My Reflection

Looking back at the semester, I have learned a lot. I have become a more reasonable and selective consumer. I am very hesitant with what I buy and I am very careful of accepting things and ideas that the advertisers are trying to sell to me. Overall, I'm very aware of my surroundings and it's a good thing. Although this semester was a bit like hell for me (I suck at presentations), I did learn a lot and the things that I've learned has opened my eyes to see the flaws in my decisions and habits.

I try spending less time of the Internet (it's actually going pretty well), I stopped over-shopping (now I completely hate shopping for clothes, maybe it's due to my claustrophobic-self), and whenever I see ads I will talk out loud and try to find out what kind of techniques they are using to make me want to buy their products. You can say that this semester has influenced me a bit; it has taught me things that will benefit me and my future. Because of this class, my media consumption has been greatly questioned by me. I know that I spend a very unhealthy amount of time on the internet but I never really confronted the reality until this semester. I am proud of myself for doing that and yet at the same time I feel kind of guilty for not realizing sooner.

I am happy that I understand the media's literacy and that I've become an educated consumer. With the things I've learned, I can decide what to buy and if what I'm buying is ethical enough to buy it (if that make sense). It's important to have these skills because advertisers are not going to tell the flaws in their products; they are trying to make you want to buy so they'll over-exaggerate while trying to sell their products.

Keeping this blog posted has really challenged my understanding of the media and the tactics they use, it also challenged my brain a bit. I really have to think about what the advertisers used and think back to the things that we talked about in class. This whole experience has made my head hurt sometimes but I did enjoy it.

I just want to take a time to just talk about how I really feel about the media. I think the media is such a hypocrite. This thing may look harmless but it can really have a negative outcome.

Miss Representation: Kristina Pimenova, the prettiest girl model alive?

Kristina Pimenova. This girl was all over the internet a few months ago. She's Russian, tall, and slender, with big eyes, voluminous hair, and an amazing face. She's also nine years old. ONLY nine years old. 

As seen in the pictures above, this girl has been over-sexualized in her photo shoots. Is this healthy for a child who is still growing? No, it is not and it looks like people do not know limits. 

The picture to the left at the very top, Kristina is wearing a very short, blue dress with the straps hanging loosely on her shoulders. Her very long legs are exposed and that's basically the only thing that people could pay attention to. This whole "I'm a super model" thing that the photographer wants Kristina to portray in that picture is promoting the idea that is presented in the film, "Miss Representation", it is that girls are objects and that their body parts are the only things that are valuable. 

Comparing the left picture to the right one, which one would boys and older men more likely to pay attention to? The answer is the left one. Kristina is more covered in the right picture and all we can see is her face. Although she is beautiful, it is not enough to steal the spotlight. On the other hand, the picture to the left has Kristina showing more of her body therefore it captures more of the attention. This picture promotes the idea that women are objects and that the body they possess is the only thing that are valuable because of the way how she is posing. This girl was train to model and looking at the picture, they might have trained her a bit too much to the point where her pictures would lure older men. The picture does not show an innocent, young girl but more like a teenager. With her poofy hair and the way how her dress strap is hanging, gives us the impression that she has done something naughty and that is badly influencing the girl population and giving the boy population the wrong ideas about girls. . In the media, this problem of how kids are becoming more exposed to sexual acts is becoming a huge problem. People need to understand the limitations to how much is too much especially when there's a child.  

This is not a good route for a young model to take. These decisions will eventually affect Kristina's life and she'll probably regret them. 

Freebie Post #3: Analyzing Norton Security Ad

Just watch the ad, just watch it.

I never seen kids get this happy by getting Norton Security. It's very rare, well for me that is. Not really for this ad though.

This ad has a girl opening up a wrapped gift and the gift ends up being an antivirus software security protection thingy. She just screams at the top of her lungs and she looks really happy with her present. If I were to buy this for my baby sister, she would not scream at the top of her lungs. She would be like, "what the heck is this?"

This ad is appealing to the parents whose kids have laptops, tablets, or any other type of devices. This ad tells us that if you buy Norton Security, you'll make your kids happy then you'll be happy because your kids are happy and your electronics would be protected by Norton Security.

This ad is using plainfolks to appeal to the consumers. The ad shows a regular kid opening up their Christmas present just like any other kid. The house is not super extravagant telling us that this is just a regular, typical family who are buying Norton Security or protection.

The implicit message of this ad is that online security has always been boring. At the end of this ad, the advertisers included a quote that said, "Online security has never been this exciting." They are telling us that Norton Security is exiting but they are negatively promoting their opinion of how boring the other competing securities are.

I just thing this ad is super funny. Like, which kid would be happy if their parents bought them a antivirus software security and not toys or more electronics since electronics are at their heights right now?

2014 Victoria Secret Fashion Show: Selling the Midriff?

A couple weeks ago the Victoria Secret Fashion Show was aired on television. Yes, beautiful models wearing only undergarments was being publicly aired on television and ANYONE (including kids) could see it.

Of course, this is a Victoria Secret Fashion Show. There will be tall, skinny models with only bras and panties on and it's common for typical, young teenage girls to watch this. Mothers would think "oh, it's harmless" or " they are coming of age" or even "they are grown up enough to watch it." Honestly, I think that mothers should have a talk with their daughters about the messages that this publicly aired fashion show is giving out.

Throughout the show, we see models with faces and bodies that corresponds to a majority of people's definition of beauty. According to this fashion show, you have to be tall, slender, tone, and able to rock in just a bra and a pantie to be beautiful. This is one of the many reason why girls would go on deadly diets and diet pills with extreme exercises just to be meet the high expectations of people's definition of beauty.

This fashion show sets the bar to every teenage girls that watches it. Sometime in their life, girls, who enjoys watching this, would want to be just like those models. They want the attention that those models receive and in order to get that attention, they must go through various of exercises, eating just a small portion of food, and taking pills that promises those girls that if they eat those pills, they'll have the sexy, toned bodies. These models are somewhat similar to the all-famous midriff. They both influence girls and causes us to have an image of the ideal beautiful.

Unlike the midriff, who uses sexuality to appeal to he fans, these models do not go to the extreme extent of sexually appealing to their fans but with their flashy outfits, the dazzling glitters, the lights, the musics, and the way how they walk down the runway causes them to have thousands of viewers who wants just to be like them.

Analyzing Selena Gomez's Song: The Heart Wants What It Wants

I've hope you've heard it already. That new song from Selena Gomez that had everyone talking for a while and those talks just literally died out after a few weeks. We can all see that she put a ton of work into this song and that the inspiration for this song came from her undying love for Justin Bieber. I will analyze these lyrics since Mr. Starace does not want I to analyze commercials for this post. I will analyze the overall message and the how her song will affect younger girls.    

"The Heart Wants What It Wants"
  You got me sippin' on something

 I can't compare to nothing
I've ever known, I'm hoping
That after this fever I'll survive
I know I'm acting a bit crazy
Strung out, a little bit hazy
Hand over heart, I'm praying
That I'm gonna make it out alive

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants
The heart wants what it wants

You got me scattered in pieces
Shining like stars and screaming
Lighting me up like Venus
But then you disappear and make me wait
And every second's like torture
Heroin drip, no more so
Finding a way to let go
Baby, baby, no, I can't escape

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants
The heart wants what it wants [3x]

This is a modern fairytale
No happy endings
No wind in our sails
But I can't imagine a life without
Breathless moments
Breaking me down, down, down, down

The bed's getting cold and you're not here
The future that we hold is so unclear
But I'm not alive until you call
And I'll bet the odds against it all
Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care
There's a million reasons why I should give you up
But the heart wants what it wants
The heart wants what it wants [3x]

The heart wants what it wants, baby
It wants what it wants, baby
It wants what it wants [2x]

It's clear that the overall message of Selena's song is that she should let the man that she loves go, but her heart does not want to leave him. She's out of control in this song, she is extremely dependent on this man who may or may not be in her life, and she just sounds so depressed about love, her life and the world. Although this is a very catchy song, the lyrics hold a deep meaning to Selena but a very negative influence on younger girls. Young girls everywhere are listening to this song and the lyrics shows a very weak woman whose whole life revolves around this one man. Some girls would look at this and imitate the actions take that Selena sings about in her song. Many girls would experience love in their life, but is it really love? Or is it holding on to someone so that you'll not be lonely? This is not the type of the ideal love that many young girls imagined. This is actually completely the opposite. Disney princesses and their love lives taught young girls that a young, handsome prince would fall deeply in love with them and will go to any heights to save them from your their stepsisters, to dragons, to witches, to strangers selling poison apples but, the man and the relationship that Selena sings in her song does not show the same love. This is negatively influencing young girls, making them think that they must hold on to their dear boyfriends because their hearts cannot let go.

Now, that is wrong. Those young girls who believes that they have met their soul mate are able to let that man go. If that man is not the right person, then he's not. Girls should be independent, able to pick herself back up when a man has crumble her down to pieces, and they should be able to move on. Your life will not end after this man. This song shows the worse case scenario and it's not healthy to have this feeling of depression and obsession. It destroying common sense and showing how weak women can be.

Analyzing Print Media: Vote No on 46

On this political campaign, there is a gigantic, two letter word on the front that is made up of words like "ACLU", "PLANNED PARENTHOOD", "DEMOCRATS", and "CLINICS". That gigantic, two letter word is: no.

The people are using repetition by reusing those words that I provided above to try to try to reach out to us and vote no on prop 46. The words are being repeated over and over again to make the word no so that the message would be embedded into our heads.

At the bottom of the word no, they wrote, "Over 600 Diverse Coalition Partners Agree: Vote No on 46." Yet, who are those "diverse coalition partners"? Can they specifically name someone who works for those partners and say their ideas and opinions on prop 46? This is vague and it makes me want to do the opposite of what they are trying to make me do.

At the back of the campaign ad, they provide an opinion from their supporters. Before mentioning the part of the Monterey Herald's opinions, they wrote, "Statewide database is flawed, unreliable, and a ruse to trick voters." Then they show us Herald's opinion, "The statewide database is nowhere near complete, and the data in it are unreliable. Proponents of Proposition 46 are trying to trick voters into raising malpractice awards." How do they know that the data in the statewide database is unreliable? Have they seen the database? This is not backed up with precise evidence and it'll be difficult for someone who does not have an eye out for these vague details.

Contra Costa Times also talks about how flawed and costly prop 46 is and that it is really three proposition in one. How does this prop has actually three proposition? They don't provide the specific three proposition that prop 46 possess. They don't exaggerate on it, they briefly mention it but it is not enough to make me want to vote no.

ACLU talks about how prop 46 "violates the right to privacy by requiring physicians to submit to random, suspicionless drug testing." Now this is much more precise and we can see why some people would want to vote no. ACLU provides a specific "flaw" in the prop that may cause some problem for some people. By telling us that physicians are REQUIRED to submit a random drug test, we can give a but of our trust to this campaign ad.

Lastly, Kathy Kneer, who is the president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, talks about how this prop would "drive up" the price of health care and reduce access to health care. Yet, how do they know this and how will this prop "drive up" the price of health care? This is also briefly mentioned and there's no analysis or explanation to how the price will go up and how will this reduce people's access to health care. This has no support whatsoever except the fact that these are opinions from the president of Planned Parenthood. Yet, without real proofs and real analysis to their outcome, their opinions, no matter how high up they are, will be nothing.  

  

Freebie Post #2: Why I like this Ad.

Turn around Barry. Just turn around and buy some Fiber Ones already. They really curb that hunger you know?

Okay, now that was pretty unnecessary but I just had to say it.

This ad is one of the few ads that I can watch over and over again and laugh over and over again. Yes, it's pretty funny.

I remember the first time I saw it. Well, actually my sister saw it first and she screamed out my name when it came on. After hearing her voice, I ran out of my bedroom to the living-room expecting her to be in a gigantic mess but all she wanted I to see was this ad. Now really? She stopped me in the middle of studying for an ad? I was pretty irritated but I watched it.

And then I watched it, and it was hilarious! I tried not to laugh because my sister knew that I was irritated at the fact that she disturbed my studying time but I couldn't help it. This ad literally hit me at so many different levels! They used a song that I actually knew parts of the lyrics to and they changed the meaning of that song in order to fit it into the ad. IT WAS GENIUS! I can't even sing that song anymore, if I do I wouldn't sing the original one but this one. I just thought that was brilliant, making us, the consumers, able to remember the product even more and many would respond to it by buying the product.

I like how this ad shows a typical man working in a business. Like common, this man is on a diet and all I can see what he grabs to eat are just vegetables while his colleagues are eating chips and meat then at one point of the ad he tries to break open the candy machine. This man is suffering. At the end of the commercial, he sees the boxes of Fiber One and he buys many of them. I just can't believe how easy the advertisers used wit and humor to sell their products. Many people, who are on a diet, could relate to the man in the ad and it makes them want to buy the product because of their similarities. Whenever I see a box of Fiber Ones, I would refer back to this ad because the advertisers did a very great job at making me remember it.