Text Analysis

The Subcultures Reader Edited by Ken Gelder

Girls and Subcultures (1977) by Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber

Chapter 9 titled “Girls and Subculture (1977)” in Ken Gelder's "The Subcultures Reader" questions the lack of proper focus on the role of girls in youth cultural groupings in not just ‘subcultural studies, but also in pop histories, personal accounts and journalistic surveys of the field’. Authors McRobbie and Garber question why this is so by examining various examples of subcultural research from different researchers.

The first issue that is immediately addressed in this chapter is the stereotypical image of women in most studies, such as Fyvel’s research into the Teddy Boys where the girls are only vaguely mentioned as background companions to the boys themselves. It is already interesting to note that when girls are acknowledged in the literature, it tends to be in terms of their sexual attractiveness, which is particularly notable in the biker youth culture where the females were focused on mainly for their looks and treated primarily as sexual objects by the Hell’s Angels groups, or took on the role (Which was still rare) as the ‘Mama’.

This issue however is also difficult to interpret, especially when examining Paul Willis’ study into the motor-bike youth culture, the lack of content around the girls is apparently due to their unwillingness to respond to Willis’ questions as compared to the boys. It is not to say however that this issue occurs with every subculture group that gets interviewed, and while there have been no confirmation as to why they behave this way, there are hints that they behave in such a docile manner due to their position within a rather male dominant youth culture, where they do not feel as powerful or as important as their male counterparts.

Another important aspect that was included in this discussion are the different classes within these groups, it is a critical variable in defining the different subcultural options available to middle-class and working-class boys. The classes for both genders would most definitely impact the two quite differently from one another, especially during the 50s to 70s. The structuring of needs and options must also work at some level for girls. Some subcultural patterns are therefore true for both boys and girls, while others are much more gender-divergent.

For such subcultures as the Teddy Boys in the 1950s, while girls did participate in its culture of escape from the claustrophobia of family much like the better known male counterparts, their wages were not as high as those of boys. Teddy Girls do not tend to hang around the streets as much as the boys do, so to avoid assumption from others they were ‘promiscuous’, the Teddy Girls hence had to be much more cautious and subtle when it came to their actions as compared to the Teddy Boys.

While females are most definitely present in subcultures, there is a much stronger focus on the male-focused subcultures (With the popular press and media concentrating on the major incidents involving them) as compared to the girls’ subcultures of teeny bob stars and pop-music. it was the violent aspects that caught the attention of the media, which the girls lacked as compared to the boys.

In conclusion to this case study, the female participation in youth cultures can be better understood by moving away from the ‘classic’ subcultural terrain marked out as an oppositional and creative by numerous sociologists. Girls negotiate a different leisure space as compared to the boys. While each subculture has progressed differently when it came to its females, it is notable that the later ones soon began taking on a much higher profile (Especially when comparing the empowering Hippies to the normally sexualised Bikers).

Overall, there were a lot of interesting and insightful points that were addressed in this case study. The authors having considered each case from several different angles, while managing to refrain from being too bias when discussing such a topic.

Seminar 7: Censorship

Ohhh, where do I even start with this one...? We don't necessarily need a seminar to even figure out that there are all sorts of censorship when it comes to animation. And that's just it, there are so many areas to cover for it that, it's really hard simply picking a few.

Censorship is the act of removing content deemed immoral, offensive or morally objectionable by certain individuals and an act of suppression of speech or other public communication as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body.

Sailor Moon (Violence, Nudity and Homosexual Couples)

Most of the Western audience probably grew up with the dubbed version, and so they probably didn't realise until much later just how much was changed from the original. Sure there were the typical visual censorships, which made sense since the show had a fair amount of 'nudity' in it (Even the sparkles and rainbow coloured body outlines weren't enough to cover them up apparently).

Eh.

And then there was their very weak attempt to completely rewrite some of its characters as heterosexuals, and failing pretty drastically.

The series' famous androgynous lesbian, Haruka Tenoh,
later renamed Amara.

In an effort to avoid the controversy that a lesbian character in a cartoon aimed towards a younger audience would cause, given the contemporary social mores in the United States, the dub also states that Amara (Haruka) and Michelle (Michiru Kaioh) are cousins (HAHA!) - even going so far as to occasionally state this through characters who should now know such information.

However, whether in an attempt to be more faithful to the original Japanese or through sheer failure to edit consistently, several episodes of the English dub retain a noticeable amount of their casual flirting. Due to the censorship and problematic dubbing, some viewers of the English dubs inferred not only a homosexual relationship between the two girls, but also an incestuous one, due to the unusual amount of flirting between these so-called 'cousins' (Still laughing here).

However, it should be noted that in Japan, there were also some controversies around the character. Many other international dubs also either toned down or censored the character to reflect similar social mores in other countries. For example, the French dub showed Frederique (Haruka) was deliberately disguising herself as a man to hide her identity as Sailor Uranus, going so far as to cast a male actor to play her, while a female one placed her later on once she was revealed to be female. While Mylene (Michiru) was rewritten as merely pretending to be "his" girlfriend to maintain the charade (This actually sounds a lot more creative if you ask me... I kinda like it?).

Zoisite and Kunzite (Later renamed Zoycite and Malachite in the Dub)

Before Haruka and Michiru came along in the later seasons however, there were these two. Seeing how obvious it was that these two were a couple, the more effeminate looking one (Being Zoisite), was rewritten as a female character... though this censorship probably did a lot better than what they tried with Haruka and Michiru.

Several death scenes were also censored or removed completely. In the second last episode of the first season, none of the Sailor Scouts' death scenes were shown. Instead, they were all said to have been "captured" by the series' antagonist. This censorship pretty much ruined one of the most emotional moments in the series... But I suppose it had to be done so that the young ones wouldn't be traumatised by this episode.

While Sailor Moon was never intended to be a children's show despite the fact that it focuses on pretty magical girls, it was turned into just that when it was brought over to the Western side. And while it is pretty hilarious to see how hard they tried to make it into a kid friendly series that had a lesson forced in at the end of each episode, I suppose it was necessary considering who they were aiming this show at... though they honestly could have done a better job with it (Because this is some inconsistent censoring you did, DIC).

Bleach (Even more Violence and Nudity)

With more 'recent' anime shows, in "Bleach's" case, Tite Kubo had a tendency to illustrate really over-the-top violence, which had to be toned down when it was adapted into an anime series. It probably doesn't look as bad when seen on a still black and white image, but considering the fact that shonen anime shows like these are meant to be rated at least PG-13, they definitely had to remove these gruesome scenes that you would only see in animes like "Ghost in the Shell" and "Afro Samurai".

Much like "Sailor Moon",  female characters had their outfits altered to cover up more skin, and once again in this case, it's understandable. Female characters were definitely drawn in far more skimpy outfits in this series as compared to "Sailor Moon", and truth be told, these censorships look more believable, especially when you see these well endowed characters fighting (Wear a bra, please). We wouldn't want the young ones to be... too interested in these attractive characters either, now do we?

You can read an interesting write up here about the changes made between mangas and its anime adaptations.

TMNT (The N Word)

In the original 80s series, the UK were absolutely crazy over ninjas. The idea that everyone was about to put on black pajamas and overthrow the monarchy however terrified the authorities, and this poor series ended up paying the price. Since ninjas were not actually allowed to appear in cartoons and the British still wanted to let their children watch this classic-to-be, they reached a compromise by removing the word "ninja" from the theme song... and the show was retitled "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles".

Because of this, Michelangelo's screen time was cut down immensely, while many scenes involving weapons were toned down or cut entirely - Mikey and his nunchakus were for some reason given the most attention. The reason for this is unknown... especially if they thought that nunchakus are much dangerous weapons as compared to swords. Anyway, Mikey's signature weapon was hence replaced with a grappling hook called the 'turtle line'...

Michelangelo remained one of the most useless characters until the series' cancellation. Thankfully later versions of the series weren't given such treatment later on, even reverting back to the original name and weapons.

There were some other ridiculous censoring of 80s and 90s cartoons, such as the 90s "Spider-Man" cartoon, where no punching was allowed to be shown at all throughout the show's run... go figure.

Mortal Kombat and Australia (Too Violent For Me)

The Australian government has always been known for their ridiculous video game censorships, apparently having a mindset that video games are only meant to be for kids, denying the existence of older gamers. That was until a new game rating system was introduced about a few years back.

Trust me, there are better ones.

When "Mortal Kombat 9" was unsurprisingly banned in Australia for its "explicit depictions of dismemberment, decapitation, disembowelment and other brutal forms of slaughter", with Warner Bros. Interactive's appeal being repealed. But following the introduction of the adults-only rating, the ban was then overturned in Australia and the game re-rated R18+ uncensored.

The company has always been aware of the negative reaction it tends to get from parents, and that was probably one of the best things about Ed Boon and his crew, their sense of humour. 

The introduction of the Friendship finishing move in "Mortal Kombat 2" was intended to mock the parental outcry in 1992 over the first game's violent content. However, they were sadly dropped from later games as controversy diminished and was redirected to newer games. It did however allow the series to return to its darker roots from "Mortal Kombat 4" onwards. While Babalities (The finishing move that turns the loser into a baby) were included in the most recent game, Friendship was sadly not included despite what Ed Boon said on Twitter.

Oh and let's not forget this (Way before Australia unbanned the game):

While censorship is necessary (Especially when it comes to television, that parent lock is not going to work forever), it gets pretty ridiculous, or worse, even worse content goes over the heads of the people in charge of censoring the show. 

I must confess that Asia's HBO and Fox channels have done a horrible job when it comes to properly censoring their shows, as mentioned before, numerous jokes (Even visual ones) apparently go over the heads of these editors (Such as that gay orgy in "Family Guy"), and some movies or shows are censored so heavily that there was no point even watching it after (Like "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny").

Again, it is understandable that censorship is required for the sake of the young ones (And the painfully sensitive), considering how easy it is to influence them when it comes to the content they see on TV. But when editors blow, they really blow...

Lecture Notes 12: Research Paradigms

• "Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be here." ~ An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth - Bruce Mau Design In. 2006
• <=> Stimulated Approach <=> Intuitive Approach <=>
• "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." ~ Wernhr von Braun
• "Research is creating new knowledge." ~ Neil Armstrong
• Research is finding out by asking the questions:
  - "How?"
  - "Why?"
  - "What if?"
  -  Carrying out experiments
  - Talking to people and
  - Analysing that information
• Primary Research
  - Research that is developed and collected for a specific end use, usually generated to help solve a specific problem.
  - Research that involves the collection of data that does not yet exist.
• Secondary Research
  - Publish or recorded data that have already been collected for some purpose other than the current study.
  - The analysis of research that has been collected at an earlier time (for reasons unrelated to the current project) that can be.
• Quantitative Research
  - Deals with facts, figures, and measurements, and produces data which can be readily analysed.
  - Measurable data is gathered from a wide range of sources, and it is the analysis and interpretation of the relationships across this data that gives the information researchers are looking for.
  - Generates numerical data or data that can be converted into numbers
  The gathering and analysing of measurable data.
  - Research that is objective and relies on statistical analysis, such as surveys.
• Qualitative Research
  - Explores and tries to understand people's beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behaviour and interactions. It generates non-numerical data. The best- known qualitative methods of inquiry include in-depth interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis and participant observation.
  - A way to study people or systems by interacting with and observing the subjects regularly.
  - Research that is involved in quality. It can describe events, people, etc, without the use of numerical data.
  - Qualitative research is the gathering of information that is not statistical but that gives an idea about the perceptions of views.
• What is Information?
  - Any communication of representation of knowledge such as facts, data, or opinions in any medium or form, including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative or audio/visual forms.
  - Information is the result of processing, manipulating and organising data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it.
  - Data that has been processed to add or create meaning and hopefully knowledge for the person who receives it. Information is the output of information systems.
  - Information should be sufficient, competent, relevant, and useful.
• <=> Assimilation <=> General Study <=> Communication <=> Development <=>
• <=> Analysis <=> Research <=> Solution <=> Evaluation <=>
• "Research is formalised curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose." ~ Zora Neale Hurston
• Ontology
  - The philosophical analysis of what is or can be known.
  - A theoretical analysis of facts, properties and processes that form knowledge.
  - The conceptualisation or categorisation of existing knowledge and what can be known.
• Epistemology
  - The philosophical analysis of the scope and the nature of knowledge and how we can 'know' something.
  - The 'Theory of Knowledge' and how it relates to concepts such as truth, belief and justification.
  - Distinguishes between 'Knowing by acquaintance', 'Knowing that...' and 'Knowing how...'
• "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" ~ Albert Einstein
• Methodology
  - Refers to how you will find out what you are looking for (Approaches)
  - Identifies who will be involved and how (Techniques)
  - Specifies how you will turn source material (Data) into evidence (Analysis)
  - Considers how you will generate meaning from your evidence (Interpretation)
• Points to Remember:
  - Research is contextual, conditional, individual.
  - There is more than one form of knowledge.
  - The knowledge that you are trying to develop will affect what and how you research.
  - Your opinions, beliefs and experiences will shape the focus of your research.
• Research is about bringing new ways of seeing what is already known or has been seen before.
• In order to gain knowledge your research should have purpose.
• The purpose of your research should be formulated into a research question.
• Both the purpose of your research and your research question can and will chance and develop as you find out more about your subject.
• Developing Research Proposals
  - Start with what you already know.
  - Identify what you want to know more about.
  - Plan how you are going to find out about it.

Lecture Notes 11: What is Research? Pt 1

• Context is everything.
• "Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there."
• Process is more important than the outcome.
• Research into all different aspects of your creative practice.
• A creative practice that constantly develops as you move along, it can never stagnate.
• "Success comes from having brighter ideas closer together."
• You gotta fail before you can succeed.
• Ideas are the currency which you build and buy your future.
• Chance favours the connected mind.
• Integration of written and practical practices.
• There is a conscious or subconscious search for inspiration from external sources, from surroundings, media, discussions, libraries, etc.
• The main concern here is the development of analogies and associative approaches, which are then further developed into individual solutions.
• Brainstorming is about really making connections (Hence why we tend to start with mindmaps during the planning process)
• Stimulate the approach to ideas.
• Systematic Approach: By structuring and restructuring, enlarging and reducing, combing and extracting, replacing, adding, mirroring or reproducing.
• Intuitive Approach (What most of us have already):
  Development of thought process, which is primarily based on internalised perceptions and knowledge, that is to say an internal repertoire of ideas. This type of though process may occur spontaneously, without being evoked specially. This is actually a systematic process.
• Research is the process of finding facts, provable outcomes.
• The process of finding out how, why, what, who.. and maybe when?
• It involves collecting information from a variety of sources.
• The process taken into research will effect the outcomes of the project.
• There is also experimenting, discussing and analysing all that information.
• Primary Research:
  Research that is developed and collected for a specific end use, usually generated to help solve a specific problem. It involves the collection of data that does not yet exist.
• Secondary Research:
  Published or recorded data that have already been collected for some purpose other than the current study.
  The analysis of research that has been collected at an earlier time (For reasons unrelated to the current project)
• Quantitive Research:
  Deals with facts, figures, and measurements, and produces data which can be readily analysed. Measurably data is gathered from a wide range of sources, and it is the analysis and interpretations of the relationships across this data that gives the information researchers are looking for.
  Generates numerical data or data that can converted into numbers.
  Measurable data.
  Research that is objective and relies on statistical analysis, such as surveys.
• Qualitative Research:
  Explores and TRIES to understand people's beliefs, experiences, attitudes, behaviour and iterations. It generates non-numerical data. The best-known qualitative methods of inquiry include in-depth interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis and participant observation.
  Capturing people's thoughts and emotions as data.
  A way to study people or systems by interacting with and observing the subjects regularly.
• Information is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it.
• Info should be sufficient, competent, relevant, and useful.
• -> Assimilation <-> Development <-> Communication <-> General Study <->
• Phase 1 Assimilation
  The accumulation and ordering of general information and information specifically related to the problem in hand.
• Phase 2 General Study
  The investigation of the nature of the problem
  The investigation of possible solutions or means of solution.
• Phase 3 DevelopmentThe development and refinement of one or more of the tentative solutions isolated during phase 2.
• Phase 4 Communication
  The communication of one of more solutions to people either inside or outside the design team.
• <-> Assimilation <-> Development <-> Communication <-> General Study <->
• Identify background information
• <-> Analysis <-> Research <-> Evaluation <-> Solution <->
• Start anywhere, because, does it really matter where you start?

Seminar 6: Globalisation

Anime

In August 1996, Disney and Tokum Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would international distribute Tokuma's Studio Ghibli animated films. Aside from the fact that english dubbing (With some of America's biggest and most well known celebrities) was done for these Western releases, the dubbing actually stayed really faithful to the original Ghibli films (From what I can see at least). In fact, this is a positive example on what international redistribution can do, seeing that the west wouldn't have known or come to appreciate Ghibli's works of art had it not been for Disney.

On a similar topic, a worse off example would have to be "Sailor Moon" and some of the weakest attempts at americanisation one would have the misfortune of laying their eyes upon. Sure, most of us have probably heard of the more childish (I am not going to say awful because it remains to this day a huge part of most people's childhoods) North American localising done by DiC and Cloverway, where a huge amount of the original content was heavily censored or changed completely (Such as changing a certain lesbian couple in cousins instead).

But... did you know that...

They were originally going to go from this.

To this?

This American remake was going to be a half live-action and half Western style animation (You can see here that it looks like any 80s cartoon at the time). Toon Makers produced a 17 minute proof of concept presentation as well as a two minute music video (Which I had wanted to post here had there been a decent quality of it without someone laughing in the background...) that they presented to Toei, whom turned it down as their concept would have cost significantly more than simply exporting and dubbing the anime adaptation.

TV Shows

I feel that the American adaptation of the original BBC series is another considerably positive example. While it initially appeared to be a mere copy of the English version for the first season or two, this version clearly began to grow into its own show as it progressed. As expected, the first season was met with mixed responses from critics, as it was seen as a pale imitation of the original. 

Later seasons however were soon better received by critics and viewers alike as the script began deviating from Gervais and Merchant's own, and when characters began to develop their own personalities that became far more fleshed out than their British counterparts (Though then again the original version only lasted for 12 episodes).

"After a rocky start, The Office improved immeasurably, instantly becoming one of TV's funniest, sharpest shows. The casting of Steve Carell in the Gervais role proved to be a masterstroke. The American Office is that rarest of anomalies: a remake of a classic show that both does right by its source and carves out its own strong identity."
~ .A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin

... I don't know.

Perhaps maybe the same could have happened for the American version of the "IT Crowd", but well, they were never given the chance to get past the pilot, so we will never know... (Frankly though, a shot by shot copy of the original is just never the wisest way to give your pitch for something... it probably wouldn't work as well as "The Office" did in my opinion, seeing how distinctly British the "IT Crowd" was in terms of humour)

Cultural Identity

And so, is there a threat to the loss of cultural identities when it comes to other animations throughout the world? Or do most people simply see America and Japan as the main distributors of animation? And that other countries are too afraid to step up to the plate? 

The opening for "The Triplets of Belleville" presented humorous caricatures of well known figures such as Josephine Baker, Django Reinhardt and Fred Astaire, and was parodying the Rubber hose animation style that became standardised in the American animation industry (Especially in really early Disney shorts back in the 20s). I wouldn't say that the opening is the best example into what a French animation would look like, as it was clearly parodying American animations and subjects at the time.

I believe that it is in the main story where we are truly able to get the distinct French feel of the film. Aside from the unique abstractness and grittiness seen throughout most of it, there is also a distinctly warm yellowish colour palette used throughout (Which seems to be present in a lot of other French animations). "Triplets of Belleville" can be considered a downright scary and weird film, but still retains an amazing amount of hilarity and beauty as well. "The Illusionist" also has a distinctly French feel despite its incredibly different tone and mood, and I think people should just watch these two and compare them after.

Frankly though, I call BS on this matter, because, most people just aren't looking that hard enough. For instance there have been an amazing amount of French animated films that have been nominated as Disney, Pixar and Ghibli films. French, Korean, Chinese, German, Russian animations all have their own unique identities and style (Even "The Simpsons" seems to notice that, seeing that they parody them now and then).

I suppose most people in my class might question then, what is considered to be a distinctly British animation? To me, that is a little hard to figure out (Even though Singapore had provided us with a wide selection of British animations on the local kids channel), as it seems to vary. Though I suppose most people will identify British animations through stop motion, such as the works of Aardman.

Lecture Notes 10: Censorship and Truth

Truth and Manipulation

• Ansel Adams was considered important as a photographer for his photos of the American landscape, and his skills in the dark room and abilities to alter the truth. He manipulates in the dark room the way he prints things to create something considerably different from the original.
• It's nothing sinister though, unless you think about it in a political context.

• Censorship and manipulation in photography goes way back to 1917.
• 9/11 photoshopped works are done seeing how well they are able to cause a react out of the intended audience

• Then there's the more superficial stuff, such as the photoshopping of models and celebrities on magazines. 
• British GQ messed up pretty badly when they slimmed down Kate Winslet in one of their cover shots... only to completely forget to alter her reflection too.

• Manipulation becomes a more impressionable and impactful thing.
• Is it real?

• Robert Capa, "Death of a Loyalist Soldier", 1936, queried for ages now over whether it was real or simply set up.
• "At that time (WWII), I fervently believed just about everything I was exposed to in school and in the media. For examples, I knew that all Germans were evil and that all Japanese were sneaky and treacherous, while all white Americans were clean-cut, honest, fair-minded, and trusting."
  ~ Elliot Aronson in Pratkanis and Aronson, 1992, Age of Propaganda, p. xii
• With lively step, breasting the wind, clenching their rifles, they ran down the slope covered with thick stubble. Suddenly their soaring was interrupted, a bullet whistled - a fatricidal bullet  - and their blood was drunk by their native soil" - caption accompanying the photograph in Vue magazine
• Persuasion - "a deliberate and successful attempt by one person to get another person by appeals to reason to freely accept beliefs, attitudes, values, intentions, or actions". ~ Tom L. Beauchamp, Manipulaive Advertising, 1984
• Simulacrum
  1. An image or representation of someone or something: a small-scale simulacrum of a skyscraper
  1.1 An unsatisfactory imitation or substitute: a bland simulacrum of American soul music

• "The Gulf War did not Take Place" by Jean Baudrillard
• Contrary to the title, the author believes hat the events and violence of the Gulf War actually took place (And expectedly such silly criticisms are made of the title alone by folks that didn't even read the book)
• Were the events that took place comparable to how they were presents, and could such events be called war?
• The title is actually a reference to the play "The Trojan war will not take place", in which characters attempt to prevent what the audience knows is inevitable
• Baudrillard argued that the Guld war was not really a war, but rather and atrocity which masqueraded as a war.
• The American military used overwhelming airpower for most part but otherwise did not directly engage in combat with the Iraqi army, and suffered few casualties.
• Thus, the fighting "did not really take place" from the point of view from the west.
• The closely watched media presentations made it impossible to distinguish betwen the experience of what truly happened in the conflict, and its stylised, selective misrepresentation through "simulacra"
• "It is a masquerade of Information: branded faces delivered over to the prostitution of the image" ~ Jean Baudrillard, p.40
• What is appropriate for the news? Despite its grimness and graphicness, do the viewers not have the right to see what truly unfolds?
• What is the news for then if such things are censored?
• An-My Le, who works alongisde the US army, has her work questioned over how much of it actually portrays the war?

Censorship

• Censorship:
  The practice or policy of censoring films, letters or publications.
• Censor:
  1. a person authorised to examine films, letters or publications, in order to ban or cut anything considered obscene or objectionable
  2. To ban or cut portions of (a film, letter or publication)
• Morals:
  Principles of behaviour in accordance with standards of right or wrong
• Ethics:
  1. Code of behaviour, especially of a particular group, profession or individual.
  2. The moral fitness of decision, course of action, etc.
  3. The study of the moral value of human contact

• ‘Suppose that a picture of a young woman inserting a chocolate bar into her mouth makes one person think of fellatio, but someone else says that this meaning says more about the observer than it does the picture. This kind of dispute, with its assumption that meaning resides in a text quite independently of individual and group preconceptions, is depressingly common in discussions on advertising as the picture does not in fact depict fellatio, but something else, what the dispute comes down to is whether everyone, a substantial number of people, a few obsessed individuals, or one particular person, understand it this way. Without an opinion poll, the dispute is unresolvable, but it is really quite improbable that such an interpretation will be individual’ ~ Cook, G. (1992), The Discourse of Advertising, London, Routiledge, Page 51 

• YES ON SO MANY LEVELS.
• United Colours of Benetton has always been known for their shocking, provocative ads that really don't have anything to do with their products, save for the unification of colours.
• "While the publicity generated by such campaigns [Benetton] is immense - and their globalised distribution protects them from the effects of a ban in any one country - it is also surely shocking that the shock effect wears off so quickly. Perhaps the overall driving motive of such campaigns is in fact nothing new - but simply an astute loyalty to one on the oldest adages in the business: there is no such thing as bad Publicity" 
• ~ Cook, G. (1992), The Discourse of Advertising, London, Routledge, Page 229

• "Dejeuner sur l'Herbe" sparked public notoriety and controversy, whilst prostitution was common knowledge in Paris, it was still considered a taboo subject unsuitable for painting

• This inspired Bow Wow Wow's album cover in 1981, which caused additional controversy seeing that the naked girl (lead singer Annabella Lwin) was only 14 at the time.
• The Miller Test in 1972 asks three questions to determine whether a given work should be labelled 'obscene' and hence denied constitutional protection.
• Whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest
• Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct
• Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value
• Who is to decide whether someone thinks something is of artistic value or worth?
• Obscenity Law:
  1. To protect art whilst prohibiting trash
  2. The dividing line between speed and non-speech
  3. The dividing line between prison and freedom
• Sally Mann is an American photographer best known for her large black and white photographs - at first of her young children, then later of landscapes suggesting death and decay

• Her third collection "Immediate Family" received controversy on its release, such as accusations of child pornography and of contrived fiction with constructed tableaux
• "selling photographs of children in their nakedness for profit is an exploitation of the parental role and I think it's wrong"
  ~ Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network
• Just how much should we believe the 'truth' represented in the media?
• And should we be protected from it?
• Is the manipulation of the truth fair game in a Capitalist, consumer society?
• Should art sit outside of censorship laws exercised in other disciplines?
• Who should be protected, artist, viewer, or subject?

Seminar 5: Persuasion and Propaganda

Propaganda in animation became a means of documenting, seeing that it could be better distributed to the masses. While there are various types of propaganda animation, in the end they all have the same goal where they are designed to persuade you and manipulate your level of political consciousness.

"Persuasion - 'a deliberate and successful attempt by one person to get another person by appeals to reason to freely accept beliefs, attitudes, values, intentions or actions". 
~Tom L. Beauchamp, Manipulative Advertising, 1984

"At that time (WWII), I fervently believed just about everything I was exposed to in school and in the media. For examples, I knew that all Germans were evil and that all Japanese were sneaky and treacherous, while all white Americans were clean-cut, honest, fair-minded, and trusting."
~ Elliot Aronson in Pratkanis and Aronson, 1992, Age of Propaganda, p. xii

Matches an Appeal by Arthur Melbourne Cooper (1899)

Melbourne-Cooper made for Bryant and May what some animation historians consider the earliest surviving stop-motion advertising film, "Matches Appeal". The film contains an appeal to send money to Bryant and May who would then send matches to the British troops, in support of an unspecified war.  

Daddy, what did you do in the great war?

Britain's army at the beginning of the first World War was relatively small and professional. There was no conscription of population before 1916, and so recruitment of volunteers in large numbers became a huge challenge.

The poster was designed to induce a sense of patriotic guilt, trying to capture the British men that were unwilling to volunteer for the war. The picture depicts a situation in the future, after the war, where the daughter asks her dad expectantly how he contributed to the war. Posters like this used that powerful sense of duty to family, but instead that suggested that, in the future, children would hold their fathers to account on the service that they performed for their country rather than the social protection that they ensured for their immediate family. 

The Sinking of Lusitania (1918) by Winsor McCay

The sinking of the Cunard ocean liner RMS Lusitania occurred on 7 May 1915 during the First World War, as Germany waged submarine warfare against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The ship was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-20 and sank in 18 minutes. The vessel went down 11 miles (18km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1198 and leaving 761 survivors. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, contributed to the American entry into World War I and became an iconic symbol in military recruiting campaigns of why the war was being fought.

Winsor McCay spent nearly two years working on this animation, and at twelve minutes, it was the longest animated film on record at the time and was the first animated documentary. It was in the interests of the British to keep US citizens aware of German actions and attitudes. It was particularly notable, that in this film, the names of several prominent Americans were listed and focused upon. There was possibly also a reason as to why this film seem to drag on, perhaps to evoke stronger emotions out of its audience.

Evil Mickey attacks Japan (1936)

A pretty obvious but still strange piece of Japanese propaganda animation to all that get the chance to watch it to this day, it would seem that by that time, Disney's Mickey Mouse was known to the Japanese to be one of the Americans' biggest and most beloved icons, seeing as a pantless caricature of him was created as the villain of this film... Their own beloved icons, Momotaro, the "Peach boy", Kintaro and Urashima Taro, whom are heroic and pure and representing all that is good about their country, go up against that evil naked mouse and his army of inbred bats.

What age group was this animation aimed at anyway? Despite its seemingly cartoony and childish style, why was there a need to include machine guns into the mix?

Der Fuehrer's Face (1943)

Originally titled "Donald Duck in Nutzi Land", the cartoon features Donald Duck in a nightmare setting working at a factory in Nazi Germany. The film is well known for Oliver Wallace's original song "Der Fuehrer's Face", which was actually released earlier by Spike Jones. It was made in an effort to sell war bonds and is an example of American propaganda during World War II. Due to the propagandistic nature of the short, and the depiction of Donald Duck as a Nazi (Albeit a reluctant one), Disney kept the film out of general circulation after its original release. Its first home video release came in 2004 after the release of the third wave of Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets.

Victory through Air Power (1943)

This Disney feature film was based on the 1942 book of the same name by Alexander P. de Seversky (With him even appearing in the film), that had been extremely popular, influential and controversial upon its release than six months after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. Walt Disney felt that the book's message was so important that he personally financed the animated production. The film was primarily created to catch the attention of government officials and to build public morale among the US and Allied Powers.

The film played a significant role for the Disney Corporation because it was the true beginning of education films, that are to this day, still produced and used for the military, schools, and factory instruction. The company learned how to effectively communicate their ideas and efficiently produce films while introducing their characters to millions of people worldwide. Throughout the rest of the war, Disney characters effectively acted as ambassadors to the world.

When the Wind Blows (1986)

A British animated drama film directed by Jimmy Murakami based on Raymond Briggs' graphic novel of the same name, the story shows a nuclear attack on Britain by the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of a retired couple,Jim and Hilga Bloggs. The film seems to be taking swipes at Britain's post WWII patriotism and the perils of blind faith in government during the Tatcher era.

The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984)

A picture book also by Raymond Briggs that was apparently for young children (Yeah, sure it is, Raymond...), it satirises the Falklands War. The book presents the story of the war in the format of a picture book for young children. It is written in a simple style with large, brightly coloured illustrations. 

Neither the Falkland Islands, the belligerent countries, nor their leaders are named in the text. Instead, the British prime minister Margaret Tatcher and the Argentine dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri are presented as a pair of metal monsters who send men to fight over a "sad little island" populated by a few shepherds who eat nothing but mutton.

The book mentions several ways in which the soldiers (Who were all made of flesh and blood unlike the leaders they served) were killed or maimed; the pictures accompanying these parts of the text are monochrome pencil sketches, as opposed to the full-colour (Also frankly quite terrifying) caricatures in the rest of the book.

The refusal of either side to admit responsibility for civilian casualties is satirised with the statement that three of the islanders were killed, but that "nobody was to blame".