Street Photography- End Sems Assignment

I.C. Colony is a residential colony located in the northern part of Mumbai in Borivali (W). Its name is derived from the Church of the Immaculate Conception or  I.C. Church. The area has the largest concentration of Christians in Mumbai and sees crowds of over 10,000 people for it's Christmas midnight Mass and Good Friday Service. Through this photo feature I seek to document the colony I live in. 

 

When we were given street photography for our project and were told to select a location of our choice, the first thing I thought of, was convenience. By choosing the colony I live in, I knew it would be convenient for me to go and click photographs, whenever I felt like. Also if some photo was slightly bad I could easily go back to the same place and click it again. Some of the photos in this assignment were clicked post midnight as I wanted to show the streets at night, and this was another reason I chose a location close to home.

 

I asked an old man in the colony, whom I know and recognise from the days I used to wait for the school bus, about some places in the colony that haven't changed from the 1990's. He mentioned the fork at I.C. Cross Road No.2 and I.C. Cross Road No.3 and The Cross.

 

The Cross

 

Location: Holy Cross Road, I.C.Colony

The Cross which is symbolic to Holy Cross Road is located on Holy Cross Road Association Playground. Religion hypnotizes you, when you pray the world goes out of focus and only God and your desires take central focus. Here the zoom blur aims to show how only the cross(God) is in focus and the rest of the surroundings(and our other thoughts) are just a spinning blur.
 

The Fish Park

 

Location:  I.C. Cross Road No.6

Mumbai’s first ever Fish Park is located in I.C. Colony. According to the designer of this park, it is aimed at providing a relaxing experience to visitors as they observe the fishes swimming and swirling in the water. People who visit this park agree with that statement.The corporator who submitted the proposal for this park said that all parents can’t take their children to an aquarium. The park can be an aquarium as well as a play area for children.
The entrance of the park features a 3D mural of waves, shaped like an arch, atop which there are fish statues, from which the starfish and shellfish are prominent. The walls adjacent to the park have ocean based street art.

Entry to the park is free for the first 12 months.(till December 2017)

 

Street Art

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.5

How many times do people tell introverts to participate? Sometimes they try. On the rare occasions they do muster the courage to speak up, some people interrupt them as they live to talk, and in doing so force introverts to stay silent and retreat back into their shells. It's saddening that lecturers don't reprimand the ones who butt in whilst one is speaking. The silent ones have a different perspective, let them speak, let them express, let the quiet ones voice their thoughts and amaze us all.

An empty street at night

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.3

 

All the world's a stage(quote by William Shakespeare) and we wait for someone to get into the spotlight. Why not step into the spotlight ourselves, or do the lonely roads where few dare to venture, despite the spotlight, scare us? 

 

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Market

 

Location: I.C. Colony Road

A cat has a mid-morning snack of Golden Anchovies (Mandeli) in front of the fish vendors stall. A lady in the market who has just finished her daily bargaining turns to her friend and points at the cat saying, look at how lucky they are, they will never be affected by the increase in prices. The photographer and a few other shoppers couldn't help but chuckle after hearing that statement.

Market

 

Location: I.C. Colony Road

 

A second cat sits on top of the fish vendors storage freezer. He eats the last of his mid-morning snack of Golden Anchovies(Mandeli)

Market

 

Location: I.C. Colony Road

The fish vendor has laid out a part of the days fish on a board and cleans a Pomfret for a customer. The cat has finished licking the box and has now turned his attention to the board and is edging towards it. Possibly he thinks the Pomfret is for him?

Market

 

Location: I.C. Colony Road

 

A second customer shows up and asks what fish are available. The vendor puts up 2 palms and indicates towards the board on which there are Sharks, Pomfrets, Golden Anchovies, Mackerel and Prawns. She is then asked which one is the freshest to which she raises her right index finger and points at the prawns.

Market

 

Location: I.C. Colony Road

 

The vendor keeps the bag on the stump and fills it with prawns, while the customer stands with his fingers shaped like a hook, ready to receive the bag.

 

Street Art

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.5

Anyone up for music icons from the 1960’s? Street Art of the legendary Rock band 'The Beatles'. As exam time draws nearer it is their song " Yesterday" that I relate to(the song started playing in my head when I saw this painting on the wall). Things for the next fortnight are tough, the exam tension is here to stay, I want to go back to the relaxed last month when exam seemed so far off, but it is impossible.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
- The Beatles

Animals

 

Location: Fork of  I.C. Cross Road No.2 and I.C. Cross Road No.3

A canine helps his friend get rid of any ticks that might be on his body. The smaller dog in the photo was scratching violently and trying desperately to shake them off before the bigger one arrived to help him out.

Street Art

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.5

Thought provoking street art. Through all the mess and the destruction, nature will find a way to reclaim itself. What do you think of the message behind this Street Art?

 

 

Street Art

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.6

 

Thought provoking Street Art. Unleash your thoughts, let them paint the world. Without your thoughts, the world looks so dull in Black and White. What do you think?

 

 

Street Art

 

Location: I.C. Cross Road No.5

This street art reminds me of my childhood, and also shows the kids nowadays what real cartoons were. Such a painting would stimulate interest among them, as present day kids are curious and would be eager to know more about the cartoons they see on the wall. Also the pavement with grains of sand takes me back to my childhood days where running on it was a very dangerous thing.(In this photo is the man hole cover on which I tripped over and damaged my knee last April)

 

Empty Streets

 

Location:  Fork of  I.C. Cross Road No.2 and I.C. Cross Road No.3

 

This is the other location that the old man told me about. After I showed him this picture, he said it looked exactly like the 1970's(except for the vehicles and the paver block roads) This is right at the heart of the colony and the link between the old I.C. Colony (the I.C. Cross Roads) and the new I.C. Colony(Holy Cross Road and Holy Cross Extension). I kept this picture black and white as a tribute to the colony which even as it evolves maintains its heritage in some way with the cross and buildings(some are almost crumbling but haven't gone for redevelopment) and the marketplace. The picture captures Dynamic Tension.

 

Apart from documenting my colony, I saw things in the colony that I see daily but, don't usually pay attention to. I saw that, the people in the marketplace are friendly and eager to help(they specially kept food for the cat so that I could get a photograph of that). I saw the Fish Park for the 1st time as I don't go down that road unless absolutely necessary(the documentary made me explore my colony). When walking down the dead ends i.e. Cross Road No.5, I saw that the stained walls of the buildings now were canvasses for amazing street art which provoked thoughts and evoked nostalgia.

 

The photo documentary made me take notice and realise that there are stories everywhere, which are much better than the repeated lyrics that are blasted in our heads with the help of headphones. If only one would remove the headphones, take a moment and look around, we'd see things in real life that we can carry with us. It helped me observe my colony and learn more about it, things that I hadn't known despite living here for just short of 19 years.

 

 

Theory of Media: Research Essay

(This was a research essay written by me for the 2nd Internal Assessment of the Theory of Media course. Over here we had to take any media theory/theories and use them to analyse anything of our choice to see how relevant it is in present context)

Uses and gratification Theory

The Uses and Gratification Theory is an audience theory and was propounded in the 1940s and revived in the 1970’s by Blumler and Katz in the 1970’s and 1985 by Rosengren, Palmgreen, & Werner(1) This theory is an audience theory which attempts to explain the role of the mass media from the point of view of the audience. It focuses on how people use the media to get various gratifications, which is a change from the Magic Bullet theory which say that media does whatever it has to with a passive audience.

The theory states that people chose what they want to watch to satisfy their own individual needs. The Uses and Gratification Theory shows us that in present day with the explosion of television content which is available on the Television set, Netflix, YouTube, etc. when the audiences are confronted by a vast number of choices they aren’t passive but are very active and play an active role in selecting what they wish to consume, indirectly they also decide which shows air more in the future and which shows are scrapped as viewership and downloads play a key role in production companies deciding their show line-ups for a particular season.

There are 5 types of gratifications. Due to hectic schedules people are very selective and very carefully decide what sort of television shows they consume. Phone usage, Ipod, PS4, etc., even though they are forms of media and can be used for gratification purposes will not be looked at.

Cognitive needs

Under this section, audiences use the media to gratify their need for knowledge of the happenings of the world and information. To gratify cognitive needs is the reason why audiences choose to watch the news channel or National Geographic, Discovery, The History Channel, etc. People even watch MasterChef to satisfy cognitive needs as it helps them gain knowledge of the methods and techniques behind cooking a particular dish.

 

Affective needs

It includes all kinds of emotions, pleasure and other moods of the audiences. In present day due to a hectic life people get stressed out and suffer from lack of happiness and are often in bad moods due to office pressure, college work, bad personal life, etc.

People select particular television shows to satisfy their emotional needs, programs whose content allows  them to be reassured Of their own attitudes and beliefs(2). Such shows can also be used to make people feel good about their own situations in comparison with others.eg. People watch shows like Indian Idol as somehow most of the contestants seem to have gone through immense struggles to get to where they are as in they are realistic and have real people with real struggles and real emotions so people can relate to them and know that whatever troubles they are going through are universal and not exclusively their own.

Personal Integrative needs

Personal Integrative need is the self-esteem need (3). According to this audiences chose to watch select television shows as it helps them improve their lifestyle and gain status and credibility in society. Audiences choose to watch cooking contest shows like MasterChef rather than a cookery show like Khaana Khazaana as MasterChef features home cooks whom they can relate to and imitate in cooking something which they can then feed to their family or friends and achieve status like best chef in the family or friend circle. Other examples of such shows that audiences choose to watch are Wild Weddings, beach life, décor shows, etc. Such praise really helps boost an individuals self esteem.

Social Integrative needs

Man is a social animal and must have contact with other human beings. In the current era of overload of media content Television shows there is that need to fit in by watching a particular show. The media provides the agenda for conversation and assists in the undertaking of social roles (1). A person watches a particular show for eg. The Flash, he likes it and tells it to his friend circle and a few more from that circle watch the show. Now one person refuses to watch that show and he will find himself getting alienated as he cannot connect with the group conversation that is occurring. Hence in order to stay socially integrated with the group he too will have to watch the show and consume its content whether he likes it or not.

Tension free needs

One last way in which media is used is just to escape from real life tension and stress and enter a world of entertainment and feel relaxed.

Some research has shown that using media can make us more relaxed, since it provides a momentary escape from whatever stresses are eating away at us(4). A momentary escape is what people need on most occasions. People watch their favourite sit com or put on music channels like VH1.

Some people argue that to rid oneself of tension one should just take a nap and ‘’do nothing’. "The idea that rest is something that you lie down and 'do nothing' is really not how the body operates," Matthew Edlund, a rest and regeneration expert at the Center for Circadian Medicine, says,"The body is always rebuilding itself, but it rebuilds much better if you vary activities. 'Turn off your brain' is not really what you want to do. What you want to do is engage your brain elsewhere."(5). Hence people consume media and engage their brain elsewhere.

The brain in a sort of limbo state of rest—neurons are still firing but the mind is not actually engaged—it's taking in a boatload of information but not processing it, so the brain isn't fully relaxed, but it's not being exercised either (5) The not being exercised is key here, the brain isn’t fully relaxed but it is much more relaxed than it would be at the time prior to the individual switching on his Television set.

Each of these levels is individual in nature and are satisfied differently according to each individual’s ownneeds. A particular program can be consumed for a different level of gratification by different audiences. For example some media users use a news show to satisfy their cognitive needs whereas other users will watch a news show for Personal Integrative needs as it helps them socialise with family members who watch a similar show.

 The Newshour with Arnab Goswami was most casual news watchers favourite news show as the “news” there was presented under the concept of a “debate” which somehow always ended up becoming an entertaining shouting match thus providing audience with entertainment and also satisfying the audience cognitive need.

I have two young children and they both enjoy watching and learning from quiz shows on TV, as do my wife and I. The people who say the shows are boring and should be banned must have an IQ of 50 or 500! One end will not be able to answer or learn from the show while the "Intelligent" end can answer the questions so easily it makes them tired, poor things! Have these people never heard of the ON/OFF switch?

 -John C, Warwick, England (6)

This quote shows us that people do watch quiz shows for their cognitive needs and shows us that some people do find quiz shows boring and a waste of time, they may watch it as something to gratify their social Integrative needs so as to fit in with a social circle.

 

 

 

 

References

(1)  https://www.scribd.com/doc/32903764/The-Uses-and-Gratification-Theory-as-Applied-to-Television

(2)  https://books.google.co.in/books?id=fMSQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA184&lpg=PA184&dq=what+programs+do+people+watch+to+satisfy+their+emotional+needs&source=bl&ots=_Wyeg8vtxI&sig=hcNpQXnI5VWlaYrfp_ZkBBVx9TU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjoj7K3jPTRAhUEQo8KHVUSC-gQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=what%20programs%20do%20people%20watch%20to%20satisfy%20their%20emotional%20needs&f=false

(3)  http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/

(4)  http://time.com/3029797/watching-tv-to-relieve-stress-can-make-you-feel-like-a-failure/

(5)  https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/is-watching-tv-actually-a-good-way-to-rest-your-brain

(6)  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1035937.stm

 

Propaganda Theory

On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump announced his candidacy to run for the President of the United States of America and officially received the nomination of the Republican Party on July 19, 2016, at the Republican National Convention.(1) On the November 8, 2016 he triumphed in the U.S. Presidential Elections and became President Elect of the United States of America. How did a man who had never held elected office before beat out competition from senators like Ted Cruz and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to become the President?

He used Propaganda which targeted the vulnerable state of mind of the average people 

Harold Laswell’s theory of propaganda combined behaviourism and Freudianism. The power of propaganda was not so much the result of the content or the appeal of the message, but instead it is the result of the vulnerable state of mind of the audience to whom the message is directed to(2). Laswell rejected the magic bullet theory as one couldn’t just fire magic bullets to the audiences and expect them to be consumed (unless of course one is in North Korea). The audience plays an active role in interpreting messages and will get influenced by propaganda only if it is something that can solve the fears and problems they face which causes their mind to be vulnerable.

Firstly Donald Trump borrowed the Election Campaign slogan (Make America Great Again) used by President Reagan in 1980 (Let’s make America great again). He says that he invented the slogan himself post Mitt Romney’s defeat to President Obama in 2012. Laswell argued that successful social movements gain power by propagating symbols over a period of months or years using a variety of media. He used the example of the American flag, but even a message like a campaign slogan can bring back emotions to voters who were young at that time. They will now be in their mid 50s to mid 70s. Ronald Reagan with that slogan in 1980 won 489 out of the 538 seats. The slogan seemed appealing to the American people who came out in large numbers and voted for Reagan. In 1980 making America great was something like the need of the hour as Iran was holding American hostages, and the Soviet Union was taking Afghanistan. “The country seemed weak on the world stage,” said Southern Methodist University political science professor Matthew Wilson. “America had lost the war in Vietnam, had been rocked by the Watergate scandal, and had not seen a completed two-term presidency since Eisenhower. It was easy to feel that America had fallen from greatness.”(3). In 2016 Trump had seen something different in the country, and in the daily lives of its struggling citizens.(4). America was reeling in the 1980 when Reagan used his slogan and won, and the people found his tenure as President successful as he was re elected 4 years later. When older voters saw the slogan of Donald Trump the emotions felt during the delivered promises of the Reagan Presidency must have been reinforced or aroused and thus propelled the people to vote for him. Trump didn’t quite sweep the elections like Reagan did, but he won the Republican Primary with 13.3 million votes which was a record(1)

One of Trump’s campaign promises was to ban Muslims from entering America(5) was something that possibly appealed to the vulnerable state of mind of the American voter. Post the 9/11 attacks Islamophobia has increased in the USA. The fear was so big after those attacks that a Muslim was assumed to be a terrorist. People wearing a veil and growing beards were not considered Muslims but were considered terrorists, dangerous individuals whom the American people feared. Veiling was seen as an explicit sign of a Muslim identity, like the beard, has often been associated with terrorism.(6)

The Chapman University did a survey on Fears in America and one of the topics was Fear of Muslims in American Society. Some of the results were as follows 48.8%, report that they would not like a Mosque being built in their neighbourhood. 33.1%, say that Muslims are more likely to engage in terrorist activities. A similar number agree that the U.S. should halt all immigration from Muslim nations(These particular 33.1% people have gotten their wish as Donald Trump has banned travel from 7 Muslim majority nations)58.7% are of the opinion that Muslims should receive extra security screening at airports(7)

Such a perception of American towards Muslims indicates that they aren’t comfortable around Muslims and feel threatened when one is around them. Hence the message of Trump’s campaign where he continuously promised a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. created the symbols of Muslims and people were then taught to associate the emotion of satisfaction they would get when Muslims were banned and they could roam around freely and unthreatened should trump win the election.

The average state of mind of the people was vulnerable, families of soldiers were angry as their sons, fathers, husbands, brothers were being called to fight wars in faraway lands like Korea and Afghanistan. He has promised throughout his campaign that the troops will be bought home and America will not interfere in matters apart from their own in their own lands. This must have appealed to families of active soldiers as well as veterans and their families or families who have lost members in Afghanistan or Vietnam.

The New Jersey Governor Chris Christie created the symbol of Hilary Clinton as a criminal, listed her missteps and then asked the audience guilty or not guilty, to which the audience replied guilty. Then began the famous chant which fit in with the image of Clinton that Trump was trying to create(8). “Lock her up”, “Lock her up”. Trump at the Presidential Debate stated that she would be in jail if he ran the country. The symbol of Hilary was created and the emotion attached to it was that she was a criminal

Throughout the campaign people have seen Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump and viewed them as symbols. Specific emotions were attached to these symbols. Trump was the saviour who was here to Make America Great Again and Hilary Clinton was a criminal. The sight of the two at events led to people’s emotions getting aroused. When they saw Trump a saviour they chanted “Make America great again”. When they saw Hilary they saw a criminal and chanted “Lock her up.”

Laswell states that for every successful propagandist there were a hundred who failed, Donald Trump can be regarded as the successful propagandist who despite never ever holding elected office managed to appeal to the American voters and win the election. He successfully appealed to the vulnerable state of mind of the people, successfully created images in the minds of the people and over time associated emotions with images. This victory of Donald Trump shows that propaganda is still relevant in the present day and age if one knows how exactly to use it and cultivate images in the mind of the audiences.

 

 

 

References

1.  https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump_presidential_campaign,_2016

2.  The Introduction of Mass Communication- Barron and Davis

3.   http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/bud-kennedy/article90636182.html

4.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-came-up-with-make-america-great-again/2017/01/17/fb6acf5e-dbf7-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?utm_term=.8e6a129b88fc

5.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37982000

6.  http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1149&context=honors

7.  https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2016/10/11/fear-of-muslims-in-american-society-2/

8.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/22/a-brief-history-of-the-lock-her-up-chant-as-it-looks-like-trump-might-not-even-try/?utm_term=.cc7567a3a31e

 

Looking Back at the 89th Oscar Awards

When one looks back at the 89^th Academy Awards they will always remember the Best Picture goof up. Warren Beatty came up on stage to explain the error and had Jimmy Kimmel poking fun at him throughout the explanation. Actually the real culprit is Faye Dunaway who got annoyed that Warren  Beatty was wasting time and when he showed her the envelope she just read out La La Land. However what that card had written on it was……

EMMA STONE

LA LA LAND

Best Actress

Warren Beatty saw that, as was evident by the way he first stared at the card, then checked the envelope for another card and then looked up at the audience in the Dolby Theatre with amusement. He showed it to Faye Dunaway who just read out the name of the film(Kimmel should’ve been like, “Oh Faye.. What did you do..!”). It was she who did it and not him. (She didn’t even go back out there to explain the error and left it to Warren Beatty)

Were there really 2 envelopes for each category? (That’s what the Academy is saying and are saying that the staff of PricewaterhouseCoopers, accidentally handed them the Best Actress envelope as it had been the previous award that was presented. Emma Stone says she had the envelope of Best Actress along with the Golden Statuette in her hand at the time the ‘winner’ was announced) Was it a prank by Jimmy Kimmel?(hope that this is not the case?)

Yes, they are actors and can pull off such a stunt and act innocent very easily, but, that is not the case as when one looks at shots of the back the envelope held by Warren Beatty we can see Best Actress in a Lead Role written in gold.

 Jimmy Kimmel as a host was somewhat brilliant. His jokes hit the mark. The main target of every single joke was Trump (The countries who hate us joke while praising how many countries the Oscar’s are broadcast in). He tried to match Ellen as he offered candies and cookies to the celebrities.(which were parachuted from the rafters of the Dolby Theatre)

His initial joke was a jibe at the Oscar’s itself owing to the difficulty it took them ti find a new host as they go through hosts so quickly, ”It’s my first time here and the way you people go through hosts it could be my last time as well”. He thanked President Trump and spoke about the previous year’s racism controversy, “Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist.” Next up on his list was Amazon who were told that if they win the Oscar (as producers of Manchester by the Sea ) they can expect it to arrive in 2-5 business days.

The ‘uninspiring’, ‘overrated’ Meryl Streep was next. ‘Mediocre early work’ ‘underwhelming performances’ in Kramer vs Kramer and Sophie’s choice(she won Academy Awards in both of those films) ‘lacklustre career’ He then mentioned her 20^th nomination. The segment was finished off with Kimmel asking the Dolby Theatre to give Meryl a ‘totally undeserved round of applause’. Meryl obliged and actually stood up and so did the rest of the audience.(in an earlier post I had mentioned that the Hollywood stars would not be offended by a joke made by Kimmel and it is seen here that no one just gave a blank stare back at him)

Then he spotted Matt Damon……

His segments with Matt Damon furthered their feud. First he said they’ve known each other so long that at that when he first met Matt, he (Jimmy) was the fat one. He then spoke about how Matt Damon is selfish, and when he decided to be unselfish he ended up giving an Oscar worthy role to his friend and ended up making a Chinese ponytail movie, which lost 80 million dollars. Smooth move.

In view of 20 years of them winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon presented that award. Firstly they were introduced as 2 time Academy Award Winner Ben Affleck and guest. Then Damon was played off every time he spoke and the camera panned to the orchestra which showed Kimmel conducting it and saying, “Wrap it up quickly, we want to go home.”

The Best Picture Award was introduced by Kimmel, “as his favourite part of the show. The chance to see Matt Damon lose an Academy Award.”

The bad moments of the show were, tour bus segment where in an attempt to take yet another dig at Trump he made fun of a Chinese girl’s name Yulree with a few, "what’s", and then asked the next guy his name to which he said Patrick prompting Kimmel to say, “See that’s a name.” In the segment immediately after Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor he poked fun that with a name like Mahershala, he certainly couldn’t name his kid Amy. This was a clear joke showing how Asians and Asian names are different and hence discriminated against.

 The Joke on OJ and the extra slice baloney lead to audible groans from the crowd. ( he did salvage the situation by commenting what seemed like a future report, “almost midway through the broadcast the crowd turned on Kimmel.”)

People say that the man went overboard with the Trump jokes, but, what else was expected? I mean honestly, Trump’s immigration ban and comments about the wall, would hamper several artists from the 7 countries and from Mexico who may feel the need to boycott Hollywood as a protest against the insult their country has faced Asghar Farhadi whose film won Best Foreign Language film boycotted the ceremony. He may even ensure his films are not submitted to the Academy as films from the countries that are banned should not reach the country in which the ban has originated?

The part where Sunny Pawar was lifted (like how Rafiki lifts baby Simba) has people trying to call it a racist scene as Sunny is a brown Indian kid who was lifted to the music of Circle of Life from the Lion King. No! He was lifted as he was small (any other small kid would have been lifted) and he had acted in a movie called Lion. Also he consented to it and it made sense. Lion and Lion King.

 Not even once through the show the audience felt disinterested and even as a T.V. viewer I was shocked when they announced it was time for Best Picture (so soon? Chris Rock had lost the audience after about an hour and a half and people just wanted the show to end)

If people were expecting Jimmy Kimmel to take them into a world free from the politics or stuff happening in the world, they deserve to be disappointed as they haven’t been following the entire award season (every award show has had the current political situation brought up in some way with a jibe. At the Golden Globe’s Jimmy Fallon spoke about how the globes are a place where the Popular vote is still considered) or haven’t ever seen Jimmy Kimmel at his talk show.

The Winners

There are two categories that I feel got the award not because of their film but because of situations in the world (I’m not saying that the two were bad films).

Best Picture

Moonlight winning was unexpected (even though it truly was the Best Picture) as the award season trends had everyone going ga ga over La La Land. It possibly swayed voters not because of its film content, but because of the #Oscarssowhitecontroversy over the past 2 years and continuous calls for the Academy to be more inclusive. The film is about a gay black boy growing up in the Miami projects in the 1980’s.

Best Foreign Language Film

Toni Erdmann (Germany) had swept the awards scene but lost at the Oscars? Why because the winner ‘The Salesman’ was from Iran and the Academy wanted to support the countries that have harshly had a travel ban to the United States.

Changes

Unlike previous years the Films nominated for Best Picture weren't introduced in twos or threes throughout the show, but instead at the end. This was better as there weren't any unnecessary presenters during the show. Also prior to each of the Acting Award presentations they aired footage of the moments of victory and speeches of former winners in that category. This  was a novel idea as it showed a collection of emotions of what the award meant to past winners.

Market Structures

(This was a submission for my Economics Internal Assessment where we had to take a news article and analyse it with an Economic Concept of our choice. )

 

 

1.INTRODUCTION

Market is generally understood to mean a particular place or locality where goods are sold and purchased. In economics, by the term market we do not mean any particular locality in which goods are bought and sold as the idea of a particular locality is unnecessary to this concept. There needs to be contact between buyers and sellers for a market to exist so that a transaction at an agreed price can take place between them. A market is said to exist if buyers and seller despite being spread out over a vast region, remain in close communication which each other through personal contact, letters, telegrams, telephones, etc., so that they can sell and buy goods at an agreed price. It is noteworthy that because in a market, there is close and free communication between various buyers and sellers, price of  a homogenous commodity settled between different sellers and buyers tends to be the same.

Thus the 4 essentials of a market are

1. Commodity which is dealt with

2. The existence of buyers and seller

3. A place, be it a certain region, a country or the entire world

4. Communication between buyers and sellers that only 1 price should prevail for the commodity at the same time.

In the words of a French economist Cournot, ”Economists understand by the term market not any particular market place in which things are bought and sold but the whole of any region in which buyers and sellers are in such free intercourse with one another that the price of the same good tends to equality easily and quickly.”

CLASSIFICATION OF MARKET STRUCTURES

The popular basis of classifying market structures rests on three crucial elements.

1.The number of firms producing the product.

2. The nature of product produced by the firms (as in whether the product is homogenous or differentiated)

3. The ease at which new firms can enter the industry.

MARKET STRUCTURES

MONOPOLY

According to H.L.Ahuja, “Monopoly is said to exist when one firm is the sole producer or seller of a product which has no close substitute.”

‘Mono’ means single and ‘poly’ means seller. Thus Monopoly can be understood as, the existence of a single seller which is producing or selling a product which has no close substitutes. A monopoly firm has sole control over the supply of a product that can have only remote substitutes, so as a sole supplier it has complete control over the price of the concerned product. Due to the absence of competition a monopolist is considered to be a price maker and not a price taker. The expansion and contraction in output of a product by a monopolist will considerably affect the price of a product contraction in output will raise its price and expansion in output will lower its price. In Monopoly there are strong barriers to the entry of new firms in the industry. Under this market structure entry of other firms is highly restricted.

According to E.H. Chamberlin, “ A monopoly refers to a single firm, which has control over the supply of a product, which has no close substitute.”

IMPERFECT COMPETITON

This is a market structure in which individual firms exercise control over the price to a smaller or larger degree depending upon the degree of imperfection present in a case. Control over the price of a product i.e. existence of imperfect competition is caused either by the fewness of firms or by the product differentiation. Imperfect competition has multiple subcategories and the ones that will be focoused on over here is monopolistic competition.

MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION

Monopolistic competition is characterized by a large number of firms and product differentiation. E.H. Chamberlin laid a great stress on monopolistic competition in his work “The Theory of Monopolistic Competition”. In Monopolistic competition a large number of firms produce somewhat different products which are close substitutes of each other. Unlike a monopoly there is a free entry and exit of firms under monopolistic competition. As a result the demand curve facing a firm here is highly elastic and this indicates that a firm working in it maintains some degree of control over the price of the commodity.

PURE OLIGOPOLY

This is also known as Oligopoly without product differentiation. Here there is a competition among few firms producing an identical or homogenous product. There will be a few number of firms and this will ensure that each one of them will have some control over the price of the product. The entry of other firms will be limited and the demand curve facing them will be downward sloping thus indicating that price elasticity for each firm will not be infinite.

2. ANALYSIS

The gas distribution sector is one which is highly prone to monopolies given that only one entity can lay pipelines in a particular geography. The article focuses on how the PNGRB (Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board) has rejected the state owned gas distribution company IGL(Indraprastha Gas Ltd’s) request to maintain monopoly over the Delhi gas pipeline network in the NCR(National Capital Region). This ruling will prevent the IGL (Indraprastha Gas Ltd’s) in being able to be the sole supplier of piped natural gas and condensed natural gas in the NCR. The ruling will assist in the termination of monopoly in the NCR’s Gas Distribution Sector and stop the monopolist (IGL) from taking advantage of the fact that they are the sole supplier of a given commodity and hence can charge any price as they have complete control over the supply of a product. The PNGRB’s ruling will likely usher in competition. i.e. other suppliers of the similar product or somewhat different product which are close substitutes of each other. According to the article the monopoly will end(The 2^nd paragraph of the article states that the PNRGB’s ruling is likely to encourage more competition in the supply of PNG and CNG in the NCR) and then firstly move towards Pure Oligopoly(as there will be competition among a few firms producing a homogenous or identical product) as in the beginning with a limited number of pipelines,(1/3^rd of the pipelines will be reserved for other players who wish to supply gas)there will only be space enough for a few firms to enter this sector. Bids will be invited from potential investors to lay down pipelines so that more firms will be able to enter this sector. After this happens the shift will take place from Pure Oligopoly to Monopolistic Competition (where a large number of firms will produce somewhat different products which are close substitutes of each other) This will make the demand curve of firms supplying Compressed Natural Gas and Piped Natural Gas under monopolistic competition highly elastic and displays that the firm enjoy some control over price. The ruling will convert the market from a one with strong barriers to free entry to a one with limited entry and finally we will see the market having a free entry for close substitutes.

3.CONCLUSION

The aim of the PRNGB (Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board) passed a ruling that would end the monopoly in a sector that is highly prone to monopolies given that only 1 entity can lay pipelines in a particular geography and thereby encourage more competition in the supply Of Piped Natural Gas and Compressed Natural Gas, as in the absence of monopoly there are no barriers to the entry and exit of firms in a market. With the absence of a monopoly the consumers will have a choice of suppliers and will be able to choose from whom they would like to purchase the commodity. There will exist a competition in the pricing of gas for consumers. First with the entry of a few firms into the gas distribution sector there will result in the creation of the Imperfect market structure: Pure Oligopoly. The limited number of these firms at first will ensure that each one of them will have some control over the price of the product. There will be a downward sloping demand curve facing each of these limited number of firms which indicates price elasticity of demand will not be infinite. The article states that the pipelines will be increased as bids will be invited from potential investors to lay them. With the increase there will be a larger number of firms that enter the market and Pure Oligopoly will turn into another aspect of Imperfect Market Structure i.e. Monopolistic Competition. The firms competing in a Monopolistic Competition are faced by a demand curve which is highly elastic and this shows that they enjoy some control over the price. Thus by the ruling the number of firms in the market will increase resulting to a change in the market structure and the degree of control over price. The consumers will greatly benefit by this ruling. The element of inflation will be avoided as there are competitors free to enter the market and there is no form which has complete monopoly thereby allowing them to be a price maker. The media by putting forth such a story will encourage the rise of monopolistic competition in many other sectors so the consumers can benefit by having a wide variety of sellers to choose from.

 

BIBLIOGRPHY

1.Mahrashtra State Board Class 12 Economics Textbook

2.Advanced Economic Theory(Microeconomic Analysis) – 20^th Revised Edition

- H.L.Ahuja

 

 

 

Cultural Analysis of a T.V. Show

(This was my submission for the Second Internal Assessment for the course on Cultural Studies for which we had to pick up an episode from a T.V. show and analyse it based on the topics taught to us in class)

 Arrow S02 E13

Introduction

Arrow is an American action television series and the first instalment of a series of shows which would collectively come to be known as the Arrowverse. The show follows the adventures of Billionaire Playboy Oliver Queen who was stranded on an island for 5 years and has now returned home to Starling City to get rid of the people poisoning his city and to clean up the city, as a masked, hooded vigilante called The Arrow.

                Episode Summary

The 13^th episode of season 2 begins at the Starling City Airport where Nyssa Raatko, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul (founder of the League of Assassins) arrives at Starling City to use any method possible to convince Sara Lance to return to the League’s base (Nanda Parbat) as she has sworn an oath to the League. This follows attempts by Nyssa, (also known as Heir to the Demon as she is the daughter of the Demon and founder of the League of Assassins, Ra’s Al Ghul) and the League members to lure Sara back to Nanda Parbat, by any means possible, including targeting her family (they poison her sister Laurel Lance in the previous episode and kidnap her mother Dinah in the episode 13). Also in this episode Oliver Queen’s mother, Moira Queen officially announces her candidacy for Mayor of Starling City.

     Culture Theories

Culture is the process by which meaning is produced, circulated, consumed, commodified, and endlessly reproduced and negotiated in society.(Williams, 1961,1981;Hall,1980)

In this analysis I will be focusing mainly on Orientalism which I spotted whilst watching episode 13 of the second season which is the 36^th episode overall in the series. Also I’ll be focusing on Hegemony, how feminism influenced the portrayal of female characters on the show and vigilantism.

Orientalism

It is a cultural ideology that rose from the process of Colonisation of the Eastern (Oriental) countries by the Western countries in the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries. It becomes hard to separate Colonialism from Imperialism, as both theories can be used to define the means by which political and economic control are won and maintained over a particular region. Now after the Western powers began ruling over the Oriental lands, they naturally began to study the culture of their subjects and initially experienced what can be known as Culture Shock.

Culture Shock happens when we encounter radically different networks of meaning: when our natural or common sense is confronted by someone else’s natural or common sense.

Orientalism is a cultural ideology that was named as such by the west so as to give a name to the culture of the land they had colonised

It is a concept that there is something very special and different in everything of people living in the East, it is a reflection of the relationship of imperial and intellectual domination of a West which feels it is superior to an 'inferior' East.

According to Edward Said, Orientalism dates from the period of European Enlightenment and colonization of the Arab World. Orientalism provided a rationalization for European colonialism based on a self-serving history in which “the West” constructed “the East” as extremely different and inferior, and therefore in need of Western intervention or “rescue”.

In this series, instances of Orientalism are found more than any other. It starts from the season’s pilot episode where Oliver get shipwrecked in a flashback, and is informed that he is on an Island on the South China sea called “Lian Yu” which literally means purgatory. (It is on this Island he learns combat and archery and all sorts of skills that help him in his vigilantism) As in the opening quote he says he had to “survive”, this portrays the east (South China Sea; the orient) as a savage land where each and every single day, each and every single moment is a land of survival. It is somewhat similar to the law of the jungle i.e. only the fittest survive. The show tries to present to us that the Orient is literally purgatory. In Christian Doctrine, purgatory is a place or state of suffering and misery.

Why couldn’t Oliver have been marooned on an island in the Caribbean, rather than all the way in the Far East, South China Sea?

In episode 5 of season 2(the events which contribute to the events of episode 13) Sara Lance is stalked by a League of Assassins member Al-Owal as Ra’s Al Ghul wants her to ome back to Nanda Parbat to honour her oath to the League(note the use of the Arabic name). He is clad in a black outfit, and is killed by Sara. He targets members of Sara’s family in order to coerce her back. Gives an image of person from the Orient as uncivilized and dangerous.

The scene right at the beginning of the episode 13 shows a mysterious woman approach immigration at the Starling City Airport. The mysterious woman is wearing a black hat and overcoat. She is very slightly more tanned than the other passengers at the immigration point at the airport. Nyssa even looks Asian (that stereotype of being able to tell which person is from which continent is a result of the consumption of pop culture in media which shapes our beliefs) After an A.R.G.U.S. security alert appearing on the immigration computer, viewers learn that she truly is a villainess and she gets cornered by a security guard whom she smashes head first onto the glass of the counter and proceeds to beat up four more guards. This short, less than 2 minute scene plants the image of an Asian in the minds of a westerner as one who is vicious, extremely skilled in martial arts, uncivilized and dangerous. It forms a stereotypical image of Asians in our mind.

After Sara meets her father in a deli and she leaves and is walking somewhere, Nyssa make an appearance by falling down from the underside of a bridge with the help of huge drapes. She is clad in a red and black outfit, complete with a hood, a set of arrows and a bow and a dagger. She advances towards weapon less Sara with the dagger held in an ice pick grip(which as shown in many tv shows especially the detective ones is the most effective grip and offers the most penetration if you want to stab someone). She then suddenly lowers the knife and begins kissing Sara with Oriental music playing in the background (this sort of music is what we have been hegemonized to consider as oriental music as we can relate it to snake charmers). She introduces herself to Oliver as ‘Heir to the Demon’. Viewers who only watch the arrowverse shows believe that all Oriental and Islamic name people have somewhat similar attributes to what the Islamic characters on the show have. It will lead them to look at suspicion at any Muslim person they see while roaming on the roads.

In episode 12 climax Laurel collapses and we see a man in a beard he stuffs something into his pocket. Laurel returns to her apartment and collapses immediately after that. In episode 13 it is revealed that Laurel didn’t actually OD, but was poisoned by Tibetan Viper venom (Tibet is the rumoured location of the home of the League of Assassins i.e. Nanda Parbat). A snake from an Oriental land is shown to be the choice of venom, and an oriental snake is portrayed by the show as much more dangerous than other dangerous snakes. It is later discovered that Tibetan pit viper venom loses its potency the moment it leaves the fangs and hence is difficult to transport and the venom was procured from a species at a local zoo? Why was it a Tibetan pit viper when there are a host of more lethal snakes at the zoo? The Tibetan Pit Viper isn’t even among the most venomous viper’s let alone snakes? This is just to show that the Orient is a land of dangerous reptiles!

In episode 13 Dinah Lance is shown exciting her daughter’s room and heading for the water filter. The same man who was seen in Oliver Queen’s night club, the same bearded man who poisoned Laural makes an entry accompanied by extremely dramatic music and then puts a handkerchief around her face and makes her unconscious. The kidnapper has a beard, which builds the stereotype that all bearded men are evil.

A black hooded figure uses drapes to descend from a tall structure and engages in combat with the White canary and the Arrow. He is overpowered by Quentin Lance and when his hood is pulled off it is revealed that he is the same person who poisoned Laurel and kidnapped Dinah. Consumes a vial of something (assumed to be poison) and whispers an Islam prayer before being committing suicide. He utters the phrase ‘la ilaha ila lah”. This phrase represents one of the greatest oaths any Muslim, a believer of Islam, can make in being a Muslim, and is known as the declaration of faith.

Nyssa gets mad when Sara consumes the venom and Lance and Dinah rush to her side and kneel by her body. Then like a heartless beast tells her that her mourning parents can join her in eternity. She knocks Quentin Lance out and is moving to stab Dinah Lance with her dagger.

The people when they join the League of Assassins have to take up a Muslim name for example Sara has the name Ateya – Al Saher. Viewers then form the opinion that one with an American name like Sara Lance cant truly be a cold blooded killer like the League requires them to be, and upon taking a new name they can transform themselves into a killer. An image of any individual with a Muslim name will be associated with violence and cold blooded ruthlessness, if the show is consumed without people learning not to stereotype. It’s not only Arrow, but a lot of tv shows portray Muslims as villains, but here it says that American name not possible to be a villain, and Arabic name is needed to be ruthless.

Such things are the reasons that Muslims are detained at airports. Shah Rukh Khan has been detained thrice because of his surname. It shows us that popular culture has influenced Western countries so much that they are convinced that anyone who is Muslim is evil. If this is the state of the global icon, what must be the state of those regular normal Muslims when they go the America?

Going back to Said’s definition Orientalism provided a rationalization for European colonialism based on a self-serving history in which “the West” constructed “the East” as extremely different and inferior, and therefore in need of Western intervention or “rescue”. It shows us that the West needs to intervene in the East and rescue them.

Feminism

Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of equality of the sexes. The feminist movement led to writers of shows falling under pop culture to construct stronger female characters.

Moira Queen and Sara Lance are the prime faces for Feminism in this episode.

Moira Queen is a strong female character who is convinced to run against Sebastian Blood for mayor as every other candidate has been trounced. Campaign is about connecting with people. ”Wants to help rebuild the city, not pander to it.”

Her mayoral rival, Sebastian Blood tells her to “get out” as in get out of the election race, to which she responds “I can take care of myself” further reinforcing to the viewers that she despite being a female can be considered as equal to men in terms of courage, guts and determination.

Sara Lance leaves Starling City and goes away because the League Of Assassins is after her. She tells Nyssa to “do what you have to”, fully expecting to be stabbed. She shows strength over here and is willing to ‘honour her commitment to the league in one way or another.’ Later on in the episode Nyssa asks Sara whether she has come to a decision as the time is up and she says that she is ready to come provided Nyssa lets go of Mrs. Lance. Before feminism movements very few female characters would be shown in this manner as emotionally strong and willing to sacrifice themselves for others.

Sara also after freeing her mother collapses following which it is shown by a reaction in her eyes that she has consumed Tibetan Pit Viper venom. She chose to sacrifice herself so as to end the ordeal of her running from the League, re-joining it, the League harming members of her family to get to her.

Popular Culture

The show is extremely popular, as it is based on a vigilante and it falls under the category of popular culture. Pop or Popular culture is also known as culture of the masses. Television series nowadays are aired weekly and form a part of the everyday life of the larger number of people. The show seems to promote Islamophobia as is very evident from this episode.

 Earlier the culture of television show consumption would be considered as ‘inferior culture’, but is now popular among the Youth as it offers them to see a superhero on the small screen on a weekly basis. Hence due to watching this show on a regular basis, viewers will begin to form stereotypes and even see things that influence them and that some stereotypes are wrong.

Stereotype

It is considered as a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Mr.Lance is shown cooking and washing utensils in the flashback scenes of episode 13 thus bucking the stereotype of men don’t cook or contribute in the house work.

The two women who have a crush on the same guy can work together on the same team. Sara and Felicity break the stereotype of how two women who have a crush on the same guy can’t be friends or work cohesively.

Felicity breaks the stereotype of a hot girl being unable to have excellent hacking skills. In episode 12 she confesses to having hacked into a prison.

The stereotype that all people with Arabic names have some evil aura or connection is promoted heavily in this episode and this stereotype exists a lot in the real world as the show is a part of pop culture and is consumed by the masses.

Uplifting music is used as background for western characters and suspense building music oriental music is used for all characters from the Orient, enforces the stereotype that characters from people in shows and even in real life need to be viewed at with suspicion.

Hegemony

It is the leadership and dominance over another person or group by a person or a group.

Nyssa is the powerful figure in the league and everyone in the League accepts her dominance over themselves. She too is shown to be hegemonised as she accepts Ra’s Al- Ghul’s domination over her. Sara Lance by fleeing the League and not returning to the League displays an example of counter hegemony in this episode.

 Vigilantism

 A vigilante is a person who is not a member of law enforcement but who pursues and punishes persons suspected of law-breaking. Vigilantism is the methods, conduct and attitudes associated with vigilantes, especially militancy, bigotry, or suspiciousness. It is a cultural ideology that seems to condone or even advocate the use of violence in criminal justice.

In the show, The Arrow is a masked vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and delivers justice. The vigilante culture is seen in Starling City a what originally was only The Arrow has now become the White Canary (Sara Lance) and Roy Harper (who is seen in episode 12)

Misrepresentation of the Oriental Culture

Here I’ll focus solely on the phrase “La ilaha ila lah.” When watching the episode I thought that Islam actually promoted sacrifice of life in the name of God. The phrase literally means ”There is no deity but god.” People think that Islam condones suicide in the name of Allah, but it is a gross misrepresentation as in the qu’ran suicide is forbidden and is considered a sin. But popular culture paints the reverse image in our head.

 Bibliography

 1. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purgatory

2. http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H014.htm

3. http://www.arabstereotypes.org/why-stereotypes/what-orientalism

4. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vigilantism

5. http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/30463

6. http://www.arabnews.com/node/251387