Put A Bird On It

By - Macy Sarchet

Portlandia, a show about two people living in Portland Oregon, essentially to me it is a show about nothing. Portlandia is composed of many different skits/sketches that have little to no flow in a single episode. Rather, many of the characters reoccur throughout the season, allowing the story lines continue creating a serial plot which brings viewers back from week to week.

When viewing the taste cultures of Portlandia, we can see that it is a postmodern piece; meaning all individual styles are gone. It contains many of the qualities that we can connect with being postmodern; first of all the show is a parody show, or pastiche, it tends to make fun of other people or shows themselves. Portlandia's, "Put A Bird On It" is a parody of the make over shows. The couple goes into a shop and completely "makes it over" by putting birds on everything in the shop; Lisa states at one point, "What a sad little tote bag, I know I'll put a bird on it. Did you see this bag before? I didn't, now there's a bird".

Secondly, we can also see that Portlandia is ironic, many things in the show feel as if they should funny but instead are awkward and give you the feeling of, "should I laugh at this?" For an example we can look at the Women & Women First Bookstore that appears frequently throughout the series. Many skits that take place in the store tend to have the viewer feeling uneasy and anxious, wanting something to laugh at.

Third, we view hyperconsciousness, "hyperconscious television relies on playfully and ironically commenting on society through culture, genres, plot devices, types of characters, and itself" (http://wikiage.wordpress.com/exam/question-2/). In a sketch called, "Sanitation Twins" we can view how Portlandia plays on society by poking fun at just how eco-friendy we can really be. In the sketch the two have created many new ways to recycle; allowing you to recycle just about anything, from lotion to toe-nails and egg shells.

Portlandia, a show containing many different characters, performed mostly by two people; a show about nothing but still about something. From episode to episode we get to see what the kooky and awkward characters are up to while still being entertained by their crazy antics.

Back To the Future

by Macy Sarchet

In Back To The Future, Doc creates a time machine only wanting to uncover more about the past and the future. When showing Marty the time traveling DeLorean a lot goes wrong, in the end Doc is shot down by Libyan terrorists, therefore, Marty is forced to get into the Delorean and race away. Once Marty hits 88 miles per hour the DeLorean takes him back in time, November 5, 1955 to be exact.

When Marty gets to 1955 he finds his way to a diner, it is in this diner that he meets his teenage dad, George. Marty, not knowing that the boy sitting next to him is his father until after a confrontation with Biff (a bully at the school). George and Marty talk for just a few moments until Marty is distracted, once Marty turns around he finds an empty seat. Quickly looking around Marty sees George riding off on his bike. Wanting to talk with George Marty chases him for a short distance and then loses him. Soon after Marty finds George's bike near a tree, looking up Marty sees George in the tree with binoculars, after putting two and two together he figures his dad is a peeping tom. George looses his balance and falls out of the tree in front of Lorraine's dads car, Marty pushes George out of the way saving him but in the end only to be hit by the car himself. Marty is brought inside and wakes up to his teenage mother, Lorraine, taking care of him.

While at dinner Sam Baines (Lorraine's Father) is called into the kitchen by his wife Stella saying, "Sam stop fiddling with that thing and come in here and eat your dinner". Shortly after saying this we see Sam come flying into the frame with a television set that already appears to be turned on. Sam excitedly says, "Ho, Ho, Ho, look at it roll. Now we can watch Jackie Gleason while we eat". The television is set at the one end of the table where everyone around it can be entertained while they eat. We can see that Marty, the two older children and the parents are glued to the screen while they enjoy dinner, Lorraine on the other hand cant take her eyes off of Marty. During their dinner Lorraine says to Marty, "It's our first television set, Dad just picked it up today. Do you have a Television?" This being their first television Lorraine is the only one whom is not fascinated by it, she'd rather stare at Marty. Marty not thinking replies to Lorraine's question saing, "Well yeah you know we have... two of 'em". Milton, the older boy at the table, looks at Marty and excitedly says, "Wow! You must be rich" where the mom quickly replies, "Oh, honey he's teasing nobody has two television sets". From this scene we can conclude that in the 50's it was rare to have television set. According to hypertextbook.com 65% of the population in 1955 had only one television set while 2% of the population had two or more sets, therefore, concluding the fact that having two television sets in 1955 was fascinating to a younger child but to an adult the comment came across as a joke.

After making comments on having two televisions Marty continues to shove his foot further down his throat by saying, " Hey, hey, I've seen this one. This is a classic, this is where Ralph dresses up as a man from space". Bewildered, Milton looks at Marty and says, "What do you mean you've seen this? It's brand new". Blowing off the comment Marty says, "Yeah well I saw it on a re... rerun". Confused, Milton asks, "What's a rerun?" Marty realizing what he just said replies with, "You'll find out". From this portion of the scene we find out that in the 50's there was no such thing as a rerun, many shows were often performed live. According to Wikipedia.com, the Jackie Gleason Show was performed live in front of a theater audience, and the show first aired in 1952, therefore, we can also conclude that this performance was not a rerun.

The Jackie Gleason Show:

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2007/TamaraTamazashvili.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackie_Gleason_Show

Bleach

The show Bleach is an animated television show that originated in Japan based on a comic book. Bleach has been aired on Adult Swim from 2006 to the present. The show is about a teenage boy with spiky hair who becomes a soul reaper to exorcise souls.

Fan Art:

http://th05.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2010/210/e/4/e4e933ee61f3407e326351c73a081575.jpg

Slash Video:

Fan Fiction:

The fan fiction below is a homo-erotic story about two male characters, Uryuu and Ichigo. Ichigo is depressed and goes to a perverted older man (Urahara) to be cheered up, where there they discuss sexual stimulants.

Bleach Yaoi Fanfic Ch. 3

Ichigo suddenly became aware of the time and was up and out of bed, already pulling on his clothes. But then he stopped, realizing that something was out of place. Uryuu was nowhere to be seen and in what seemed to be an empty room Ichi sat back down on the bed. He buried his face in his hands as tears began to form in his golden eyes. He couldn’t understand what he was doing to push Uryuu away, nor what he could do to keep him from running like a skittish cat. Depression was a feeling that was not new to him, and today it was particularly strong. He walked along a street in between some housing tracks and came upon the old familiar shop belonging to Urahara. He went inside and found the lazy store clerk asleep in the back. “Hey, Urahara...wake up,” Ichigo pushed him with his foot. He twitched and opened his eyes. “Oh Ichigo! What a nice surprise, come to keep me warm have you? I knew you couldn’t stay away for long,” “Yeah, nice try old man…what kind of special items do you have in stock?” “Oooh, I know what you’re talking about…here, I have a little blue pill that will give you an erection so long that you will-” “That’s not what I need! I’m just looking for something-” “Oh you mean something to widen that tight space for your enormous-” “Oh forget it! I’m out of here.” “Don’t forget my goodbye kiss!” Ichigo slammed the door shut before Urahara could touch him and he could hear the clerk yelling something about sleeping together. Even though Ichi didn’t like him that much, he still couldn’t deny that he only went to his store to be cheered up, and it worked. A week later Ichigo still hadn’t heard anything from Uryuu, and everyday that passed he grew more frustrated and lonely. He felt so alone, abandoned, and hungry for love…like there was a hole in his chest, and he wondered if this is how the hollows felt. He laid his head down on the coffee table in front of the TV, drowning within his sorry self, wishing that the circumstances could be much different. Suddenly there was a bang at the door, slowly Ichigo got up, wiping his face on his sleeve on the way to the door. He opened the door and stared at the person standing in the doorway. Uryuu looked back at him, his face stained from tears and his clothes were ripped up. He looked completely disheveled and almost frightened. “I…I-” Uryuu tried to choke something out but could barely speak; Ichigo gazed at him in disbelief, stunned at what he was seeing. Desperately he lunged at him and held him in his arms in a tight hug, Uryuu was limp for a moment and then wrapped his arms around Ichigo. He started to cry and buried his face in Ichi’s chest. “He found out! My father found out about me, that…I like guys and he…he beat me and threw me out-” “Shhhh, it’s ok Uryuu, you’re safe now…I’ll take care of you,” He continued to cry and Ichigo shut the door and brought him inside. “It’s ok…” Ichigo cradled him in his arms on the couch and rocked him to calm him down. He gently kissed the Quincy on the cheek and wiped his tears away. Uryuu looked up at him with his deep blue eyes. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I just got scared and…” Ichigo put his finger over his mouth to stop him from saying any more. “You don’t have to apologize…I’ll always take you back,” he said as Uryuu began to tear up again, and he hugged Ichi tightly. This made the soul reaper smile like he hadn’t in months, he was so very happy to have Uryuu back under his roof and to feel like he was shield, a protector. He felt like himself again.

http://browse.deviantart.com/literature/?q=Bleach#/d1sncdo

The most popular element of the show in our opinion is the main character Ichigo. The fans seem to be obsessed with him, drawing pictures, creating slash fiction, soft-core stories and more. The thought of any characters getting together and "getting it on" pleasures the fans. Pictures, slash fiction and pornography are typical materials of the what the fans produce from the show. The character that is featured most in what our group viewed is the main character Ichigo, he is seen in many slash videos, art work and pornographic images as well.

Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars, a show about a father and daughter who work together as private investigators. The family lives in Neptune California, where Veronica goes to school, and works with her dad. After the death of her best friend Lilly, Veronica’s life went downhill. Veronicas friends disowned her, her father lost her job, and her mother ran left them behind.

Veronica Mars differentiates itself from similar investigation shows but instead of focusing on just the cases it focuses on Veronicas life. Through flashbacks of her past life and the difficult situations she is still dealing with. The show allows you to get involved with Veronica and have a better understanding of where she comes from.

The series is shot using single camera, this doesn’t allow for much of any unique style because most similar shows are also shot using a single camera. Also other investigation shows like CSI feature flashbacks. This show may differentiate from similar shows because it focuses on the life of a young girl who solves her own problems and the problems of her friends, while at the same time trying to solve bigger cases from the family business, and the overall case the murder of her best friend Lilly Kane.

The central protagonist Veronica is motivated by the loss of her best friend, her mom running out on her and her dad, these and many other things in the past have shaped her into who she is a strong willed, courageous young girl. She’s not afraid to put herself in dangers way, getting involved with the school biker gang, putting herself in a cult, talking to the killer of her best friend, going to college parties. Veronica seems to be the girl every one is intimidated by because she isn’t afraid to “get a little dirty”.

The narrative problematic is leaving Neptune. A few smaller problematic include Veronica and the potential relationship with Wallace, and Veronica getting back together with Duncan.

The setting of Neptune is a rich town where there is no middle class. Veronica and her dad are middle class, they don't really fit in Neptune. Neptune is a place worth revisiting, not for the rich people but for the Veronica and her dad, possibly to see if they are surviving because Neptune is out of their league.

The series relies on episodic because there is a new case every episode in which Veronica has to solve. The serial has created a deeper story of the lives of Veronica and her dad working to solve the murder of Veronicas best friend Lilly, which brings viewers back the next week to find out more.

In every episode a single crime or case is solved. For example in the pilot the tensions between Wallace and the biker gang are resolved through Veronica, also past tensions between her and the main Sheriff have been semi-resolved by her showing a tape of one of his deputies picking up a prostitute. The one big case that carries on to the next episode is the investigation of the murder of Lilly Kane.

The strategies that produce repetition within the series is Case solving, in each episode there is a new case but each individual case is different, in the pilot she has many small cases that are personal such as helping Wallace, her new friend, make amends with the Weevil from the biker gang at Logan's expense. Another case she helps "solve" is the inappropriate conduct at the Sheriff's department/the two biker kids who stole from the Sack and Pack. In the second episode the big case she solves is helping get Weevil and his grandma out of trouble with the sheriff. These cases are all different from episode to episode, but Veronicas forms of solving the cases tends to be the same, she uses similar sources to get information that she needs.