be influenced to read the story because someone of authority and in this position and role gives such advice thus legitable.

New Ideas – Power November 26, 2008

The next theme I’m focusing on is power.  I have been thinking about power on a large scale trying to analyse the things I know about power, things I’ve researched on power and what other media forms play on the theme power.  The first stepping stone is always WHAT IS POWER? I brainstormed all the things I feel power is and what other people have addressed to me.

 Here is my diagram:

My diagram above shows that there are so many things in life that relate to power.  There are physical levels of power, in terms of strength and appearance, psychological power in terms of the mind being intelligent and knowledgeable.  There is also sociological power in terms of aspects which make up society for example education, family, law, authority and police.  Political power in terms of government control, economic power in terms of climate change, and natural power in terms of hazards for example the tsunami.

 

Nonetheless what actually is power?  If you think of power literally in terms of electrical power you perceive it as a means of living, an achievable means which makes things function in our home. Looking at the world we use other means of power to achieve an outcome and this outcome is most commonly change; thus power is change. An example of this is racial power Martin Luther King made his speech for freedom, in addition, all countries are run by someone, just recently Barrack Obama was made president of USA and had thousands and millions of people behind him because he uses persuasive power and knowledge to win votes.  He also talks about this notion on change, he is in power and wants to create change thus power is change.

 

 

  

“Power is the ability to achieve a purpose.  Whether or not it is good or bad depends upon the purpose.”

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Literal Power

Power literally is a force when I think of force it reminds me of strength. I used to do athletics, sprinting to be specific whereby it’s highly necessary to have a high level of power in your stride to be able to run past the finish line in a quick time. With power you must have strength which then builds up speed resulting in a good powerful race.

Negative Power

Those with too much power can lead to a negative effect, a threat to society.  Hitler was a man who held immense power and had impact on the World War II.  His power had made impact on the world thus lead him to expand his level of power and fame which came along while being in his position and successfully persuading the people in Germany. He convinced his Nazi’s to kill on demand which is power of authority.  This really questions our ability to conform and obey. Due to Hitler’s power being a threat so many soldiers never had a choice or were easily persuaded because that was what they were surrounded by it, it was in their discourses.

Power & Control

Power is said to be change therefore to create change you have to have authority and control. 

Quote “… power relations are not based in nature, but are socially constructed and therefore, changeable.”

 

Grassroots Policy Project, ‘Power and Change’.

Media Control

Chomsky talks about media control and how we are oppressed by the media, conditioned from a young age that the subject of economic is dull. Thus the media is powerful and holds control over its audiences rather than power of economics being powerful in itself.  The media highlights stories that it thinks people are interested in such as popular culture and trivial for example ‘X factor’ and ‘Big Brother’. Before media had such immense power or capability, people weren’t introduced to such trivial and were accustomed to the news on their society not this fashest one we live in today.

Media Influence

When someone is presented in a negative light especially if they hold a leadership power role e.g. Robert Magarbi and Saddam Hussein, there is an automatic impact on society to also perceive those in power as bad and do not favour them to be in power. Therefore we conform because we are given this knowledge of those in power though the media.  According to Francis Bacon Knowledge in power, without knowledge how would someone determine power e.g a priminister cannot control he/she’s country, make decisions and collate ideas on improving the country without the knowledge to do so.

 Antonio Gramsci discussed the term hegemony, and that the ideas of the dominant group in society (those in Power) are perpetuated through everything in our culture, education, socialisation, media, religion, culture.  Hegemony is based around this idea of dominant ideology making us all want and buy things. 

Whilst understanding this research on power it has really made me think about the world we live in an how much it is revolved around power and everything that makes up the world and our beliefs all link to power.  If you think on a religious scale, back to the creation story God created everything he was in power however gave Adam and Eve the power to reproduce and survive however used authority not to eat the apple or suffer consequences, which is the answer to why we all live in sin and must repent as bad tings happen in society.

Power needs a source for it to work.  Gene Sharp focussed on the six sources of power:

Authority- the right to give directions

Human Resources – people to support the leader (those with authority)

Intangible Factors – psychological factors and ideological factors = habits and attitudes towards obedience

Material Resources – Control over wealth, property, communications