Task 2 - Popular Music

Theodor Adorno's judgement on popular music was centred around what he claimed was
"the fundamental characteristic of popular music: standardisation" (Adorno, T, 1941, 'On popular music', Studies in Philosophy and Social Science :73)
Lady Gaga has established herself on the global music stage at an unprecedented rate over the last couple of years. She is identified through being distinctly unique, particularly in terms of her dress and performance styles. You could think therefore that Lady Gaga's individuality would have been applauded by somebody of Adorno's viewpoint. However, once you strip away the outlandish characteristics of her personality, her music is not vastly different to that of other pop stars; in terms of its structure, its sounds and also its subject - romance. These are all elements Adorno identified as necessary to fulfilling what the listener is led to believe they want to hear.
"The composition hears for the listener" (Adorno, T, 1941, 'On popular music', Studies in Philosophy and Social Science :77)
So then it could be said that Lady Gaga has built a bridge perfectly between being highly individual and appealing to the mainstream. All of this has subsequently led to her 'Bad Romance' video receiving over 314 million views on Youtube and her becoming one of the most famous people in the world. She also holds the claim of having the most Facebook fans and Twitter followers and so it could be argued that popular music fans are conforming behind her pseudo-individuality.

Lecture 3 - The Gaze

Lecture 2 : Critical positions on the media & popular culture

Task 1 - Panopticism in modern society

Panopticism is a social theory developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault and is based around the relationship between power, knowledge and the body. One element of how this theory could be applied to today’s society is through the subject of security in public places.

“The plague that gave rise to disciplinary projects” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 62)

The high profile terrorist activities of recent times have captured global attention upon their occurrence due to their high impact and explicitly visual nature. These terrible acts have doubled as a plague that has rapidly escalated security measures, providing governments with all the reason they need to implement such procedures.

“Two ways of exercising power over men, of controlling their relations, of separating out their dangerous mixtures” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 62)

Introducing such procedures allows governments to analyse each and every docile body, with a possibility to build a profile detailing a vast amount of personal information. What information is or isn’t collected is not known. We are not supposed to know. But we are told for our own safety that this is the way things have to be done.

“He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 65)

Increased security and hi-tech surveillance are sold to us as appropriate steps to take in order to navigate any future threat to our society. Many of these security measures are now becoming so ingrained in everyday life that we it could be said we are oblivious to them and we do not question their existence. Infact it is probably quite the opposite, particularly at airports where the security is much more visible and noticeable. We tend to be very aware of our surroundings and subsequently are self-regulatory to how we feel we should act in this situation

“This surveillance is based upon a system of permanent registration” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 61)

Through a variety of measures such as closed circuit television, body scanners and numerous methods of identification we could be easily located and detected if the need was there. The government promotes theses processes as to be of benefit to us and for the sole purpose of maintaining our personal security, which could well be truthful, but at what stage will there be a cut-off point? When do these panoptic ways start to become an invasion of our privacy?

“It does not matter what motive animates him” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 66)

A strange and uncomfortable factor of this situation is that essentially we are all treated the same. Almost as if we are guilty until proven innocent. An everyday commuter or holidaymaker subjected to the same regulations as a would-be-terrorist.

Surveillance & Society Seminar Notes

Lecture 1 - Surveillance and Society

Level 05

September is here again and the first year of my degree has flown by and now Im moving from Level 04 into Level 05. Im looking forward to building on a very solid and enjoyable year whilst I attempt to bring a more professional aspect to my working practices through building a knowledgeable foundation of industry skills.