Greetings as a Media Artifact

           The mother tongue at Babson is English. I communicate with almost all my friends from wherever they are from in English. I have grown up speaking English and consider myself bi-lingual in English and Hindi. I know that the language is an important form of media that transmit information from one to another. The English language at Babson is form of hot media as students do not need to exert much effort in filling in the details of the speaker. Yet I overlooked a pivotal part of language – greetings.

            Daily, I come across various greetings ranging from WhatsUp! to Heyy to head nod acknowledgements; but never realized their important or relevance. I now realize that whilst many cultures share the basic emotions and language, greetings make a large difference in different cultures of the world. When being greeted by someone in a different way, the greeting becomes a cool media for me as I have to put a lot of effort understand what way to respond. Having lived around the world and interacted with different people, I have received numerous greeting and would like to present them here in this blog.

USA: Direct eye contact, firm hand shakes. Women may briefly hug other women, and men may quickly kiss the cheek of a woman.

India: Before meeting anyone, one must say Namaste and press palms together with fingers pointing upward. Usually remove shoes before entering house

Indonesia/Malaysia: Before greeting one always address the other person with a suffix out of respect. 

France: Light and quick handshake; women offer hand first

South Africa: Always ask how the other person is before introducing yourself.

News - a tainted mirror ?

          

  Everyday we are bombarded with advertisements and media messages that force us to become consumers and adopt consumerism. We blame marketing for making us what we are today and marketing rebut saying that its society who is at fault. The debate between who is at fault has been an old one. It has prolonged for a long time and can be seen as the debate between the chicken and the egg. But, has anyone thought about the role news media plays in shaping society?

        

    

 News and newsworthiness is now a social construction. The traditional view “where news is a mirror – a simple reflection of events – no longer works” (Croteau & Hoynes). In fact news media leaves out a large number of incidents and events based on their own interpretation of importance. The message is intertwined with questions of power and ideology. Only what they believe is important to them, is what is portrayed to us on the news. They don’t reflect the world, instead they actively select, present, structure and shape and engage in the practice to define reality. They give meaning to events and impose an ideology on the readers. Just like marketers, they advertise certain stories and show we should be. Yet blindly, every day I read the online news paper knowing that only a part of this is objective reality.

Google Maps - Mapping my life ?

            The introduction of Google has greatly advanced my life and surely many others. So much so that ‘google it’ has become a common phrase and has officially entered the dictionary as a verb. Google offers many services and has changed the world as we know it. However, for me the most fascinating aspect of Google is their goal to map the entire world.  Among the popular mapping services offered by Google are Street View, which allows web users to "drive" along virtual landscapes with ground-level views, and Google Earth, which offers detailed satellite and 3D images of locations around the world. With Google Maps, I know exactly where I’m going and approximately how long it will take me. Now, with Street View I can also see what the place looks like. What is even better is that I have downloaded this app on my Smartphone and have full mobility and access to anywhere and everywhere. But, this is just the bright side of things, Street View has arisen numerous privacy concerns too.

          

Google Maps Street View Camera

         In the most recent article (referenced below), Google broke the privacy laws in Canada. Google captured a large amount of personal information that included some highly sensitive information such as complete e-mails, e-mail addresses, usernames and password. This isn't exactly a new issue. Google faces the same kind of complaint in other countries including Spain and South Korea. These are only simple examples; Google has gotten into a lot of trouble regarding military bases and restricted areas. What is worse is that, they have published pictures of common people without their consent on street view. Websites like http://mashable.com and www.gstreetsightings.com/ have sprung up and taken advantage of street view by making fun of the how people look and what they do. There are picture ranging from people violating the law to people selling drugs on the street to nudity. As you can see below, there is a picture man entering an adult book store and of girls sunbathing (taken from the websites). Such pictures serious violate one’s privacy and don’t even serve Google’s aim.

Man entering adult store

Women sunbathing

      

       I have always had nightmare of a futuristic world where we will be watched over and every action will be monitored or regulated. Something like the game Half-Life 2.. Or Ive  just played that game too much . My point is, Google maps and satellite imagining in only the beginning to the invasion of our privacy.

Even sports games ?

            I have been watching teasers for Fifa 11 on YouTube for over a month; every night dreaming about scoring the first goal and writing about it in this blog. However, I have been delayed way too long to write it. Not because I was too lazy, but actually because it was sold out wherever I went to get it. But finally…I got it!

Fifa 11: A player entering the stadium

Movie : A gladiator entering the Colosseum

 After the class discussion on Chapter 8, I felt that I could look at this game through a different perspective. Was the message that the makers of the game wanted to communicate to its audience really communicated, or was the audience interpreting their own meaning of the messages? When I first saw the trailer ( as seen above), the first thing that came to my mind was Russel Crowe walking into the Colosseum from the movie Gladiator. Then I saw the other trailer (as seen below), where players were fighting with each other to get the ball. I could not understand if the makers wanted to portray this violent message or was it just my thinking that this game was violent. Even many of the Nike Soccer ads (below) have a similar portrayal. They too depict the game to be aggressive and fierce. Having seen the World Cup live, I don’t remember any match that was this violent. I remember some intense tackles and conflicts, but never such continuous violence.

            Earlier this semester, we had discussed that a lot is tolerated in sports, however according to me violence in such sports game might be too much. When I actually played the game, the violence was nothing close to the amount they showed in the trailers. Inf act, this game is very docile and supports fair play and penalizes players who foul too much. I just  feel that the makers showing violence was only a marketing gimmick used to increase sales and create demand.

Comics in/is my future ?

            Just before sitting down to write this blog, I was playing the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Xbox game with my friends. I have been playing this game, with Batman as my avatar for about two years, yet never realized how closely associated I am with this media artifact. No, it is not the TV or video games, however it the comics. Many of the games I play are based on a comic book that was published a long time ago. Comics are a form of artistic media that first established itself in the late 19th and early 20th century. They have played a very important role in the development of society. Since the early years, comics were ranged from to jokes, satires and caricature, but also began to tackle aspects of political, religious and social life. They not only allowed us to express ourselves, but also given us a form to daily entertainment. Many comics and comic characters from back then are still prevalent in our lives today. They carry similar messages and discuss similar topics.

            Since childhood, I have been exposed to comics, whether it was in Readers Digest, the newspaper, or my own books. The characters in comic books have extended their presence beyond their comic origins; they are now seen in movies, games, theme parks and even on one of my t-shirts. Today’s mass media have brought them to the forefront of public consciousness. The Comic-Con International convention is one example that reveals the importance of comics in today’s youth. The comic books I read in my childhood have shaped me into what I am now. My love for superhero movies and games such as IronMan, Batman, SuperMan and the forthcoming movie The Avengers has surely been inculcated by comics. It is not just me, On the other hand, my cousin who is now an engineer claims that it has not Batman but rather Dilbert who shaped him and his viewpoint.

Babson Dorm room: Comics are still in my life