Media Blog Reflection

          Well it has been a quick past few months and these media blogs have been pretty helpful for me. When I started writing them I was a bit confused since it just felt like something I could just do during school but it really didn't turn out to be like that. It turned out to be something I enjoyed doing every week because I was able to look into new ideas and reports which opened up my mind even more than the class already did itself.
          The first few blogs started out as pretty iffy in my opinion. I felt like they weren't as in depth as I would of preferred now a days. The time it took me to write them lasted about 15-20 minutes which isn't too bad but I have definitely progressed in that aspect as time has gone by. I now do it for around 30 minutes which is a nice step up from before. Another thing I have improved on is the topics that I have chosen. In the beginning I feel like I sort of breezed through them and didn't give them much thought but now, I really feel like I improved my thinking so I could get the best topic possible. When I did blogs on the documentaries that we watched, I also think that they helped with my critical thinking a lot more than I thought it would. I feel like they opened my mind up to so many more subjects so I could look at even more aspects of the ideas that were presented and all of the alternate views that could be taken on them, even the relationship aspect where I could relate myself and others I know to it.
          An overview of the experience that it has given me has been nothing but special in my opinion. I feel that media blogs can be a really important aspect in a Critical Thinking student's life. It really does help open the mind so it can dig deeper into seemingly simple subjects. I think I have grown by writing them and I think it is something that others can grow through as well to get the best possible education inside of the Critical Thinking class.

Sex Appeal-Missrepresentation Analysis

          Wow. That film was a lot to take in. I don't really know where to start in regards to the age of some girls throughout this film. The most mind blowing thing to me was the thirteen year old girl who was grinding on guys who very well could of been older than her which doesn't seem right at all because of how young she is. The film looked a bit older which would make sense since these situatons weren't looked at as much as we view them now. Age is a crazy thing that can have major implications on one's life if someone else is under age.

          Through the time that we watched it, I thought for the whole time that she was sort of being breed to be a sex symbol at this MTV party. What I wonder is that if they still use kids this young who look even older than they really are for promotional events. It is sort of disheartening to see it happen to a kid this young because they have so much potential in their lives since they haven't experienced everything in life yet. I am hoping that this type of sex appeal doesn't happen anymore because anything under 18 is too young to use for body promotions.

Violent Video Games In Media

          In our day in age, violence surrounds us in our daily lives and it has been our job to subdue it so we can eradicate it from our society. One thing has been here for a while now and does not seem to be going away and that is violent video games. These titles range from GTA, Call of Duty, and Battlefield who almost all have a new game come out in the fall season. These games let the user torture and kill in almost every aspect imaginable. These are promoted through commercials and online ads and they get to the general population of people. One thing that is iffy about this situation is the exposure to the younger generations.

          Back in the day, 2010-2017ish, game ratings had a big impact on parents. On every game it would be posted in a ad that it is M for mature or anyone that is 17 and up and you would have to purchase said game with someone older than 17 if you were to buy it in store. Then the internet happened where almost anyone of any age could purchase it with the click of a button. Some say an exposure to this violence can lead them down a bad path into the future of their lives. This isn't always the case though. In the past year, Fortnite has taken the world by storm but not many realize what it still is. It is still a game of free for all and whoever survives wins, there is still death amongst these games. You can see kids at ages as low as 6 playing this game and it is only starting them early so they can soon play CoD and all of the other violent titles as they age more.

          As we move further into a restrictive society with parents watching their kids seemingly 24/7, it should be taken into consideration what they are really being exposed to and if they have the ability to get to the media outlets that are supposed to be banned.

What is Rap in media?

          What even is Rap nowadays? At one point it had a true meaning and now most are based on sex, money, and drugs. If you go on any large social media account you can see teens or adults trying to promote their music through the comment section. The thing is, no one is really going to care about the music if it is exactly the same as every other artist. Most artists come in with a "gangster" attitude when they most likely haven't had a background that isn't anywhere close to what those backgrounds used to be like, they just try to fit in with everyone else.

          In the 90's through the 2000's rap had a meaning behind it. It had a message that you had to listen to listen to so you could understand the music. For instance, Today Was A Good Day by: Ice Cube talks about enjoying a good positive day and there is something new about his day in each portion of the song, not like sex, drugs, guns, sex, drugs, guns, sex, drugs, guns, that we see today is most rap. This message can either out today's youth down a positive path because they know what to stay away from or it can put them down a bad path that might leave them corrupt at some point in time. It is so easy to get your hands on crude music because it can be found on any platform which leaves it available to get to even the younger generations of kids.

          This ideology of music will remain with us for while. As media grows, the output of this music will increase because more and more people will by influenced by it. It will be interesting to see if rap goes back to the 90s style like clothing has been doing through its promotion through media and media accounts.

The Mook in our lives; response to "Merchants of Cool"

          Who is the real look that is represented in our lives? For young and old, a mook has most likely come across us at some point in our lives. Now they probably haven't influenced us for the best reasons but we are still entertained by their actions and what they do for a living.

          The modern mook in our day and age can most likely be found online on sites like YouTube, examples could range from JustDustin to Mr.Beast who entertain us by doing stupid actions. This can range from spending thousands of dollars on random items to playing with weapons and trying to break 100 layers of paper. Despite risking their lives at some points, they continue to do it for our entertainment and for their profit financially. But why are we drawn to these people despite them not having any effect on us that could educate us? Well, we like people putting their life on the line I guess and that can lead us to the books that were around in the past.

          Jackass. Jackass was one of the most popular Tv shows on MTV back in the late 90s and early 2000s. This show emphasized the word YOLO because the cast risked their lives by doing near death scenes every single episode. They got so popular that they realesed 5 original movies which made it to theaters and dvd. This then evolved into Jackass influenced movies that come out once every three years or so. It is interesting because this line of film is slowly aging and dying off. It seems that no one really wants to see near death activities or crude humor as much as they did in the past. Or maybe there is just no more people who want to do these acts for our entertainment.

          The mook has been and will always be with us in media in some form. Despite having to influence on us, they will always be an outlet for humor for us and they will continue to prosper if people are still into that line of entertainment.

Teens Equal Big Cash according to Frontline's Episode "Merchants of Cool"

           Teens, what can we say, we like to spend cash, and lots of it at some points. If you go to Arden Fair Mall on a regular weekend, you will see dozens of teenagers walking around with bags from major name brand stores like Footlocker, Victoria Secret, Journey's, Champs and so many more. What all of these companies have in common is the appeal that they bring to teenagers which allows them to bring in the big bucks from out of all of their pockets. In Frontline's 2001 Episode called "Merchants of Cool", they found out that back then, teens spent 150 billion on goods each year across America. Imagine what that number is at now 18 years later, it could easily be in the upper 800 millions to trillions maybe. It is crazy to think of just teenagers spending this much money, but why do they?
          Marketing businesses find the appeals of teens by celebrity promotions or just making something that fits perfectly in the current time frame and it draws all the money in. The reason this works is because when teens get one, all they want to do is pend it, not many save it for the future so these companies live off of impulse buys which comes from big promotions and sales. I for one have been a victim of this marketing scheme but I have learned to save money so I can have a really good use for it if I need it in the future. But where does this strain of money come from? Parents are most likely the source of money from most teens or they get it from birthdays, Christmas, other holidays, or maybe they actually have a job. When a teen gets that first paycheck in their direct deposit, you feel so powerful to have that type of money in your hand which leads to the impulse to spend.
          Teens will continue to be big for America's economy if it keeps rising at this rate because there is no real end in sight for it. As the days pass by, there will continue to be even more cash for teens to spend on goods which will help the big companies even more that draw them all in.

What can social media do to the teenage mind?

          For years there has been speculation over how social media affects young adults and teenagers. The idea that the teenage mind might not be ready for so much of an over exposure to the world is a idea that is thought over by many parents before they let their child have an Instagram or Snapchat account. It might affect the way they think or distract them from school which is something that is totally reasonable to think about. But why is it such a dangerous place to travel into?
          Cyber bullying has been on the rise as social media platforms have grown over the past few years. This type of bullying can lead to these teens and kids to hurting themselves and maybe even killing themselves in some situations. It's the sad reality that comes with this media. By posting a picture online, it will stay there forever in some form and that is when people will call the poster out or just dm them mean things. Some teens just decide to stay off of social media so it can ease their mind and so they can focus on their job or school work which is a pretty smart decision because some kids can stay on media for at least 6 plus hours a day without even realizing it.
          How can this problem be fixed? Well, there isn't really much to it other than parents limiting their child's time on it or teens just decided to stay away from it. It would seem like the platforms would alert their users of the situations that happen inside of their companies base but nothing really happens from that since it never happens from what I have seen. A resolution should hopefully be on its way at some point but for now, we can only hope it gets better so our generation doesn't get worse because it is really good as of now.