diff --git a/blogContent/headerImages/shock-treatment.png b/blogContent/headerImages/shock-treatment.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..537a795 Binary files /dev/null and b/blogContent/headerImages/shock-treatment.png differ diff --git a/blogContent/posts/other/how-films-portray-control.md b/blogContent/posts/other/how-films-portray-control.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26e2cb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/blogContent/posts/other/how-films-portray-control.md @@ -0,0 +1,144 @@ +Sit down and grab a drink because it is time that we talk about the +LSD trip that is the 1981 movie *Shock Treatment*. *Shock treatment* +can be called a sequel to Rocky Horror; however, the storylines are +very different, and the only common thread is our main actors Brad and +Janet. Where Rocky Horror was a play about lust and sexuality, shock +treatment was a musical about questioning your sanity... or something +along those lines. + +The problem with *Shock Treatment* -and part of why I loved it so much +-was that it was a satire on absolutely anything and everything. The +message of the show was unfocused; it shot a ton of stuff at the wall +and let the viewer fill in meaning. Many themes could be elaborated on +within this show, including mental health, control, gender norms, +consumerism, censorship, human nature, and manipulation. Most +subjects were one-off and did not serve further the plot that much, +but other topics struck home. The show is still well worth the watch +because it's entertaining, and it's eerie to see how well a movie from +the early '80s reflects society today. Moreover, newer shows like +*Westworld* and Black Mirror are still portraying the same messages +about control and consumerism but, using different narrative +structures than the ones used in Shock Treatment. + +# Plot + +At a high level: we have our antagonist Farley Flavors, the CEO of +Fantastic Fast Food trying win over his twin brother's wife (Janet) by +using his recently purchased TV network-- Denton TV. Farley schemes to +get Brad (the husband) admitted into a pseudo mental hospital using +the Denton TV show Marriage Maze. Farely proceeds to win over Janet by +using mysterious medicine and making her the star of the new TV show +Faith Factory as "Miss Mental Health". The devious plot of Farley +Flavors gets stopped by Betty and Judge Write, who started poking +around the studio after their news program got canceled to make room +Faith Factory. In the end, Judge Write and Betty sneak into the mental +hospital (which is inside the massive TV set), unlocked Brad, and +crashed the premiere of Faith Factory. Despite saving Brad and Janet, +the rest of the town is willfully ignorant and signs up for the new +"mental health treatment" that Farely is selling. + +The end. + +# Consumerism + +The dangers of rampant consumerism and advertising are presented by +using satirical Denton TV shows. The first show is called Marriage +Maze; on it, Brad and Janet discuss their struggling marriage using +blatantly obvious product placement. This culminates in the catchy +song *Bitchin' In The Kitchen*. + + + +Later we see the Happy Homes show; in it, Janet talks to her parents +about her struggling marriage and gossips about other people. The +entire set of the show is an elaborate model home decked out with all +the new appliances that the studio is advertising. + +# Mental Health + +There is soo much to be said about mental health with this show. It is +first essential to understand the historical context behind the show. +Released in 81, it was likely influenced by David Rosenham's work in +1975: *Being Sane In Insane Places*. This work found that it was easy +to get committed to a mental ward, but, hard to get out -- even if you +are perfectly normal. + + + + +In the show, Brad is committed to a mental hospital for "shock +treatment" to fix his marriage with Janet despite there being nothing +wrong with him. Once in the psychiatric ward, Brad is drugged up, +strapped to a chair, gagged, and locked away in a cage. This could be +making a statement about how poorly we treat the mentally ill or how +we diagnose them --especially in the '70s and '80s. Or, one could read +more into how the audience reacted to Brad getting locked away-- could +be saying something about the stigma associated with mental illness. + +The theme of mental illness makes more sense when considering it +alongside the power structure that is presented in this show. Nobody +in the show seemed particularly keen on the actual mental well-being +of Brad. Farley Flavors was simply using mental health as a pawn in +his plan to win over Janet. Moreover, Farley was selling mental health +in his new show Faith Factory -- possibly as a way to maintain his +viewers' cult-like following. + + + +# Relationship to Media + +Did someone mention cult-like following? The viewers of Denton TV are +caught in a trance like-state of believing everything that is told to +them on the Denton TV. This brings up a discussion about how corporate +interests influence the media and how that affects vulnerable +audiences. In Shock Treatment, the loyalty of the viewers was betrayed +by Farely Flavorers Fantastic Fast Foods when he used viewer trust to +admit everyone into his literal mental hospital. + + + +How the media can influence its audience by telling them what a person +should act like was also explored in the song *Thank God I'm a Man*. +This illustrates the media's power to define what is considered +normal. We also see more of this when they sculpt Janet into the +perfect model for the new TV show Faith Factory. + +# Influences + +Shock treatment raised some excellent questions, questions still +reverberating through society today. How should we interact with the +media we consume so that it doesn't negatively influence us? How do we +deal with the mentally ill in a way that is non-exploitative? Shock +treatment was able to approach these questions by posing a satirical +view of what society could look like with unchecked consumerism and +mass media. Newer shows like *Black Mirror* and *Westworld* are +raising the same questions using technological dystopias focusing on +AI. This change primarily reflects technological advances and what +audiences fear the most. + +![Denton img with Farely overlooking](media/denton.png) + +The type of dystopia presented in Shock Treatment is rather close to +the dystopias in *Farenheight 451* by Ray Bradbury George Orwell's +novel *Nineteen Eighty-Four*. These dystopias were concerned with +censorship, mass-media, and tyrannical rule. Non-surprisingly, we see +all these features in Shock Treatment. The entire film takes place in +a gigantic movie set with a large number of Denton TV fanatics. Farely +censors Betty and Judge Write when they stepped out of line from his +message. Finally, Farely rules with only his own motives in mind and +sits alone in a control room with monitors watching everyone on set. +Sound familiar? *Farenheight 451* and *Nineteen Eighty-Four* also +fixated on the presence of TV screens and the omnipresence of being +watched without your knowledge. + +New tech dystopias like *Westworld* and *Black Mirror* liven this up +for modern audiences by adding Artificial intelligence and other +futuristic technologies. Now, it isn't a powerful elite telling you +what to like using mass media, it is an algorithm that determines the +fate of your everyday mundane lives. This is exemplified in +*Westworld* season three, where we learn that an AI computer system +called Rohoboron is silently controlling the world through +manipulation. + +After nearly 40 years, it is astonishing how relevant Shock Treatment +still is. diff --git a/blogContent/posts/other/media/denton.png b/blogContent/posts/other/media/denton.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3f8cc3 Binary files /dev/null and b/blogContent/posts/other/media/denton.png differ