May 2008
3 posts
Part II of Final
The first three sentences of Practices of Looking say, “The world we inhabit is filled with visual images. They are to central to how we represent, make meaning in the world around us. In many ways, our culture is an increasingly visual one” (1). My new found media literacy has made me realize how much truth there is behind that statement. I have not only begun to understand the concept of media,...
Blog # 11: Media and Me
I was watching television commercials the other day and I realized how much media encompasses my life. I had always known before that it was a large part of society and I was able to recognize media when I saw it but this was the first time I really thought about how much it effected my life. It is all around me and is an aspect of all that I do. The photographs in my room, the books I read, the...
Blog # 10: The First Television War
General Nguyen Ngoc Loan Woodstock; 1969 Kim Phuc running through the streets of Vietnam John F. Kennedy is considered to be the “First Television President” and the Vietnam War is associated with being the “First Television War”. I was researching for a history paper and preparing for my exam when I realized the profound effect that media had on...
April 2008
7 posts
Blog # 9: Sports in the Media
The other day I was watching TV when a Gillette commercial came on. Nothing about it stood out until I realized Tiger Woods was advocating for the company. I realized, for the first time, that sports players are one of our many role models in society today. It is no longer enough to say I just look up to my mom, dad, or big sister or brother. Little boys, and girls alike, are looking to sports...
Blog # 8: Media Around the World
I received a postcard from my grandparents the other day and it was from their home of Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It got me thinking about something I had never focused on before. First that, something as simple as a postcard can be seen as a form of media and second, that around the world, although the norms of our cultures are very different, the media still has a significant and...
Blog # 7: Hollywood's Not America
In a world that is consumed by television, Internet, and cell phones, radio is often a forgotten medium. The other day, I was in the mood for new music and ITunes was not satisying my desire, so I turned on my radio. The first song that came on was a new one by Ferras, titled “Hollywood’s Not America”. I was intrigued and immediately dowloaded the song and looked up the lyrics....
Glamour and Docile Bodies
Advertising is a way of mainpulating society to conform to the norms. This means that the media defines what is “normal”. Michel Foucaults identifies the language of advertising as docile bodies. They are bodies that are socially trained, regualted by society, and mangaged by cultural norms. “Advertising speaks to the consumers about their identities, and appears to offer...
Glamour and how it is cultivated in "How to Get...
It was John Berger who wrote, “The state of being envied is what constitutes glamour”. The book agrees with his statement and recognizes that glamour is a crucial element of advertising. Glamour is something that mass consumers can “envy and wish to emulate”. It is represented by celebrities and models who appear flawless, happy, satisfied, already transformed,...
Blog # 6: Stop Loss--Media and the War in Iraq
Stop Loss came out in theatres on March 23rd and the day I traveled to the Pougkeepsie Galleria to see it. By the end of the movie, there was not a dry eye in the house. It told the story of a group of young men shipped to Iraq to fight in the war on terror. They return home and two of them are stop lossed (they have to return to Iraq in a few weeks because there are not enough soldiers...
BPlayer: Uses for a Brick
List all the uses for a brick you could imagine, beyond building a wall. Weapon. Weight. Hammer. Shelf/Table. Pencil Holder. Book End.
March 2008
1 post
February 2008
12 posts
Collective Desire
When I think of collective desires in American society, one that pops into my mind is selfishness. Although this is not a trait we all wish to posses, it is a quality that is inherent in the personalities and lifestyles of many. Our culture is defined by individuality and self-interest. Competition is a characteristic of not just our nation, but our world, and in America, competition holds hands...
Blog Entry # 5: The "Negative" News
My mom was never fond of me watching the news and I always knew why but I didn’t understand. She always said that there was so much violence and negativity in the news that she did not want me to be exposed to. As the oldest child, her goal was to keep me as innocent as possible. These days, I watch the news daily and often read it online as well and now more than ever I can...
"The Century of Self"
Edward Bernays changed the world of public relations in the early 1900’s. As a matter of fact, Bernays basically invented public relations. At the end of World War I, America was basically a society that depended on production. Bernays changed this and altered the future of the country. Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud. He used his uncle’s knowledge to his advantage and was...
Blog Entry # 4: Election '08
I registered to vote in August when I turned 18 and ever since I have paid more attention to politics. 2008 is a presidential election year and I have tried to follow the news regarding each of the candidates so I could be a well informed voter in November. By following this election, I recognized how much they use the media as a tool. I feel like now more than ever each contender is using...
Blog Entry # 3: Times Square
I went into New York City on Sunday to see Rent on Broadway. We had some free time to frolic around the city and while I was walking in Times Square, I realized that this is an advertising mecca. I had visited Times Square before, but only when I was younger, so I had never looked at it from a media perspective. When I visited I saw scrolls, billboards, windows, and more that were...
Blog Entry # 2: The "Reality" (or lies) of...
Photography was invented in 1839 by Jacques Louis Mande Daugerre. Photography was the newest art medium and it quickly became popular throughout the world. The rest was history. Since 1939, advances have been made in the photographic world. At first, photography was just a representation of reality. The artist could adjust the lighting and angle but one they snapped the picture, they did not...
January 2008
8 posts
Blog Entry # 1: Advertising
I was flipping through a Marie Claire magazine the other day because I wanted to read the cover article on Jennfier Garner. Before I even got the table of conents, I realized that the magazine is emedded with various advertisements. I had never before realized the number of pages dedicated to advertising. I used to read a magazine with a mission and my goal was never to read into the...
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