Just now, I was reading on a website called Cracked.com. It is a website that has a bunch of different editorials and articles on weird and head turning things of our world. One article may have 10 swear words or more and it calls itself America's Humor site or something similar to that. To put mildy I wouldn't want my parents reading over my shoulder when I was on it. 2 reasons.
1. Some of the articles are really weird and blunt. Too much so for them to look at me like I was an adult if they knew I was reading them and
2. I don't think they would appretiate the humor and crudeness of its contence.
Anyways, I believe I've just been fooled into reading an article on parenting children. Not only that, but it was telling me that I should compramise with my kids and keep them informed of the dangers of the world instead of sheltering them like "normal" American parents. If you really want to see it the URL is Right Here.
The whole time I was reading it I have to admit there were a few good jokes and it kept true to the "screw modern society" theme of the website. I had no idea I was being conditioned to a parenting style even when the writer admitted to have written about parenting advice. It wasn't until the last line of the last page did I look back and think "I just read a whole article on parenting"
Yeah, I've been trolled.
Monday 30 April 2012
Monday 16 April 2012
April 16, 2012
What was something that you saw in the media this break that made you think?
For my eighteenth birthday my parents sent me and my older sister to Winnipeg, because in Manitoba the legal age is 18. By legal age I mean the legal age that allows you to purchace . . . Prom Dresses. Yeah, prom dresses. So on the first morning in town (the night before I had a great night looking at prom dresses) I had a eye doctor appointment at 9AM. Needless to say I didnt make it and opted out for a 11:30 slot instead. With the sudden change in plan the doctor was not ready to see me right at 11:30 so my sister and I were left to read the gossip magzines that someone had left in the waiting room. I came across Inside magazine with the cover title reading "The Stars Without The Make Up" The cover was a collage of different actor (all female) caught in terrible photos. As I looked closer I noticed that it wasnt the make up (of lack there of) that made them look different, it was that they were in a bad pose, or maybe they were sick and the slim honesty that they were not wearing make up was realized later. I flipped through the pages and looked at who wore what dress the best, who had broken up and who had gotten together. By the way I had no idea that Aston Kutcher and Demi More had broken up. This is how often I read trash magazines. Anyways I get to the middle of the "celeb news" magazine and in the centre fold of it is a headline in all caps
THE HALL OF SHAME!
I gasped, all I saw were 50 headshots of random (girl) stars without make up. No longer airbrushed I didn't see a woman worth SHAMEfull accuzations. I saw women who were rushing to grab a coffee who only left the house with a clean face. The lame excuse for an article made it seem like not wearing make up was so horrible that one should not leave the protection of a paperbag unless your eyes were perfectly lined in black liner, or blush that made you look "healthy" instead of sick. I saw 50 beautiful women all condemned to people with 0 sex appeal to the public. Women who were striped of thier right to natural beauty.
I shifted my eyes around the small waiting room. I had rushed out of the hotel room to make my 2nd appointment. I didn't have time for make up. Was I now shameful? I looked at my sister. She was not wearing make up either but I knew that she was beautiful. I couldn't see shame in her perfectly shaped features. I threw the magazine back onto the little IKEA table that probably took 7 hours to put together.
I could not believe the message that the magazine had portrayed. I dared the editor to live her whole life only going outside with a "perfect" face. I use the word perfect loosly because to the theme of the article perfect meant flawless, my version of the work perfect was the face she was born with.
For my eighteenth birthday my parents sent me and my older sister to Winnipeg, because in Manitoba the legal age is 18. By legal age I mean the legal age that allows you to purchace . . . Prom Dresses. Yeah, prom dresses. So on the first morning in town (the night before I had a great night looking at prom dresses) I had a eye doctor appointment at 9AM. Needless to say I didnt make it and opted out for a 11:30 slot instead. With the sudden change in plan the doctor was not ready to see me right at 11:30 so my sister and I were left to read the gossip magzines that someone had left in the waiting room. I came across Inside magazine with the cover title reading "The Stars Without The Make Up" The cover was a collage of different actor (all female) caught in terrible photos. As I looked closer I noticed that it wasnt the make up (of lack there of) that made them look different, it was that they were in a bad pose, or maybe they were sick and the slim honesty that they were not wearing make up was realized later. I flipped through the pages and looked at who wore what dress the best, who had broken up and who had gotten together. By the way I had no idea that Aston Kutcher and Demi More had broken up. This is how often I read trash magazines. Anyways I get to the middle of the "celeb news" magazine and in the centre fold of it is a headline in all caps
THE HALL OF SHAME!
I gasped, all I saw were 50 headshots of random (girl) stars without make up. No longer airbrushed I didn't see a woman worth SHAMEfull accuzations. I saw women who were rushing to grab a coffee who only left the house with a clean face. The lame excuse for an article made it seem like not wearing make up was so horrible that one should not leave the protection of a paperbag unless your eyes were perfectly lined in black liner, or blush that made you look "healthy" instead of sick. I saw 50 beautiful women all condemned to people with 0 sex appeal to the public. Women who were striped of thier right to natural beauty.
I shifted my eyes around the small waiting room. I had rushed out of the hotel room to make my 2nd appointment. I didn't have time for make up. Was I now shameful? I looked at my sister. She was not wearing make up either but I knew that she was beautiful. I couldn't see shame in her perfectly shaped features. I threw the magazine back onto the little IKEA table that probably took 7 hours to put together.
I could not believe the message that the magazine had portrayed. I dared the editor to live her whole life only going outside with a "perfect" face. I use the word perfect loosly because to the theme of the article perfect meant flawless, my version of the work perfect was the face she was born with.
Friday 2 March 2012
Reflect upon the stereotypes in media.
When I think of stereotypes in the media my first thought is of shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and American Dad. On the flip side however shows like Glee, and Modern Family are also very stereotypical, yet the stereotypes in Family Guy are far more obvious and are made with harmful meaning than the cheerful and subtle intent of the family sitcoms. Glee's couples are all typical relationships and are expected among the audience. It was not a coincidence that the only two Asian students ended up together, or that the famous "Klane" ended up together. They are great characters I have no negative criticism towards the show (I watch it every Tuesday) but I must say that the coupling system has the range of a kindergardener
When I think of stereotypes in the media my first thought is of shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and American Dad. On the flip side however shows like Glee, and Modern Family are also very stereotypical, yet the stereotypes in Family Guy are far more obvious and are made with harmful meaning than the cheerful and subtle intent of the family sitcoms. Glee's couples are all typical relationships and are expected among the audience. It was not a coincidence that the only two Asian students ended up together, or that the famous "Klane" ended up together. They are great characters I have no negative criticism towards the show (I watch it every Tuesday) but I must say that the coupling system has the range of a kindergardener
Thursday 16 February 2012
So I know I messed up on my last blog for not answering the proper question so until I fix it here is a an article I found that has something to do with something we were talking about in class.
5 reasons why anticonformity is worse than conformity
5 reasons why anticonformity is worse than conformity
Thursday 9 February 2012
Feb 9 2012
My favorite things in each form of media?
My top tv show to watch right now is the Misfits. Its this show about this group of young adults who did crimes and were put to community service and by some twisted irony they were bestowed with super powers in this freak storm. This show really catches my eye because of all of the humor in its dialogue, and how all of the characters are so completely different that they have to have some way of working things out and hiding all of the people that they killed. Oops.
I don't think I can narrow down my favorite movie to just on so I have a top 3 in no particular order
-Italian Job (the remake)
-Fight Club
-The Breakfast Club
Yeah, that has to be the top 3. Close 4th is mean girls.
My number one band is Simple Plan. I cant explain why, they just are. I started listening to them in grade 7 and have been a fan ever since. My favorite album out of the 4 has to be the second one namely because it has the track Jump, also my number 1.
I once picked up this book called The Boy From the Basement by Susan Shaw and its imagery just captivated me. The narrative view of this child who was raise by an abusive father just captured my attention. I've heard of all kinds of stories of children who were raised by crazy parents but seeing everything from the mind of a warped sense of the world gave a whole new perspective to my life. I don't know how many times I've read it.
I think I could recite the whole first chapter if I tried. Now that I think of it the reason I bought it wasn't because Shaw was a popular author (I never knew anybody who had read the books unless I'd told them to read it) I bought it because of the cover of a boy with a confused face and a spider web with a spider creeping on it. Even the title "The Boy from the Basement" had a twisted wonder to it.
My top tv show to watch right now is the Misfits. Its this show about this group of young adults who did crimes and were put to community service and by some twisted irony they were bestowed with super powers in this freak storm. This show really catches my eye because of all of the humor in its dialogue, and how all of the characters are so completely different that they have to have some way of working things out and hiding all of the people that they killed. Oops.
I don't think I can narrow down my favorite movie to just on so I have a top 3 in no particular order
-Italian Job (the remake)
-Fight Club
-The Breakfast Club
Yeah, that has to be the top 3. Close 4th is mean girls.
My number one band is Simple Plan. I cant explain why, they just are. I started listening to them in grade 7 and have been a fan ever since. My favorite album out of the 4 has to be the second one namely because it has the track Jump, also my number 1.
I once picked up this book called The Boy From the Basement by Susan Shaw and its imagery just captivated me. The narrative view of this child who was raise by an abusive father just captured my attention. I've heard of all kinds of stories of children who were raised by crazy parents but seeing everything from the mind of a warped sense of the world gave a whole new perspective to my life. I don't know how many times I've read it.
I think I could recite the whole first chapter if I tried. Now that I think of it the reason I bought it wasn't because Shaw was a popular author (I never knew anybody who had read the books unless I'd told them to read it) I bought it because of the cover of a boy with a confused face and a spider web with a spider creeping on it. Even the title "The Boy from the Basement" had a twisted wonder to it.
Friday 3 February 2012
Post 5
Is it important for cultures to protect themselves from outside media influence?
My grandmother always said "Whats the point of learning inuktitut? it will die anyways"
Mind you that she said this in Inuktitut and that was my sloppy translation. Still, she had a point. She did not want anything to do with any more of that "eskimo" stuff. I understand people wanting to protect the Inuit culture, and I do wish I could speak Inuktitut, but I don't think we need to protect ourselves. People need to be informed on outside events and ideologies. American culture has made it into Canadian culture, but no one has died from it yet. Putting the word protection on something instantly brings up the word victim. The last thing that Inuit culture needs to be labeled as is victim. People have to be responsible for themselves and take initiative to be informed. On what to be informed of is each persons choice.
I don't like the idea of the media micro managing what I see and hear. If CBC dictates that I should see a certain percent of what I see to be Canadian then I'm sure they can dictate other aspects of my media experience. When a medium or organization decides to protect or exclude an aspect of human nature they become manipulative. They may have the best intentions but it still happens.
For example I'm sure a lot of people here know about the Rick Perry video on youtube. If not then I should inform you that it beat the world record for most disliked youtube video. That record was previously held by Rebecca Black, so you know that it was terrible.
Anyways, Rick Perry was saying that it was a shame that gay people can openly fight in the army, but Christians could not openly worship in schools. This was his way of "protecting" his religion, however by protecting his religion he immediately discredited gay rights. Maybe this is a weird tangent I'm going on but I just mean that the media is always going to be there, and people have a responsibility to uphold their self knowledge.
My grandmother always said "Whats the point of learning inuktitut? it will die anyways"
Mind you that she said this in Inuktitut and that was my sloppy translation. Still, she had a point. She did not want anything to do with any more of that "eskimo" stuff. I understand people wanting to protect the Inuit culture, and I do wish I could speak Inuktitut, but I don't think we need to protect ourselves. People need to be informed on outside events and ideologies. American culture has made it into Canadian culture, but no one has died from it yet. Putting the word protection on something instantly brings up the word victim. The last thing that Inuit culture needs to be labeled as is victim. People have to be responsible for themselves and take initiative to be informed. On what to be informed of is each persons choice.
I don't like the idea of the media micro managing what I see and hear. If CBC dictates that I should see a certain percent of what I see to be Canadian then I'm sure they can dictate other aspects of my media experience. When a medium or organization decides to protect or exclude an aspect of human nature they become manipulative. They may have the best intentions but it still happens.
For example I'm sure a lot of people here know about the Rick Perry video on youtube. If not then I should inform you that it beat the world record for most disliked youtube video. That record was previously held by Rebecca Black, so you know that it was terrible.
Anyways, Rick Perry was saying that it was a shame that gay people can openly fight in the army, but Christians could not openly worship in schools. This was his way of "protecting" his religion, however by protecting his religion he immediately discredited gay rights. Maybe this is a weird tangent I'm going on but I just mean that the media is always going to be there, and people have a responsibility to uphold their self knowledge.
Thursday 2 February 2012
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