Reflection Post

My first answer to how much media I consume would have been something like, "I think that I'm pretty much consuming media at all times of the day except for when I'm sleeping." I layer thought about my answer a little more and I decided that sometimes, even when I'm sleeping, I dream about my phone, twitter, or certain brands that I want to buy clothes from. This observation really makes me realize the media culture we have in society and how we can't really get away from it. In this way, I'm saying that the amount of media I consume is pretty much infinite. I don't think that the media has completely and fully shaped my personality, but I'd definitely say it has had an impact on my life choices and how I decide to do some things based on what I see in the media. 

I think this class has helped me realize and understand the media and advertising techniques, but I also think I taught it to myself over time. When I was younger, I wanted to wear everything Lizzie McGuire (Hillary Duff) wore or buy everything advertised on TV. As I get older, I realize this stuff is mostly junk and that I really don't need it. 

It is important to have media literacy because without it, we would believe everything advertisers told us. If we believed this, we would just buy in to everything and we would have no space for personal thought. Educated consumers realize how to pick out what and what they shouldn't take away from the media and advertisers. 

Throughout these past few weeks, I've really started to realize the hold that the media has on our society. It's pretty crazy! I've really enjoyed this assignment because it has lead me to really think about what is delivered to us on the daily by the media. 

Apple Watch

One brand that has created a great "coolness factor" is Apple. If you have some sort of Apple product, you are seen as cool. In my experience, even though Galaxys are usually more dependable phones, iPhones are more popular because they're cooler looking.

The new Apple watch is out and I don't really think anyone understands the purpose of it other than it having a tiny touch screen and costing a ridiculous amount of money. My dad got one a couple weeks ago from a fundraiser and I still don't understand it in the slightest. I don't really feel like Apple has worked hard enough to get me to understand/buy it. 

I put the watch on the other day when I went out and most people's reaction was, "Woa is that the Apple watch?" or "how do you like it." Whenever people asked me if I liked it I said that I honestly have no idea. That's when I recognized that I wasn't wearing the watch for it's function, but instead to look cool. What I'm trying to say is good job, Apple, you have created a super successful and working brand image. 

Body Image

One thing I have struggled with my whole life are my body image issues. Ever since I was in about second grade, my friends, peers, and even "best friends" would make fun of me for being chubby, being too tall, or having big feet. Since then, I have been paralyzed, feeling uncomfortable wearing anything but baggy clothes or one piece swim suits. Because of my feelings of insecurity, Missrepresentation is a movie that I really appreciate. 

One statistic in Missrepresentation that really affected me is that 58% of girls who are 13 years old and 78% of girls who are 17 years old dislike their bodies.  A main reason for this is the media's portrayal of women. Advertisers photoshop images of models to show an unachievable level of perfection (perfect complexion, big eyes, big lips, big butts, small waists, skinny legs, big boobs, etc.). Every little girl looks up to these media images for inspiration and guidance. If they are even just a little chubby, they feel that they do not measure up and think they have no value. 

Probably the most frustrating thing to me as a child was the fact that even though I ate healthy and was on a year-round swim team which practiced six days a week, I was never as skinny as my friends. Even as I get older and thin out, I don't see images of women like me in the media. Most models are around my height but are about 40-50 pounds lighter. I wish that when I was younger, strong, athletic women were more well represented in the media. While I understand that there are some people who weigh 110 pounds and are six feet tall, there aren't many and those women are unlikely to be either strong or healthy. I think young girls should see women in the media who are strong; women who can back squat 200 pounds, compete with the fastest runners or swimmers in the world; high jump, run hurdles, or pole vault as role models for success.  Women would be healthier and happier if we could see more images of these strong bodies in the media use those images as role models instead of frail and skinny models. 

Marriage-30-40 is the new 20?

Lately I've been noticing that people don't really get married as much anymore and when they do they are like 30-40. I think that one of the reasons people don't really feel the need to get married early on is because of the sexual promiscuity shown in media. People aren't told to settle down with one partner, they are told to go from bed to bed looking for a fun time. 

I don't think that the whole thing to blame is the media, but I think it could play a big part. A reason could definitely be the fact that people live longer and are healthier than they were even when our parents were our age. I also think it just might be that not a lot of people really see their friends settling down or anything so they don't feel the need to seek that out. 

Wether I'm talking to my brother (a college freshman) or any of my friends who are in college, they just don't really seem to be eager for "relationships." Most college kids think that relationships are too serous because if you start dating someone in college, you may get married to them. Most people think marriage is scary and daunting. I'm curious to see what happens in the future with my friends and my brother. Will they continue casually dating or will they seek out long term serious relationships that will possibly lead to marriage?

Gossip Girl

Even though I hate to admit it, Gossip Girl is one of my favorite TV shows yet. The show follows the lives of a group of extremely wealthy teenagers. For some reason, some sort of crazy drama follows all of the teens. All of the teens start partying (getting extremely drunk and taking massive amounts of drugs) at very young ages. The teens all seem to have little to no parental supervision while they prance around New York like they own the place (they practically do).

This is pretty much every teen's dream-no parental supervision in the big city. In this way, I think that the media is fed by teen's desires to be independent. In other ways, I think the producers feed the viewers some ideas about what they should be doing. I don't necessarily think that many teens walk around New York like adults, go to Paris for the weekend to go shopping, or have their own personal maids. These ideas created by the media give teens unrealistic expectations and make themselves feel uncomfortable in their own economic situations because they can't be the heir to half of New York's hotels. 

The producers of the show assume that teens only care about sex, drugs, alcohol, partying, and money. Some of these things are true but they do not actually consume young peoples' lives like how they do in the show. 

I think the thing that is so appealing about Gossip Girl is how unrealistic and crazy the show is. I kind of feel like I am living my life through Serena and Blair when I am watching the show. 

In fifteen or so years, I don't really think the media will be that different. The plots may change, but the messages won't.

Video Games

Last week, I was at a friend's house and he was playing a video game. I usually would have just ignored the game and gone in another room, but this one caught my eye. This game was super violent and gory. From what I could tell, the main point of the game was just to drive around and kill people. 

One of the main concepts of the game was to violently murder innocent civilians. One of the craziest parts of the game was that the player could just walk up to a cop and violently murder them with knives, guns, spears, etc. 

My later thoughts were that these games must subconsciously get into people's heads. I wonder if people feel like the things that they do in video games translate into real life. Sometimes I think that American's brutal video games have a lot to do with why our country is so violent. 

I think that there should be some sort of restriction on video games. I understand that there are ratings and stuff on them, but I think that is inadequate. Like movies, I think the purchase of video games should be restricted content wise. I don't think it's a good idea to fill kid's heads with violent ideas from these games.