Last Post: Freestyle

I cannot believe our semester is coming to an end already! I really enjoyed this class and will miss it a lot! I know I will continue to sub-consciously analyze media and the real meanings of everything that we watch. For this last post, I decided to write on a show that I was just recently introduced to, called Modern Family.  This show is on ABC and plays true to the title, it follows three families that really are the definition of modern. One (above, on the left) follows an older, financially stable man, with his money interested girlfriend and her son. The middle family, a husband, wife, and their three children appear average from the picture, but among a teenager who cannot stop texting and the couple trying to keep romance alive, they demonstrate modern conflicts. The family on the right consists of two gay partners, and their newly adopted child. I find it interested that only 1 of the show's 3 families are indeed married, which seems strange at first, but then when thinking of statistics that is the most realistic. I love the diversity of the show among the 3 couples also, that way many people have a reason to watch it. I cant wait to watch more of it and I hope others will give it a chance also! 

ROYAL WEDDING! ROYAL WEDDING! ROYAL WEDDING!

As if I didnt make my title to this post obnoxious enough, I just wanted to remind everyone that the royal wedding is tomorrow.

Coverage starts at 6:00am on the Royal Channel, so I am also reminding everyone to set their alarm clocks so they do not miss a minute of the madness!

I am personally a fan of Kate Middleton and Prince William. But, media coverage has really gone to new levels with this wedding! We must not mind it though, I cant count off the number of events I know just happening in Annapolis tomorrow, to celebrate the royal wedding.

Hey why not, anyone can use an excuse to have a dress up party!



Toast! To the Royal Newlyweds. (Tomorrow) ;)

Charlie's Angels: Introduction Tells All

I remember our professor saying that many media critics will spend alot of time analyzing the beginning of movies and show. They read alot into how each character is introduced, because it gives a first impression to the audience. As many of you probably have noticed, a person's first impression mean's alot!

I enjoyed watching the first half of Charlies Angels in class to analyze how each character was introduced in the movie.



So as we talked about in class, "Charlie" introduces all three women in the beginning, starting of with a somewhat "Once upon a time.." manner. The women are beautiful, and two of them are seen sexually, one in a bathing suit and the other in extremely short shorts. He explains how he "saved" them and they all look so happy to be a part of his... team?

But what I found most interesting is how Charlie really isn't introduced at all. He just begins to talk, the audience is really just supposed to assume that he is Charlie and he is important. We never even get to put a face to Charlie, we just see an attractive women bring him a drink while he is poolside, once again furthering his importance.

I would personally like to see a movie where a women is important enough she doesnt have to be seen, because after all, physical appearance seems to be all too important to us these days!

Girls Intelligence Agency

I could not believe the topic that came up in class about the Girls Intelligence Agency (GIA). This is a website that reaches out to girls to discover products that will be most successful. They host sleepovers, do shopping trips, even do "in room hangouts" to better get inside these girls heads.

They are most known for their "sleepover in a box", where they send a box full of products to a host of a sleepover. All of the girls then try on or out all of these products. The host is then to report back to the GIA about the products that were the most and least popular. The "report" to the top right shows the expect results from the "word of mouth" after a sleepover. Obviously it is an incredibly intelligent idea, who wouldnt want to have a bunch of free stuff at a sleepover? Or to be taken on shopping trips just for the fun of it?

What these girls dont understand is what is going on behind the frilly pink products and the fun gifts. These companies are holding opportunities they know young girls will buy into, and then using them to make their own companies rich. Children are not meant to be marketed to. At this rate, no child will understand any concept of "saving", or "appreciating what one has" if they are constantly all being held to such high standards with such rediculous marketing.

Kendra: From Playmate to Mommy

After our "porn" lesson I thought it would be appropriate to do a blog on Kendra Baskett, formerly known as Kendra Wilkinson. Kendra's fame began as a playboy playmate. She entered the playboy mansion at only 18 years old, and was one of the "Girls Next Door". Famous for a quite obnoxious laugh, she was the "sporty" girl next door. 

Kendra met Hank Baskett, with whom she moved out of the playboy mansion with and got married. To the surprise of many, she was soon pregnant with Hank Jr. She even got her own show, "Kendra", which followed the lives of her, her husband, and son. 

The fact that this women is famous and has her own show simply because of being a part of the playboy mansion is its self incredible. It just goes to show what a big business the playboy industry is, giving understanding to the insane statistic from last class, that the porn industry makes more money then the NFL, NBA, and MLA put together. 

The media has been incredibly harsh on Kendra on not being able to loose all the baby weight from Hank Jr. Some media can be good, but not all, as im sure Kendra now knows!

Kendra post baby

From Sex to Teen Mom

I enjoyed talking about and watching a clip from Sex and the City last class. I had only watched a few different clips from episodes before and really didnt know much about it. Between the reading and our discussion I feel like I have alot better understanding of the show.

It's interesting to think about how Sex and the City was a breakthrough for its time period. The fact that HBO was skeptical about airing the show is quite ironic seeing that it was a huge success. At the time, however, it was unheard of to have a show following just a small number of women.

Now, it seems like America cannot get enough of this type of television! Whether its Say Yes to the Dress, Desperate Housewives, Bad Girls Club, and now Teen Mom, women's lives are the highlight of what many turn their TV on to watch. And to think, provocative-seeming to have a show featuring grown women engage in unmarried sex, and now theres a show for women who haven't even graduated highschool and have a child.

I've inserted clips from these favorite shows of mine.

What started it all...

My addiction...

Tying into the "Big American Wedding" for women ...

Most recent show just following women...



American Weddings

I thought it was very interesting talking about the American Wedding today in class. I realized that even throughout my childhood, I was subconsciously affected by such advertising. The perfect dress to make the bride look like a "princess", the perfect hair to make all the bridesmaids look fantastic, the perfect flower arrangements to make an elegant set up, the perfect party favors so everyone can remember the best day of the couples lives. 


A clip from a show I really enjoy watching, "Say Yes to The Dress", illustrates most people spend over $1000 on a dress, some even up to $20,000. 

A new show, "Bridal Plasty" shows how some even go to the extent of getting plastic surgery before their big day. 

It all is so over the top- what is the real reason for all this? To try to convince others your truly happy? Most likely many are but I find it hard to believe the best thing a brand new couple to do is spend all their money on a wedding. It most likely will result in starting off their "new lives" in debt, making it hard to truly start a family. 

Advertising for Men

I thought many points our guest speaker had to say today were very interesting. I really enjoyed the many commercials he had lined up for us to show us real life examples of advertisements. These commercials were mainly beer commercials, some trucks, and even one electronic product. When you think about it, the fact that they were mainly those products makes sense because those are all products that are associated with men. I started to think more about a point the guest speaker brushed upon today, about trying to sell neutral-gendered objects to men.

Obviously among these are shower gels, soaps, and deodorants, objects that are relatively neutral but do have some femininity associated with them. The most common among these are Axe, Xcess, Nivea, and even Dial.

But, when I really think of it, how did it become so normal for men to wear a fragrence? The idea of a man spraying himself with a pretty smelling scent is completely immasculine. However, mens cologne comes in all different shapes and sizes! And, as you may know, actually somewhat popular.

This commercial has Josh Halloway show the "power of being cool"

This photograph ad shows Marc Jacobs advertising his cologne with a naked, very muscular figure.

Lastly, one of my favorites due to the pathetic humor, LL Cool J showing how not cool he was before he used Old Spice

The answer is, of course, media that proves that buying a fragrence does indeed make them more manly.

SNL; Laugher for Healing

Over the weekend I was flipping through TV shows and came across "SNL: Best of the 2000's". I have never been a huge Saturday Night Live person, but my options were limited so I decided to watch it. There were many funny skits and after not long, I realized how much I really have been missing!

It got to a part where the cast began to talk about September 11th, and how it affected the show. They all were very emotional bringing up old memories of before September 11th, and then talked about the skepticisim they had going back on the air after the tragedy. They, obviously, were known to be a humorous show, but almost didnt know how to act after such an event had happened to America. They wanted to be humorous, and make people laugh as they always have, but did not in the least bit want to seem disrespectful towards fellow Americans. It really made me respect the show alot more after hearing their recaps. They were in a very tough position, one I could see as really a make or break of the show after that. They decided to do a 9/11 tribute with Mayor Giuliani and many firefighters of New York City. After a beautiful opening dedicated to those who lost their lives or those who lost others, they hesitantly asked the mayor, "Can we be funny?" The mayor laughed and said of course, that the nation was leaning on Saturday Night Live to bring their spirits up once again. Reese Witherspoon hosted the show and it carried on magnificently.

I thought it was interesting, seeing a show that normally has no boundaries with its content, have to deal with a serious situation, and make the best of it. They were cautious and respectful, yet their same old hilarious selves. Funny how media, although have its negative sides, somewhat bring a nation up after such a horrible situation.

Real Men Love Losing?

I thought it was interesting talking about the fact that our society today looks upon men who show emotion with disdain. How not only do they not try to cry or show emotion, but they have consistently been shown that it is not acceptable, therefor actually making it harder for them to cry. This made me think back to a situation I remember not too long ago, involving former Florida Gators quarterback, Tim Tebow. I dont really watch football but I remember my boyfriend and his friends talking about some college football player crying after loosing a game. Tebow and his team played a great season, unfortunately towards the end loosing against Alabama in a championship game. Tim Tebow, being a very important player for this team, began to cry.

(Notice the title, "Tim Tebow CRYING like a  little girl after loosing to Alabama in SEC championship game")

I'd love to know: How in ANY way is that not normal?? Would not any person cry if they lost something they put all their time and effort into? One would think that viewers would simphasize with Tebow, right?
WRONG.

The next football games on ESPN had crowds of people and signs making fun of Tim Tebow for crying. It was the talk of ESPN, and all over the internet for weeks after that. The fact that he cried was completely unacceptable among his peers and fellow football fans. As if Tim Tebow had not already proved himself being an amazing football quarterback. "Tim Tebow CRYING like a little girl..." Headlines like that were overwhelmingly common and he seemed to loose quite some popularity. "Tim Tebow crying ...has been the hottest Google search trend according to Google Trends" says the Bleacher Report.

Why have we created a nation where we have put our boys and men so far down about crying that one is tormented for doing so? Where did this start, and when will it stop? Real men dont cry: its a rediculous statement and makes no sense at all. Just as rediculous as saying real men love to loose.

Paying to Advertise

Today I thought it was interesting talking about the clothes that people wear in this day and age. The people who are "walking billboards"; that wear shirts that have the brand name right across the shirt or the butt. I can not toughly criticize- I once used to guilty of the Hollister or the  Abercrombie shirts. People wear these types of clothing to label themselves important or successful because they can afford such expensive name brands. 

$30 ordinary Abercrombie shirt

I think to myself, and wonder in general, why do people feel the need to impress people they do not know so bad? Why do we pay the extra money just to get an extra glance on the street? ABC news asks the question are expensive clothes worth it? They explain how Americans spend $2 billion a year on clothing and footwear.

Ancient Story Still Here to Haunt

I thought it was interesting in the video we watched, "The Electronic Storyteller", how far so many things were exaggerated. One that stuck to me in particular, is the fact that many movies and tv shows commonly portray young women being victims of violence, and then the effect is that it makes women the most afraid of such violence. Whereas real statistics show that young women are the least likely to be victims of violence over any other group. Heavy media coverage of such certain subjects add to the misconception that these things happen more than we think. We all remember the horrible story of Kitty Genovese, who was raped and killed outside of her appartment building?

That tragedy happened in 1964, and is still talked about today. It is something that has stuck by me, making me afraid to walk outside at night. Gerbner, in "The Electronic Storyteller", was exactly right I now realize. Due to heavy media coverage of an awful, yet very rare occasion, I and probably many others, are more afraid of certain situations than really should be.