Media Appreciation #2: Buffalo Bill

1. Give at least 2 examples (with details) where the lines between reality (history) and entertainment (media) became blurred during the life of William Cody (AKA Buffalo Bill)

1) He wanted to be a hero in the character of Buffalo Bill. He blurred the line between reality and entertainment by incorporating true facts (reality) with myths (entertainment) of the Wild West. A lot of people have an image of what the real Wild West was and he exploited that. He used the image of what everyone believed the wild west was in his show so that he can seem like the real hero. He used real facts like natives living in Tipis and trying to recreate how the Wild West looks like. He grew up in the real west but he used myths that the media portray of the "wild west". That draws a line between reality and entertainment because he knows what it's like yet he used the stereotype that the media created. He just created it for himself just for entertainment and money.
2) Buffalo Bill wanted to make a story entertaining for his audience so he created a make-believe scenario incorporated with real facts. He made his audience believe how the Wild West is like with cowboys, buffalos, and indians so he could entertain his audience. That isn't reality because that isn't how the real Wild West is like. He only did that because he wanted to become famous. He blurred the line by making people believe that the things he showed, was reality when it was NOT.
3) He forgot reality and life was not important to him. All he wanted to do was act and make his audience happy for money and fame. His job made him away from his family and caused his "Buffalo Bill" character to become reality and him being "William Cody" being less real. He got caught up with the fame and slowly forgot who he was.

2. What reasons do we have to call Buffalo Bill the "original world celebrity"? Explain.

Everyone knew who Buffalo Bill was. He knew how to interact with his audience to make them feel his character. He was globally known. He went on tour worldwide for his fans to see his live performance. If you compare it to how celebrities are now, that is exactly what they do. They are globally known and they have tours worldwide so their fans can see them. Back then, there wasn't a lot of entertainment like music so this was new to everyone and created a hero for people to look up to which gave him the title of the "original world celebrity".

3. How could Buffalo Bill have benefited from new media? Who would have been some of his Facebook friends?

Buffalo Bill could have benefited from new media because people would be able to be updated with him. They would know more about his life and know when his shows were to go and watch it. His audience would be a larger crowd because everyone would have access to the dates he were going to be in their town. He could've used new media as a way of communicating to his audience. He could have used new media as a source of advertisement as well and his popularity would've been larger. It could've been a way of communication to his family and friends when he was on the road. It would help him realize that he's not only "Buffalo Bill" and be able to get a sense of reality. Some of his Facebook friends would be his fans, friends and family. His fans would want to have him on Facebook to be able to interact with him and check different "tour" dates.