Media Globalization: Family Guy

Family Guy is a popular television show that actually has a lot in common with The Simpsons (which was the example used in the book). It seems that this television program has reached a variety of different audiences, and often brings its audiences together-- establishes common ground. Social norms are discussed and critiqued, sensitive and politically incorrect topics are addressed with crass humor, and pop culture weighted. Like the Simpsons, Family Guy is a cartoon, an adult cartoon for more mature audiences, this can represent the crossover for adults, because generally cartoons are targeted toward more youthful audiences. Therefore this is an example of globalization in the media regarding Family Guy simply because of the medium and form that its delivered. Moving on, a lot of the topics that are addressed on Family Guy twirl around popular concepts that are relevant and parallel with today's society. Many political concepts are addressed, popular actors and actresses are mentioned and humored, it seems that Family Guy viewers need to be aware of the concepts and topics that are addressed before watching an episode of Family Guy. Therefore the integration of pop culture into this particular television show illustrates how Family Guy is an appropriate example of Globalization in the media. (ie: if one isn't familiar with what is going on in the world then they wouldn't understand the jokes). This also links to social context and globalization together. Additionally, many topics also surround "touchy" and politically incorrect ideas such as religion, ethnicity, social class, geographic location, and other belief systems and values. This too illustrates how Family Guy is a good example of Globalization in the Media.

Female Recording Artist Questions

1. What other kinds of demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, or class shape their fan base?

Britney Spears has a wide range of fans that have supported her throughout the years, additionally there has been a large portion of fans that have drifted from her as time elapsed and her image changed. For instance, initially, Britney targeted young teeny bopper girls who were looking for a talented role model, yet as her fame grew some of her fans dropped due to her racy image. Britney targets most ethnicities, possibly primarily young white girls from upper- upper-middle class families. As Britney's image matured, her fan base transformed into young males who found her "sexy" and attractive.

2. Is the Britney Spears audience seem to be male dominated or female dominated? Rock n roll audience? What difference emerge between male and female fans?

It seems that many of Britney's top supporters and fans are dominantly female, yet there is a great portion of male supporters, mainly because she can be considered by some as "hot" or "sexy." There is a certain aura of rock n roll that the Britney Spears name embodies, but in a much different way than U2. It seems that U2 has bee timeless, and around much longer than Spears, therefore they have sculpted their name into something much different. She represents youth and rock n roll, a mainstream pop culture rock n roll. Furthermore, there are some very strong differences that exist between her male and female fans. It seems the girls are listening because they like the beat to her songs and like to learn more in depth about who she is whereas the male audience simple watches and idolizes Spears for tangible reasons, because as noted before, she is attractive and desirable.

Medium-Content-Message Assignment 1

For this particular assignment I decided to focus in on the Apple Ipod. The medium can be defined as the Ipod itself, the MP3 device that we use to listen to music, view movies, and stay connected. The content is the actual music and the MP3's that can be heard on the Ipod, this is obviously displayed as musical notes, in their most basic form. Finally, the message can be illustrated as the graph I chose of Apple's stocks over the past 5 years. As shown, Apple's stocks have increased pretty steadily over the past five years. This increase could be a result of the Ipod, the Iphone, and other related products.