Chapters 5 and 6

We are daily consumers of media, be it music on Spotify, series on Netflix or just a bombastic article in the Kurir. All of these have a purpose to convey certain ideas and values, trough this we can introduce the meaning of the term rhetoric. It originated in the 5^th century BC and its meaning was associated with oratory and persuasion however today it got updated and refers to the proclivity of humans to use symbols in order to influence and affect others trough media. These signs and symbols are part of a larger structure we call texts. 

One of the crucial components of texts is their form, which allows for coherence and fluidity of a text. Its fundamental function is to lead the reader from one part to another and in doing so provide a sense of satisfaction with the smooth transition. For example, “In Kill Bill” a drawn katana and up-tempo music usually announce a bloodbath. All of the symbols and messages that share similar features together give a text a distinctive style, this can be construed as a genre. One of my favorite genres is neo-noir thriller with movies such as Taxi Driver, Fargo and Memento. 

Trough time we tend to take genres for granted, just like we take doxa for granted. Doxa refers to those aspects of culture that are left unquestioned we can think of it as “common sense”. All this allows for the creation of ideologies which are sets of beliefs and values which we as consumers of media take as is. Thus, we can call people who indulge in an ideology - social subjects. The process by which this occurs is called interpellation. In America the most prevalent ideology is called the American Dream, which is a set of beliefs that each person is responsible for their own success and destiny. Their success in this case depends solely on the person`s own success. A good example would be any movie associated with the Wall Street. 

Another interesting phenomenon is called othering, whereby in a given media content a group of people is defined in relationship to the majority. This majority serves as a reference point and establishes the norm. Eventually that becomes socially acceptable and unnoticeable.