Power free write

    It has been difficult for me to really grasp the synthesis paper and how to relate the three texts from Berger, Focault, and Kanye West. They each have seemingly similar approaches to the concept of power with different "flavors", I would say. Although I am not yet sure how to format this paper, I do have a few ideas based on mostly Berger and West. I find it interesting to note that Kanye West's ""Power" music video is a busy jumble of moving images of mostly women but then at the end all of the sexually provocative images are taken away revealing two men going at each other with swords. This sort of plays on Berger's idea that reproduced images can show a different meaning than the original especially when cropped a certain way. The jumbled images in the majority of Kanye West's video can be seen as the "original" image and the two men at the end is the "reproduction" of the original image, Berger says that reproduced images are "material for the filmmaker's argument" (154) or in this case, Kanye West's view of the government. Another idea I have for relating Berger and Kanye is Berger's explanation of the mystification of art into a "holy relic" and how Kanye's music video almost takes on the appearance of a holy relic or religious painting. Foucault might be the most difficult author to connect to the others but I am thinking of arguing that the panopticon can be used in a way to gain power but only if someone is in the observatory watching the others, Berger says that reproductions try to hold power when in fact they do not, they can only be used in ways to hold power as you (Jake) said in your blog, that reproductions can be used to gain power in politics, perhaps the panopticon has the same quality- unless the prisoners or whoever is in the cells know they are being watched, if so, the panopticon is the ultimate place of power. 

However, these are just thoughts, rough ones that I can hopefully organize and synthesize in a better way for the synthesis paper.