Hi Score Girl Response: Typical Anime Tropes

This week’s feature was a Japanese anime show titled ‘Hi Score Girl’, it is centred around a young school boy named Haruo who is obsessed with all things gaming, but particularly arcade games, and the relationships he forms with two girls, Akira and Koharu, under the context of gaming. From what I gathered from the Twitter feed, most people seemed to be confused by the storyline and the way it was difficult to tell what was being said verbally by Haruo and what was internal dialogue. This was not an issue I had, I found it very easy to follow what was reality and what was Haruo’s imagination, I found his voice quickened in pace, eyes of himself and those around him go completely white and the background disappears or warps the colours when he was day dreaming. These examples are seen during the first candy shop scene in the first episode when Akira tries to go for a high score and the shop owner is lurking in the back ground.

From Twitter I also learnt that there were English dubs on ‘Hi Score Girl’, this was not something I was aware of and has watched all the episodes in Japanese with English subtitles. However, I am not sure I would have chosen to listen to the English dubs, as I went back to watch some scenes again with the dub and did not feel like it had the same level of emotion and passion that was exuded from the original voice artists. What else I noticed from Twitter is that nobody mentioned any typical anime tropes that ‘Hi Score Girl’ play into, this may have been from a pretty large percent of us having little to no prior experience with anime, but I found it interesting and thus will write this post about it.

• Tsundere:

Firstly, there is a ‘Tsundere‘ character who begins the show as very hostile and dismissive towards their eventual love interest, and while they eventually warm up to their love interest, they are always plagued by conflicting feelings of love and hate. This can be seen clearly when the teacher announces that Akira is leaving for America during episode three, just before this scene Haruo finally begins to be nice and empathetic towards Akira when he finally understands Akira’s home situation, but when confronted with her leaving he lashes out and says that he’s relieved she will no longer intrude on his “sacred territory” anymore. They reconcile before Akira boards the plane, but the way Haruo acts up until this point definitely makes him a Tsundere character.

• Oblivious main, male character:

According to WhatNerd.com, the main character in Anime, particularly school related anime, there always seems to be an oblivious, male character that just can’t seem to correctly comprehend the world around him. This mostly applies to Haruo, there are many instances of him being oblivious, such as not understanding that it is Akira’s strategies that make her better at gaming and that Koharu was “going all red” because she liked him, however Haruo is very perceptive about Akira’s wants, needs and emotions. Haruo seems to be the only person who understands Akira despite being nonverbal, for instance when he knew she was enjoying being on the roller coaster despite her neutral face.

• Female characters beating up male characters:

While another anime trope is to include weak women that need to be saved, it is also very common for anime to include scenes where women beat up men. This can be be seen many times during ‘Hi Score Girl’ because, as Haruo points out, Akira gets violent when she is scared or angry. Akira is seen constantly punching, smacking and foot-stamping Haruo when he says or does something that offends her, such as using “dirty, forbidden moves” against her to win the game, or when they’re in a scary situation like going into the creepy arcade. It is not just Akira who is shown to be violent against Haruo, his own mother begins to wrestle him for being rude to Akira, and thus playing deeply into this particular anime trope.

Overall, I found Hi Score Girl to be a bright, fun and entertaining show that captured my attention right from the start, and while it does further promote certain typical anime tropes that normalise toxic masculinity, Akira’s character more than makes up for it with her resilience, passion and independence.

 

References:

Mercado, R 2019, ’10 Common Anime Tropes You See Everywhere’, CRB, November 21st, viewed 28th August 2020, https://www.cbr.com/common-anime-tropes-everywhere/

Roth, M 2019, ‘9 Annoying Anime Tropes I Wish Would Disappear For Good’, What Nerd, December 10th, viewed 28th August 2020, https://whatnerd.com/annoying-anime-tropes/

September 4, 2020 by lucygair Categories: BCM320Tags: 2020, anime, BCM320, blogpost, digitalasia, HiScoreGirl, Tropes, Typical 1 Comment

‘Cake’ Response: fighting gender norms

This weeks feature film was a Pakistani, family-drama titled ‘Cake’. It showcased exceptional acting, cinematography, and an accurate representation of a family in internal crisis. While the film’s dominant storyline is of a global family that reunites after the matriarch falls ill, it ultimately turns into so much more than what is shown on a surface level, much like a cake. Despite the never ending plot twists and deterrences from the original story, myself and a fair few other classmates found the film to be underwhelming and felt that it dragged on for too long, especially in the middle act. The last few scenes definitely made ‘Cake’ end on a hight note and had given the audience themes and scenarios to reflect on well after the credits rolled, making this film overall a good watch. ‘Cake’ does a fantastic job at refusing to portray gender stereotypes for both its male and female characters, making an active effort to switch “gender normative” roles and including dialogue such as ‘when has responsibility ever been determined by gender?‘ Following are some of the ways that ‘Cake’ fought against what is typical for a man and a woman and showed the audience something real.

First of all ‘Cake’ aces the Bechdel test, Zareen and Zara’s relationship is so far from being centred around men that Zara’s failed marriage is only mentioned once in conversation between them, women have many, many other subjects to discuss besides men and this film showcases that perfectly.  The two sisters in this film are head-strong, brash, and physical, they do not like anyone meddling in their lives and prefer to have things done on their own terms. The most out of gender normative aspect to Zareen and Zara is the fact that neither of them have children despite Zara being married and Zareen being in her mid-thirties. In fact Zara is intentionally childless, stating that it is on her own volition not to adopt or fall pregnant, as she considers having children a selfish way to ensure a caregiver when you’re older. This goes against all interpretations of a woman and her overall “purpose in life”, women can never truly seem to shake the expectation to want children. As for Zareen, she is independent, the primary care-giver to her two parents, runs the family business and never seems to be apologetic for anything. Her relationship with Romeo is always on Zareen’s terms, with her always seemingly in control. Her internal struggles with her feelings regarding Romeo is a silent issue that she never voices unless under duress, such as Zara yelling at her for a distraction, showing such strength to be dealing with so many issues but no outlet to voice her feelings.

Personally I find the men in the film the real offset to gender normative behaviour, they are in no way the main characters instead acting as ‘emotional anchors to the women who take centre stage‘ (Shankar, K 2018), their emotions and needs are always taken second after the women, a definite change to the status quo. In contrast to his two sisters, Zain is the one who is married with a child, and who ends up staying to take care of their father. He is not a prominent part to any discussion or argument, and Zain is often seen floating around in varying states of panic, hardly fitting the first-born son, soon-to-be-leader of the family trope. Men are so often seen as out of touch from their emotions, especially older men, this is not the case for father Siraj who is the only member of the family shown crying, and quite a few times does the head patriarch break down in tears. Mourning the fact that his wife is in a coma which she most likely won’t come out of, Siraj starts crying in front of a room full of men where he is promptly shamed and ridiculed, however Siraj does not apologies for it and stands up for himself and his right to cry. Along with the expectations that men keep their emotions to themselves, (a trope that Zareen picks up instead) men are also typically portrayed as assertive and confrontational, another stereotype that is not seen with Siraj who actively avoids confrontation about the truth of Zara’s accident despite being aggressively asked to by Zareen. In the end he only hints at the truth which results in Zareen telling the story, this is not typical behaviour of men in films who are always shown to be in the thick of an argument.

Men are not typically shown to be nurses, and when they are there are usually hints at his sexual orientation along with it, painting a stereotype that men can not and are not nurses unless they are not cisgender and straight. This is not the case for Romeo, the family nurse who leaves his job at a hospital to help the family. Romeo is patient, silent and submissive all the things a “typical male” is not supposed to be. The actor who played Romeo, Adnan Malik, spoke in an interview about how it was Romeo’s lack of male stereotypes that drew him to the role. Malik discussed how male characters in Pakistan media are loud, brash and aggressive, chasing down women and will attain her no matter the cost (Kessler, Sarah Fuss 2019), and how Romeo is ‘sensitive, intuitive and gentle – a man who can take no for an answer‘ (Kessler, Sarah Fuss 2019) and exactly the type of man that needs to be represented more in media in order to combat toxic masculinity. In conclusion, Pakistani film ‘Cake‘ was, on a surface level, a typical film about a family who reunite to be with their sick parents, but underneath there were layers of secrets and betrayals that no one could have guessed from the outside, much like a cake.

 

References

Kessler, Sarah Fuss 2019, ‘Transcending toxic masculinity and breaking all the rules in Pakistan’s hit film ‘Cake”, Shondaland, February 21st, viewed 21st August 2020, https://www.shondaland.com/live/a26433278/adnan-malik-pakistan-film-cake/

Shankar, K 2018, ‘What has won Pakistani film ‘Cake’ so many kudos?’, Hindu Times, May 12th, viewed 21st August 2020, https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/what-has-won-pakistani-film-cake-so-many-kudos/article23851077.ece

August 21, 2020 by lucygair Categories: BCM320Tags: 2020, BCM320, cake, digitalasia, gendernorms 1 Comment

Furie Response: Colour Analysis

Trying to live tweet during a foreign film proved to be somewhat hard last week during Love For Sale, however it was nothing compared to this foreign film that is so action packed, and intense it was difficult to physically hit pause to tweet. Furie was a Vietnamese action-thriller film about a mother taking on a large and organised gang in order to stop her daughter from being trafficked out of the country. My original biased, and uneducated assumption of Furie was that, since it was not a Hollywood film, it would not share the same quality as other action-thriller films however, the cinematography, camera angles, colour symbolism and plot in Furie created a film that sits high among other Western films of the same genre such as Taken, The Equaliser, and John Wick.

After the film had concluded and I had stopped sweating profusely out of stress and concern for Hai and Mai, I read through the #BCM320 Twitter stream to see what my fellow classmates felt about the film and found that several people had commented on the use of particular colours throughout the film. This had been something I had not picked up and promptly re-watched certain pivotal scenes of the films and found that indeed colours such as red, blue, purple and green were used to symbolise specific themes and emotions.

Alright I’ve figured it out 2020, Courtney Wray, twitter, viewed 12th August 2020, https://twitter.com/thewrayoflife/status/1293352877797195776

 

Colours in films are used to influence the audiences emotions and reflect the emotions felt and themes presented during certain scenes; this can be done either through costume designs, background scenery or props, and lighting. Furie included themes such as strength, will-power, fear, violence, and love and all the associated emotions with those themes. As previously stated, the colours that were used primarily were reds, blues, purples and greens; red obviously is representative of violence and danger and is prominent during many of the fight scenes, for example during Hai’s fight with Truc  they are bathed in the red light from Truc’s work station, and during the final scene with Thanh Soi, there is a red light on the side of the carriage. However, these red lights are mixed with the dark blue hues of night and create scenes where the primary colour is purple, these purple scenes are highly violent and seem to signify as such throughout the film. This is interesting because in Western culture purple represents royalty, and fantasy (Digital Synopsis 2018), and in Vietnamese culture is means fragility, tenderness and sadness (Omniglot n.d), neither of which make sense with these aggressive, brutal scenes.

Blue is used predominately twice during Furie, during both times Hai and Mai were discussing fear and bravery, first hiding in their house after waiting out the vengeful brother, and lastly after Hai found Mai in the train carriage. Blue is not typically associated with fear or bravery but this film makes an effort to link blue with the mother-daughter discussion. Green is utilised during scenes of panic and setbacks, most of the corridors Hai follows whilst in the house where the children are kept before the train are lit with a green light, and when Hai ends up in hospital the first time the scene has a distinct green tinge to it. Green can represent danger and ominousness (Digital Synopsis 2018) and fits very well with its attached scenes.

Tones are also used to contrast between safety and danger; when the audience sees the light and bright hospital at the end it is a stark contrast to the rest of the film which plays out in near constant darkness. The great use of tone can be seen when comparing the two hospital scenes, during Hai’s first admission to hospital she was just saved from drowning and now in a seemingly safe space, however Hai (and consequently the audience) feels no release because the scene is still dark and surrounded by an ominous green tinge, signifying the high stakes and panic of losing time. Overall, Furie was a fantastic film about maternal strength, women empowerment, and the ugly truth about child trafficking. It contained themes of strength, will-power, fear, violence, and love, and the films decision to portray these themes through the use of colour made for a powerful and emotive effect.

 

Sources Cited:

Alright I’ve figured it out (2020), Courtney Wray, twitter, viewed 12th August 2020, https://twitter.com/thewrayoflife/status/1293352877797195776

Digital Synopsis 2018, ‘How filmmakers use colours to set the mood of a film’, Digital Synopsis, viewed 13th August 2020, https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/film-movies-color-psychology/

Furie (2019), image, Rotten Tomatoes, viewed 12th August 2020, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furie

Omniglot n.d, ‘Colour words in Vietnamese’, Omniglot, viewed 13th August 2020, https://omniglot.com/language/colours/vietnamese.php

August 13, 2020August 13, 2020 by lucygair Categories: BCM320Tags: BCM320, blogpost, digitalasia, furie, lighting 1 Comment

‘Love for Sale’ response

For the context of this review and discussion of Indonesian film ‘Love for Sale‘, my name is Lucy Gair and I am a 23 year old white, cis, woman with a Scottish heritage. Despite spending the past five years studying media I unfortunately have a lack of experience with foreign films, and even less contact with asian films. Therefore, I watched this film with fresh eyes, and can say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The audience is immediately introduced to the films protagonist Richard, who quickly proves himself to be an irritable, awkward and lonely man, living alone with a large tortoise and running a printing business under his apartment. In order to settle a bet against his friends, Richard hires a date from a new dating website to attend a wedding but unknowingly hired Arini for 45 days. The rest of the film showcased how Richard and Arini’s relationship blossomed from awkward acquaintances to a seemingly loving couple. 

 

Richard continued to demonstrate unlikable and awkward behaviour and only began to treat his employees with respect after his and Arini’s relationship grew to be romantic, however despite all of Richard’s flaws I could not help but feel empathetic towards him. Loneliness is a tough feeling overcome, especially if it has settled in your life for so long and is known to have damaging affects to a persons self esteem and overall personality, as the audience can see with Richards character. At the end of the film Richard becomes generous with his employees and turns to treat them with more respect, while these are the bare necessities an employer should be giving his workers anyway it is a stark contrast to the grumpy, critical Richard, pre-Arini. This shows that Richard always had these qualities within himself but they had been slowly repressed due to his loneliness and unhappiness with his life. It was hard to like Richard, but it was even harder not to be understanding and compassionate towards him too.

 

Upon researching ‘Love for Sale’, it was the promotional photo that stood out to me.

 

Love for Sale (2018), image, IMDb, viewed 5th August 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8065796/?ref_=ttmi_tt

What was particularly notable was how clean and expensive the bed and surrounding props were in comparison to the films actual furniture. Richard is portrayed as an upper-middle class man living in Indonesia, however in the film he wears pyjamas that have rips and holes in them, exhibiting his lazy nature. The clothes the actor, Gading Marten, is wearing are significantly cleaner with no visible holes. Another difference between the advertisement of the film and the film itself is how the lighting in the image is used to hide Marten’s grey hairs and wrinkles around his eyes, thus presenting himself and Della Dartyan’s character to be much closer in age. Whereas in the film Richard is 41 and Arini is 25, a big and inappropriate age gap for a couple in Western culture however in the film there is no mention of this age difference or the age difference between Richard and the woman he stood up in the cafe at the beginning of the film who also seemed significantly younger than him. The promotional photo does not signify the plot of the film in any way and it seems the selling point for audience members are the two actors and a centrally placed tortoise. Love for Sale was an interesting film in that it did not contain one, set villain instead having a series of complex characters all with flawed and redeemable features, making for an enjoyable watch.

 

Image found: Love for Sale (2018), image, IMDb, viewed 5th August 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8065796/?ref_=ttmi_tt

August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 by lucygair Categories: BCM320Tags: BCM320, blogpost, digitalasia, loveforsale Leave a comment

Explaining Defamation

What is defamation?

Defamation comes from the term to ‘defame’ someone, to vilify someone’s actions or statements, and bring down the public’s perception of them to the point of negatively affecting their business, profession or trade. The current legislation in place in New South Wales (NSW) regarding defamation is the Defamation Act 2005, this act is duplicated across the other states and territories under different names but remain interchangeable in contents. In the ‘Objects of Act’ section of the legislation it says its objects are:

1. To enact provisions to promote uniform laws of defamation in Australia 
2. To ensure that the law of defamation does not place unreasonable limits on freedom of expression and, in particular, on the publication and discussion of matters of public interest and importance
3. To provide effective and fair remedies for persons whose reputations are harmed by the publication of defamatory matter
4. To promote speedy and non-litigious methods of resolving disputes about the publication of defamatory matter.

There are three components that need to be proven in order to sue for defamation: 

(1) Publication: the defamatory material must have been published, or told to at least one other person aside from the person being defamed. 

(2) Identification: the person or company being defamed is clearly in the material, or can be proven to be so. 

(3) Damage to reputation: it is undoubtedly malicious to anyone who reads/hears the material and will result in a damaged reputation. 

Defamation laws are put in place to help find balance between freedom of speech, and protection of privacy and reputation by ensuring that no journalist or producer can make a misrepresentation of a person’s character or reputation without proper merit. 

What journalists need to be careful about:

Defamation laws when you’re a journalist is tricky business, especially in Australia where it is journalists that need to prove that the allegations are true, unlike in places such as The United States where the defamed have to prove that the allegations against them are false. This requires all media postings to either have hard evidence to support their claims, or phrase their stories as opinion pieces, rather than news. These hoops journalists need to jump through to ensure they are not sued for defamation are what can be considered as inhibiting, with journalist Richard Ackland from the Guardian considering the legislation as 

“the most media-hostile laws in the common-law world”. 

There are however several defences that can be taken in a defamation lawsuit:

• Honest opinion: only applies in terms of public interest, if the author of the material was expressing their opinion, not stating a fact, and the opinion was formed from real information. 
• Truth: A journalist can use truth as a defence if their statements are a matter of public concern, or it can be proven to be substantially true.
• Triviality: The contents of the defamation material will not maintain any damage to their reputation 
• Innocent publication: A defence in which the author or publisher did not know that the contents in the published material was defamatory.

All of these defences have drawbacks that make them difficult to use in court, and are only effective when every aspect of the defence has been met, a more difficult task than expected for most journalists/publishers that have found themselves in court for defamation.

Geoffrey Rush case:

A recent case that highlights the potential pitfalls that journalists can fall into and find themselves in court for defamation is the 2017 case between Oscar-winning movie star Geoffrey Rush, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, Nationwide News and, the journalist of the articles in question, Jonathan Moran. In 2017 Moran wrote two articles, published over two days that implied that Rush was a pervert, who acted inappropriately towards an unnamed female co-star during the 2015 production of  King Lear, in which he was the starring role. 

The front page of the first article 

 

Rush filed for defamation and went to court in April 2019, the court proceedings were overseen by Justice Michael Wigney, and despite being anonymous in the newspaper articles, the female co-star in question was revealed to be Eryn Jean Norvill. Nationwide News and Moran unsuccessfully tried to use a truth defense in the case which was dismissed by Justice Wigney who pointed out that their entire case was based on the allegations of Norvill. Ultimately, Rush won his defamation case and was awarded $85,000 for general damages and $2.9million for loss of future earnings. In his final verdict, Justice Wigney viewed that Nationwide News had failed to prove that the published articles were substantially true, finding that Norvill’s stories were contradicted by Rush, the director of King Lear Neil Armfield, and actors Robyn Nevin and Helen Buday.

 Justice Wigney deemed that, despite Norvill’s evidence, that Nationwide News and Jonathan Moran were unsuccessful in proving their allegations against Rush. Justice Wigney continued to reprimand the story stating that it was 

“in all circumstances, a recklessly irresponsible piece of sensationalist journalism of the worst kind”

This case is a perfect representative of defamation in Australia, showcasing exactly what the proceedings are, and a defence that the publishers can make. This case also demonstrates the failed defence strategy of the publishers, highlighting the importance of securing undeniable evidence before publishing controversial articles. 

Factors resulting in the loss:

Some of the main factors that resulted in Nationwide News and Jonathan Moran losing this case against Geoffrey Rush were as followed:

• They did not secure air-tight evidence 
• Norvill was deemed as an unreliable witness
• Norvill did not even what to be involved
• The truth defence could not be proven within the realms of possibility

Firstly the evidence they secured for the two articles were solely from Eryn Jean Norvill, while it is sensical that while writing an article about a man harassing a woman the only evidence you have is from her, however it does not make for a strong defence in court. It isimportant to produce hard, indisputable proof when writing publicly, because while Nationwide News and Moran did have text messages from Rush to Norvill they were interpreted differently by Justice Wigney and thus deemed unusable as evidence. 

The alleged text messages between Rush and Norvill

 

Norvill was criticised by Justice Michael Wigney who dismissed her as “prone to embellishment or exaggeration” and ultimately marked her as an unreliable witness. Another factor that contributed to the lost case was the unwanted involvement of Norvill, who did not want to press charges against Rush but was summoned into court for her evidence. The witness and supposed victim in the articles not wanting to be identified or legally involved in the case is an indication for an unsuccessful case. Lastly, settling on using truth as a defence is difficult, especially with the lack of concrete evidence, journalists and publishers need to be certain when they chose it as a defence that they have enough evidence to have their story be viewed as at least substantially true, something Nationwide News and Moran failed to do. The case between Rush and Nationwide News, and subsequently its outcome, yielded no sense of triumph with all sides, Rush, Norvill, and Justice Wigney agreeing that there were no winners here, only losers.

Overall, defamation is a legal minefield for journalists and publishers alike who, in Australia’s libel legal system, need to establish that what they are publishing is true and can be proved to be in court. A task that can be seen as self-censoring, and limiting to most content creators who just want to give Australia the information they deserve to hear. Defamation legislation in Australia may be too harsh and restricting for journalists, and maybe as the Internet continues to evolve into a wealth of knowledge it might be time for an updated Act.

 

Images:

All images were sourced from: Calderwood, K 2019, ‘Geoffrey Rush judgement scathing of the Daily Telegraph’s ‘truth’ defence’, ABC News, 11th April, viewed 29th April 2020, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-11/geoffrey-rush-judgment-scathing-of-daily-telegraph-truth-defence/10994500

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 by lucygair Categories: BCM113, UncategorizedTags: assessment1, BCM113, legalexplainer Leave a comment

Contextual Statement

This digital artefact is a public service announcement about the world’s oceans and their current state of filth. It also doubles as an advertisement for the Take 3 for the Sea organisation, promoting their campaign and encouraging the public to take three items of rubbish out of beaches, lakes, streams or any other waterway that has public access and may be subjected to littering. The digital artefact was uploaded to YouTube and can now be viewed via this link:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3XHRhE7bCg

 

More videos such as this one need to be created and viewed because they convey such an important message; the oceans are not designed to hold this much waste in them and its entire, delicate ecosystem is suffering because humans are lazy. Certain people live in a naïve, nonsensical lifestyles where they act like the world is their dumpster and their disposing will not make a difference. It is these people that need to be aware of what their actions are creating, thus the importance of digital artefacts such as this one.

 

The research involved with this digital artefact included finding websites and organisations that also understand how important it is to keep oceans clean from waste. These websites include, but are not exclusive to, National Geographic, BBC Blue Planet, Ocean Crusaders, 4 Ocean, and Plastics Ocean Foundation. These are the websites used to obtain the imagery and the facts utilised in the video, they were incredibly helpful for information about the magnitude of waste that is dumped in the oceans periodically. It was important for a public awareness video to have short, impactful facts that stick with the audience long after the video has finished. This is to create a lasting experience and increase the chances of the viewer making a considerable change in their lifestyle to reduce their waste or to make more of an effort when disposing of their garbage.

 

When deciding upon which facts to choose from, it was crucial to find ones that the public could relate to; “a garbage trucks worth of plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute” (Earth Day 2018) this fact provides language of imagery and time markers. Using a size guide that is not in the typical metric system and instead using something that people can visualise and understand as being a large quantity will help the viewers appreciate how much of an outrageous fact that is. Although it was deliberated about whether or not to add more appalling facts into the video, ultimately it was decided that the images made more of an impact. Convinced that the audience needs to see to believe.

 

This digital artefact is very important to the survival of the Earth’s oceans. Its aim was to open the eyes of at least a few people in the community to clean up their act in terms of disposing their trash. People do not understand that what even one person does in terms of environmental care, matters. Dumping even one item of plastic near a waterway has such a negative effect on the planet and more people need to be aware of that.

 

Facts:

Fact 1 and 2:

Earth Day 2018, Fact sheet: plastics in the ocean, Earth Day, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/05/fact-sheet-plastics-in-the-ocean/

Fact 3:

Ocean Crusaders 2018, Plastic Statistics, Ocean Crusaders, viewed 12^th October 2018, http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/

 

Images:

Image 1:

SeaNet n.d., image, Drone Fleet Control, SeaNet, viewed 10^th October 2018, http://www.bluebird-electric.net/oceanography/Ocean_Plastic_International_Rescue/SeaNet_Ocean_Pollution_Clean_Up_Robotic_Fleet_System.htm

Image 2:

BBC 2017, image, Blue Planet 2: How plastic is slowly killing our sea creatures, fish and birds, BBC, viewed 10^th October 2018, http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42030979/blue-planet-2-how-plastic-is-slowly-killing-our-sea-creatures-fish-and-birds

Image 3:

Kennedy, P 2017, image, this bag will do a lot of damage before it starts to break down in the ocean, ABC News, viewed 10^th October 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-02-27/plastic-and-plastic-waste-explained/8301316

Image 4:

Power, C 2017, image, plastic waste island, Phys.org, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://phys.org/news/2017-11-trash-islands-central-america-ocean.html

Image 5:

Boland, R 2018, image, Marine Debris, National Geographic, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

Image 6:

Plastic Oceans Foundation 2017, image, animals become entangled in waste or shallow plastics dumped in the sea, The Telegraph, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/02/11/seas-have-become-plastic-graveyard-can-technology-turn-tide/

Image 7:

4 Ocean 2017, image, how much trash is in our ocean?, 4 Ocean, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://4ocean.com/blogs/blog/how-much-trash-is-in-our-ocean

Image 8:

Chias, J 2018 image, Ghost Fishing, National Geographic, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-animals-wildlife-impact-waste-pollution/

Image 9:

Miller, S 2018, image, Hermit crab resorts to a plastic bottle cap to protect its soft abdomen, National Geographic, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-animals-wildlife-impact-waste-pollution/

Image 10:

Ocean Agency 2017, image, coral off Lizard Island, The Guardian, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2017/jan/19/global-warning-live-from-the-climate-change-frontline-as-trump-becomes-president

Image 11:

Take3 2018, image, Take 3 for the sea, Take3, viewed 10^th October 2018, https://www.take3.org/

Image 12:

How we feel about microplastics 2018, Take 3 for the sea, viewed 12^th October 2018, https://www.instagram.com/p/BnrKGEsnePB/?taken-by=take3forthesea

Image 13:

There is no hiding from plastic pollution 2018, Take 3 for the sea, viewed 12^th October 2018, https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgeo-YMgehk/?taken-by=take3forthesea

Image 14:

Take only memories, leave only footprints 2018, Take 3 for the sea, viewed 12^th October 2018, https://www.instagram.com/p/BkOGfMsH_Si/?taken-by=take3forthesea

Image 15:

United Nations World Oceans Day 2018, image, Let’s celebrate #worldsoceansday on social media, United Nations World Oceans Day, viewed 18^th October 2018, https://unworldoceansday.org/

Image 16:

Jenkins, J 2018, image, Great Barrier Reef, The Ocean Agency, viewed 18^th October 2018, https://www.coralreefimagebank.org/coral-reefs-australia-1

Image 17:

Robins, J 2016, image, Turtle in GBR, The Ocean Agency, viewed 18^th October 2018, https://www.coralreefimagebank.org/turtles

Image 18:

Jenkins, J 2017, image, Fiji, The Ocean Agency, viewed 18^th October 2018, https://www.coralreefimagebank.org/coral-reefs-pacific-islands

October 24, 2018 by lucygair Categories: BCM322 Leave a comment

Case Study 2: Logan Paul

This case study will expose the darker side of global media, give an insight on how some people can use social media platforms, such as YouTube and Twitter, to manipulate their audience into believing any immoral actions they make are “just a joke”. Although there are many examples of this, this case study will delve into YouTuber Logan Paul, specifically the scandal surrounding his now deleted video of his visit to Aokigahara in Japan where he shamefully filmed the body of a man who had committed suicide. This study will identify the main interventionists who condemned Logan Paul, it will also list everything that YouTube itself did to punish Paul for his post.

 

When a situation like this arises of a person posting offensive content on their account, the main interventionists are the fellow stars of the page. After Logan Paul posted the video on January 1^st 2018 a flood of other YouTubers tweeted and posted videos of their own expressing their opinions on the matter and condemning Paul from the YouTube community. Anna Akana, a YouTuber and comedian tweeted her opinion on the situation, stating that: “That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness” (Anna Akana 2018). Jenna Marbles, one of the biggest YouTube stars, and her partner Julien Solomita posted a podcast video discussing the Logan Paul situation. Jenna and Julien both expressed their disgust toward Logan Paul and the entire situation; “Logan treated most of Japan like a cartoon culture and had almost no respect for them as people which is why he was able to film someone who had taken their own life and seemingly felt almost nothing” (Jenna Julien Podcast 2018). It is videos and tweets like these that show how much of a community YouTube is and when someone takes advantage of that, then everyone will reprimand that person for misusing their power. Anna Akana, Jenna Marbles and Julien Solomita are all interventionist on this issue, using their own online fame to combat people like Logan Paul.

 

YouTube itself could be considered an interventionist for the steps they took to reprimand Logan Paul for the Aokigahara video. However, it is important to mention that it was not YouTube that took the video down, Logan Paul took it down himself, thus YouTube has coped a lot of backlash because of their handling of the situation. Jenna and Julien in the same video mentioned above, expressed their frustration towards YouTube and their response to Paul’s video, stating that YouTube’s rules and regulations are “illusive” (Jenna Julien Podcast 2018). In an official tweet, YouTube stated that ‘the channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly’ (YouTube, 2018). YouTube have a three strikes within three months’ policy and if any account were to lose their last strike their account would be removed (Hills, M. C 2018). YouTube took some extra measures by suspending ads on Paul’s videos up until mid–February. Even when advertising was allowed back on his channel, Paul was on a probation period where he was not legible for receiving Google Preferred Ads, “the premium ad platform reserved for top creators” (Alexander, J 2018). In a modern world where almost anything can be posted online, it is important that interventionists are willing to use the same abused platform to let people know that certain kinds of behaviour are not okay. It is up to interventionists, whether that be individuals or big corporations, to stand for what is right.

 

Bibliography:

Anna Akana 2018, That body was a person someone loved, viewed 11^th September 2018, https://twitter.com/AnnaAkana/status/948080312159895552

 

Alexander, J 2018, ‘YouTube outlines how Logan Paul’s channel will be handled going forward’, Polygon, viewed 12^th September 2018, https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/26/17055276/logan-paul-suspension-trending-ads-youtube

 

Hills, M. C 2018, “YouTube won’t ban Logan Paul, but here’s what it can do”, Forbes, viewed 11^th September 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/meganhills1/2018/02/13/logan-paul-punishment/#2562ea243dbc

 

Jenna and Julien Podcast 2018, Logan Paul, viewed 12^th September 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31uorMMi-g

 

YouTube 2018, An open letter to our community, viewed 12^th September 2018, https://twitter.com/YouTube/status/950847382958280704

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 by lucygair Categories: BCM322, UncategorizedTags: BCM322, casestudy Leave a comment

Critical Reflection

The protection and financing of local Australian content is essential to do, in order to celebrate and showcase the diverse and distinctive Australian society. Funding Australian content is equally as important as protecting it and you can’t have one without the other. This critical reflection will explore how Australian content is currently being protected and funded, identifying key players and any recent decisions. In order for original Australian content to continue to be broadcasted all over the world, new content needs to be funded and legally protected once showcased.

 

In the new millennial age, the protection of Australian content is getting trickier with every new technological advance. Piracy and illegal downloading has proven to be one of the largest problems that Australian content providers have ever dealt with. However, over the past 3 years the Australian government has made piracy incredibly difficult for Australian citizens by ordering Telstra, Optus, TPG, and Vocus to block access to “57 international websites that allow users to download pirated TV shows and movies” (Ford, M et al. 2017) in 2017. Piracy is a complete violation of copyright laws and is harming Australian content, the fact that the Australian government taking that seriously is a positive sign. Despite upsetting the younger generations, the new ban on international piracy sites has been a success. A survey shows that in 2014, 29% of Australians admitted to pirating content that month, in 2015 that number fell to 24%, and fell even further in 2016 with only 21% of Australians confessing to piracy (Quinn, K 2017). Piracy undermines the hard work Australian producers and providers, without anti-piracy actions then Australian content cannot be protected.

 

The Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the Australian Content Standard (2016), and Television Program Standard 23 are what govern Australian content on commercial television. The Broadcasting Services Act instructs all commercial free-to-air television licensees “to broadcast an annual minimum transmission quota of 55% Australian programming between 6am – midnight on their primary channel” (Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2017). This law requires over half of Australian television programs to be Australian content for majority of the day. This gives new Australian content a priority over any overseas content on commercial free-to-air television, providing an opportunity for any new local work, and an edge in the competition.

 

ABC TV is one of the biggest creators and broadcasters of Australian content; their commitment to supporting local work is adverted to in their charter. Included in the ABC Act, Charter 6 states that the functions of the corporation are to “broadcast programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community” (ABC 2018). However, according to Denis Muller (2018) the ABC’s investment in Australian content has fallen over the past two years: “in documentaries and factual by 55%, in drama by 22% and in narrative comedy by 17%”. While Muller states that the ABC is still “comfortably” meeting their broadcasting local content quota, he comments that the fact that their reality TV shows are classified under documentaries might be helping.

 

Overall, The ABC Network is still fully supporting Australian content by producing and showcasing local pieces. However, the Australian government is about to make that a lot harder in coming years with the ABC’s funding being frozen until 2022. Over $80 million of funding will be slashed from the ABC’s Network in the new Budget, a move that will, according to ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, “make it very difficult for the ABC to meet its charter requirements and audience expectations” (Koziol, M 2018). While the ABC is facing financial setbacks, SBS is celebrating an extra $14.6 million funding by the same budget that froze ABC’s (Koziol, M 2018). The inconsistency shown by the new governmental budget is mystifying, thankfully SBS is another big broadcasting network that supports Australian content and hopefully will use their extra funding for more initiatives like their current Short-Form Content Initiative which is “providing increased opportunities for Australian creative from diverse communities” (SBS 2018). Funding Australian content should be a shared, national viewpoint, however the recent funding cuts to the ABC shows that it is not yet a priority.

 

The Australian government funds not all television and film content; Screen Australia is also a major contributor in financing all aspect of Australian content. While they also provide support and resources for “the development, production and marketing of Australian Screen content” (Screen Australia 2018), Screen Australia offers funding for blossoming Australian talent and screen production businesses. According to their 2017 Drama Report “Screen Australia accounted for the greatest contribution from a single agency – investing $13 million in 16 features”. The direct governmental funding has gone on a downward trend over the past 3 years, in 2014/15 the percentage of total finance was 19%, from there it has gone to 16% in 2015/16 and a low of 8% in 2016/17 (Screen Australia Drama Report 2017). It is more important than every to keep organisations such as Screen Australia around to help fund all aspect of Australian content, especially if the government is taking a step back.

 

Australia has a unique and diverse community that should be explored and celebrated on both television and film. The world should view Australian programs and be able to understand and connect with Australia’s special stories, people and landscapes. Local Australian content should be made a priority when it comes to broadcasting and streaming, but in order to achieve that there needs to be proper funding and protection. Unfortunately there is a level on inconsistency with funding Australian broadcasters when ABC’s funding is being cut $80 million and SBS being extended an extra $14.6 million. Legal protection is working in terms of broadcasting and piracy by defending copyright and making sure majority of content on Australian televisions is local content. In order to promote and celebrate Australian society, protection and funding of Australian content should be secured and maintained.

 

 

Bibliography:

ABC 2018, “Legislative framework”, ABC, viewed 16^th August 2018, http://about.abc.net.au/how-the-abc-is-run/what-guides-us/legislative-framework/

Australian Communications and Media Authority 2017, Australian TV Content, Australian Communications and Media Authority, viewed 17^th August 2018, https://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/Australian-content/australian-content-television

Ford, M, Hall, L 2017, “Australia’s biggest telcos have been ordered to block international pirate websites by Federal Court”, Sydney Morning Herald, 18^th August, viewed 17^th August 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-18/pirate-sites-to-be-blocked/8820076

Koziol, M 2018, “Budget 2018: Turnbull government hits ABC with $84m funding freeze”, Sydney Morning Herald, 9^th May, viewed 16^th August, https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/federal-budget-2018-turnbull-government-hits-abc-with-84m-funding-freeze-20180507-h0zq1r.html

Muller, D 2018, “In the debate about Australian content on TV, we need to look further than the ABC”, The Conversation, April 30^th, viewed 16^th August 2018, https://theconversation.com/in-the-debate-about-australian-content-on-tv-we-need-to-look-further-than-the-abc-95296

Quinn, K 2017, “Piracy in Australia drops 20 per cent year-on-year, survey claims”, Sydney Morning Herald, 2^nd November, viewed 17^th August 2018, https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/piracy-in-australia-drops-20-per-cent-yearonyear-survey-claims-20171102-gzdqna.html

SBS 2018, “SBS and screen agencies launch new short-form content initiative for diverse communities”, SBS Australia, viewed 15^th August 2018, https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/news-media-releases/view/id/2571/h/SBS-and-screen-agencies-launch-new-short-form-content-initiative-for-diverse-communities

Screen Australia 2017, Drama Report, Screen Australia, p. 9, viewed 17^th August 2018, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/getmedia/38aef7ec-ed7d-4423-85e6-c247fb6a2066/DramaReport-2016-2017.pdf?ext=.pdf

Screen Australia 2018, “Funding and Support Overview”, Screen Australia, viewed 15^th August 2018, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support

August 17, 2018 by lucygair Categories: BCM331Tags: BCM331, critical reflection Leave a comment

Food, Water and Health Security and Migrant Security

Food Security is hugely important for obvious reasons, humans cannot survive without food and if there is no more food left then we and many other species will die. There is a sudden need for self-reliance within this issue; countries should be able to sustainably grow their own crops without the need of other countries. This way they are somewhat protected and could potentially export some of their food to other countries whose climate does not allow for substantial crops to grow. Obtaining food security can both ensure and threaten a country’s economic security, if there is a sustainable amount of food being grown in one country then its citizens will remain unfazed and peaceful, however that country will experience a mass refugee crisis from other nations who do not have food security which may cause civil unrest.

 

Water Security ties in with many other security issues such as environmental security, food security, economic security and health security. Global warming, rising sea levels and severe droughts are all environmental issues that result in contaminated water and evaporating water sources, thus creating water insecurity. If there is no water then there is nothing to nourish our food with, approximately 70% of a countries water, 80% in the United States, is used to grow and harvest crops. If water is compromised then food security will be in danger. When water security is jeopardised then countries may be forced to import water from other near by nations, which will not be cheap. Island nations are most at risk because their geographic location is so remote it may be impossible to get drinkable water to certain countries. Recently, representatives from Cook Island, Tuvalu, Tokelau, and Marshall Islands met in Kiribati to share solutions they’re using to maintain access to fresh water (Graue, C, Hill, B 2017). If fresh water is not running low then it may become contaminated with salt water or diseases. As water levels rise, low bearing countries are the most in danger as their fresh water streams could become corrupted with salt water making it undrinkable. Diseases from already polluted areas could enter fresh water sources and soil it, creating health problems all over the world. Yemen is being particularly affected by water challenges, constant conflict and unending drought is causing Yemen to be the most water-stressed countries in the world (Lopour, J 2017). Maintaining water security is very important, it is what keeps every species of animal alive, including humans, without it we are finished.

 

Health Security is becoming more and more unstable recently, with the re-emergence of tuberculosis due to the poor living conditions in some countries such as Africa and the revelation that it is now resisting its known antibiotics. Cholera is another deadly virus that is making a comeback in countries of turmoil such as Yemen. Cholera is a preventable and treatable disease but since 2016 Yemen has faced an outbreak of the disease due to their use of unsafe water, unsanitary hygiene facilities and located in a constant war zone (Lopour, J 2017). Health security is never certain it cannot be known when the next medical epidemic will arise.

 

The world is currently in a global migrant crisis. Millions of people are moving, willingly or forcibly, out of their home country for many reasons; war, climate issues, fear of death or prosecution. These people cannot go back to their homes and where are they to go? The United States are enforcing travel bans and threatening to build walls, Australia are sending any desperate family to an island riddled with abuse, and the European Union are starting to crack down on the large number or migrants they are receiving every day. In 2014, 59.5 million fled their homes (Timson, L 2015) and with everyone closing their doors, what is going to happen?

 

References:

Graue, C, Hill, B 2017, Pacific Beat, ABC, viewed 29^th May 2018, http://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/water-security-an-ongoing-concern-for-atoll-nations/8681604

Lopour, J 2017, Yemen, Water, Conflict and Cholera, Relief Web, viewed 29^th May 2018, https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-water-conflict-and-cholera

Timson, L 2015, Refugee crisis: how the world is reacting, Sydney Morning Herald, 9^th September, viewed 29^th May 2018, https://www.smh.com.au/world/refugee-crisis-how-the-world-is-reacting-20150907-gjgxcw.html

May 29, 2018 by lucygair Categories: INTS207Tags: INTS207 Leave a comment

Conclusion

Header Image: BBC 2017

 

In summary sea turtles are dying in mass numbers because of plastic; by entanglement and other hideous digestion issues they are starving to death, having limbs forcibly amputated off, and spending their lives with digestion difficulties. Turtles are not alone in this problem, all marine life all over the world are dealing with this struggle and the people who caused this problem are not taking the matter seriously enough. Both the Australian society and the global society should be prioritising a full ocean clean up in order to save not just the turtles but also the entire environment.We made the mess, not it is time to clean it up.

 

5/5

 

Image reference:

BBC 2017, Blue Planet II, viewed 27th May 2018, https://ourblueplanet.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=why-do-marine-animals-eat-plastic 

May 27, 2018May 27, 2018 by lucygair Categories: BCM312Tags: BCM312, Plasticintheocean Leave a comment