James Muggeridge BCM 111

Red Dog: Emphasising the ‘man’s best friend’ global stereotype

“Film-making in Australia has a long and distinguished history, dating back to October 1896 when a French chemist, agent of Lumière et Compagnie, and trained operator of the Lumière cinematographe, Marius Sestier, filmed passengers alighting from a ferry at Manly, Sydney.”

Directory of World Cinema : Australia & New Zealand

This is where it all started. The arise of the Australian Film on the global stage has brought upon new themes and genres which allow for stories to be told all over the country and all over the world. Folk stories have been brought to life with the help of visual film allowing for, not only Australia, but the world to visualise Australian culture.

A true Aussie classic is a film called ‘Red Dog’. A film about a loyal dog who aims to bring joy to his owner and the people around him/her. This emotional film, which will most definitely bring a tear to the eye, has placed itself into Australian folklore. His legendary travels have said that he travelled up to Asian countries such as Japan.

The movie truly epitomises the “man’s best friend” stereotype which is known all over the world. The movie showcases the courage and loyalty of the red kelpie and even just dogs in general. This ‘courage’ and ‘loyalty’ has become two themes engraved in the rich Australian history dating back to World Wars where ‘courage’ and ‘loyalty’ were honoured through rewards or medals.

The movie explores the notion of hybridisation through the obvious inspiration drawn from the French classic ‘Amelie’. The movie is about a “do-gooder” who aims to bring happiness to lonesome people. ‘Red Dog’ is the animal representation of ‘Amelia’ and thus emphasises the hybridity of global film.

Production of Dog movies have increased over the years. The most famous dog movies include films such as Beethoven or 101 Dalmatians. However, one of my personal favourites include Marley and Me. The film arguably is the one of the best dog films including famous actors such as Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston.

The film shows similarities with Red Dog such as the beginning where they both take on a new dog as well as the dejected and sorrowful ending which will sure to bring tears to the eyes of any person. Overall both films showed significant success on a global scale, emphasising the impact dog movies have on a worldwide audience.

The term ‘man’s best friend’ was obviously coined long before the film ‘Red Dog’ yet has definitely helped emphasise the phrase. When entering the global film market, ‘Red Dog’ achieved awards such a wins at film festivals in Busan and Berlin.

James Muggeridge

REFERENCES

Directory of World Cinema : Australia & New Zealand, edited by Ben Goldsmith, and Geoff Lealand, Intellect, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/lib/uow/detail.action?docID=584346.

https://www.sbs.com.au/movies/review/red-dog-review

https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/film-australia-chronology

https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/movie-reviews/movie-review-red-dog-ng-ya-157629

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James Muggeridge BCM 111

Logic: Cultural Catalyst or Criminal?

For a while now, Logic has been a distinguished and celebrated artist in the rapping genre. Known for his lyrical and technical skills, he also prides himself in spreading messages of equality when it comes to culture or racial identification. Yet, the messages he is spreading has always come under threat by critics based on the cultural appropriation of his art.

“Cultural appropriation is nothing new. For years prominent whites have been accused of borrowing the fashions, music, and art forms of various cultural groups and popularising them as their own.”

-Thought co

Logic has been criticised in the past for the constant repetition of “equality” or the “awkward mimicry of more successful rappers such as J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar”. This in terms of cultural appropriation is a consistent critique of Logic as the rap audience doesn’t buy into some of his “cheesy” messages regarding equality as some believe he is copying other rappers of the black race who have been preaching the same message long before. Yet, a misconception of Logic is that he in fact is biracial, starting a debate to whether he is allowed to repeat messages of equality such as former rappers of the black race.

On a global stage, Logic became world-renowned when he performed his new song at the 2018 Grammy’s, “1-800-273-8255”. Performing with names such as Alessia Cara and Khalid, the message he distributed all around the world definitely breached the gap between his younger targeted fans and himself.

However, he was not the first to include themes of openness and inclusion regarding the mental health topic with other names such as Kid Cudi, Jay Z and Isaiah Rashad preaching the messages before.

In 2016, Kid Cudi shared a post on his facebook page announcing that he had gone into rehab due to suicidal urges. This post was shared 137,000 times as well as receiving 600,000 likes and 55,000 comments.

Critiques of this “touchy subject” can argue that Logic is stealing all the credit for the success of mental health associations such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. However on the contrary, others including myself may argue that he indeed was the catalyst to success of the significant increase in the amount of younger people becoming more open to their mental health.

Stats provided by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline reported that calls surged by over 50%, with visits to the website increasing from 300,000 to 400,000 over the following months. 

Logic also localises his music towards America and the issues which surrounds the country at the present time. In his recent song ‘One Day’ with Ryan Tedder, the music video portrays a Mexican family who is separated as they try to cross the Mexican border into America. This is a current and localised issue as the border security strengthens in the hands of Donald Trump and his “build a wall” movement.

To say that Logic has a significant affect on localised and global issues such as mental health and the inequality of races would be an understatement. Whether or not he was the catalyst of the openness of mental health in society, he definitely has increased the awareness of the issue.

REFERENCES

https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-appropriation-in-music-2834650

Logic Deserves More Credit Than He’s Been Given For His Earnest Message And Hopeful Lyrics

https://www.billboard.com/articles/events/vma/7942341/logic-kesha-vmas-suicide-prevention-hotline-calls

The Message: These 3 Rappers Help Normalize Mental Health

James Muggeridge BCM 111

Why did I choose Global Media as a subject?

I’ve always had a passion in media in the form of photography, film and music. I have
created content in the form of photography through completing my Digital
Artefact in BCM112 in my first semester. During this Digital Artefact I
experimented with videography, mixing different clips together in an aim to
create a video altogether.

In terms of global media, as I have travelled to countries like England, America and India, I feel like I am cultured when it comes to the different types of media
production and creation. In India, in particularly, the way in which movies were produced contrasted severely with our western culture in the form of ‘Bollywood’.

In terms of film, I am an avid watcher of movies, whether it’s modern or classical. I am
intrigued in the global scale in which certain movies are able to reach. My favourite
movies of all time include the Batman movies and Marvel movies. I am intrigued
by the supernatural themes and storylines of these movies as they convey a
dream-like vibe.

In recent times I have also payed close attention to the music world. I have been
intrigued by different genres in an aim to broaden my horizon. Music genres which
I listen to include Hip Hop/Rap, Dance and Pop.

Favourite current TV show is Stranger Things. This also relates to my love for classical films and the 1900’s era, as in this TV series it is set in the 1980’s, portraying what life was like in a small town without modern day technology. This is incorporated with the classical thriller movies such as poltergeist and E.T. which are conveyed through the aliens and monsters in the first two seasons.

And that’s about it…

James Muggeridge

James Muggeridge BCM 111

Stranger Things: Capturing a lost era

TV is always changing. As new technologies are being innovated and affecting the audiences experience of television, the spread of ways to watch your favourite TV shows are increasing. Cable TV, while still used, is not as popular as audiences are choosing to either consume TV through Foxtel, Tablets or Streaming platforms. So, in the coming years, will the new generation even remember such thing as ‘cable television’? Probably not.

Today, the platform in which I consume my TV from is either from Foxtel or Netflix. My only use for Foxtel is the Sport and Music Channels. Sport channels allow for live viewing of sports I like, such as Cricket, Football and NRL, as well as past broadcasts I may have missed. They also provide the innovative feature which allows for a consumer to record their shows to watch at a later date, something that needed a large and ‘complex’ recording machine back in the day.

The latest series I watched on Netflix was Stranger Things. A short science fiction TV series. It follows a group of kids who in the end have to fight monsters all to save a small town in America called ‘Hawkins’. An older and mature audience will resonate with this type of show as it creates a sense of nostalgia resembling their own childhoods. I think it really resonates with me as I’ve always wanted to know what it really was like to live in the same kind of era or generation. The clothes, the soundtrack and the small-town family vibe you receive is enough to make an individual envy the fictional characters.

Characters explore a true coming of age story as the children in the show learn a lot about themselves. They face both the physical challenges such as the aliens throughout season one and the mental challenges of being a child in the 1980’s. Yet the togetherness of the children empowers the small town of Hawkins to defeat any challenge which came in their way.

The TV series uses political undertones mixing with a storyline that is reminiscent of classical horror/thriller films. The monster in season one, which seems to overwhelm the small town, conveys themes similarly from other classical films such as ‘Alien’ and ‘E.T.’. The vibe which the children create throughout the movie captures a nostalgic take on the domestic era in the 1980’s, similar to Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Goonies’. These classic films all resonate with a standard film audience as they were and are popular on a global scale.

In regards to the global scale of the TV series, the first episode was watched by 40.7 million households. This enormous number shows the popularity of the TV series and how well the themes and genres resonate with the viewers on a global scale. The era in which the series is set in explores an era which many countries did have to endure. An era which encountered the start of technology and therefore television.

Stranger Things truely displays the lost and forgotten era of early technology. Such technologies such as cassettes, cable television and radios have become lost in the new era of global innovative technologies.

James Muggeridge

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2019/07/09/netflixs-stranger-things-3-breaks-records/

https://au.ign.com/articles/2016/07/08/stranger-things-season-1-review

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Television_Studies_Reader.html?id=pf5QEQkbePsC