Media Literature Response Paper
Media Literature Response Paper
This media analysis paper focuses on comparing two articles, “Encoding, Decoding” by Stuart Hall and Jordan Peele Challenges Golden Globes Classifying ‘Get Out’ As a Comedy: ‘What Are You Laughing At?'” by Eric Kohn. Hall discusses how media manipulates messages to mean something different through four main message transmission stages: production, circulation, use, and reproduction. Hall is skeptical about the many ways the message is crafted to deliver specific meaning to audiences. Media Literature Response Paper He believes some information has been naturalized through generational transfer such that people accepted its form without decoding its actual meaning. This same message is portrayed in Kohn’s article, which explores black discrimination, stereotyping that has been cultured in them through the film, “Get Out.” Kohn reveals that the film’s director, Jordan Peele, wanted to create a horror movie. However, audiences called the movie a documentary because it reflects black people’s historical victimization in American society. Media Literature Response PaperKohn reveals black people are portrayed as submissive creatures in the film, who should be obedient to their white superiors. Hall describes this cultural perception as discursive knowledge that is not a representation of the ‘real’ but a real relations language. As part of the ongoing discussion, the essay will demonstrate that both articles show that media messages are full of hidden meanings since the media controls and influences people how they perceive and interpret information.
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Similarities between the two articles
The two articles converge in meaning by exploring the discursive form of a message by the media. For instance, Hall explains that the message form is just an event’s appearance in its context from the source to the receiver (Hall 97). This means messages presented by the media reflect the social context in which they are created. Moreover, Hall says messages have a ‘determinate moment’ when made for the first time and associated with specific social events (Hall 91). So, a repetition of that message on the media appears to communicate a different message on the surface. In reality, the media integrates social events associated with the message and the idea they correspond to the audience. Media Literature Response Paper This discursive form of media is also portrayed in Kohn’s article. Director Peele comments that the “Get Out” film was meant to be a thriller, but turned out to be a documentary about historical victimization and discrimination of black people in the American society (Kohn). The article reveals that even audiences never missed noting the film was about black racism despite the director using black actors to create horror scenes. When the media is meant to portray horror scenes, it brings other black discrimination messages integrated into the horror theme.
Another similarity is that both articles show that the coding of a message by media leads to a change in the meaning implied by the source, leading to a distortion of the message by the receiver. Hall elaborates on the message distortion process by explaining the changing meaning in messages through the various stages of message coding by the media. The coding stages include production, circulation, consumption, and reproduction. Media Literature Response Paper At each stage, a message’s coding influences its reception, but not directly (Hall 91). Each step affects the quality of a message by determining the limits and possibilities of the outgoing message. The altering process of a message is described by Hall using relative autonomy, which is interpreted as the tendency of messages to have a complex structure of dominance. Each stage of a message is characterized by imposed institutional power relations that alter a message’s meaning until it reaches the receiver. Kohn expounds of the same idea by discussing ideas about black people beyond the realm of punchlines. Peele wanted to create suspense and thriller scenes that would make his film a horror genre. Although this was his primary focus, the production process portrayed the film as focused on his racially-tinged story about white families victimizing black people through mind-controlling tactics (Kohn). Media Literature Response Paper To audiences, this stereotype about black people’s subordination is seen as both outrageous but eerily familiar. As revealed in the article, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association decides each film’s category regardless of the director wanted the film to portray. When the director attempts to create horror, movies based on the black family’s past, the message is altered to reflect black families’ historical victimization through mind-controlling tactics.
Differences between the two articles
The two articles differ in that Peele says he designed his movie to convey a single narrative or genre. In contrast, Hall argues there is no single narrative in coding a message by the media. Instead, the process of media production involves determinate stages that reflect varying social relations. Kohn reveals that Peele’s success secret originated from combining various experiences into a single unanticipated narrative. He argues the movie reflects his truth about black people’s victimization and disagrees with conversations that limit his through that a film reflects a single genre. Hall differs by claiming people must recognize the discursive form of a message is its privileged position to communicate different determinate moments in the entire communication process. Specifically, he argues a ‘raw’ historical event cannot be changed and structured into the production process itself (93 Hall). Media Literature Response Paper However, Peel believes he can change important history to portray a particular genre. Hall argues the production and reception processes from the television medium are not identical since a message is altered at each stage to reflect differentiated meanings.
Their Shortcomings and Strengths
The two articles have shortcomings and strengths. A weakness is that although Hall discusses concepts that offer a critical evaluation of the media’s influence on message communication, he does not provide practical examples. For instance, when he posits a message is distorted through various media production processes, he should show popular historical events. Their social significance has been altered by the media to convey a different message. A weakness in Kohn’s article it reads as a commentary report. Media Literature Response Paper Thus, communication concepts such as discursive forms of a message are not deeply elaborated. The strength in Hall’s writing it covers most of the media communication concepts. Thus, it is easier for the reader to learn the influence of the media on message interpretation. Kohn’s article’s strength includes outside sources, such as Black Klansman, that reveal black victimization by a Ku Klux Klan group.
How they can be Updated
In conclusion, the two articles demonstrate how media change a message to display various historical, social events. Their articles can be adjusted to reflect current trends. The Hall’s report can include past and present major events in American history to elaborate on communication concepts discussed clearly. Also, Kohn’s article is shallow on images related to media communication. The writer can use various terms, such as coding, decoding, and encoding message production, to show how they were applied in the “Get Out” film. Overall, the two articles portray that the media affects the meaning of a message produced when it reaches the receiver Media Literature Response Paper .
Works Cited
Hall, Stuart. “Encoding, Decoding.” Durling, Simmon. The Cultural Studies Reader: Routledge:
New York, 1999, 90-100.
Kohn, Eric. “Jordan Peele Challenges Golden Globes Classifying ‘Get Out’ As a Comedy:
‘What Are You Laughing At?’” Indie Wire, 15 Nov 2015. https://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/jordan-peele-response-get-out-golden-globes-comedy-1201897841/
