We Are At War!

The Iraq war. Completely and utterly pointless. What was the point of the war? To get back at Iraq? It was just a few selected men that caused the suffering in the United States, not the whole nation. So why did they have to go to war? Bush probably wanted to invade Iraq and Afghanistan for a long time, and that was just the catastrophe that needed to happen to validate his reasoning and push forth his scheme. He believed that they had weapons of mass destruction and made the whole nation believe him as well so that he could get them to support and help him in taking over Iraq and going to war. When it was finally out that there were no weapons of mass destruction, there was chaos throughout the nation.

The war was a selfish reason to play out his own plan. War makes us turn on our own species. It is another reason to kill and give thrill to our animal urges. What can be solved through war that cannot be solved through basic communication? Is it to make a bigger impact and really hit people in the face? But why do we need to do that if it causes so much pain? No matter what it is, society loves the drama and wants to have something to argue about. We strive for a utopian society, but war just pushes us further and further away. It creates hatred and doubt. You have to be either on one side or the other to be respected by people, if you are on the fence, you have no opinion. No matter your stance, you will always be ridiculed. War creates turmoil, anger, and frustration. Many soldiers have been quoted saying, “We are all going to die anyways, why not die for freedom and our country?” Even the idea of war brings about a pessimistic society. Do we really want to live in aggravation and fear all the time? I think subconsciously we want the commotion. We like it because it give us something to talk about and keeps life exciting.

The American Presidential Election

It came down to black vs. white, Democrat vs. Republican. The fight for President was a tough one, but in the end the winner was Barack Obama, leader of the Democrats!

There were many disputes over the fact that Obama was black. That was the reason many didn’t vote for him, and that was the reason many did. But what if we went back to the days when there was no television or internet, and all we had were radios and word of mouth. If we based our vote on how well he spoke and all the ideas he put forth, and were only able to hear this through the radio and were not able to see him through television, I am quite sure that many people that were against him would change their vote. This was very similar to the Kennedy and Nixon Presidential election. It came down to credible versus likable. They were framing politics through politicians. People were voting for the person and not their ideas. People who listened to the radio said Nixon had good points and won the debate, but people who watched him on television said he lost because he was sweaty, nervous, not trustworthy, and didn’t look likable.

Their campaign methods were quite interesting. McCain started to bad mouthing Obama in television campaign commercials. He may have thought that this would help his career, but it only made him seem very immature. He was the one that started it, but Obama soon followed. It quickly became a dissing battle. Obama than started to use youtube as a source of campaigning. This was a major reason he was able to advertise himself, because youtube is free, thus allowing him to save a lot of money. Have you ever noticed when you watched their commercials, how much it is like a movie trailer or even a movie? With all the makeup, lighting, camera editing, and what I find is the biggest aspect of it all, the music. They used music painting to help emphasis the mood when they were speaking. Advertisers do this to keep us entertained and wanting more. The election became a popularity contest and a form of entertainment. It was something newsworthy that gave people something new and exciting to talk about. 

In the end, I am hoping that most people voted Obama because of his dream of hope and change. His ideas seem like he is trying to Canadianize America by changing many of the American laws to something similar to what Canada has.

Culture Jamming

Culture Jamming is when an individual tries to move away from a mass society. One example of this is The Bubble Project. The Bubble Project is a projects that aims to fight against the biased ideologies of the media, especially marketing advertisers. They place blank comic-like speech bubbles on printed advertisements all around the city allowing anyone and everyone to write in whatever they like from their comments to dialogues. 

This is a brilliant idea. It forces people to think outside of what advertisers put into our heads by making us think of what we can write inside the speech bubbles. Moreover, not only are we able to write anything in the speech bubbles, but every person that walks by the advertisement will be able to read it as well. This not only allows people to read what has been written, but initiates new thoughts in their head, making them think of what they can put in there as well. Once these have been up for a while, they take pictures of them and than post them on their website allowing anyone who surfs the web to get an insight of what and how some people in society think. 

This is important because it allows us to laugh at what is being force-fed to us and not just blindly take it in. It makes us think, by giving us an artist’s most powerful yet scary tool, a blank slate. What we do with it is up to our imagination. It helps us to instigate critical thinking and step away from the mob society and allow us to be free thinking individuals.

Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day. The title itself is quite self explanatory. This day is designed to create awareness about over consumption. But I think it is a stupid waste of time. Sure it creates awareness, but what is it really solving? By not purchasing anything we are stopping our economy which will only hurt businesses and leaves the municipal government without any tax revenue. Our economy is already not in the best shape. Perhaps we should change it to buy local or Canadian day instead. By buying local or Canadian products you will be helping out the Canadian economy. By not buying anything it will mostly hurt the smaller businesses, whom already don’t make enough money to begin with. By boycotting, you will put these stores out of business. These stores could be one of the unique stores in the neighbourhood. If we are left with only big named stores, there will be nothing original about what we will purchase and once again live in a herd-like society.

I know by buying nothing for one day will not DRASTICALLY hurt these businesses, but the whole concept of reducing the amount of consumption to stop us from living in a materialistic society is ridiculous. What is really the harm in living in a world like that? Some may say it creates terrible values, but those can be changed based on a person. Someone can be a person who spends a lot of money or material goods, but have moral values at the same time. It has to be the individual who has to distinguish the good from the bad; products are not the ones that have the power over us, they are just objects; they are just there for pleasure.

National Media Education Week?

For the week of November third to the seventh, educators across Canada were supposed to create awareness about media literacy. I think they failed.

The only reason I knew about “National Media Education Week” was because I had to write this blog and Professor Lipton had mentioned it in lecture. Other than that, there was nothing around campus, on the radio or the internet that enlightened me about this event or gave me any awareness of what it had to offer. To find out what is happening with the media, you have to go look for it yourself and cannot expect for it to be handed to you on a silver platter. The only people that are aware of the twistedness of the media are the ones who truly care, and those are the ones that are media literate. If only the people who know about the media keep striving for more media intelligence, than it is just going to be a never ending circle where information flows only to those inside the circle of knowledge, but no one outside of it. But it shouldn’t be that way. Even if people do not care about media education, others should still bring about awareness, so perhaps those people will care, or at least will think about it and take it into consideration, so we don’t have to live in a herd-like society.  

I stand by everything what I say, but it is also our own fault that those who are media-illiterate are media-illiterate. Many people complain about how the media is taking over society, but they are not doing much about it. We have the right to know what is happening, and we have numerous sources to find out that information, whether we take it or not, is our own choice.

A choice. We can choose to be media-literate or not, but some people need that extra push. Many people know about the problems that are occurring in society, but choose not to do anything about it, that is their prerogative, but if they are the same people that complain about the immorality and dominance of media, there is a problem there.

On the whole, the whole point of “Media Education Week” was to create awareness, not only to the people that are literate, but those who aren’t as well. This is their little extra push. But if what it has to take is to be in a media class to hear about this week, than the ones who weren’t involved in media education, did not stand a chance.

Disneymania

Disney is taking over the world!

It really could be. It is one of the largest media corporations out there. They own a part of almost every, if not every, form of media and attraction. Disney started off producing cartoons for short films and than quickly branched off into television shows, larger film productions, record labels, a cruise lines, television networks, five major amusement parks across the globe, video games, stores, news and sports channels, clothing and accessories lines, movie and television production companies, theatre and radio stations, toys, marketing Disney celebrities, and much much more. Even with this large list, there are still lists under these lists; meaning they own more than one of each in each category. Disney is a good example of vertical integration and expansion. It has multiple holdings across a chain of productions, therefore they have greater control of their cost of resources because if you own various steps along the production process, it makes it cheaper. It reduces costs and maximizes efficiencies. It is a private business that focuses on making money. Michael Eisner, who is the CEO of the Walt Disney Co., has been quoted saying, “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective. (Shah 2007)” He openly admitted what their objective is. The more forms of media they own, the more money they will be able to make and the more control they will be able to have. They don’t even need to buy out companies that are similar to what they are anymore, they will buy anything and everything they can get their hands on. For example, ESPN and ABC News have nothing to do with children’s entertainment, yet they own it. The intent of cross media ownership is to develop an economy of scale and an economy of scope as well as deeper penetration into market.

The more corporations someone owns, the more control they have over society. Since Disney owns so much, they are able to have a larger influence on pressing their ideologies onto society than a smaller corporation could. It also allows every illegal or immoral thing they do to be kept “hush hush.” Because of the vast forms and amount of media they own, there is a smaller chance of anything wrong they do to be put out. Think about it. How many truly horrible things have you heard about Disney? Not that much right? They are quickly gaining a monopoly on many forms of media as well as monopoly of information. The more they own, the more power they have, and the more sources they have to validate their truths. 

 

Shah, Anup. “Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership.” http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership#globalissues-org. April 29, 2007. Nov. 24/08.

Net Neutrality

There have been debates about war, there have been debates about poverty, there have been debates about education, but the most common and current one is the debate about The Internet. There are two sides to this argument, you can either think it is an invasion of privacy or it is a source of quick and easy information.

The Internet can show you almost anything your heart desires, which can be a good thing for the individual, but perhaps not the best for everyone else. It can help teach you how to build bombs, the best methods of suicide,  child pornography and much more, and no parent wants their child to see that. Not only are there horrid things on the internet but it is also very easy to get viruses which can delete all your information from your computer. Furthermore, these viruses can be caused by hackers who can get into any computer from anywhere and steal any information about you or anything on your computer. Facebook is a major source of stalking as well. You can find out where someone lives, where they go to school, their email address, their phone numbers, how they look and who their friends are with just a click of a button. People like to use these websites to keep in touch with their friends, but what price are they willing to pay?  

On one hand, you can get pages and pages of information of what you are looking for extremely easily, but on the other hand this makes us become extremely lazy. We become totally dependent on finding information on the Internet and no where else. A lot of the information on the Internet can be changed around without anyone knowing, so many students that are using those cites as sources can be getting wrong information.

Since we can do everything online, from ordering food to movies to furniture to the newest gadgets and gizmos, we do not even need to leave the premise of our household, which can lead to an obese and slothful society. In the end, it is the matter of where we want to stand and how careful we want to be with the Internet. By the more awareness we put out and knowledge we pertain, we will be able to live in a safe cyberspace world.

Walking in a Media Wonderland

It was 8:30 am and I got up off my Ikea bed to turn off the radio alarm that was playing Pizza Pizza commercials. I than opened my closet and was rustling through my shelves of name brand clothing when I finally picked out American Eagle jeans and an Abercrombie and Fitch sweater, and picked up a pair of UGG’s along the way to match. As I walked out the door Chevrolet’s, Honda’s, Buick’s, and Sunfire’s were all parked in our neighborhood. I waited for the bus and when it stopped in front of me I noticed the huge Moxies commercial on the side of the bus. When I got on the bus I was bombarded with name brand clothes, back packs, glasses and shoes from students everywhere. Almost every student was listening to their Ipod or on their Motorola’s, Iphone or Blackberry’s. Inside the bus near the top was a line up of advertisements directed towards students, since the majority of bus riders are students. I got off the bus, and the rest of the day went pretty much like that.

There is no escaping media in today’s society, no matter how much you try. We are inundated with media everywhere we go. Everything has turned into a brand. I personally am a sucker for Burger King. Every time I see a Burger King commercial on television or I get coupons in the mail, four out of the five times I will go and buy some. In addition, whenever I get an email from Abercrombie or American Eagle, about their new  products in the store, I have to be the first one to buy them, I know, I am completely materialistic…I can’t help it!

Companies put their logo or slogan on everything they make just so that when someone else sees them, they  know where to go and they will consider buying it as well. Almost everyone is a walking advertisement. When I lived at home with my parents in Toronto it was worse. I actually had satellite television, which was where i spent a lot of my spare time in front of since we were able to get hundreds of channels, I was never bored, lets just say that. Toronto is a city much like New York; with every turn you are slapped in the face with hundreds of forms of media from television to radio to billboards to magazine to newspapers. The more we spend money on products, the more money they have to advertise or present radio and television shows, thus the more forms of media we have present.

Info-nation

Oh the Internet, where to begin… 

There have been several debates as to whether the internet is a good or bad thing and there are valid arguments for both sides. Personally, the Internet has drastically changed my life in both good and bad ways; I see it as being on a greyscale.

The Internet allows me to get what I need at the click of a button. It can be a good thing that I am getting what I want, but also a bad thing. I rely too heavily on having things done fast, if this technology fails me, I feel like my world is falling apart. I start to get frustrated if something takes too long to download or if i can’t find that one piece of information that I am looking for in a matter of seconds.

The Internet has also allowed me to speak with numerous amount of people from around the world at the same time without being charged long distance for making phone calls. Nevertheless, I am having less and less physical human interaction. People can be stuck in their houses for days without leaving to talk to someone. Information communication technology creates isolation, but also brings many together at the same time.

Information Communication Technology is something we use to transmit messages on our own time. It is something, for the most part, we are in control of. We do what we want, whenever we want. It is a major contributer to globalization. Without the Internet, I would not even be able to write this blog! It essentially is a free source of information. We can speak out and learn so much. Not only is it a great source of information, but it is also a major source of entertainment. ITC like television, radio, cameras, phones and Internet are all examples of that. Although ITC is very helpful, it is also extremely costly. As seconds progress, more and more new gadgets are being made, making more and more people want to buy them. People are spending more money trying to buy the latest Iphone than helping the the starving children in Africa. Researchers are also dropping major bills to try to find the next big thing, even if we don’t really need it. 

All in all, I cannot really complain. Sure the Internet can cause viruses and destroy all your data and sure there is a lack of privacy, but lets be realistic, we can easily solve those problems; it is not the end of the world. Information Communication Technology unites the world, even if the cost is us becoming a lazy technologically dependent society.

Just Keep Going and Going…

As I was flipping through the Cosmopolitan, October 2008 edition, magazine, I realized that many of us do not even think of the amount of thought advertisers put into what they are trying to sell. Cosmopolitan is a magazine that is directed towards females in their late teens to mid twenties. Every advertisement in this magazine is directed towards women, more importantly, it is directed towards women looking and feeling great.

I came across this one add that screamed out you need to buy me to live in this superficial world! Although, when just looking at the product you wouldn’t think that; It was an advertisement for the new AA4 Energizer Advanced Lithium battery (223).

First off, the Energizer bunny is pink. Most girls, well most that read this magazine, love the colour pink and bunnies. Moreover, it is placed on a white page with bubbly cursive pink writing with little hearts and swirls all over. It looks like a page from a girl who has a major crush on a boy and is doodling on her page instead of paying attention in class. There is a sarcastic message written saying how you shouldn’t buy this battery if you hate dating hollywood hunks because than you would be able to take four times more photos, look like a celebrity four times longer, you would have to strike four times more poses etc. You get the drift.

This ad is basically saying that the battery lasts a REALLY LONG TIME, therefore, you would be able to get that hot guy and look great right beside him, and have a million pictures to prove it.  This is one of the ways in which the media is trying to make people buy things to say that if you want to be beautiful and popular you should buy our product! They are drilling the idea of happiness by consumerism into everyones head, thus causing a shallow and materialistic world.

 

Energizer. Cosmopolitan. October 2008. 223.