My Media-Literate, Paranoid Self

I would just like to start off saying how much I have enjoyed this assignment. Although sometimes a blog post became a frantic Tuesday night ,11:45pm task , this project has become the highlight of Critical Thinking. Where else am I allowed to turn in writing with not-so-on-point grammar or the occasional "lol's?"
As a teenager in today's technology-dominated society, of course I consume tons of media! It's within my reach all the time! (literally too because my phone) The media blog has not diminished my consumption of media, but it has definitely made me about 9347183504823x more aware of what it is that I'm consuming. Before this project, the first thing I usually notice about advertisements is either the person featured or the font/color theme. Those eye catching qualities of an ad may actually be harmful to the company if I take the role as a consumer. Now, even if I only get a glance at an ad, I begin to analyze everything possible. I analyze it to figure out what needs the company is appealing to and what techniques they use. As a critical thinker, I also begin to utilize healthy skepticism to question whether or not the company will be able to deliver what it is promising its consumers. Wheels in my brain begin turning and I can no longer enjoy the messages advertisers are attempting to convey, which is the essence of this course.
In just a short four months, my whole view on advertisements and other forms of media has changed. I can't even watch a movie normally without pointing out the product placements embedded in random scenes. Just today, my friend and I were watching a movie and when we saw the main character using her MacBook Pro, we turned to each other and said "product placement!!!"

And that's when I knew, Critical Thinking has permanently changed me, for the better.
I honestly don't think my media consumption level will change in the future, but I have retained enough from Critical Thinking to realize what the advertiser is selling to us is completely different from the reality. I was simply too blind to see this before, when I would fall victim to whatever needs they were appealing to.
Because of this blog, I won't fall for advertising techniques as easily as I did before, nor will I be subconsciously brainwashed by product placements and love marks. Although, who's to say I won't be continuing to support love marks? lol (<-- see I did it again!!!)

me before media blog

me after media blog

Peace out girl scout <3!!

Cutthroat Madison and Vine

Here I am chillin' on the weekend watching Netflix (what's new?). A cooking show I am currently OBSESSED with is Cutthroat Kitchen (It's so good 10/10 would recommend!!!!!!!!! Beat Bobby Flay is super good too). It is a show that provides $100,00 for four chefs to auction and outwit each other, as well as cook. While I'm watching, I have crit in the back of my mind (typical right?). I could not think of a blogpost idea, and just when I was about to put it off and procrastinate just a little more with Netflix, it hit me. I saw my next blogpost, literally. Through all the panicking and cooking featured in the show, Food Network still manages to take a few seconds out of the show to focus in on the Capital brand name on the oven.

Of all the different types of shows available, I would think cooking shows feature the least amount of product placement. But I guess Cutthroat Kitchen needs to get the $100,000 somewhere. No wonder Food Network utilizes Madison and Vine to feature the shiny Capital brand on the oven. Just as a chef is closing, opening, or even passing the oven, the camera immediately focuses in on the obvious brand of kitchenware. This does not just occur once, but occurs about every eleven minutes (yes i actually counted). Let's not forget this show is about forty-five minutes so basically out of the forty-five minutes, Food Network is showing the Capital brand ten seconds. This may not seem like a lot but a whole ten seconds was a big enough influence for me to notice, and I'm sure the majority of viewers notice too, which is exactly what the advertisers are aiming for. When considering kitchenware brands, a Cutthroat Kitchen viewer might recall the frame and be more inclined to purchase from Capital than other cookware brands, like Le Creuset, Kitchenware, and Cuisinart.

Read This Post If You Think I'm Beautiful!!

Like I said before, I attended 4H and became super emotional, but let's not talk about that right now. If you want to know more, just read my old post. This new post however is going to connect to the 4H one. During the weekend I spent with the children, I was super surprised by one thing. Although we did not have Internet access at the time, the children voluntarily wrote down their social media accounts like Instagram, Oovoo, and Snapchats for the teen tutors so we can follow each other and keep in touch afterwards. I was definitely in shock at the amount of media these elementary school children are exposed to everyday. I got Instagram when I was in seventh grade, and I was most definitely not as aware in fifth grade as these children are today. However, are they being aware of the "correct" things? In this specific case, I mean aware as in aware about celebrities and the "new hottest trends," and not social justice issues affecting the world.
Even when I had Instagram in seventh grade, I was not posting the same content as what these fifth graders are posting now. Sevie year little Steffany would post pictures with her friends or cool trips she went on. Now I'm not saying these fifth graders don't post with their friends, because trust me they do, but they are also posting pictures that crave for attention from others.

Posts like these crave for compliments from one's followers. This pictures specifically is defining the person based on whatever emojis his/her followers might comment. As children become more exposed to media, the more consumed they are. Some are even at the point where they allow simple emojis and others to define who they are. One of my absolute favorites is this picture.

Not only is this picture again allowing simple likes to define one's character, but this picture also stresses the fact that children rely on media to strengthen themselves. They are relying on simple taps by people behind a screen to reassure they are beautiful, which is absurd in my opinion.
What is no one likes his/her picture? The damage that could be done to the poster is unimaginable.
As technology advances in 2016 and on, not only are children being exposed to media at an earlier age, but the reliance they have on media is also higher, which is something we as a collective whole need to watch out for.

The inevitable midriff

Who remembers the old Disney Channel? And when I say old, I only mean the Disney of us millenials' generation. Remember the days when Alex Russo always got into mischief, or when Miley Stewart was trying to hide her secret identity as Hannah Montana? I definitely do. Or what about Taylor Swift releasing Mean and Our Song? Well if you don't remember these moments, then you're in a bit of a pickle! Because now, all you'll see of Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift are them in mainstream and slightly revealing outfits. And Miley Cyrus, well, if you don't know about her development, where have you been?!?!? But here are some pictures anyways.

  
Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus can be considered two of the most famous Disney stars since it was Disney who started their careers. Children around the world adored Alex Russo and Miley Stewart. But what happened when these two separated from the Disney world? Well, the mainstream world hit them and they found themselves lost in the clutter of teenage superstars.
In order to set themselves apart, they fell under the pressure and had to take advantage of the midriff. As Merchants of Cool defines the midriff, as a "collection of sexual clichés repackaged as female empowerment." The midriff encourages females to flaunt their sexuality and relays the message that a woman's body is her most important asset. There is no problem with Disney stars growing up and changing their appearance because that's their own choice, but it becomes a problem when advertisers take advantage of the stars' influential position.
Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus have moved on to become individuals who don't rely on Disney, but young girls continue to idolize them. And by young, I mean young (like middle school.) And it's not just Disney either. Even singers like Taylor Swift have collected a massive fan base of teenage girls that completely idolize her. However, when there are so many other similar aged and appearance celebrities in the industry, there needs to be a way to break through the clutter. These superstar celebrities slowly alter their appearance in accordance to whatever is "hip" or "cool, in the case of today, revealing clothing. But simultaneously, they need to stand out from the mainstream as well. For example, if the mainstream is revealing clothing, stars need to be the most revealing to be the stand out in the crowd. Consequently, when young girls see their idols wearing revealing clothing, they are compelled to do the same. Young girls will buy similar clothing to look as cool as their idols because they are perfect and children totally aspire to be them. Plus, since they're superstar celebrities, of course they'll know what's cool and what's not!

Taylor Swift 2006

Taylor Swift 2016

We used to see Disney stars mature AFTER they leave Disney, but the midriff has even affected current stars. For example, Shake It Up is still airing on Disney Channel, and Zendaya and Bella Thorne are definitely idolized by young girls. In my opinion, Zendaya is probably one of the most empowered female in the Hollywood industry. But even at some points, is it questionable whether or not the midriff is getting to her as well. This reflects the main problem of the midriff. Are the revealing clothing a choice of female empowerment, or is it just a technique of the advertisers?

Living without media for a whole weekend?!?!?

Remember my very first post? When I said I probably can't live without media? Well, I was proved wrong just last weekend. Last Friday right after school, a few friends and I left the crazy world of media behind and entered Camp Gold Hollow territory. The same territory that consisted of no cell service and basically took us off the grid.
It was a weekend dedicated to incorporating science into interesting activities. This provided an opportunity for children to experience science in nature, as opposed to their usual classroom setting. Since it was our first time attending 4H On the Wild Side, we were all dreading the loss of media for the weekend, given how it dominates our daily lives.
On Friday night before the children from three different elementary schools arrived, I was not in the best mood. I was anticipating for the children to be a bit whiny since the weather wasn't all that great. The requirement of teen tutors sleeping outside with the children also contributed to my gloomy mood. But this all changed Saturday morning.
The ecstatic children piled out of the buses and immediately turned my mood around 180 degrees. I was reminded of why I volunteered for this organization in the first place, to help these children. The children and I spent the entire Saturday and half of Sunday together, learning science, making friendship bracelets, and simply learning about their lives. The bond we created in just thirty hours was stronger than anything that could have been created with texting for sixty hours. There was about 100 children there, and by the time they left on Sunday, I had already known about fifty names, and grew close to about twenty. I was so emotionally attached to the children, I began crying at the ending ceremony when I realized I probably will not see the children again. The attachment was mutual and proven when the children reciprocated my tears and hugged my friend and I for almost ten minutes. Some of the children even left the lanyards and friendship bracelets they made at camp for us as a keepsake, saying things like "Please don't forget us," and "Can you come back with us?"
This trip provided me a great realization about the technological world today. People are so consumed with the communication of media, that real life interactions are minimized. Camp Gold Hollow was such an eye-opening opportunity that demonstrated how strong a relationship can become when there isn't the barrier of media. During the weekend, no one was communicating through a phone or any of the normal technologies we would use. Yet, my bond with the children was so strong I was influenced enough to cry uncontrollably at the thought of them leaving. Here's a picture of some of the children with my friend and I. I apologize for looking bad lol I was crying for fifteen minutes.

Inevitably, once I left the perimeter of the camp and finally received service again, I immediately replied to texts and Snapchats, and checked my Instagram feed. After all, my life is still undeniably consumed by media. But my view on media has definitely changed due to 4H because it demonstrated that I can in fact live without media, in contrast to my first post.

DNCE's awesome new song ya'll need to check out now!!!!

There I was at the Selena Gomez concert awaiting for DNCE, her opening band to play their most famous song Cake By The Ocean. But before the band got to the much anticipated performance, DNCE performed Toothbrush (which I may or may not like even more than Cake By The Ocean now). Here's a cool picture I took at the concert. :))

Five days ago, DNCE released the official music video for this awesome fantabulous song. Please click and listen to it!!

The music video features Joe Jonas and Ashley Graham, the star of this media blog. Ashley Graham is a famous "plus-size lingerie model for Lane Bryant". I can honestly say this is one of the few times a "plus-size" model has made it into something as big as the main female character of a music video. To even emphasize this rare occasion, the song is basically about a sexual relationship between Joe and Ashley. I'm not saying "plus-size" people never make it into "big things," because they do. But most of the time it's to contribute to very explicit messages like "love your body" or "you are beautiful." This music video has nothing to do with loving your body, or at least the lyrics don't. But the video has an underlying message that not all people have the perfect body figure like the normal female interests portrayed in media as big as this music video. Most of the time, advertisers/companies may think it is better to put these self-love messages upfront, but in my opinion, the message is more effectively conveyed if it's implicit like in Toothbrush's music video. 

Almost never has a "plus-sized" model participated in something, and hasn't been pointed out as being the outlier just because she/he is a little more rotund than the others. Even now, a majority of the YouTube comments are about Ashley and her participation in this project. But at least in the video, she is regarded as a normal being engaged in a relationship with a man. There is nothing sung about her that points out her body. It's the viewers that notice for themselves how Ashley is different from the "perfect" figures of media. This is a bit saddening to me because all the comments on YouTube are about how beautiful Ashley looks. This came off as a great thing to me at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized why there were so many comments. The public is so conditioned to see the ideal slim figures, that any other different body type immediately stands out to them. 

This music video provided just that experience for its viewers. It has the underlying message that not only perfect bodies can hold sexual relationships, but all body types can too. This is only just the first step of body-awareness. One day, when a body different from the stereotypical skinny figure is featured in media, the public will no longer comment on her "unique" body, but instead solely focus on her performance. 

On a completely separate note, when watching Toothbrush 193479752384 times, I was extremely proud of the video containing no ads. Until 3:09. Up until 3:09, the video just featured Joe and Ashley's relationship. But viewers get to 3:09, and boom. There it is.

Ashley is holding a cup of tea and turning on the speakers. Speakers from Beats by Dr. Dre. Speakers that the camera felt the need to zoom all the way in on the lowercase "b." I was so proud too, but I guess media is media and it's inevitably going to contain some forms of advertisements. 

Concluding this post, I am going to insert another picture of the Selena Gomez concert because why not? Plus, I really miss that night! 

Calling all dubnation fans!!! It's time to suit up!

While shopping at Champs this weekend at Arden, I noticed a good section of the store was dedicated to the Golden State Warriors aka dubnation.(Why dubnation? I really don't know. Maybe because the W?) It featured the players' jerseys, T-shirts, hats, etc. As I exit the store, I also notice a big section of the glass was taken up by this giant poster and corresponding merchandise around the poster. 

Although this poster does not scream advertisement at first glance, it actually is a print ad. It utilizes a couple of techniques to appeal to its target market, men who are fans of the Golden State Warriors. 

First off, the entire poster is primarily black and white with the Adidas and it's three bars, except for the tiny NBA symbol on the bottom. The only thing that actually has color is the phrase "REP HARD DUBS. TAKE THE TITLE," which is super emphasized by the shiny gold caps letters.  Now, anyone who watches basketball or knows someone who's a dedicated NBA fan will know playoffs are going on as of April. Knowing this, the phrase on the ad is basically cheering on GSW (too lazy sorry) at playoffs and telling them to rep(resent?) hard and win playoffs, eventually taking the title. This ad appeals to fans because as a dedicated fan, they perceive buying a dubs shirt will maximize their support for the team. This uses the technique bandwagon because dubnation fans will generally want to stick together and cheer them on as one unit. Buying a shirt or jersey will allow the consumer to join the huge crowd of dubnation supporters. 

Another technique this ad uses is Transfer/Association. With a GSW player in the back (surprised it wasn't Steph Curry) with a facial expression and motion of success, fans may think buying a GSW product will allow them to achieve the same level of success as possibly winning the NBA Playoffs. This appeals to the need to achieve. The Golden State Warriors are doing pretty well so far and have won most of their games (except Monday with OKC ughh), so dubnation is automatically associated with success and achievement. When consumers view GSW products, it is immediately connected to the triumph of the team and how much publicity dubnation has received. 

Lastly, this ad primarily appeals to men because in the background with the player, he is portrayed as super "masculine" with his face seemingly shouting from success. This goes along with the stereotypical portrayal of men and their masculine arms and facial hair, needing success. Males fans of dubnation will most likely associate himself with the player in the poster. This adds on to the other plethora of appeals this print ad has accomplished in order to persuade the GSW fans they must buy a dubnation product.