"The Merchants of Cool", what a wild documentary. This documentary shows the process of marketers as they conduct surveys and focus groups, and scourge the streets to find the next "big" thing. These creators and sellers of popular culture have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. I will admit, I have been caught in the scheme of things. Most of the time I would consider myself to be outside of the sphere of marketing, but I know that to be false. I have been sold an ipod, a macbook, music, makeup...and I suppose the list could go on.
The place in life where I find myself seems to be a strange one. I ache to get away from media's attempts at selling me things and I long for the "good old days". I long for the days where people sit on the porch and drink iced tea with their neighbors and find out the latest news from each other instead of a gossip columnist on the internet. I long for things that I suppose won't happen in most people's lives, but I will try to make them happen in my life.
Looking at my fourteen year old sister, I can see the effects of media on her life, the Jonas brothers and Miley Cyrus being the center of many conversations. Texting seems to be turning into the main form of communication between young people. What if they started talking the way they text? Oh wait, some of them do. As you can see, I am bitter towards a few things that are taking place among our young people. Perhaps I am old fashioned? Yes, maybe. But I do recognize that media has a MAJOR effect on our young people and I don't see the benefits to it.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Anne-girl
Like every year, the coming of spring brings on thoughts of Anne of Green Gables. As a child I read all of the books several times over. My sister and I cut locks of each others hair just like Anne and Diana because we wanted something to remember each other by (as if we didn't have enough already). Tea parties and mud pies were our forte and dresses and fields sounded more than appealing to us. Anne of Green Gables was my hero.
The topic in class has been this idea of convergence. Mass media has become this crazy in-depth thing that I never would have expected. Well, since Anne of Green Gables has been on my mind as of late, I have been thinking about convergence within this text. This redhead girl Anne has been turned into many different forms. Not only are there books, there was a silent film made in 1919 adapting to the story, and another film made in 1934; from there on there have been seven television movies made, along with an anime series and another animated series, and a musical.
Over done? Maybe, but I haven't seen everything made in adaptation to the books. All I know is that the stories are lovely.
This loveable little redheaded girl Anne has made quite an impact on the world, influencing young girls and so many others.
The topic in class has been this idea of convergence. Mass media has become this crazy in-depth thing that I never would have expected. Well, since Anne of Green Gables has been on my mind as of late, I have been thinking about convergence within this text. This redhead girl Anne has been turned into many different forms. Not only are there books, there was a silent film made in 1919 adapting to the story, and another film made in 1934; from there on there have been seven television movies made, along with an anime series and another animated series, and a musical.
Over done? Maybe, but I haven't seen everything made in adaptation to the books. All I know is that the stories are lovely.
This loveable little redheaded girl Anne has made quite an impact on the world, influencing young girls and so many others.
Friday, March 20, 2009
peace
Wow. I'm not very good at blogging. Over spring break I had every intention of participating in "amnesty week", but unfortunately my addiction to reading other people's blogs kicked in. Strange how that works.
While "stalking" people on facebook (aka looking at their pictures), I have noticed a similar theme between the "indie" crowd. That is, I have noticed that it is pretty cool to hold up the peace sign when someone takes your picture.
http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/58/81/miley_cyrus.0.0.0x0.300x400.jpeg
I will be honest, I have done it before. But, what are our intentions when we hold up the sign? This got me thinking about the denotative and connotative meanings of the peace sign. The v-sign, or the peace sign is a hand gesture with the index and middle fingers open and all of the others closed facing the viewer. The denotative meaning for this sign is victory and developed into a sign of peace during protests against the Vietnam War. As time went on this peace sign became a sign of love for the hippies as they chanted about peace and love and freedom.
Now, this sign of peace seems to have become a trivial thing to do when taking pictures. And t-shirts, jewelery, bumper stickers are plastered with the peace sign. Perhaps I am too judgmental and people are really meaning well and hope for peace when they flash this sign. Are we really striving for peace?
While "stalking" people on facebook (aka looking at their pictures), I have noticed a similar theme between the "indie" crowd. That is, I have noticed that it is pretty cool to hold up the peace sign when someone takes your picture.
http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/58/81/miley_cyrus.0.0.0x0.300x400.jpeg
I will be honest, I have done it before. But, what are our intentions when we hold up the sign? This got me thinking about the denotative and connotative meanings of the peace sign. The v-sign, or the peace sign is a hand gesture with the index and middle fingers open and all of the others closed facing the viewer. The denotative meaning for this sign is victory and developed into a sign of peace during protests against the Vietnam War. As time went on this peace sign became a sign of love for the hippies as they chanted about peace and love and freedom.
Now, this sign of peace seems to have become a trivial thing to do when taking pictures. And t-shirts, jewelery, bumper stickers are plastered with the peace sign. Perhaps I am too judgmental and people are really meaning well and hope for peace when they flash this sign. Are we really striving for peace?
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