Posted on behalf of Kailyn Corrigan:
Now I’m not sure if you’ve “met” Antoine Dodson, the brother of an attempted rape victim who spoke on WAFF48, a news channel in Alabama, about the crisis and his thoughts on the matter. Or, if you’ve met Antoine Dodson, lead singer of Bed Intruder ranking at the top of the Billboard charts. If not, watch this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=civOdWxd4Kc
This Youtube phenomena, is not a home video, or webcam shot. It was a very serious emergency that happened to Antoine on July 28th of 2010. Since then, Antoine has become an internet sensation, splits the profit of being a musical star, has Facebook fan pages, his own Youtube page, and now hosts events—all because of a news broadcast.
There now begins the argument of whether, the sensationalism of Antoine Dodson’s sister’s rape, is appropriate, demeaning or down-right hilarious. Despite all values and the importance of news, I have to represent the latter. Baron and Davis highlight the difficulty television has as a medium to educate its audience, especially in the case of television news. They say: "Information is frequently presented in ways that inhibit rather than facilitate learning. Part of the problem rests with audience members. Most of us view television as primarily an entertainment medium. We have developed many information-processing skills and strategies for watching television that serve us well in making sense of entertainment content but that interfere with effective interpretation and recall of news" (Baron and Davis 254).
Therefore, we’re not necessarily watching the news to continue learning as we did all day in school. We’re watching the news and television for entertainment, and so despite the seriousness of Antoine’s situation, our entertainment shifts from the depth of the issue to how unbelievable hilarious Antoine’s voice and verbatim is. A podcast shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=civOdWxd4Kc further elaborates the argument of whether we are laughing at or with Antoine, and are we supposed to be laughing in the first place? I’m interested to know your first impressions of the video and Bed Intruder song, and if you feel it’s appropriate or a result of the television medium.
None the less, this was a small newscast at a small news station in Alabama. How did this moment get auto-tuned all the way to Billboard charts? I’d like to suggest the theory of fandom. Regardless of what Antoine Dodson fan’s interests and intentions may be, there are a lot of them. We discuss fandom in terms of The Beatles and Bieber, but a spot on the 6 o’clock news? Denis McQuail states: "The absence of stable identity and connection is seen as leaving the individual open to irrational appeals. With the refinement of advertising and public relations campaigns in the early twentieth century, along with the success of wartime propaganda and the dramatic rise in popularity of film and radio, fears of the immense and inescapable powers of propaganda techniques grew" (McQuail 346).
Is it a certain type of person that’s open to the “irrational appeal” of Antoine Dodson’s outburst? Or is Youtube enabling a new sort of fandom, that counts and displays every fan that’s watched the video? I personally feel that this is a new and unique situation, that defies the expectations and dependence public relations and advertising were given credit, in terms of fandom. Are there any other examples of fandom that started from an ordinary person on a newscast, or has Antoine developed into a musical star, like Justin Bieber, where this fandom is normal. I think it’s an interesting situation to discuss especially in terms of news and fandom (do those words belong in the same sentence?).
In response to Kailyn Corrigan’s questioning of the fandom revolving around the Youtube Community I do agree with her that it is a breeding ground for what Joli Jenson would call “fanatic” behavior. The whole website is based on the competition of getting the most views on a personal video that have been posted. Looking at the community’s structure the site is an open ranged forum that allows any individual to post creative video content to their channel. Then, other members of the community can subscribe to channels, which will allow them to be continuously updated when this particular user uploads another video.
ReplyDeleteAn innovative music group called The Gregory Brothers, based in Brooklyn New York, picked up a sound bite created by Antoine Dodson. Their unusual style, uncommon topic choice of audio tuning random news bites, and other YouTube videos are what brought them to become globally recognized as a serious group. YouTube is the cause of why this group is independently producing, marketing, and selling their content on an international level. The seriousness of this event of rape has been overshadowed with a catchy beat, clever editing techniques, and voice alterations that appeal to the masses. Even though I do not think Antoine Dodson’s one song will carry him for a lifetime of fame that will later produce fanatic fans, I think websites like YouTube are platforms in which individuals gain that gathering of fans.
Jenson went into detail about the reasoning behind excessive fandom, in that individuals use their idols, which are usually celebrities as the fill-ins for their individual insecurity. Well what about the newly developed YouTube stars? I am not sure if everyone knows what this is but it is when specific channels have reach such extreme popularity YouTube takes them into what they call the “Partnership Program.” For every video that is played under a person’s channel, an ad will pop up. Each time that the ad appears, the revenue is split between the YouTube Company and the creator.
The most notorious partnered channels that I can think of from the top of my head are the What The Buck Show, Fred, Dave Days, Shay Carl, and now The Gregory Brothers. People check YouTube just as much as other social networking sites like Facebook because of the instant video element on its website. People from all over the world create channels to display and share their talents in hope that they will be discovered in some way.
I can tie the entertainment theory mentioned in the Baran and Dennis text in that, what does YouTube do for all of us in our daily lives? The use of VLOG’ s and consistency in topic/style within a channel is what make viewers come back to a specific channel and later subscribe to it. Channels stay consistent in their content in hopes to gain subscribers/fans because that is how a viewer bonds with the channel creator. We continue to go to YouTube as an instant resource but branching off and looking at entertainment and comical channels what purpose does it serve us? Subscribing to these recreational channels and coming back to follow these YouTube stars in a visual format isn’t that the beginnings of the creation of the following of extreme fanatics? I would believe so.
Baran and Davis explain entertainment theory by saying, “it seeks to understand what entertaining media content does to us- often without our awareness” (249). Most people fit into the entertainment theory when it comes to media such as the news clip turned music video of Antoine Dodson and “The Bed Intruder.” Instead of being unaware (like the theory suggests), I decided to examine what I personally did when I experienced the Antoine Dodson YouTube clip back in August. I was shown the YouTube clip by a friend who was already cracking up before he could explain what it was about. He had me watch the real news clip before I watched the edited music video. While watching the original news footage, I chuckled at Antoine’s mannerisms and the way he spoke but I didn’t think much of the story. After all, rape and crime isn’t a funny scenario. After playing the original news story, my friend played “The Bed Intruder” music video. I was first in shock that someone would take the time to put the clips together, but by the end of the video I was not only amused but I had totally forgotten that the “song” was really a news story about a horrible crime. I played the video a few more times and it started to grow on me, this caused the unfortunately catchy cores to get stuck in my head. After a day or so of catching myself singing “hide your kids, hide your wife,” I decided to download the song.
ReplyDeleteIt is evident that the creators of “The Bed Intruder” music video were not the same individuals that edited the original news story. This can be compared to the Thinking About Theory section on page 247 in Baran and Davis. The section focuses on semiotic disobedience, “individuals’ ability to reinvent or subvert media content, not to impose a personally meaningful reading, but to oppositionally redefine that content for themselves and others.” Someone saw the news story on television or the internet and became an active-audience. For some unknown reason, that person was able to conceptualize in their head that this could become some form of entertainment; that form of entertainment became viral.
Aside from the overnight sensation Antoine Dodson, McQuail introduces a different sort of fandom scenario. Fans come in all different types; the most concerning of them all is the violent fan. “The literature explores the reasons for violence at (mostly) soccer games, where ‘hardcore hooligans’ engage in violent and destructive acts…” (McQuail 345). This theory is clearly portrayed on http://thechive.com/2009/07/31/out-of-control-football-fans-23-photos/. A web page dedicated to photos of out of control fans at sporting events; mostly soccer. As suggested in the chapter, fans are never portrayed as well rounded, intelligent citizens. Fans are usually seen as being irrational and out of control. Is this the truth for all very involved fans? Or are these the only fans that make the news?
I believe that Kailyn’s post is very interesting and poses a unique question. I remember when the video came out over the summer and I was very confused as to why everyone’s Facebook statuses read “Hide ya kids, hide ya wife.” Once I looked into it for myself, I couldn’t help but laugh at the auto-tuned rap. However, as Kailyn points out, it was originally about the attempted rape of Antoine’s sister, a matter that is not humorous. Once I found out that it was originally a news story about the attempted rape, I felt bad for laughing at it, but it is almost impossible to take Antoine seriously.
ReplyDeleteKailyn’s point about the news becoming another form of entertainment is interesting. However, I don’t think that people have begun to look at the news as entertainment. It was not the news that released the rap song---the song hit YouTube following the news package being aired on television. It is indeed, a new and creative way to create music. I agree with Kailyn that the song was created and has generated as much buzz as it has because of fandom.
I don’t think that there is a certain type of person who would find the video funny. Most people can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of Antoine. In the Baran and Davis readings, it says that people do control what media they consume but there might be unconscious reasons as to why they enjoy it “Audience members do voluntarily control their selection of entertainment content, but as in information-processing theory, there are many underlying psychological processes they don’t consciously control” (page 256). I agree with Kailyn that this could be a new form of fandom. In Joli Jensen’s article, she classified fans as either aficionados or fandom, which she described as obsessive crazed fans. I believe that there has to be a middle ground, and that there cannot just be these two extremes. “Normal” fans are “constantly in danger of becoming ‘obsessive loners’ or ‘frenzied crowd members” (page 348). There are plenty of other examples of people becoming famous simply because of the videos that they have posted on YouTube, but I cannot recall another example that is due to a news story such as the one of Antoine.
I have to admitted, I laughed for about 15 minutes when I saw the Antoine Dodson video for the first time. And then at our Orientation Leader banquet in September, it was the last song that the DJ played because we all enjoyed it so much. Obviously, none of us think the idea of rape is funny and I believe this is missing the point of why we find this video funny. We find it funny because Antoine Dodson is such an interesting character. On page 249 in the Baran and Davis reader, the article states how "entertainment theorist assume we don't think enough about the content to have useful insigghts". I think this is a very accurate statement.
ReplyDeleteYouTube for me is a time-killer that can let me have a quick study break or allow me to see what my friends are talking about. Im not sitting there when Im watching YouTube videos trying to analyze everything. If Im a trend-follower jumping on the Antoine Dodson bandwagon so be it, it's a hilarious video. It reminds me of the YouTube video with the leprechaun that came out a year or two ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8
I have heard that video may be fake but that's besides the point. There's nothing that society is going to gain from this video. Its purely entertainment. A lot like the Antoine Dodson video is. And that's what I like about it. It's mindless hilarity.
This girl called me and told me one day when this first came out to come to her room because she had something hilarious to show me. So when i went to her room she first showed me the real story that was reported on the channel 6 news i guess and i was like "are you serious" calling me over for this. Then she showed me the song that was made from this, i was crying laughing and the funny thing is she knew the whole song by heart.
ReplyDeleteRape is not a laughing matter but antoine was hilarious. In baran and davis it says "most of us view television as primarily and entertainment medium" (254) this is true to a certain extent but when it comes to the news, i do not think of it as entertainment. I hate the news personally because most of the stories are about something that's bad.
More and more people are being discovered on youtube. I cannot think of someone who was big from a news story like antoine but i do remember the chinese guy from american idol. He was huge and everyone knew who he was and youtube played a part in that.
In Mcquail it talks about how "fandom is seen as excessive, bordering on deranged behavior"(343) This is the fan that the news wants to interview for ratings. If antoine did not act the way he did, we would be talking about him right now.
not*
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading Kailyn’s blog post, I couldn’t help but think of another news clip that got a TON of coverage.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM7CL-Vyo1U
In this video, residence of Mobile, Alabama feel that a leprechaun has been causing havoc in their neighborhood. Also an extremely funny video that was broadcasted over the news as an actual story, these people too (just like Dodson) feel that the issue at hand is one of importance. In fact, the funniest part of the video is a segment that focuses on a man who has seemed to dedicate his life to understanding leprechauns. Although when we see this video, the Leprechaun hunter appears to us to be very funny, yet this man is 100% serious. Just like Dodson, we are taking what these people feel to be important and turning it into a humorous joke.
However, while the leprechaun video received over 16 million hits in the past few years, It never had a “top of the charts” song that stemmed from it. When looking up the Dodson video, I analyzed the numbers on each video – the original news cast, and the song that stemmed from it. The original cast had a little over 3 million hits while the official auto-tuned song has over 33 million.
Do you think that all 33 million people know what the song came from when they’re listening to it? Or do you think that the video has so many hits because of how the media has up-played it within the so called music industry. Having 33 million hits/fans is a huge number of people to have knowing/loving your name. In the McQuail reader, Jenson suggests that the mass media is to blame for mass fandom (pg. 343). I think that in this particular case for A. Dodson, Could this be the reason for him having so many fans?