Blog #7

This past month i watched several movies to reflect on old times. I watched "Peter Pan," "Aladdin," "Snow White...," and "Sleeping Beauty." All these movies were riddled with gender, race, and class stereotypes. "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White" portrayed women as dainty, beautiful, and in need of LOTS of male help. The only self-reliant women in those movies were represented as evil witches. The princes in those two movies are almost identical. They are tall, handsome, gallant, charming, and all to eager to save the damsel in distress and win her entire heart with a SINGLE kiss. Wendy from "Peter Pan" can take care of herself pretty well along with everyone else. She exhibits all the characteristics of a stereotypical female: pretty, nurturing, and pretty skilled with a needle. Peter seems to be annoyed with her talkativeness and frequently shoots her down. The way Native Americans are portrayed in "Peter Pan" disgusting, insulting and ridiculous. "Aladdin" seemed to show Arabia as a barbaric place. Also, everyone but the two main characters (Aladdin and Jasmine) are weird and distorted looking.

I believe that product placement in television and movies is definitely an affective means of advertising. Mostly because it is not "in your face" advertising; its more suggestive. I hate diet coke and if Jared Padelecki (one of my favorite actors) came on a commercial and tried to endorse it i wouldn't go out and buy it. I would recognize that buying a product just because he endorsed it is stupid and would stay clear of it just to spite the advertising institution. But, if he was casually sipping a diet coke while researching wendigo lore on a supernatural episode, i might be inclined to buy a diet coke and give it another chance. People don't like to think that they are being manipulated and have learned that advertising commercials do just that. But product placement is more subtle and therefore more affective because people are less inclined to bulk against it.

HOUSE- In Loving Memory: Lawrence Kutner

Blog #4

The media's stereotypes of men and women greatly influence how we view each other in professional settings. Advertisments in magazines and on the tv generally show sexy women in skimpy clothing, striking provacative poses. Some advertisments have gone so far as too show only the "good parts" of women- chest, stomach, and butt. This causes some men to become confused in the work place; they are constantly seeing these acceptable images in the media which leads to an increase in sexual harrasement in the office and at school. Also, women portrayed in tv shows and movies are usually sensitive, emotional, and weak-willed. These stereotypes can influenc how people vote. During the last election I heard several people say that they would not want a woman (Clinton) for a president because women would not be able to make difficult decisions or would be too emotional to handle the job.

Men are just as stereotyped as women. The media has defined the masculine image as physicaly strong, independent, intimidating, and stoic. Any male that lies outside of this media constructed image is ridiculed. In school I have heard students label male students gay if those males dress more fashionably than the typical male student. Boys are also labeled "fag" if they are emotional. The stereotypical "jock" has great physical abilities but is not expected to be not very intelligent. I've heard of cases where male athlete/students will purposefully perform poorly in the class room to fit this stereotype and escape ridicule. In the business world males are expected to act formidable and invulnerable; there is no room for mistakes or passivness. Emotional and sensitive males are viewed as impotent political leaders and therefore political leaders are forced to put on a macho front.

blog #3

My favorite tv show is Supernatural. I have seen every single epsisode aired and it is currently running its fourth season. Its a fictitious show about two brothers who hunt supernatural things. Here is a list of the Core American Values that are stressed/represented in this fantastic show

Activity and Work- Everybody in this is show ALWAYS busy. The Winchesters are constantly searching for "hunts," or jobs. They are always on the lookout for supernatural disturbances and they always find ways to keep themselves busy- cleaning their weapons, researching, and investigating. On occasion they run into other hunters who always happen to be on the job.

Youthfulness- The two main characters, Sam and Dean Winchester, are quite gorgeous; They are young, physically fit, and perfectly handsome. They also engage in a strenuous activities- busting down doors, moving quickly from location to location while carrying various weapons or an injured person, and crawling up or through tight tunnels. They are able to recover quickly from beatings, stab wounds, gun wounds, and "animal" slashes. Even their 60 something year old colleague is vital and fresh.

Humanitarianism- The show definitely stresses humanitarianism. Basically, the job description of a hunter is to save/protect people from malicious supernatural beings even if the people got into trouble by their own means. Sam and Dean risk their lives to save complete strangers and ask for nothing in return.

Individualsim- Sam and Dean are social rebels; in order to get into places that they need to or get important information they pretend to be FBI, detectives, health inspectors, priests, bankers, doctors, morticians, or reporters. Also, they live off of poker winnings and credit card scams. Even though Sam and Dean are brothers they are very different types of people. Dean has a tough, "bad ass" temperament; he likes classic rock, wears leather jackerts and dirty jeans, and drives a '67 chevy Impala. Sam is a smart, sweet, easy-going college grad who can talk them out of tough situations.

media lit blog #2

I agree with the belief that media saturation with the younger generations is a problem. The media is trying to create lifelong consumers out our society's children; they are wanting to "get them early and get them often." We are moving toward the type of society all those paranoid sci fi writers of the past two centuries envisioned. The type of society where there is no such thing as free thought because the Authority, in this case the Media, does all your thinking for you. The media tells you what to value, who to be, and how to act. The type of society where the individual is dead. According to the video, the effects of media saturation on children has indirectly led to a noticeable physical and emotional health decline. Also, the media creates and reinforces stereotypes which children are likely to believe. If we do not put regulations on the media's content that is aimed at children we will spawn a generation of materialistic, selfish, stereotype-following consumers.

blog #1

I interviewed a female and a male middled aged adult. I also Interviewed a 17 year old highschool student and a 20 year old working non-student. All four of them gave the same basic definition of what media is- any means of communication ideas to the general public. They all gave similar forms of media of media- print, television news broadcasts, radio news broadcasts, billboards/advertisements, and internet certain internet sites. When asked how media impacted their lives they all said that media keeps them continually informed of just about everything going on in the world and the nation. Both the teenager and the young adult said that the information the media gives helps them shape their views of certain issues and make better social and financial decisions. The fourth quesion asked how their view/image of the media has changed over time. The middle aged female has become annoyed with reporters'/journalists' style of reporting. The middle aged adult has grown cynical of most forms of media. Both middle aged adults believe that media has become increasingly more sensationalistic and it constantly awfulizes current events. The young adult used to be pay less attention to the media but now she finds it useful and relevant to her life. The teenager used to take everything the media claimed to be absolute truth experience has taught him to carefully consider the accuracy of such claims.