reflection

Over this past assignment of writing media blogs every week, it really opened my eyes as of how I connect to the media all around us. I would say i spend 5-7 hours on my phone and/or TV a day, but consume media for about 13 hours in the day. So, for practically half of my time is spend being influenced by some sort of media. This affects my life in a huge manner; all of my thoughts and actions that I do are influenced by things I hear and see on media. If you are around something so long, you begin to act like them, like a friend. When you hang out with a friend so much,, you begin to act in ways they do, even if you don't notice.

I have noticed that i have began to act like a youtuber I watch quite often; I'll pronouce certain words the way they do and react to things in a manner that they do. I noticed that my sister started acting in this kind of maner as well and it turns out she began watching this youtuber quite often herself.

This media blog project we have been doing has made it easier for me to notice the ways media trys to influence us. I have begun to notice the way ads use word diction and product placement and things like that in order to appeal to crowds of people. I used to just let things sink in without putting uch thought behind the messages the media delivers to me, but now i notice myself yelling out to the TV during commericals certain ways they are trying to get the attention of certain people.

I think it is very important to be aware of the media and how it is affecting you; the media is in everyone's lives for at least half the time, it has to be shaping our personalities in one way or another. Don't you think we should be aware of how things are shaping who we are and what messages they are putting in our heads? Most people do not think much of the things that media deliver to us and they are oblivious to what implicit messages they ae bestowing upon us. I think it is extremely useful to be educated so you are not just some dumb, mindless zombie who lets information just go through one ear and out the other; you should know what is being given to the public.

 I got alot out of keeping these logs over the past few weeks. I feel as if this activity has further opened my mind on being a critical thinker. I am able to better analyze commercials and other sorts of advertisements. I am thankful for this class and I am glad I got to be apart of it because it has shaped my mind into a more openminded person, I am able question and analyze way better, and overall, I think these meia blogs alongside with this class has made me a more educated person.

Simulated Feelings.

I recently finished watching The Office with my little sister. I have had emotional ties with TV shows before, but since we have been focusing on media and how it affects us, it got me questioning WHY I was emotional. This show is  not real, so why are the emotions I'm feeling towards it so real?
It's weird how this artificial thing can trigger things in us, and that's how all TV shows are; they are just fake, even if it is a "reality show", it isn't real life, it is all on a screen.

So, now paying attention to this, how could our generation really know the difference between simulated emotions and real feelings? I mean really, we have grown up with a TV in our face almost all the time, constantly influenced, we have been emotionally stimulated since day 1. Even if we claim to know the difference between the real and the fake, we are lying to ourselves, because how could we know what the real is when we have been living with the fake all our lives?

Fading Friends?

Lately, I have had a few friends delete their accounts from social medias, and it is a little weird to have them "gone". I know that it is just a computer screen that we are communicating through but there is still emotions, connections formed between these medias. We see adults tell us get off those damn phones and have a conversation, but it isn't that simple. Our generation has grown up being able to have your friend right at your fingertips. I sometimes find it ironic how adults are telling us that we are being anti-social on our phones, yet they don't let us out to go and "communicate" with your friends. Maybe not for everyone, but that does happen for me.

It is strange having friends leave social media because it is almost like you are losing a bit of them for yourself. I am still friends with these people, but I think social medias have this ability to bring people together, not physically, but emotionally. I don't know how to feel about social media though, because not only does it bring people together, but it also pulls people apart.
I am glad I have social media in the end, because it gives me the ability to bond with people when we cannot physically be together.

The Fight Against Media is Right at the End of Our Fingertips

As you know, media is all around us, we cannot really help that it is there. We subconsciously take in these messages.
These media masterminds running our world have learned how to close us all in this bubble of messages, unfortunately for them, we have the power to pop that bubble.
Media has made us all one huge blob of product buyers, they have strained our individuality out of us so now we all like the same things.
We can fight the system with art.
Art is the solution to our problems; art gives us a way to express ourselves, it lets us talk about ourselves. All forms of art; painting, writing, sculpting, etc. It expresses our feelings. It is a window to se who we really are. Some people don't like art, they are more right minded; they like facts and data and whatnot, but art is for everyone. It doesn't have to be that "artsy-fartsy" crap that a lot take it for, there isn't really a definition for art. Art is what you make of it.
You don't need a paintbrush to be an artist, all you need is your real self and a way to tell the world that "Hey, this is my life, what are you going to do about it?"
If everyone began to express themselves through art, we would be able to really damage the media and how they affect our lives.

Does a Pretty Face Make it Better?

Melanie Martinez has a song that speaks to todays female youth called "Ms Potato Head". It is about how girls are learning that in order to be beautiful, they need all of these surgeries and brands and hairstyles and how dumb it is that we are sending that message to girls. One of the lyrics go:

Don't be dramatic, it's only some plastic
No one will love you if you're unattractive
This line is showing us the darkness that society makes us feel. We see famous people all over getting their face redone, liposuctions, lip injections, crazy things that make us "beautiful"
All for what? More Instagram likes? More attention? What does that even give you? People aren't liking a picture of you, it is not your body anymore. Not only does these surgeries change your appearance, but they change your personality. You will either walk out of that more confident, less confident, or some other emotion, but you have artificially changed yourself.
Another lyric goes:
Oh, Mrs. Potato Head tell me, is sit true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face make it better?
The last line goes deep. Because, is it true? What is a pretty face going to do that will make your life better? We, as people, have gotten so wrapped up in what it means to be beautiful and that's all we care about. What makes looks so special? We need to pay attention to the beauty on the inside. It is disgusting to see what people will go through in order to feel like they belong somewhere. What have we done to todays society?

It shouldn't require a pretty face to be beautiful, and that is what most people say, but we still aren't willing to change that.

In the Background

I am sure most people have seen this commercial; it became pretty popular a couple weeks ago, but I would like to bring attention to it again. Its a commercial about a boy named Evan and how he began this relationship with the person writing him on the desk in the library. During the entire commercial we watch Evan and how he is. Then at the end of the commercial, Evan finally meets the girl that he was writing with, but while they are talking, you see a figure in the background open the gym door and pull out a gun. Then, the entire commercial plays over again, except showing us what's happening behind Evan, and we see a boy his age who is depressed and is planning to shoot the school.
The commercial is bringing attention to us that we need to be aware of the signs of a school shooter, and even depressed kids in general. In high school it gets hard. You begin to see some people that you know slip into bad things, you may even begin to as well. It's just a big emotional time for most students this age.
We need to be aware of the pain people are going through and do our best not to make it worse and even try to prevent it. You cannot just go making fun of people and then making up the excuse that it is "just a joke", because you can still really hurt someone.
We, as teenagers, don't really care about anyone but ourselves; it isn't even just teenagers, it is people in general. We are born selfish, we want what we want. That doesn't mean that we have to go out of our way to make someone's life hell. We should be going out of our way to reach out to people to see if you can help and sometimes it's hard, but we should still try.
We should all be more aware of the people around us, because sometimes, the biggest smile can be hiding someone who's in horrible pain.

But I want to Dream, So leave me to Dream

Recently I pulled out one of my vinyls, Smoke and Mirrors by Imagine Dragons. (weird name for a band, but I love the music) I decided to listen to it and there is a song called Dream on it. While listening to the album, I was just listening for the music, not really for the lyrics, but then that song came on.

It stood out to me because the all the other songs I was listening seemed more upbeat compared to this song. This song had a darker vibe to it. The song is about how we all are living in a fake world and how everything seems okay but it really isn't, which is kind of true.
We have been sheltered from the tragedy of the world behind the walls of our home. We mostly just choose to shut out anything that doesn't feel right versus trying to fix it, because we do not want to get ourselves involved in a mess that isn't our own. But if we don't get involved and help others, eventually things will come around and we will be the one in trouble and we will see that no one wants to help.
There is a line that goes:
oh the prettiest of lights that hang the hallways of the home
and the cries from the strangers out at night
they don't keep us up at night
we have the curtains drawn and closed
This shows how we focus on the little pretty things in our own lives versus the misery of others that our outside of our own. We choose to ignore and not think about the pain that others are going through and we are just blinding ourselves with a false hope that everything is okay.
There is a reason the radio doesn't play songs like this, they don't want people feeling sad and changing the radio, everyone wants to remain happy. But how can you know what happiness is without experiencing sadness?(little bit of brave new world for you)
This song made me feel like I need to try not to ignore what is wrong, but to try to help, at least acknowledge the situations in others lives. We all need to try to understand the pain of others because covering it up with happiness will only make it worse, don't you think?
But as the song states:
and all the sorrow I have seen
it leaves me to believe
that everything's a mess

but I want to dream, so leave me to dream