Do you agree with the deconstruction? Why? Why not? Be specific.
I do agree that this is a typical commercial in using a typical middle class white family. I am not in complete agreement that it was a way to imply some sort of racial or cultural difference. I feel as though the commercial was aimed at being humorous. I remember this add before Alltel was completely taken over by Verizon. I think that if you are planning to sell cell phones you need to target the market that would purchase the majority of these phones, and that is the middle class, which comprised mostly of white America at this time. I do not think the message was condoning racial differences and honestly I thought her tone in describing the commercial was condescending.
Do you agree with the claims made in the deconstructions? Is the Century Link ad really a cover for a company that is making profits over customer satisfaction? Does the Alltel ad really promote racism or stereotypes of immigrants? Why or Why not?
I do agree with the claims for the Century Link ad, as living in WV I know that access to Internet, cell phones and other technology is limited at best. The deconstruction does well to point this out. I think the ad does cover up that many people are affected by the fact that this type of technology is just not available to all the customers they say they reach. However, I don't think the Alltel ad is promoting racism. I believe the target was to the largest pool of customers out there who will be buying their products. The family could have been 3 cavemen and it would have relayed the same message. It could have been a white farmer with some barnyard animals the ad would have worked in quite the same manner.
How do these deconstructions disrupt taken-for-granted realities?
They both make you think more about what people are really saying compared to what the true reality is. I totally agree with the Century deconstruction but feel like the Alltel deconstruction may have made you think about things that I didn't feel were a part of the ad. I felt as though the ad was trying to say that you should not have to sacrifice anything or resort to drastic measures to pay for your cell phone, who was in the room was not a concern to me.
What ideologies, cultures, economies, institutions or political systems are these deconstructions disrupting or interrogating?
Obviously, these ads are looking at family values and lifestyles when you look at the Century ad. They want you to see that normal families all around the world who live in beautiful wonderful places use their products. The Alltel deconstruction is an assault on your racial beliefs and ideologies. It is almost as if she is saying if you find this funny you are racist.
How are these deconstructions examples of individuals investigating manifestations of power relations?
Both are trying to determine what the message of these ads mean overall. Is corporate America trying to rip us off or push a racist agenda onto the American public? I think when you examine the relationships that are displayed in these ads it helps people understand more where the everyday consumer fits in. It also helps you decide if this company is someone you want to support by buying their products.
How might conducting these kinds of deconstruction empower students whom have been historically and continue to be disenfranchised by "traditional schooling?
This type of deconstructions can build on so many tools for children in ways that most times they are not interested in doing due to the boring nature of the material. If you ask a child to do a report on a book, then you will get something that is less than inspired. A book report is nothing more than a deconstruction. If we ask children to look at these ads and then write a "report" or "deconstruction" then it improves there critical thinking skills, their writing skills, comprehension skills and so on. If you look at ads that flash a lot of numbers you can use these as teaching opportunities in a math class. For example if you were to use a car ad that describes financing you could easily use that to teach students how to calculate percentages and car payments.
How might deconstructing these kinds of media messages help students recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded?
When you examine these types of messages you can decide for yourself what they are really trying to say. Obviously I do not agree with the person deconstructing the Alltel ad but I cannot say that she is wrong. I could be wrong and this ad could quite easily be condoning a racist message. Children do not think about the message in the ad but simply what is the product being sold. However, they are influenced by the messages subconsciously which can affect them as they develop into adults.
How might conducting these kinds of deconstructions disrupt traditional banking systems of education?
I think this type of work engages children in different ways and begins to fire parts of the brain that many children, and not for a lack of trying by teachers, do not have to use on a daily basis. That is the creative part of the brain. Although they are not coming up with the ad, they have to think about the creative process that was used to create it. The other part of this is that you can then ask the children how they would have changed the ad to make the ad less racially offensive or not conveying a message that is not entirely true.
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