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Remember, your focus is on how the elderly are shown in the media. 1. This projects asks you to become a cultural critic by applying some of the concepts of cultural analysis to contemporary mass media. Your sampling of mass media will be two-fold: (1) a slice of prime time commercial television, not special news coverage and (2) an images of print media such as a magazine (pick a generic magazine, pop-culture, not a trade publication). (1) Select an evening to watch and analyze television (not just one show). Take notes while watching with the prompts below. (2) In addition, select a recent issue of a magazine and carefully examine the cover, articles, and advertisements (not just one ad). In each instance, your analysis will focus on the representations of age in these cultural artifacts. I. TV Analysis Your analysis will emerge out of your reflections about and responses to the prompts below. Your responses should be carefully and thoughtfully written. Remember to synthesize information from the text with specific examples from the TV programs and commercials you watched. 1) Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing? What factors contribute to your awareness of audience? Consider not only but age, but also gender, race/ethnicity, geographic location, social class, etc. 2) What kind of people are seen or are NOT seen? Age? Gender? Race (skin color – dark vs. light skin)/ethnicity? Social class? Sexual orientation? What about body types (heavy-set, thin…)? Are there any people represented who are differently abled? According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many people portrayed fall into the categories of 'beautiful/handsome,' 'average,' or 'unattractive'? 3) In what roles do older women appear (or NOT appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?) What types of jobs do they hold if they are shown to be working? Does it differ according to the woman’s race, culture, or body type? 4) In what roles do older men appear (or NOT appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?) What types of jobs do they hold if they are still working? Does it differ according to the woman’s age, race, culture, or body type? 5) What are the relationships between the types of people portrayed in the shows and the products being advertised in commercials? 6) What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, the messages? II. Print Ad Analysis 1) Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the magazine you are analyzing? Explain your answer. 2) What are the print ads trying to sell? How does it make its appeal to the potential consumer? 3) What kind of people are shown or omitted? Ages? Men? Women? Same sex groupings, do they appear differ from one another, and if so, how? Race (skin color)/Ethnicity? Are there people represented who are differently abled? Body types? According to dominant cultural ideals of handsome/macho/hot or beautiful/hot/babe, how many men and women portrayed fall into the categories of 'attractive,' 'average,' or 'unattractive'? 4) In your analysis of the print ads, explain how women’s bodies are positioned in the ad, whom they are looking at, whom is looking at them, what they are wearing, etc. What about for the men? Does it differ according to the person’s age? race? culture? 5) In what ways do the ads emphasize or construct women’s sexuality or de-emphasize it because of age, skin color, culture…? And for the men? What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, these messages?