Visual text analysis

I have chosen to do a visual analysis that will play into my focal topic for the semester as I am going to be analyzing the male gaze when it comes to women in the entertainment industry. Specifically, Mia Khalifa’s career and how she has to play into the male gaze. This is why I have chosen the promo poster for “Sportsball” her sports podcast.

First of all, the very first thing you are going to notice about this poster is most likely Mia Khalifa’s breasts. To be quite frank I think that is what they were going for. She is in a very low-cut top lined with lace. For some context, Khalifa is a former porn actress and that is still a massive draw for her in terms of audience. This is likely why we see her breasts as a focal point. It’s an appeal to pathos really, the emotion it’s appealing to is just horny. To look at the outfits more we see that she is dressed very provocatively in opposition to her costar Mr. Tyler Coe. Coe is dressed how we expect a news correspondent to dress and looks how we expect them to look. He is very masculine, muscular, a rugged beard. He looks like a man’s man. This is in juxtaposition to Khalifa extremely unusual look. I think Coe is there as a bit of an argument for authority. Khalifa is the emotional appeal, but we need to prove that this podcast is still going to be a professional sports podcast so Coe let’s us know we will still get the content we are coming for.

Next, looking at the colors and font choice we get a clear picture of what this is about. The kind of basketball orange is a deliberate choice. That color immediately draws your mind to sports which just plays into the visual appeal. The font choice I think is interesting, it doesn’t exactly me as sport-like of a vibe. It does give off a masculine feeling which I think is certainly the choice they’re going for, but I find the curve very weird. I think that everything else on this poster is meant to be powerful, manly, and bold by the curve of the letters I think gives off more of a childlike vibe. I may be alone on that but it’s just what I’m seeing on this one.

The name itself “Sportsball” says a lot about and is rather interesting if we look at it rhetorically. As we’ve been over Mia Khalifa is the focal point of this podcast, while she’s not the only one on it she is certainly the major name appeal and she’s the one going to draw people in. That’s why even though Khalifa knows an incredibly amount about sports we’re playing that down to be less threating to men. By calling it “Sportsball” its almost jokey, like a pretty girl who doesn’t understand what’s happening but she just “loves watching all the different sportsball games haha”. Khalifa is being dumbed down. This is playing into why Khalifa is less professional looking and more scantly dressed. If we are appealing to a male audience (which is the audience and fanbase Khalifa has gained from her porn and video game career) we don’t want to intimidate them too much. She has to be portrayed as something a bit more attainable and someone that the viewer still knows more than. Even thought we know that she is going to be giving genuine and intelligent observations on sports, we need to get people through the door so we are going to portray her as the ditzy porn star that people have come to know.

Let’s also look into where and how this podcast is podcast is being put out. The show is part of Roosterteeth, a media company that makes several different online shows and podcasts. In the past they have gained fame for making “Red vs. Blue” a Machinma online show centering around the video game Halo. Just last year they released “Bloodfest” in theatres which received massively positive fan reception. This matters because Roosterteeth is known for making content centering around video games, horror, and raunchy humor. All of these are rather masculine and male dominated industries. This is likely why when we look into the context of the piece, we see how we got to this point where Mia Khalifa is being dumbed down and make sexier for fans. Roosterteeth knows that their primary fans are teenage to early 20-year-old men, and what appeals more to teenager boys then boobs and porn stars right? We can better understand the use of Khalifa to make sports even sexier than already are by adding in a girl in a low-cut top. It’s also worth noting that this is being marketed as a video podcast. Yes, you can still listen on podcast apps with audio only, but you can watch on the Roosterteeth site with video. This plays into the idea that we want to look at Mia Khalifa. Sex doesn’t sell as well when it’s just a voice.

Overall when you look at this poster it does its job effectively. The first thing you see is Mia Khalifa. Her breasts are out, her stature is different, she’s nearly centered. You see her as the focal point and if you are their audience it’s very possible that her appeal alone is enough to get you interested. Your eyes then move over to Tyler Coe which now gets you understand that there is still a “legitimate” host so now you have a little more faith that there is content beyond the sex that we are selling. Then you move up to the logo and coloring which allows you to understand what this is about. I mean with a name like Sportsball you absolutely know it’s about sports, but you also get that same message from the coloring and ball shape. While I don’t like the message it’s giving or the undeniable appeal to male gaze I will say I find it fairly effective.