It was February 2; and just the night before, I had to cancel my passport renewal appointment to be able to spend a day with Megan Young. This was not the original plan, however. The day this assignment was given in my Media and Society class, I figured I could contact her younger sister, Lauren, and ask to spend a day with her in one of her tapings. It turned out, after exchanging “fE-mails” (facebook emails), that all her tapings have finished, and that I should try contacting her sister instead. She helped me do just that, and in minute’s time, I received a phone call from Megan Young herself.

She convinced me to reschedule my passport renewal appointment because that Wednesday would be the best day to spend with her, given she had her Channel V taping and a hosting gig. I could not pass this opportunity, so I did reschedule my appointment and made sure that the whole afternoon would be freed up for a day with Megan Young.

Channel V is a lot less glamorous than I expected. Much like the size ratio of rooms in ABS-CBN, the makeup room was literally like a cupboard beneath the stairs as seen in Harry Potter. This only goes to show off the capabilities of the technologies of media – allowing optimum performance in such spatially efficient areas. Based on the logic of safety, this is the most economically efficient way to be. Maximum profit is always the key. What I did like about the room was their make-up set – MAC all throughout. Megan even told me that this brand gives them free products all the time. My envy level went beyond the roof.

There is a reason why all three, Megan, Cliff and Solenn, beautiful and genetically gifted set of people were chosen from the pool of VJ hopefuls. Aside from having the God given graces of beautiful bone structure, they exuded a confidence, had great charisma and chemistry with the camera and the people watching them from the other side of the television set. Although it was the first time I was introduced to VJ Cliff, he treated me as though we have always been good friends. They all had such positive energy, and their aura was one where people… strangers such as myself, could feel welcome at the get-go.

Being where I was, behind the cameras and away from active participation, it got quite boring. Nothing was really there for me to do (although, thanks to my high school Mandarin classes, I taught Cliff how to pronounce “zai jian” properly since no one else knew how), other than observe the people who had all the knowledge it took to create a shot ready for print.

Howard Becker was right when he said that producing art requires so much more than an individual effort. One crew member had to turn the camera from Standby to Recording, the other had to be the Clapper, the other the editor and “scroller” of the teleprompter, and the other had to open and close the door for hours and hours on end – really nothing glamorous about what they do, yet they are all still very relevant. Even the VJ’s job, other than being dressed up and looking great, take a stressful turn when they can’t get the words out right. Take after take after take, unless they get the whole spiel right, they have to keep repeating from the beginning. Trust me when I say, their job is a lot harder than it looks, especially when the energy level has to be at its highest point when the camera’s little red light is on.

I want to side track, however, and talk about the men behind the camera a little more. As I’ve said, there were many very plain and repetitive jobs that were being done throughout the shoot. It just made me curious as to why they would hire more people than needed. Why couldn’t the clapper be the scroller as well? Need there be a separate person to open the door besides the people already there? I didn’t quite understand it, and I could not imagine the job getting hindered if the extra people weren’t there. However, I understood that this was how they have been doing things for the past n years. It works, and it’s probably the most efficient and cost minimizing input combination possible. Yes, I have been studying for economics… this is what happens. I start blabbering about the Lagrangian equation…

Moving on… Megan and I were at Channel V until around five thirty in the afternoon, her actual taping only lasting around an hour because we had to rush to her hosting gig all the way at Quirino Grandstand. It admired me how she was very hands-on with her work, asking for script editing when she felt as though her spiels were getting boring out of proportion. She worked having her audience at the back of her mind. She knew what they cared about and what they wanted to hear. She was very forward with what she wanted and proclaimed her ideas with respect towards the production staff. She wasn’t just the pushover celebrity. By negotiating boundaries, she pushed within her occupational role and showed me that their opinions matter when they want it to matter.

Already around half an hour late for her call time, she rushed to get to her house to get into her hosting clothes… smart casual, their theme was. At her humble abode, I met Adrianne Concepcion, her stylist. He taught me a thing or two about the trends this season and laid out four pairs of outfits that were all host friendly. His heavy influence and knowledge about Megan’s style came up with a two pieced outfit consisting of a glimmer shimmery high waist skirt, a long sleeve see-through top with a beige bando, Aldo shoes, and accessories to match… all from Forever21.

In the world of celebrities, stylists are one of the most important backstage personnel they will ever have. They are artists who help sculpt how the celebrity is known. Every accessory is hand-picked and paired with loud or dainty outfits, depending on the occasion. They give the celebs a character, and it is their job their subject looks unique and gorgeous every single time they are seen somewhere important. Most might not understand the gravity of their work. However, after spending just half a day with him made me realize the impact he has on Megan’s career and how painstaking his job really is.

Arriving at Quirino Grandstand, a place quite far from my Katipunan home, I expected busy bodies swarming the backstage, chaos in the dressing room, and celebrities from left to right. However, to my surprise and disappointment, there were only a few familiar faces. The staff was the most friendly I’ve ever encountered – and I say this with much sarcasm. As Megan was rushed to the stage with the other hosts, Adrianne and I were stuck inside the dressing room. It was the most uneventful and unproductive time of my life. We felt no hospitality other than from Megan’s publicist or manager. From seven to around eleven thirty, we waited, and I can’t say patiently, for her to finally finish – especially because she was only supposed to be hosting for two hours and not four.

Seeing her enter the room was probably the best feeling I had that entire night. Adrianne and I could not wait to get into the car. She was kind enough to drop me home as her and Adrianne think of what else they could do for the night. It was unbelievable they were not yet done. For them, the night was still very young.

Now that I sit here and ponder about my day trip with Megan, I have realized one very important thing about what she does. Beyond the glitz and glamour of her status, her job is just another job. There are many, long stretches of boring and stress and pressure from peers and colleagues, yet there are little moments that really make it worth all that hard work for. There are perks, and there are downfalls. I can only guess that the reason why they strive to stay in their jobs is the fact that their benefits outweigh with great amounts their sacrifices.

With many thanks to Megan Young, I now understand the life behind the limelight to be quite an affair. It brought to life already known facts and surfaced many hidden aspects about the people we love to envy. It taught me to pay great respects to those brave enough to tackle this industry.  And it taught me to appreciate my own, quiet life - not that I wouldn’t want to be seen on TV or on billboards one time in my life (laughs).

The day of the studio tour at ABS-CBN, I had no 5:30 am call time for training, and my one and only class did not start until 12:30 in the afternoon. I had the whole morning to get ready because the whole morning I needed. It was going to be the very first time I am going in and around the network, and I wanted to be as physically prepared as possible. I would rather look pretty in pink (or in my case, blushing in blue) even if no one sees than drab in the midst of entertainment personas. That is the shallow side of me, and I am not afraid to admit it.

I decided to energize with a green tea frappuccino before the tour commenced. It was delicious – the perfect blend of green and tea to make a simple concept of perfection combined in a Tall cup. Just like this Starbucks product, another wonderful, mundane, popular thing comes in a relatively small package. Compared to what we see on television, shows with elaborate decorations, lights shining on seemingly huge stages, the reality of television sets is that they are about a third of the size we expected. Their biggest set, the first of the few we visited, was around the same size as my high school’s multi-purpose hall (trust me, our MPH was not big at all). Our tour guide explained that it was the most versatile set they have in the whole building. It’s a little curious how such a small place can deliver so much joy and entertainment for the millions watching the program, and how versatile they can be.

Networks such as ABS-CBN aim to make profit off of the television shows they provide. The wide array of shows is created to support the jobs the entertainment and news and media business has to offer. In economics class, we learn that most of the time, the cheaper the labor costs, the more profit a company can obtain. The small sets offer a much cheaper alternative than using already existing locations because it lessens transportation costs, rent expenses among other things since the building already belongs to the company. In the long run, it is much cheaper to create their own controlled scenarios of an event or scene rather than to play off uncontrollable outside factors that other locations tend to offer. The less time they spend on trying to control their surroundings, the easier the shots will be, the less money will be spent on production expenses. It is being safe by being logic and practical.

Outside the realm of television program production, control is still very important. The network holds with great strength the trust of its many loyal viewers. And, it is, on the other side of the spectrum, controlled, with similarly great strength, by its family dynasty, the Lopez’s – who all deal with the complexities that come with the business, especially when personal relationships with friends, family, and close colleagues get in the way. Most undercover drama derives from the news sector of this network, although there is literal public drama brought about by the entertainment side. Objectivity gets blurred when personal matters get brought in the picture. Ownership of the media may and mostly does affect whatever output the network produces. Politics and economics are two of the most common public interest topics that get shuffled around and molded into the desired story the owners approve of.

The industry has been hit with many comments of disapproval about how these biases are becoming more and more apparent. However, not too much is being done because there is not much that can be done. Objectivity can also be subjective, as bold as it may sound, no matter how hard we may try to fight it. It is a human instinct that will be hard to eradicate no matter how far up evolution we are.

That last part was almost completely off topic. Ergo, it is time to bring it back down to a relatively more upbeat tone. Back to studio talk. It is quite interesting to think that programs brought to us by ABS-CBN can reach millions of our countrymen no matter where they are in the world. It is also interesting to think about the size ratio of the network to its customers. The millions of people around the world are entertained and culturally condensed by such a small group of people, packed in connected media buildings near Timog. We literally could walk in and out and around the studios in less than twenty minutes, get to the radio stations, noon time show sets, and Studio 23 offices to name a few without leaving the building. The intertwining hallways lead to all the floors and the sectors that the network offers. The centralized feeling of it gives me this unified sensation. From the structure itself, it can be easily concluded how tightly their system works. The network works together… separately, in a sense. They may be focusing on different areas of cultural upbringing, but they have a centralized theme or trend. As learned in class, “executives will avoid [passing] programs that appear to be obvious ratings losers.” From news media to showbiz, shows that will catch attention will be the only ones supported and shown. It’s a business deal and nothing else.

As they say, all is fair in love and war. According to one of my friend’s dad, however, all is fair in love and war… and business. These media executives do go to great lengths to produce and please audiences – probably not out of the goodness of their hearts, but for the fulfillment of their bank accounts. Nonetheless, they still do influence our everyday lives with the products they present, and it is important to understand how they work and why they work that way. Going through the studio tour, no matter how short lived, helped me realize and learn about many behind the scenes secrets that happen behind my television screen. After that Friday, the grandiose of the media just became a little bit more interesting for me – to the point where I may want to shift… nope… never mind.

Bibliography:

“ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation: Information from Answers.com.” Answers.com: Wiki Q&A combined with free online dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedias. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://www.answers.com/topic/abs-cbn-broadcasting-corporation>.

Modern Family is a show about three intertwined families consisting of at least one Pritchett. Jay Pritchett, the father of Claire and Mitchell, who each have their own ‘modern’ families, are the tying bonds of the show. The close knit extended families and their lives separate and together are what comprise the series. Throughout the episodes, there is a recurring pattern of the chain of events that tie everything together. By the end, a valuable lesson is always learned.

It is inevitable that there be stereotypes involved in making this show work as a comedy. It makes the parody of reality much funnier and more pleasing to watch.

This blog will explore the different types of stereotypes showcased in the show within Richard Dyer’s three stereotyping elements:

Reduces, essentializes, naturalizes and fixes ‘difference’

Symbolically fixes boundaries and excludes everything which does not belong

Deploys a strategy of ‘splitting’

Tends to occur where there are gross inequalities of power

Power is usually directed against the subordinate or excluded group. One aspect of this power, according to Richard Dyer (1977) is ethnocentrism (Belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group)

Stereotyping classifies people according to a norm and constructs the excluded as ‘other’

With these in mind, a challenge in exploring the different stereotypes offered in ABC’s Modern Family has now been accepted.

American household:

There is already a stereotype that American families are more liberal and less strict on their kids compared to most Asian families. In the show, it shows this by presenting the mother daughter dynamic between the two female children and the woman of the house. The daughters can answer back without much reprimanding from the parents, they cannot get hit, and they can bring boys in the house because it is culture.

Claire (looking longingly while her daughter brings up a new boy friend): “Hayley’s got her first boy over…”

Just the fact that American families are already being classified as such because of generalized observed actions conforms to Dyer’s first two stereotype elements. By saying “American Families,” we have already classified them in their symbolic fixed boundary wherein every time an American family is mentioned, we think liberal and too wild. Whilst before, that was not the case. After much media evolution, the Stepford wives type of household is not the household we imagine after opening modern suburban front doors.

Gold-Digger concept:

Gloria, a thirty plus Colombian Bombshell mom of one with her bodacious curves and long black always-perfectly-made hair and makeup is Jay Pritchett’s second wife. In the early episodes when they were first introduced as a married couple, it was hard for the two children to accept that they have a new mother just as old as or even younger than them. She was from a poor section of South America and has one son. It was hard not to think of her as just another gold-digger wife waiting for Jay to pass so she can take over the booming business and all of his cash. However, the show breaks this stereotype and designs her character to be truly in love with her much older beau.

Although they broke the stereotype, they still acknowledged the fact that there was one. They could not have broken it without being fully aware of it. And characters like Claire voiced out their opinion and their belief that the stereotype was true until one episode where confrontations happened.

It fixed the boundaries between what Jay did, compared to what the children expected of him. It was a stereotype, a symbolically understood notion, that beautifully engineered people like Gloria are just after the money of their much older husbands. And because she came from a much poorer and politically unfortunate nation, power was most likely going to be directed against her even more so.

Gays and/in Gay Relationships:

Mitchell Pritchett is Jay’s only son and Claire’s younger brother. He is in a living-in relationship with Cameron. They have an adopted Asian baby named Lily and they all add just another dimension to the whole flavour of the show. Other than being homosexual, the couple has nothing much in common. Opposites attract as they say. One is an uptight lawyer busy with thinking about how to live life practically while the other is an ex-music teacher slash housewife endowed with the gift of sensitivity and femininity. They showcase two very different stereotypes of homosexuals in the United States. Unlike here in the Philippines; we stereotype our homosexuals as cross-dressers. In the show, Mitchell is the type of gay that does not proclaim it to the world via outfits or interests while Cameron suffers from no emotional drought.

We see the apparent stereotyping method here. Cameron stays at home because he is a good ‘housewife’ while Mitchell works. It shows how the more feminine partner is expected to stay home. Whatever the cause of these stereotypes they are prevalent in what they say and what they do. They are marginalized because they are ‘the Other’ that Dyer is talking about. They are both aware of this and once tried using it to their advantage because there are some places in search for things that would make them diverse. Having marginalized groups will definitely do this for them.

Conclusion:

Richard Dyer had a concise and precise way of explaining the elements of stereotyping. By grouping it into three short sentences, he made it clear that: Stereotypes naturalize ‘difference,’ symbolically fix boundaries, and concentrate on accounts of gross inequalities of power. It makes the readers aware of what is happening around them and the issues it pertains to (no matter how every day). It makes us think about everything we do and everything that is happening. It makes you want to examine your own life and think about what the influence of media is affecting and what stereotypes you may fall into or are in the danger of falling into. It sounds arduous, and we will need the full extent of our lives to figure out our role in life. Right now, just three major stereotypes from Modern Family is all I had time for.

I remember watching this movie on HBO quite a few years back. Those were the days when sociological concepts were not quite in my realm of understanding or interest. My older sister had been waiting days for this to come out, and I wanted to see what the big fuss was about. From a point of view of a sixteen year old (or at least somewhere around that age), the language was pretty hard to comprehend. But the action, oh the action, was simply a universal counterpart of the word awesome. Knives, masks, mystery, blood, torture, black bags were many of the things that appealed to me at that fresh age – not forgetting the cape!

Four years have passed and not much has changed – I still find weapons and action scenes intricately awesome. However, now that I have been recently further exposed and educated about sociological issues, V for Vendetta has made so much more sense and is now in my list of favorite movies ever, joining Black Hawk Down, Pride and Prejudice, The Breakfast Club, and Cinderella Man.

Not only has it been forever engraved in my Facebook information page, this movie and its content has literally opened my eyes and rattled my brain about the power of something so mundane – the power of media and its capabilities in changing even a powerhouse like England.

What Roger Silverstone states about media’s relevance certainly applies to this film. Media was definitely the center of people’s lives. It was a way for them to “learn” about the outside world and experience it without leaving the comfort of their homes. Of course that is after all the propaganda, censorship and all other kinds of manipulation have been implemented do we see the exact effects the use of the media was being aimed for.

The government, with its strong institutional relationship with the media, used its power it knew it had to disseminate information that they wanted and how they wanted – again with the use of lying, exaggeration, and very good mass media skills. They gathered the people’s trust and fear until the “protagonist” ends up destroying their system.

Weber’s “Autonomy” took over, and people began to dare to defy the set laws. People used their innate power combined with hidden courage to see through and filter out what was mostly false disseminated information. Why this wasn’t happening before V showed up in everyone’s synchronized television sets was because of what the media did – lessen or completely phase out face-to-face contact. According to George Herbert Mead, a relationship between the community and the individual must be made through personal communication because he believes there should be NO sense of alienation in a society. People had a hard time filtering information because conspicuous conversations were always being monitored, and death was most probably what welcomed each one whose heads were black bagged. There was fear because there was no community. Man is by nature a social animal (Aristotle), and it is much more difficult to individually go against a tide than it is if one has some sort of back up.

It was obvious that media could do such powerful concealing acts face-to-face contact could not. It is so much harder to spot lies or nervousness on media forms than in personal conversations. Isn’t it a wonder why the Chancellor never was in face-to-face contact with anyone (even his own men) until the end? And there we see that he was not the strongest or least scared of his fate unlike the man who brought him to V. That character, the Secretary of Defense if I remember correctly, was a special kind of ruthless – a man of none or very little fear. Other than V, he would be my favorite.

There is a great irony that really caught my attention in this film. When V took over the entire British television base, he awakened sleeping patriots waiting for an opening to attack. He also made me realize the great irony in the media sense. They could not stop him from broadcasting because all channels were told to be linked and controlled by one base to make sure they can show whatever to whomever, whenever. The purpose of this was to keep everyone in line and give the illusion of community. This backfired because what they thought would be their greatest instrument for success to control became the major weapon used against them and marked the beginning of their system downfall.

If V was denied access to this centralized system, everyone would have left the fifth of November to be just another day – which, in the end, goes to show how the power of media prevailed as a great one to be used for different purposes. It is subtle and sneaky, but most of all, it’s effective.

This is exactly why it is such a previous and dangerous commodity. Whoever knows how to use it has complete power over society. It being mundane is its greatest advantage to becoming more powerful and extraordinary.

Works Cited 

Aristotle. (n.d.).

Bibliography

Aristotle. (n.d.).

Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W. (1997). Media and the Social World [selected pages]. In Media/Society (pp.16-26). Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.

Ryan, J. and Wentworth, W. M. (1999). Classical Sociological Theory and the Mass Media. In Media and Society: The Production of Culture in the Mass Meda (pp. 23-42). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

I have just started this account for the sole purpose of needing one for my free elective class this semester - Com 106. As I look through all the options and everything I can do with such an account, I am getting more and more interested in making a real one for my own selfish use. 

We’ll just have to see where that will take me, or where I will take it. It’s always nice to start something new.