I choose the "Cleveland Montage" from 30 Rock for two reasons: The first is that I think that 30 Rock is the funniest show on television, the second is that I spent kindergarten to 8th grade in a suburb of Cleveland - Aurora, and my college years in New Jersey - just an hour outside The City (New York). It was as if this song was tailor made for me - a tale of two zip codes (!)
Now down to business. Along with sentimentality, I chose to analyze this gem using the audience/rehtorical and semiotic lenses.
Audience Anaylisis - in "Teaching Media Literacy", media texts are described as being used to "position audiences to adopt certain stances or attitudes". In spite of spurning a decent baseball team and being home to the Rock & Roll hall of fame - Cleveland does not appear in Conde Nast Traveller's list of top vacation destinations.
It's a city that suffers from a bleak self-image. When I was a youngster Cleveland's city fathers launced an image overhaul campaign - "New York May be the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum"(*see link at right to 1981 Time Magazine article on George Voinovich). I remember seeing the slogan on bumper stickers and on purple t-shirts worn by older people at the local roller rink. The purpose of 30 Rock's ode to Cleveland is to leave us with the impression that Cleveland is cool and going there will be a delight for your psyche and your self-image - in the clip Liz is asked if she's a model. The police are also portrayed as very nice, asking her if she'd like to pet their horse - a contrast w/the NYPD-who in a previous scene in the episode that is was excerpted from ask her to open her purse so that they can search it.
Socialaization As Consumers, is described in "Teaching Media Literacy" as a way that audiences are "socalized by the media to think of consumption as the route to status or popularity." In the 30 Rock Cleveland Montage, the audience is supposed to conclude that Cleveland has coolness. Liz Lemon likes Cleveland because she like's herself while visiting there. She's "consumed" by feeling good about herself AND her boyfriend lives there - how cool!
1 comment:
I just listened to a radia show that talked about the image of Cleveland in association with music. It was interesting to see how hard on themselves they were. They did say Cleveland had a few saving graces (people I had never heard of) but for the most part made Cleveland seem like a lifeless place.
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