State champs!

Unfortunetly, my DVD music video won't load onto my blog. However, these are the pictures that I used for my video.





Not "just" movies

"Movies define us, they inspire us, they are what we dream of."

       I am not exactly sure who that quote is by, but lately when I rent a movie its on a commercial where famous actors are talking about a movie that changed them in some way. Now every time I rent a movie and begin to watch the previews, I hope to see the commercial because it has become one of my favorite quotes. It is a very special quote to me because I think that it is so true. Movies have the ability to make you laugh, learn, scream, cry and with those ones that only come along every so often, they touch your heart. As we go about our lives every day we find our selves quoting our favorite movie lines, or ones that apply to something that we are going through at that moment. I believe that if a movie is truly good enough, it can effect our views or even change the way we look at something. Movies can even inspire us to make a change, some may be small and others may change our lives forever.

What exactly makes a movie have an impact on us?

       I believe that they are certain elements that a movie must have in order for it to be a "all time favorite" or even a classic. Movies are great because we can dream about them, they can touch our hearts, inspire us and can make us think.
       The movies that give us hope. Movies are great because when we just had an awful day, we can come home, pop some popcorn, watch the film and it can literally make our whole day better. The movie that can take us away to another world that makes us forget about all the things and problems in the one we live in. They are often what our dreams are made of. Take the Wizard Of Oz for example.

The Wizard Of Oz gets me every time. Even after watching the small clip above, it takes my mind off everything and I'm in a completely different world. I think it might be the classic innocence the movie has that's so hard to find these days. These movies are often ones that aren't exactly realistic. We love them because they are a sweet escape from the normal world that we might not get other wise.

      The best movies are also the ones that touch our heart, the ones that we can relate too. The ones that when we watch them, we sit there and think to ourselves, "i know exactly how that feels." We often feel like we know the character in cases like this. We may be going through something in our lives just like the character in the movie is. Ones that always get me to tear up and also one that usually every one can relate too is losing a long time family pet. Almost everyone has or has had that favorite dog or cat in their lives that was pretty much unbearable to loose. Movies like Where the Red Fern Grows and Old Yeller.



Marely and me is definitely one of those that touches my heart and makes me miss a dog I had growing up.

       Movies also inspire us. It's always great to watch movies where the under dog comes out on top. The character starts as a nothing and end up being something truly great, someone that we can sort of look up to. In these kinds of movies the main character usually goes through allot to make it to the top, and we get to go along with them for the whole ride. Of course, we are usually routing for the under dog during their whole journey which makes it that much sweeter when they get to full fill their dream in the end. Take the Rocky movies for example. These have always been some of my favorite movies. They also inspire you to work and never give up on making it.



 

What if God was one of us?





      Movies like Bruce Almighty make us wonder. They can make us think maybe change our views about things. After watching Bruce Almighty for the first time, it left me wandering about go and what it would be like if he was here on earth.

      Movies are not "just" movies. They can effect us in many different ways and sometimes effect us for the rest of our lives. I think that every movie also has a meaning and a purpose behind it. However, it's probably not necessary to "read in to" every movie that we read as Greg Smith discusses in his, "its not just a movie" chapter. But also their are always those movies that we can read into and figure out the real message behind it. Either way, movies will always be with us and changing us in different ways.

For the Record.

"Even when you go to jail you know there's the time when your going to get out,....theres no excitement, theres no passion, it's just like ground hog day every day."

                                                                       -Britney Spears

        In 2008,MTV's cameras followed Britney Spears around for 60 days through every step of her comeback. This was filmed after her widely publicized breakdown and leads us through parts of the making of her circus album. I chose to talk about this particular form of media simply because it is about as real as you can get. With this documentary it doesn't really matter whether you like Britney Spears as a performer, singer, dancer etc. This documentary actually focuses on Britney as a person, a real human being that's just like you and me. For those of us that don't know Britney on a personal level,( as in anything other than the obsessed paparazzis prized possession), this documentary does. Not only does it show it's viewers exactly what it's like to be Britney Spears every day but it also answers questions that the whole world was wanting to know. The interviews done with Britney were on a "no question is off limits basis."

        For once we got to see Britney through a different kind of camera, in a different light....

I mean lets face it, anyone would probably be a different person when they weren't constantly being chased by people with camera's every time they walked out of their house. Before I watched the documentary when in aired on MTV in 2008, I had never really been a big Britney "fan". However, I like the rest of the world had been watching and seen every second of her break down through the eyes of the media. So naturally, I was really interested to watch the documentary. This documentary really connected with me on an emotional level. It showed Britney as a normal person going through normal things in life, however because of the media the things were far from normal. For example, it follows Britney on a shopping trip where she can't even get half way to the stores doors before she must be rushed back into the car because literally, hundreds of paparazzi were taking her picture. Also, it addresses issues like when she shaved her head, her divorce with Kevin Federline and her thoughts on it all. Many of the things shown in the documentary were heartbreaking to me. I remember watching it with two of my friends and at one point we were at the point of tears.



          This documentary is "real" to me because not only is it about a real person, but also it shows a persons "REAL" life, that we would never get a chance to see and experience otherwise. This documentary tells the truth about Britney and every aspect of her life that we simply can't get enough of. I think this documentary connects with me on a deeper and emotional level for many reasons. The main reason is Britney's courage. After all she had been though in her life, she had the courage and was brave enough to sit down and set the record straight, to answer all questions about her past, and I don't know of many people that would want to do that. Also, I saw many characteristics of Britney that I see in myself which also made me connect with the documentary even more. Last but definitely not least, I simply could not get over what a true, legendary come back that she had made. I was absolutely amazed with her ablitlity to over come all odds and get back on to her feet the way that she did. When Britney was going though her break down, I though well, that's the end of her. She will either die or never be able to be the artist that she was again. However, as we all know, that was dead wrong. Britney defied all odds and came back, like many never thought she could. Her story is inspiring and is a true American dream story. So I guess I loved and connected with this documentary because of how much hope, realness and inspiration that it brings.



The media giants

Who is controlling what you watch and read in the media every day?



       The "Big Media" corporations are able to greatly influence the media and what we see.
Companies such as Disney, CBS, Time Warner and Sony are just a few of these powerful corporations.

        I researched CBS( Columbia Broadcasting System). CBS has many subsidiaries, motion pictures, CBS radio, interactive media and many more. Like every media conglomerates, CBS has both good and bad aspects. CBS has an outreach in the media to all people around the world, giving easy access to news and entertainment they might not have other wise. However, the media giants, ignore local issues. They over look and often don't cover what the average local American wants to hear.

        If the conglomerates have to much control over what we can and can't be informed about, then it is not fair to us as citizens and we are not being informed about knowledge we deserve to have. When only a few companies control all of our news coverage, it limits different sources and opinions. According to stopbigmedia.com , "Big isn't always bad -- unless you're talking about the companies that dominate our country's media." I completely agree with that quote. We need as many news and media sources as we can possibly get in order to get the right storeys and the truth with in them.



The Media and children

How much does the media affect children?...

How much is too much access to the media?

Which television, movies, video games, and web sites are good and beneficial to children? which ones are bad?

   These are all important questions that parents must ask themselves on a daily basis. Many parents might struggle with deciding how much access to allow their children. Also, as their children grow older they become more interested and have access to more "mature", R rated movies and video games. Many parents are often simply, overwhelmed by the amount of decisions they must make about their children and their media use.  I interviewed my aunt, Karla Smedly, about her concerns about the effect of media on her children, ages 7,12 and 17. The following are my questions and her response to them.

The interview

Q:What are your concerns about the effect of the media on your children?

A: Because I have teenage girls I am concerned with the sexual content that they are bombarded with. Also, the continuous pressure that the media puts on young girls too be "perfectly beautiful". The media makes it out like your not suppose to have any imperfections to be accepted in society.

This Youtube video is a perfect example of Karla's concerns on the media's pressure of a perfect body,face,hair etc.

Q:How do you determine what your children may or may not watch?

A: I determine what they may or may not watch by sitting down to watch programs with them. I would get on a Christian review movie web site that told which movies were appropriate and what not. Also, the foul, bloody video games were definitely not allowed.

Q:What amount of time do you feel is appropriate for your children to spend watching TV, movies or playing video games?

A:On a daily basis, no more than two hours a day. Even with good, healthy TV programs its important for a kid to find something else to do.

Q:What media products do you consider "good" or even beneficial to your children?

A: Magazines that make your brain think. When a child is younger, TV shows like Blues Clues and Barney that actually teach you things instead of just entertain. For older children, as in teenagers, inspirational movies that have a good moral meaning or appropriate movies that make you laugh because that is important.

Q:What media products concern you?

A: Violent video games, magazines that are for women but are targeted at getting young girls attention. Magazines like Cosmopolitan that are at the check out of every store that younger children can see and are exposed to no matter what.


"Also, it really irritates me when they take a movie that could be a PG movie and they purposely add a sexual seen or curse words just so they can bump it up to a PG-13 because those get higher ratings and make more money."
                    -Karla Smedly



"Digital Nation"

   

     Technology is what we make of it. Its up to us to limit how much and often we use it. The Digital Nation Documentary discusses many of the negative sides that the growing technology can, will and has caused the world and everyone in it.However, the documentary also discusses a few positive sides of the growing technological world.
     One of the big issues discussed was the students ability to multitask. According to many of the professors in the film, students aren't learning like they use to because they often do to many tasks at once. I personally completely agree with most of what the documentary had to say. I cannot truly engage myself in any form of learning, studying or writing if I am multitasking. If I am txting in class, I'm not really hearing what he or she is saying at all. If I am studying for a test or writing a paper I turn my phone on silent, the TV is off and I can't even listen to music. If I want to engage myself in learning and studying no "multitasking" can be involved. If I am trying to do other technological things while doing my school work, my work quality is definitely not my best. However, some people may be able to do all these different things at once. Everyone has their own opinions and preferences when it comes to this technology topic and they always will.



CELL PHONE FREE.

       At the beginning of the documentary, a woman talked about how vacations weren't really vacations anymore. The picture above is of my friend and in the Bahamas. We couldn't use our cell phones for four days and it was absolutely great. We could actually enjoy everything with out any distractions at all. We actually didn't even turn our phones back on until the day AFTER we got back, because we liked not being constantly bothered or distracted. Would this trip have been different if we were constantly getting txts and FB updates from people at home? Yes it definitely would have been, and not in a positive way.

Sterotyping.

ster·e·o·type  (str--tp, stîr-)

n.

1. A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

2. One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.

I am currently taking intro to Sociology and last class we just so happen to be learning about stereotyping. Our scientific definition of stereotyping is: unfairly applying a common label and set of characteristics to ALL with in a group. We were also given a list of different types/groups of people. For example, some of them were Asians, models and athletes. We were asked to fill in the blank after Asians are....and had to put the first thing that came to mind, as a way to give an example of stereotyping.

Below are 5 images that came up on google when i typed in the names of these groups of people:

• models
• blondes
• nerds
• bullies
• homeless

When you hear the word model, most people think beautiful, skinny, skinny, size 00, extremely tall and did i mention skinny? Pictures like the on above, of run way models, may even cause people to stereotype them as anorexic. However, realistically that is not the case at all. Models today are all shapes and sizes and that is how it should be. There are many different kinds of model,s plus size, child models and your everyday looking catalog models. Also, in today's world being "tooth pick skinny" isn't really in anymore. Many of the most beautiful women models in the world are known for their voluptuous curves and are proud of it.

Blondes are often stereotyped to be just plain dumb. Blonde's are often thought to be ditzy and airheaded. I think this stereotype is the most untrue of them all. The color of someones hair has nothing to do with their level of intellegence.  

When many people hear the word nerd pictures like the one above usually come to mind. Many people think anyone who wears big akward glasses, or any kind of glasses for the matter, are nerdy. Some may even piture a character like Steve Urcle wearing their pants up to their belly button along with a pen in their shirt pocket. However, today many glasses are used as sort of a fashion satement. In today's world glasses are even sold that have no perscription for people who simply like the way they look with them on.

 

Bullies are stereotyped to look bigger than their average age group. They are usually pictured as strong and even readheaded. Bullies are often known for picking on people younger and weaker than them. However, in todays world their are all kinds of bullies, every shape and size. With today's growing technology, cyber bullies have become a huge issue.

 

Homeless people are usualy dipicted as dirty, with torn clothing, hopeless, and often living under a bridge. However, there are many type of homeless people. In the sate of Georgia, a child is labled homeless if their family lives in the same house as their grandparents, because they don't have an acual home structure of their own. Being homeless only means that you do not have your own place to live.