The Reflection...

To be honest, when the media blog assignment was first assigned, I was so unexcited, and was just like "Oh great, I have to remember to post every single week. Not just one blog, but TWO blogs. And I have to comment on two as well?" I just thought "Why would i want to waste my time analyzing a commercial, or a print ad, or any other type of media?" However, after about the second week, I was totally hooked on writing these media blogs. I found it really fun to do, and it helped me become more aware of how the media affects our lives. I have realized that media plays a huge role in my life, and has had a greater impact than I thought it would.

I never realized how much media i consumed in my life until this assignment, but now I know that it is definitely a lot.  When I heard that we were exposed to appropriately 3,000 ads or commercials, or any type of media, I was just completely in shock. I couldn't believe that we could consume that much media in one day. However, now I definitely believe it. Just by watching a one hour TV program, I see probably 5 or 6 different commercials. When I'm in the car I pass by all these different advertisement billboards. When I read just one of my teen magazines, I see probably about 20+ ads in there. I listen to music every single day for hours, and I am online on the computer all the time too. Eventually, that all adds up, and I can totally believe that 3,000 number.

I did not neccessarily realize how much of a negative effect the media could have on us, until we watched Merchants of Cool and Miss Representation. The media is very harsh on a person, and specifically women, based on Miss Representation. The media creates these ideal images of what a women should look like, basically saying that all women should be "hot", wear provocative clothing, and have great bodies. This makes women feel insecure about themselves because they are not this ideal image, and men feel that they are superior to women and have to keep up this "tough guy" image. We are being exposed to the negatives of the media younger and younger, as shown in Merchants of Cool. Young girls wearing such revealing clothes, and doing things that they really have no idea what they are. They just want to fit this ideal image. Also, from Miss Representation, women are still treated so unfairly compared to men, and are basically only seen for the "sexy" looks. Although I do not do this, this is what i picture the ideal image of the "perfect" girl. I always expect women that are in the media to look great and have a nice body. I've always believed that the protagonist in a movie should be a man, and they are the ones that should lead our country. I can't believe i have unconsciously fallen for these stereotypes and harsh expectations against women, my own gender. I do not think it is right anymore, after watching so much analysis about the media and how it impacts our lives.

Being aware of my media consumption has not really changed my interactions with media, as I still watch the same amount of TV, read my magazine, listen to music, etc. However, every time I do this now, I never just watch it to be watching it. I pay attention pretty closely and try to analyze the commercial. Sometimes, I might even hit the rewind button on my remote to go back and watch it again. Before this, I would just kind of pass by the commercials or think, "Pretty colors, hot guy, weird, funny, interesting, or what the heck?" However, now I know why we feel these emotions. Ads and commercials use many different techniques to reel us in, to get out attention, and to hopefully buy the product. The media uses all these weird techniques to help grab our attention, and I think it definitely works. We like to see common faces such as celebrities in commercials, we like to see hot guys or hot girls in commercials to help grab our attention, and we like to see things that will make us laugh. After doing the media unit though, most of the time, I honestly just think, "What the heck, this is ridiculous!" How did I ever fall for these tricks? I used to love to hear all those weasel words, or when something was just super funny, I automatically liked it. Now though, I absolutely cannot stand half the commercials on TV. Most of them are just trying to get our attention, but they tell us nothing about the product. Almost all commercials get my attention, but most of the products I probably wouldn't go out and buy. I'd rather just go to the store and browse around, and see the actual product in person.

I consider myself somewhat more media literate after doing these media blogs because I am able to pick out most of the different ad techniques and appeals, and I really pay attention to the commercials and ads I see. Media literacy is important, so people can properly understand media. it also important because it helps people become more educated consumers. As an educated consumer, you are able to pick out all the little details of the media, and you want to know more. You don't just settle for the general idea, but rather you learn to question everything. As an educated consumer, you wont fall for all the traps as easily as before, that are used to get people to buy a product. Many ad techniques can trick people into buying products because they use things such as glittering generalities or weasel words.

I have learned a lot about the media and the impact is has on myself. I never knew how big of an impact it had on me, but subconsciously, it has a huge impact on myself. We all have our own thoughts and stereotypes, but little did we know that many of these actually came from the media. however, we cannot just stop the media. We are exposed to media everywhere we go, and that will never change. However, by becoming more media literate and becoming an educated consumer, we are more aware of the world of media and we will not fall for the tricks as easily as your ordinary person would. I personally think that media literacy should be a class for everyone. It is important to know what the media is doing to us consciously or subconsciously. Although we can't get away from the media, we can change the way it affects ourselves.

Media Blog #12: Daddy's Money

I found this ad on the back of my J-14 magazine and was kinda just like "What the heck is this? This is so dumb!" What is Daddy's Money's? Why is it called that? I still don't get it... Daddy's Money secret wedges are made by Skechers, but that is nowhere to be seen on the ad. I had to go look that up myself. 

I was definitely attracted to this ad because of all the vibrant colors. There is the bright yellow, blue, pink, green, and the colors of all the girls clothing. Then there is the overall craziness with the ad with all the money signs and all the colors mixed together. Then of course, there are the shoes, that are pretty funky in the way that they are designed, but if the paper didn't say secret wedges, i probably wouldn't have noticed the shoes. They blend in pretty well with the crazy background, so it is a little hard to see them. 

The target audience I would think for this product would be more little girls than teenagers, so I'm not really sure about the people in this ad. They all look just a little bit too old to wearing these shoes and I honestly don't think teens would find these shoes very attractive. I know for sure I don't. I think little girls would think these shoes are very cool, and would want to go out and buy them right away just based on what they see. 

I have a problem with these shoes because I don't really see what's so great about secret wedges? I find normal wedges to be perfectly fine and actually alot cuter than these Daddy's Money secret wedges. To be honest, I think these shoes are completely hideous. Also, nothing is said about these wedges other than the fact that they're "secret." I think it would be different if it said they were more comfortable or something, since normal wedges aren't really that comfortable, but absolutely nothing is said about these shoes on the ad. I just don't see hte point of making secret wedges. 

The need for affiliation is used in this ad because the girls in this ad wearing the shoes all look very happy with big smiles on their faces. I think that little girls would feel like they're "cool" if they bought these shoes and they would really enjoy them. Little kids basically want everything that they see on TV or in other sources of media that they think is super awesome at first, but then they end up getting tired of them like a month later. 

I fnd this ad pretty effective just based on who the target audience is, but if it were for me, I definitely wouldn't buy these shoes. There is absolutely nothing said about the shoes other than the fact that they're secret, and that does not impress me. I think that they are absolutely hideous, and I wouldn't even stop to look at them in a store. However, for little girls, I feel like they would be really intrigued at the fact that these girls look like they're so happy and secrets are always really cool for kids.

Media Blog #11: Pretty Brown Eyes

I absolutely love the song, Pretty Brown Eyes, by Cody Simpson. Well, actually I just really like Cody Simpson. He is a 16 year old Australian singer who has a great voice and an amazing body. In this music video, Cody is singing about a girl who has pretty brown eyes. He's hanging by the pool with his friends, trying to get this girl, and when they eventually get together, he plays the guitar and sings a song for her. How romantic is this? However, I do not think that Cody is portraying the right message to his audience.

The target audience for this music video is definitely girls, probably from as young as 10 to late teens maybe. Girls all over the world are dying to meet Cody. He has a great voice, an amazing body, and a pretty cute face. Many girls wish that we could date someone like Cody. This wouldn't necessarily be appealing to guys because they don't really want to see some guy that all their girl friends are fawning over. 

Last week, we watched a film in 0 period called Miss Representation, and this video fits what they were talking about in the video very well. Basically, the media produces this ideal image of girls that we feel we need to fit, and women are very underrepresented and mainly used for sexual ways. In this music video, Cody is describing this girl with the pretty brown eyes with these lyrics specifically:

This girl she came round the corner
Looking like a model
Magazine figure
She was shaped like a bottle
Long straight hair

Cody is describing this girl as being a model, and that is exactly what almost all the girls on TV look like. Cody says, "She was shaped like a bottle", basically saying she had the perfect figure with curves in the right places. Also, I think that long straight hair is just perfect and everyone would love to have it. I think it is totally normal for a teenage boy to obsess over the "perfect girl," but the target audience for Cody Simpson is little girls to teenagers. These subtle messages about being the ideal girl isn't exactly what little girls want to hear. Many people look up to Cody, and would love to be Cody's girlfriend. Does this mean they have to be the perfect girl though. Young girls are being exposed to the media earlier and earlier, and you wonder why so many girls are insecure about themselves. Well, you've got the answer right there. The media. We want to be like the girls that are advertised in the media because we feel like that is the only way we will be accepted. 

A need obviously presented in this ad is the need for attention. Of course, there's Cody Simpson with his shirt off showing his amazing body, and then there's all the other girls in their bikinis. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the colors are pretty vibrant.

Besides being a music video, there was also some clever advertising going on, specifically the Capri Sun Big pouch. When Cody reaches in the cooler, he pulls out a Capri Sn and the camera zooms in on the drink for about 2 seconds. This may not seem like a big deal, but it was obviously no mistake. Capri Sun wants you to think that when you drink their juice, you can have as much fun as Cody and his friends on a nice summer day. Ths could also represent the need for affiliation because throughout the video, there are girls drinking it, and they are surrounded by all their friends, having a great time.

Overall, I still really like Cody Simpson, and that probably won't change, but I really do not like the message he is subtly portraying in this video.Girls feel so much pressure to live up to this ideal image that that the media portrays of them, and it just leads to insecurities and girls getting very very hurt.