Feedback from Assignment 3

Received feedback very promptly from A3. Tutor judges as very good across all four criteria. Pleased with that, although I actually though it was better then the previous two, both judged as excellent. 

Summary reads thus:

Once again I was impressed in this assignment by the independent way in which you questioned the texts that you were asked to read. In this case, however, I am not sure if I am right but I felt that I detected an even greater note of frustration in your response to both Freud and Barthes, which I have tried to address in my comments.

The reference to Freud comes about as tutor comments at length on my commentary for the first project for Chapter 4, not strictly part of the Assignment that is being reviewed. Comments are helpful in my understanding of Freud but not specifically addressed in this post.

Reflections

Tutor comments on clear exposition of Barthes' theories and research skills in going "beyond the material to make comparisons to Foucault and others. In your discussion of the ideas of Anandi Ramamurthy, John Tagg and Stuart Hall you gave full rein to your critical evaluation skills."

Tutor makes reference to my comment that the left-wing theories of Barthes and others are outdated. He is not sure about that, but does mention that his ideas may have been overtaken by the digital revolution. I set out similar reservations in Reflections on Chapter 2 and it may well be that we agree more than might appear. A lot of left-wing criticism that I allude to during this course has been aimed at the establishment, whether wittingly or not, hiding its true its aims to retain control of media messages. That may well have been true in 1970s and 1980s; my point (and this is where there is congruence with tutor) is that society has moved on now to a point where people naturally are less inclined to believe what they are told. 

Whether it is a cause, effect or simply a correlation, the digital revolution has coincided with an era of greater informality in society; there is less respect for the professions. The digital revolution has certainly played a major part in this by making information flow quick, cheap and easy. If you have a medical problem, you can self diagnose using on line forums and websites; the doctor no longer "knows best". You can look after your own financial affairs more easily using a plethora of web based resources. It is the era of empowerment of the common man. This is why I believe the left wing criticism is somewhat dated. 

There is a danger of taking this for granted, for not recognising the subtle controlling messages that still exist as I set out in the Assignment, but it seems there is a need to understand the digital age within a theory of visual culture, a difficult challenge given the rapidity of technological advance.

Patek Philippe Advertisement

Tutor points out there are more visual signs in the advertisement that might have commented on, specifically:

•  The similarity  of the phrase to Keats' poem. I was unaware of Keats' poem so this is useful allegory;
• Contrast of the phrase to the ephemerality of the rose and glass of water  next to it;
• The juxtaposition and relative ages of the two women.  The assumption is that the woman on the right is older, possibly the other's mother. My take on this is that the relative ages are ambiguous; we don't know whether there is a blood relationship, if there is what that relationship is and probably do not need to evince the conclusion of "alleged mutability of women" to use tutor's words;
• The fact that the women are leaning forward to greet an invisible newcomer, possibly the male purchaser of the watch. This is a good point that I omitted. My only comment would be that the missing person would be more likely to be the male donor of the watch

Overall, encouraged and pleased with the comments.