Once Upon A Time on ABC

In this post I am going to examine the television show Once Upon A Time on ABC. I will examine it using the process of media literacy. By using this process I hope to give you the answer to this question; how is television reflecting today’s society in modern T.V. shows.

Picture 1: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/photos/seasons/01/episode-101-pilot/_m_OUT101013?_id=3a6771c1-7a9b-4e94-951a-6705f5410fca

Describe:

The show is on every Sunday at 8pm.  The date that I had watched the show is October 30, 2011. The genre of the show is a drama and science fiction. The main characters in this show are:

Emma Swan played by Jennifer Morrison

Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard played by  Ginnifer Goodwin
The Evil Queen/Regina Mills played by Lana Parrilla

Prince 'Charming' James/David Nolan played by Joshua Dallas

Henry-Emma Swans son played by Jared Gilmore

Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper played by Raphael Sbarge

Sheriff Graham played by Jamie Dornan

Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold played by Robert Carlyle

The actors that are familiar to me are Jennefer Morrison, who used to act as the character Dr. Allison Cameron in the show “House”, and Gennifer Goodwin, who has acted in several movies including Mona Lisa Smile and Something Barrowed. The storyline is similar to the fairytales that we all know but with a twist, they all have been cursed. The plot of the show is that The Evil Queen has cursed everyone in the Fairytales that sends them to a town called Storybrooke in our world where they remain frozen in time and are unable to leave. All of the happy endings have been taken away as a revenge on Snow White and her friends. This is why the characters have two names one from the world they belong and the other in our world. No one remembers who they really are. The only person who can break the spell is Emma Swan, Snow White’s daughter. She is brought there by her son, Henry, whom she gave up for adoption. He knows who everyone truly is from the story book that contains the chronicles of their past. Throughout the show she uncovers bits of truth from the story book and begins to believe Henry. The plot of the episode that I watched was about how the curse was put on the fairy tale characters and the process the Evil Queen had to go through in order to complete the curse. The Evil Queen has to sacrifice the heart of the ting she loves most for the curse to finally work. In our world Regina attempts to force Emma out of Storybrooke and Henry’s life but fails. The commercials during the show are mainly targeted to mothers and families. Commercials shown during the television show are for Wal-Mart’s layaway, Lowes, hybrid cars, Apple’s iPad and other ABC shows.

<!Video Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rga4rp4j5TY

Analyze:

            “Once Upon a Time” is similar to the show “Grimm” because they both have fairytale aspects in their plots. The show is also similar with other shows because it has a strong sense of hope which is depicted in all sorts of media one show for example is “Terra Nova”, in “Terra Nova” the human race lives on a world that is toxic and dying and we find hope of survival by traveling back in time to a prehistoric period where the earth supports a new life and survival. The show differs from “Grimm” and other show is that the storyline has to alternate worlds and that both are incorporated into each other. The attitude of the show is hope because we want to see that the curse is lifted and that everyone gets their happy ending. This also depicts that people want happy ending in their own life and hope that their dreams will come true too. The show appeals to the magical side of life and that we all believe in fairytales or at least want to believe in fairytales. The show also still applies to many people of ages because it is never too late to fulfill your dreams. The characters talk and dress the way they do in the fairytales we have read about and in our world it’s the same except turned into a modern look. The show is filmed on a set in Steveston, Canada. The picture that this show would draw about U.S. culture is that we all have our heads in the clouds and watch T.V. shows to make our dreams come true. It also draws us to think that we live our dreams through T.V. instead of going out there in the world and making them happen.

Interpret

          “Once Upon a Time” does reflect a trend with ABC making this fall more magical by having another show called “Grimm” that is also based on fairytale characters in their show that live among us and only a Grimm can see who they really are. The target audience for “Once Upon a Time” is anyone from age 8 to 60 and is slanted towards women and girls instead of men and boys because it is a stereotype for girls to automatically love the typical princess story and want to find our prince charming and at a young age girls taught to be the perfect little princess. The ads during this show are meant for a target audience of mothers because the ads are mainly about shopping for their children for Christmas and birthdays. 

Evaluate:

A strength that the show has is that the characters in the show are well put together and all interconnected without the confusion. A weakness that the show has is that the theme or idea of the show is not completely original and still has to stick a little to the original fairytales. The show is a parody based of a mix of today and the fairytales. What I like about the show is that it puts a twist on the fairytales that we all know and love. The show also keeps you interested by luring you in and wanting to find out their back stories and if good beats evil. What I don’t like is that the show is only on once a week and has commercials, but besides that I can’t think of anything I don’t like about this show. The show is memorable because there are two plots and we are put two and two together feeding your curiosity about what is different from the normal story. One critic, Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave the show a "C+" grade commenting "From a pair of Lost producers, this is a love-or-hate proposition. The ambition is impressive, as it asks us to imagine Goodwin’s Snow White and Parrilla’s Evil Queen as moderns. But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories—a random collection of fairy tales—don’t promise to surprise."  I disagree with Gilbert in his grade of the show I believe the show deserved at least a B because the show is a spinoff of the fairytales and surprise us with their differing backstories compared to the original tale.

Picture 2: http://www.aoltv.com/tag/abc%20upfronts%202011/

Engage:

I do watch this show regularly and my sisters, who are 11 and 16, and my mother, watch it too along with a few of my friends. I am not a fan on Facebook and do not go to the website regularly. Their Facebook page has 553,247 likes and 17,586 followers on twitter.

Conclusion:

I learned that television shows reflect more about society than what we do and our lives but also how we think and our desires. This show happens to reflect a desire or aspirations and I think does a good job doing it. What surprised me about the show from my research is that a lot of the critics didn’t have much to say about the show in their reviews and all seemed the same. The producers put some allusions to the show “Lost” probably because they produced “Lost” as well. In the Pilot episode the clock is stuck at 8:15 which is alludes to Oceanic flight 815, Emma has a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker, which was a fictional band sometimes mentioned in “Lost,” Regina and Henry's house address is 108, an allusion to the button needing to pushed every 108 minutes. In the episode “Snow Falls” Henry yells out, "We have to go back," alluding to the line uttered by Jack in the Season 3 finale.

Links:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/once-upon-time-ginnifer-goodwin-jennifer-morrison-252502

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_(TV_series)

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/index

http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/arts/television/grimm-on-nbc-and-once-upon-a-time-on-abc-review.html

http://www.facebook.com/OnceABC

http://twitter.com/#!/OnceABC/followers

Summer's Eve Advertising

There have been many interesting, funny and maybe offensive advertisement done by Summer’s Eve, but the one advertisement that I would like to focus on is from their “Hail to the V” campaign the commercial is called “The V.” The commercial focuses on the empowerment of women and the control they have over history and men. The message being our “V” is “the most powerful thing on Earth” and we need to “show it a little love.” In this post I will critique the commercial “The V”.

Picture 1 http://summerseve.com/vpower/ad-campaign/cleopatra

Describe

In this advertisement the content is mainly about powerful women throughout history and the dialogue of the narration has a tone of empowerment. The background music also implies a type of strength and power that the women have. The characters depicted in the commercial are women of substantial status queens or royalty. One example in the commercial is Cleopatra holding her arms up in a V in front of applauding audience worshiping her very existence. The advertisement also includes men, knights, competing to the death for the women’s affection. The commercial does not show the product, which is a cleansing wash, until the very end where they demonstrate a woman in a grocery store deciding whether or not to buy the product. The extended advertisement is three minutes and three seconds long the regular version is about 30 seconds long.

Video 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxW_ZCd64tg

Analyze

    The advertisement directors used a snob-appeal persuasive technique because the women and the men fighting shown are royalty and powerful. They also use a plain folk technique because of the woman in the store at the end is a normal person the advertisement is a T.V. commercial and for the most part depicted almost like a movie trailer. Another technique used is the association principle, there is a connection between the product and desirable qualities like the wealth and power of the women depicted in the commercial and a sense of success in terms of  getting men to fight over you. These techniques are used bring forth the message, which was that all women are powerful because of one thing their “V’s” and by embracing your “V” and using their product you to will be great.

Interpret

          This commercial is a part of a larger ad campaign for Summer’s Eve. The product is nothing new because we have all heard of Summer’s Eve before but it’s the first commercial I’ve seen and remembered from that company. The target audience is obviously women and the demographics appeals to women who range from young adults to women in their prime. The stereotypes in the commercial is that women don’t know how much power they hold by having a vagina and can change the world and under estimate themselves if they use Summer’s Eve products. The message is a bit offensive and is awkward to think about. The focus of the commercial is on one women’s body part and that on one body part is the only reason why women have any power over a men. But in reality there are so many other characteristics that women have that can give them a sense of empowerment other than a vagina.

Picture 2 http://summerseve.com/vpower/ad-campaign/helen-troy

Evaluate

I believe that this commercial makes you think about it for short period of time after it is over because women don’t often think of themselves as powerful figures for having a vagina. So the advertisement makes us think yes we hold a bit of power because of that fact. However, for the most part though the message is wrong to mean having a pretty smelling vagina gives us empowerment. The commercial is kind of embarrassing for putting such personal material out there creating a demeaning aspect on women. If the advertisement worked in getting the targeted audience to buy their product it would be because there aren’t a lot of products for that area and sometimes it needs maintenance. Although I don’t think the commercial would encourage all women to buy their product, only the women who have the courage to buy feminine products without feeling embarrassed and are open about their sexuality.

Engagement

I found the advertisement funny, awkward, and a little offensive because it may be true that woman does have a sort of empowerment for the reason in the commercial but there are also for a variety of other reason as well; like her intelligence and personality. I can see how other women may too find it offensive, demeaning, and even embarrassed when it comes to their private parts many people are very petulant about that subject and believe it should be kept behind closed doors. Although the substance of the commercial shouldn’t be taken personally and that it is not directed towards one person but to a stereotype, general audience, and if you don’t like it ignore it because there are many advertisements in the world that are ridiculous, and demeaning. When we are exposed to the ridiculous part of media, I believe that we should just keep an opened mind about everything and if we don’t like then to just ignore it.

Conclusion

            We are bombarded by advertisements every day, in almost every aspect of our lives. It is up to us to decipher the truth about what makes us great and what doesn’t. We don’t have to have perfume smelling down stairs in order to be perceived as empowering. The more I researched this topic the more I realized that the company doesn’t mean to offend their audience, they just make mistakes and in this commercial there is a mistake by making women powerful because they have a good smelling “V”. We should give and take what we want from the message. As long as we leave with this one thought some people say stupid things but that doesn’t make us any less exceptional.

Links:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/annedoyle/2011/07/26/summers-eves-salute-to-the-big-v-campaign-deceives/
http://thatsvaginal.com/
http://summerseve.com/vpower/ad-campaign