Wise Thoughts

       While watching Miss Representation, I felt a number of emotions. Shock, sadness, disappointment, the feeling that I already knew the information they presented, worry, and hopelessness. I felt as though the documentary was a good message overall, but I wasn't sure how to approach such a large issue. This is an issue that is bigger than all of us. We need to examine truly where these false beauty standards came from, the messages that the media sends, the origin of those messages, and why those messages are being sent. We also need to more closely examine what the effect of those messages are on every aspect of society. I felt as though the optimistic tone the documentary took at the end was kind of futile in the face of such a large issue. There needs to be more done, in my opinion.      After watching the documentary, I felt as though I needed to examine myself. Did I feel as though I was being misrepresented in media? Was I being infl...

     The message of media manipulation of women that the documentary, Miss Representation, was trying to spread was simultaneously a very good message but also contained flaws in the argument. The documentary definitely raised some good points. There definitely is an exploitation of women in the media, only for their bodies rather than any message of substance. This sends a wrong message to girls growing up, that their bodies are the only thing that defines them, which leads to less women leaders and women in positions of power. Men are also trapped in a cycle of what women are like in real life, and how women are presented in media. They are then unsure how to treat women like human beings because women are presented as two dimensional in media. Media causes there to be an actual influence in society in how women are viewed, treated, and how they act and who they become. Miss Representation  clearly showed the links between how women view themselves, from ideas o...

         I feel that romance has changed as the years go by, but even more so with the introduction of social media. The romance that we read about in books is simply nonexistent. Love letters, poems, serenading, and chivalry of any sort is simply nonexistent, or very difficult to find. True romance, pure, unfiltered love is something that has become very difficult to find in this day and age. The reason behind why love has become so artificial and difficult to navigate is a complex one, but I feel as though social media and the fact that our lives are shared very publicly online definitely adds to that.      Romance. Love. Complex parts of the human experience that some people never have the privilege of truly experiencing ever in their lifetime, and even if one experiences it, one may not understand it. Love is something that has become even more difficult to decipher in today's day and age. We frequently see couples advertise ever...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu_7m--Ozrs       Last Friday, I popped into Mr. Starace's classroom to talk to him about the school shooting that had occurred this morning before I went to Mr. Griffin's. He invited me to stay in the classroom because he was showing the class something related to that, so I decided to stay. Mr. Starace showed us a political ad from candidate Pat Davis, running as a New Mexico congressional candidate. In the ad, Pat Davis begins with the very strong statement, "F@%& the NRA." He then goes on to state, "Their pro-gun policies have resulted in dead children, dead mothers, and dead fathers. He finishes with: "I'm Pat Davis, and I approve this message. Because if Congress won't change our gun laws, we're changing Congress." He speaks against a backdrop of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, with a stern expression on his face. His main selling point on this ad is that he is progressive, and a gun violence...

           Music videos are often more talked about and analyzed than the music itself, and have a large influence on what people discuss and how we regard artists. Music videos are greatly varying, and everyone seems to wait the most for music videos from their favorite artists, more than the music itself. Because of this, artists often create strange, touching, or influential music videos. Due to the widespread nature of music videos, it is often hard to avoid the discussion around them and not to be pulled into that discussion. Music videos provide a platform for people to discuss the meaning of the music video as well as offer their own opinion on what they think of the artist because of what they put in the music video and what they think of the music video itself. Music videos become a reflection of culture, and a reflection of what the audience of that music genre or any audience in society is looking for. By looking at music videos and the d...

             In today's day and age, humor is often very difficult to understand and many people have drastically differing sense of humor, based on political views, their social status, ethnicity, and a variety of other factors. Humor nowadays has the tendency to be extremely careful now, without trying to offend anyone, but it also has evolved into strange memes that don't make sense by any means but still are funny in some way. Humor has changed drastically in the age of technology, and allowed for it to have little to no boundaries, but at the same time, having many boundaries.       With the introduction of technology, humor has truly evolved every single year in the past decade. At the beginning of the 2000s, computers were still clunky and there wasn't widespread humor online, except perhaps for humorous profiles on MySpace. Then, 2008, 2009, came around, and memes were introduced. Memes are defined as "a humorous image", and ...

            One media habit that I have noticed that I really don't enjoy is the fact that we try and present a better image of ourselves and in the process, sometimes become someone different on social media. It seems as though people become obsessed with presenting a perfect version of themselves on social media and on the internet in general. If we aren't trying to be perfect, we are trying to be relatable and funny and cynical, and get affiliation from that "relatable" aspect of ourselves. Everyone does this, and I see the most extreme version on Instagram. We have our rinsta, or our "real instagram", where we post perfect pictures, the best one out of countless pictures, and then our finsta, or our "fake instagram", where we are able to post selfies and funny things about ourselves to try and be relatable and express ourselves. We all put a mask on on social media, and rarely will you find someone being actually genuine, even in the comment...

         Korean and American advertising have many disparities, both in how they are presented and the content. Korean advertising on television and during television programs are very different from those shown on American television. Korean ads tend to be more family oriented, with a need for affiliation being the main focus as well as bargaining and putting a time restraint. Magic ingredients are also very prominent, with ads for herbal medicinal cures being extremely common. Infomercials are also common. There will frequently be a spokesperson advertising a certain product, from food to clothing to furniture, and there will be a number at the bottom and consistent urges to call the number to get the product before it runs out. Ads are very bright and happy and rarely use wit or humor. Ads are very straight to the point and emphasize familial connection. There is also an emphasis on music and the usage of celebrities in ads. Celebrities do a variety of th...