Final Media Project COMM 345 Listen To My Terrible Song

https://youtu.be/W2qFTiTdxyo

Published on May 13, 2017Written By Emily Fleming
Ft. Megan Fleming Lyrics * be sure to give this video a thumbs up jk who are we kidding "Don't Believe Everything You See" Verse 1 One time I made a DIY facial mask, And I almost burned my face off Because someone on TV said, That soft skin is what's "beautiful" these days, One time I saw an R-rated movie, And like 20 people got killed and it didn't even affect me, I guess I've seen it all a million times, I guess I've become desynthesized Chorus Don't believe everything you see, The media's not like reality x2 Verse 2 This one time, I wore some really high heels, And they gave me like 3 blisters. But i refused to take them off, Because I heard they attract the Mr.'s And also one time, my friend showed me a music video, I wasn't really sure what the meaning of the song was, But there were illegal substances and strange dancing... (Repeat chorus) Bridge I'm trying to get you to understand, You gotta take it all with a grain of sand, Question what you see, And know which sources to believe (Chorus) Don't let it take over you Don't let it take over you Even though corporations like Disney own like everything (look it up), Don't let it take over you




Additional Sources Used:
Media Today : Unattainable Beauty Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved May 13, 2017, from https://
         girlsempowermentnetwork.org/blog/media-today-unattainable-beauty-standards/

Rogers, K. (2016, July 15). What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us? Retrieved May        
         13, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/health/what-is-a-constant-cycle-of-   
         violent-news-doing-to-us.html?_r=0

Sternheimer, K. "From Screen to Crime Scene: Media Violence and Real Violence" (Ch5),     
          Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture

Beyonce is Flawless But her Music Video Isn't:(

For my choice, I decided to analyze Beyonce'so music video, "Sorry". 

There are no men in this music video, only  women. I find this very interesting because this is not common from my own experience seeing videos in the media. The women in this video dance alongside Beyonce as she directs her lyrics at a man who did her wrong. The women's roles are to accommodate Beyonce and dance alongside her in sync. From the video, I get a sense of female sexuality being untamed and wild, along with being fierce but also a little scandalous. 

Besides sexuality,  the video tells the liberation of moving on from a guy who is no good, as women rally up and support one another in this. However, the Suttle use of revealing clothing and the presence of a pole on a bus the women ride in tells something other than this. It seems like the message overlaps. I'm all for liberation and expression, but I feel like this could be misconstrued as objectification. This may reinforce harmful stereotypes as well. There is this blend of cultures within the video, mainly with African and Egyptian roots. It seems odd that they have these ancient roots but represent them in this sexual way. For example, the women have these painted faces that look tribal and something you would see in African tribes, and towards the end, Beyonce has this very Egyptian style look and hair style, along with very short and rapid movements, like moving pictures. 

Because most music videos target teens,  I feel like they get a very inaccurate view of the world and sexuality, and what it means to be proud of your sexuality and culture. To each is own, but not everyone sees freedom and liberation as being associated with wearing revealing clothing and acting in sexual behaviors. Especially coming from someone like Beyonce, who is known to be fierce and fearless, it is important not to follow everything a person does in their music. Young adults and teens need to realize what they are watching and questions why they are presented the images they are really shown,

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Images in the Media Vs. Journalism and Underlying Meanings and Ugly Dresses

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, they say. It is incredible how images, whether they are taken in a studio or out in the streets, can shape our perspectives on reality. We see magazine adds all of the time, where there is a picture of unrealistic beauty ideals (obviously photo shopped but we always tend to forget this it seems like), hypersexualized people/celebrities, and skewed messages that tend to make our priorities in life more superficial. It is so important to understand these underlying meanings behind advertisements and even journalistic photos that cause us to feel and think a certain way. Photographs can sway the public in subtle ways, or sometimes by drastic means.

The first image is from an advertisement by SISLEY, where we have two women apparently, uh, snorting some…clothing? I think we can agree that the clothing symbolizes something else here in this case. That’s interesting. So, why? Well, that’s what I’d like to know. Why are they using this symbolism as a means to sell their clothing? Maybe as a way of saying "hey, you really need this dress and our fashion is that addicting and desirable"? Are these women supposed to look sexy like that? Because it’s definitely not making me want that dress. But it makes you wonder why they went this route. I think of kids who may stumble across this add in a magazine and not understand the obvious theme, and pass it off as a norm. 

For my second photo which includes a journalistic image that conveys a message, I chose a picture from a Trump rally. You may know me for my “affinity” for Trump by now, so I might as well be on a roll here. Objectively speaking (regardless of my personal opinion of him and his ideals), I chose this picture because it is controversial in itself. Here, you see a seemingly large crowd standing by Trump, claiming that the “silent majority” stands with him. The nature of this picture gives the impression of vast majority standing up for what they personally believe to be a noble and valid cause. There are American flags in the background (and pretty much a lot of elderly Caucasian males…sorry just stating a fact here). The underlying message this photo conveys is a sense of universal patriotism for an ideal that is so opposed by many, even though one would not know that if he or she only saw this picture. 

Sad.

Wiretapping and endless tweets

Fortunately, it seems that now more than ever, there are many examples of recent political propositions or pieces of legislations to refer to for this challenge. Unfortunately, most of them relate to Donald Trump. So with that said, let’s take a look at what sort of propositions have come up in the last two weeks.

(Sorry, took longer than I thought; had to sort through all of his tweets about Arnold Schwarzenegger).

(*30 minutes later*)

Alright, here’s an example from an article from the Washington Post :

(Source) Http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2-17/03/05/trumps-evidence-free-claim-about-obama-wiretapping-him-is-indefensible-so-his-aides-arent-defending-it/?utm_term=.6ec7e845af8a

As of 3/5/17, this took place literally hours ago. President Trump has accused and clearly stated that former president Obama WIRETAPPED him. He did not say that he “believes” or “suspects” Obama did so, but flat-out says that he did. He states, “I just found out that Obama had my wires tapped”. As said repeatedly in the video above, this would be one of the “largest abuse of power” ever seen. Trump appears to have anonymous sources when making this extremely bold claim.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that even though Trump throws this accusation out as a fact without valid sources, just the fact that he said it is going to start making people actually believe it is true. Obama is going to be in question and many people will be suspicious of him all because of these claims spreading like wildfire from Trump. Kind of reminds me of how propaganda works, in the sense of being exposed to an idea long enough that it starts to resonate with people regardless where it comes from or what truth is behind it.

So, from what I have gathered, it seems that Trump has gotten this information through anonymous sources and through BreitBart news. 

Here's what this source is saying:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/09/28/aclu-obama-has-quadrupled-warrantless-wiretaps/

Also, 

And 

http://www.cracked.com/article_24363_6-mind-boggling-ways-breitbart-fails-to-report-news.html

Keep in mind, BreitBart uses headlines like this:

That is all.

Fake News

When I was a kid, I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and seeing the magazine rack near the check-out line. For whatever reason, there was always a new issue of a ridiculously fake magazine called “World News”. They were always printed in black and white, and had the most amazingly fake and outlandish front pages you can fathom (aliens, conspiracies, etc.). See, even at nine years old, I knew this was made up gibberish. Now, in 2017, fake news is a little harder to detect than back then. No one really knows what to believe anymore, because many stories can seem valid when they are in fact false. It also certainly does not help that certain politicians, (a.k.a. Donald J. Drumf), have been continually discrediting news sources that are reliable, and praising information stemming from unchecked sources.

Not all hope is lost, in my opinion, of the news and media today. There are ways to tell is a source is fake or reliable. As Wynne Davis from NPR states, one must:

·         “Pay Attention to the domain and URL”

·         “Read the ‘About Us’ section”

·         “Look at the quotes in a story”

·         “Look at who said them”

·         “Check the comments”

·         “Reverse image search”

www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-facts

In my opinion, I do think that there and that certain journalists in the media are still making an effort to challenge our political leaders. To name one recent example, when Kellyanne Conway falsely inquired about the “Bowling Green Massacre” that never happened, many reporters were sure to convey to the public that this was not a real event. She meant to refer to terrorists who were convicted in Bowling Green, and misspoke. 

https://youtu.be/flyW41U7XPw

Regardless of what her intentions were, I think it is good that these statements are still being watched and people are still being held accountable, even if their intentions are good.

For your entertainment, here are some of the "Weekly World News" cover pages I was referring to:

I recommend googling images if you need a laugh.

You're welcome 

Gun Violence and Video Games

I'll never forget the first time I played Halo for the first time, back in 2009 as a high school freshman. I had never played a video game like it before and I'm pretty sure I lost after 12 seconds of playing. I never attempted it again.
I often wonder what the appeal is to games like this, or maybe I'm just bitter that I have no talent when it comes to Halo.

Then I think of all of the advertisements I've seen of other violent video games, where it is easy to see that the majority of these contain hyper-masculine men. They are usually dominating, extremely large and muscular, angry and loaded with ammunition. The object in these games is to kill quickly and in any way imaginable. Rewards are given for kills, and levels get increasingly intense.
And of course, women are often hypersexualized as well.

Looking at the nature of these kinds of games and what the incentives and goals these games tend to have, it does cause one to wonder if people are influenced to commit violent acts when they play these games. While not everyone who enjoys playing video games that contain violence (GUN violence for context) end up being violent people, there is evidence to show that these games HAVE influenced some people (in specific cases)  to commit voilence. I do not think all people will be affected the same if exposed to violent video games, but I do believe it can play a large part in an already unstable and harmful person being more influenced to commit a violent act. In other words, some people are more susceptible to it due to internal (mental illness, etc.) or external factors around them.

For example, in an article by Nick Bilton of the New York Times, it discusses how people who play these games can become "less emphatic" to violence. Players can become desythesized because it exposes so much that it seems normal in time. It also seems that many mass shooters had a connection with actively playing violent video games for a period of time before their attacks. For example, Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, was a big fan of violent games and played Call of Duty often. While violent video games did not solely convince him to go through with this horrible atrocity  it was a large factor in giving him the idea to do so.

I think there definitely is a concern for video games and the marketing of weapons. People need to be aware of what they are exposing themselves to while playing video games, and how they react to violence afterwards.


Looking At Link Between Violent Video Game and Lack of Empathy
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/looking-at-link-between-violent-video-games-and-lack-of-empathy/?_r=0

https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2015/may/11/the-professor-who-thinks-video-games-will-be-the-downfall-of-men-zimbardo

(Not Very) Happy Violence

Ever seen an Indiana Jones movie? How about an Avengers movie? Pirates of the Caribbean? Nacho Libre? Any movie with some extent of action or fighting? Well, if the answer is no, you really need to get a Netflix account (especially for Nacho Libre). If it’s a yes, then you have likely been exposed to a concept known as “happy violence”. This term is used to describe scenes in the media that contain violence but in a glorified, somewhat justified or comedic way. There may be violence that ultimately leads to a happy ending in a show, which gives the impression of moderating said violence. It is often without any real consequence, and is sometimes glamorous (think; immense explosion in the background as an unfazed character played by Ryan Gosling wears sunglasses and walks in slow motion towards the camera). Happy violence has a habit of allowing those who view it to become desensitized and dazed by the amount of fighting and dismantling.

Let’s take a look at a few more specific examples:

(Links in the references at the bottom)

In these scenes, there are a series of heroes and villains, where one side is being rooted for and causes the viewer to hope the evil-do-er gets what's coming to him/her/it. It somehow allows the violence taking place to carry on with less gravity and provides more justification for their actions.  I always wonder how the city pays for reconstruction after Hulk destroys everything. They must pay a ton in taxes.

References:

The Avengers: All Hulk Smash Scenes 

https://youtu.be/tDt4HaHLp6k

Spider-Man : Peter Parker vs. Flash Thompson "School Fight" (2002)

https://youtu.be/xlQrg08AF1U

Yoda Fight Scenes
https://youtu.be/IRd9PGmAQUE

Best Fight Scenes of Avegers 2 Part 1
https://youtu.be/QkF-Rhl449U

Blog Post 2 - Who Owns the Media?

I’ll admit that I have watched many TV shows in my life and probably have more episodes memorized in my head than I should. I come from a small town, where watching shows were kind of a way of combatting chronic boredom. Now as an adult looking back, I am beginning to think that a lot of the “coincidences” and irony in shows and media were a little more calculated than I thought. 

After doing some research, I discovered a few of the main Television shows I watch/ed are run by bigger corporate influences. Here are some of them, along with which larger company owns them:

1. Time Warner, Inc. : Warner Brothers TV, Cartoon Network (literally had no idea), Boomerang, CNN, HBO, and Cinemax.

2. Comcast Corporation: NBC television network, the History Channel, PBS Kids Sprout

3. News Corp: National Geographic U.S., Fox News(not a fan but found it surprising) 

4. Viacom: Nickelodeon, Comedy Central

Seeing how connected some of these shows are, despite how different they are from one another, is very interesting.

Blog post 1 - The "Allegory"

By Emily Fleming

       

               After reading the “Allegory”, written by Plato, I most definitely saw a connection with the analogy in relation to media and media influences in our world today. What we see on billboards, on television, hear on the radio, see on Facebook, or even what we read in textbooks all shape the way we think about and understand certain concepts and ideals in life. At times, it is clear that certain ideas are targeting us and are simply not reality. In other instances, what we experience from media sources mold and shape our views on ourselves, others, and all areas in life without us even noticing. In Pluto’s analogy, much of his message can be juxtaposed to the idea of how essential it is to take what we see and hear with a “grain of salt” if you will, and discourage untruths to shape our realities.

                In the “Allegory” Pluto describes a cave where a few people are faces with their heads turned away from the cave opening. It is important to note that they are chained, and are considered prisoners. A fire burns behind them, as puppeteers stand with puppets, creating shadows that cast down where the prisoners can see. All the prisoners can see from where their heads are turned are the shadows and not the puppets casting the shadows. Therefore, what they perceive is all entirely based on the shadows rather what is really controlling it.

       This is my illustration (sorry in advance, I am by far no art major here)   

            Aside from being slightly terrifying, this illustration demonstrates the danger in having a limited perception on realities around us.

                For example, when we look at Facebook, it is certain that many fake news articles have flooded the pages of our feed. Recently, this has become so much of an issue that it has impacted our country in great amounts when related to our recent presidential election. According to Caitlin Dewey of The Washington Post, “They (Facebook users) just keep passing stuff around. Nobody fact-checks anything anymore…”  These invasions of faulty and not fact-based news sites have shown themselves to people everywhere, and it is imperative that we take responsibility with what is being shown to us and challenge our sources.

                If we are not careful, we will only see the shadow and not the puppet itself.

References

Dewey, Caitlin. “Facebook fake-news writer: ‘I think Donald Trump is in the White House              because of me’”. The Washington Post.17 November 2016.

Plato. “The Smile of the Cave.” Republic. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974. 240-48.                          Print.

Hello and welcome to my Media Literacy blog!