Media Archives | Page 12 of 13

There is Media, then there is Reality – Abortion

August 1, 2008 No Comments

On one side, we see life through the lens of media. We see love stories, we see excitement, we see happy endings. Then there is reality where there are life scarring break ups, daily boredom that drives you mad, and people who are not very happy with where there life is going. We watch, see what we want, expect our lives to be pan out in a similar way and when it doesn’t.. we can easily become discontent with what we have now. Why don’t I have this? Why don’t I live like that?

Last week I wrote a blog post on media’s affect on sexual freedom and how media glorifies the promiscuous, carefree lifestyle and how it has impacted our views on the merits of abstinence. Well on the other side of this lifestyle is the dark realities that go often unspoken. Scarred hearts, ruined lives, loss of trust in people after being hurt, and the big ones such as STDS and Abortion. The real life consequences that for some reason TV shows don’t like to highlight and if it does, the problem somehow wraps up in 30 minutes or an hour and all is good at the end.

There is a site called “abortionchangesyou.com” that has stories of real people and their real experience dealing with the emotional consequences of abortion. Some speak for themselves, others for a loved one. Either way its a stark reality check that life isn’t as simple as the fictional stories we see on our tv screens or movie theaters. It also gives a moment of pause for those battling between pro choice and pro life that amidst all the fighting and arguing, there are real people out there that we should be sensitive to especially as it has become such a prominent political issue.

Think: At current abortion rates, 1 in 3 women in the US will have an abortion by age 45.

My Child would have been 22 this year
As a teenager, I assumed legalized abortion was necessary for women to attain their educational and career goals. So it’s not surprising that when I became pregnant at 18, I had an abortion.

I was completely unprepared for the emotional fallout after the abortion.

Articles, Movies

Reacting to Religion Based Movies

July 30, 2008 No Comments

No one would argue that movies and TV shows have tremendous impact on our culture and our worldview. Where do you get your concept of courage? How about what an ideal friendship should be like? An ideal spouse? What is acceptable when it comes to violence or any moral decisions? What is culturally normal and not normal when it comes to how we treat different circumstances, especially circumstances we’ve never experienced but may experience in the future? Would you know how guns work, or how two lovers engage in love? Where did you (or your parents who told you) get the idea of “if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything”? (Which I would argue goes against the grain of reality, though really nice to cling onto).

It has always been interesting to see how nonchalant viewers are to all the culture defining messages found in film. Either they don’t see it, or they don’t care. However when it comes to a faith themed movie, there seem to always be strong reaction. It is treated differently. Below are some excerpt from Breakpoint which describes this situation. Though the article itself is directed more towards Christian I found it to be an interesting read.

When the Christian film Facing the Giants came out in 2006, far more interesting than the movie itself were the reactions to it. Mainstream critics were almost universally dismissive—it “feels like an overly earnest church sketch of the type many evangelical congregations use as a teaching tool on Sunday between the worship music and pastor’s message,”

And yet some enthusiastic viewers unwittingly gave the impression that they had enjoyed the film because it was their duty to do so. That impression was perhaps best summed up by Ted Slater of Boundless, who wrote, “Let’s not knock a movie that encourages faith in God.”

Video

Media Perception of Beauty Revisited

July 26, 2008 No Comments

Just wanted to let you all know that the onslaught video video link was fixed. If you find any other links not working please just leave a comment and it’ll be fixed right away.

For those who might not be familiar with the onslaught video, it is the one of the video that dove created in their “beauty” campaign where they tackle the issue of media’s influence on the perception of beauty. It followed a video called “evolution” that quickly went viral and had became a huge topic of discussion. It is a must-see video.

Note that you could click on one of the “categories” on the right to see the full list of entries by category. If you click on Video, you’ll see some great videos worth watching.

My Personal Favorites
Untitled – Great Video, beautifully made, wonderful story
Nickelback – Savin’ Me – Makes you think about the fragility of life. Puts life into perspective.

Please leave comments and share your thoughts!

Advertising, Articles, Movies

Media’s Impact on Sexual Freedom

July 22, 2008 No Comments

Has anyone noticed that all media articles regarding teen sex, condoms and abstinence always emphasize and focus on the spread of STDs and nothing else? Editorials and commentaries used to make the case of abstinence as a moral stance or a wholesome alternative to the sexually active world we live in. It also focused on the emotional risk involved with premarital sex. Now our culture has bent so far into the realm of sexual promiscuity that the only way people could even suggest abstinence is by fear of STDs. If you are going to raise the sexual freedom flag, why is abstinence ridiculed while ones who “score” or get “laid” considered cool or great?

Internet, News

Kids Consuming More Online Content

July 11, 2008 No Comments

Nielsen Online came out with a report showing that children consume more online streams and videos than those over 18. Kids 2-11 viewed an average of 51 streams and 118 Minutes of online video per person a month. Teenagers 12-17 watched 74 streams and 132 minutes of online video per person. The youngest group mainly watched children TV programming while older groups watched trailers, music videos and clips generated by other users.

Monthly Online Video Consumption among Kids, Teens and Adults (U.S., Home Only, April 2008)
*Age*	*Unique Viewers (000)*	*Unique Viewer Comp %*	*Streams per Viewer*	*Min per Viewer*
2-11	7,966	8.4	51.0	117.9
12-17	11,632	12.3	74.2	132.4
18+	75,122	79.3	44.3	99.4
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, June 2008

Articles, Internet, News

Quick Hits – Media Impact on Children

July 9, 2008 No Comments

Does Media have an impact on our children? This question is no longer a question but something validated through numerous studies over time. Yet why is it that most families continue to allow our children and teens to sit hours on end in front of a TV screen or bother to read up on or screen movies before allowing them to watch? Is it because of the convenience of using the TV as the ultimate babysitter? Is it because we don’t bother to really think about it and assume it our children and teens would know the difference of what is right and wrong? Is it because we have gotten used to the violence and sexual imagery used in almost every single TV show and Movie? Every single one of these points are probably true. We all know how much media affects us, how much more for the internet generation where every piece of media is only a click away?

I had such a fellow in my kindergarten who was very sensitive to television watching. In his play he always identified enemies, be they sharks, monsters or other children, and fortified himself and attacked them. Gradually, as TV was minimized in his life, (unfortunately it was never eliminated), his play became more social and less aggressive. However, several times during the year he visited his grandparents for a week at a time, where the TV was on most of the time. He came back in full attack mode. At such times he would push children down on the playground, and he would say to me, “They were going to hurt me,”

Internet, News, Social Media

How Safe are Social Networks?

July 7, 2008 No Comments

In June, Common Sense Media released a comparative analysis the Internet safety features on the most popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, YouTube, Club Penguin among others.

Though there has been significant improvements over time in building safety features for the users, more than half of the sites were deemed not adequate. Also many of the features are not easy to find or too obscure for the users. However it is still too easy for someone (think: children or teens) to lie about their age or access bad or inappropriate sites or videos.

Movies

Themes of Wall-E

June 28, 2008 3 Comments

All about the Themes

Wall-E was definitely a Pixar quality film. I learned never to doubt Pixar no matter how peculiar or odd the trailers may be. I once questioned how good a movie could be about a talking fish. I was immediately blown away by Finding Nemo. In the same way, when I saw the trailer for some animated super hero movie I thought, could they really pull this off? It was incredible (that’s right i said it). So when a movie about talking cars came out I said, forget it I trust Pixar, it’ll be great. It was. When Wall-E’s trailer first came out about some small robot that barely talks.. I was game. As expected of Pixar, the story was well written, the CG animation was truly amazing especially in the way they humanize these robots, but what made this film special was its themes. No I am not talking about the romantic aspect of it (in fact I thought it was a bit too much) – but the themes of loneliness, relationships, comfort and materialism. Without giving away any of the story, the movie really highlights where our society is headed. Perhaps the extremity of what we see in the movie will never quite come true, but it does highlight the comfort driven mentality that all of us has. In fact in a span of 700 years (which the movie depicts), who knows, perhaps its very possible.Comfort is what drives us to do much of what we do. We study hard and try to beat everyone else in school so we could graduate with top honors. Why? So we could work hard and get a great job so we could live in comfort. It is common in our society to leave family or friends behind to go to a new school or a job. Parents may be sad, and friends upset but ultimately it is almost a given that leaving relationships like this is the right thing to do because hey, you have to earn a great living right? Perhaps it is due to technology and the ease of travel and communication, but honestly does it have to be this way? Is it really wrong for us to forgo a going to a good college or pursuing a great job because we value our relationships just that much more?

Movies

Ironman and Prince Caspian – Clean Cut or Not?

May 17, 2008 No Comments

Ironman

Honestly this movie didn’t peak my interest when I first saw the trailer. In fact the trailer wasn’t that great and looked like it would turn out to be a mindless action film with a poor plot. However after seeing stellar reviews across the board including a 93% rating in rotten tomatoes and A- rating in Yahoo, I went to watch this film. It ended up being a very well made movie. The plot was good story of redemption, the acting was great, the pace and mood was well controlled and the film work was well done. I also left thinking that it was a relatively clean movie opposed to all the movies that have come out these days. Violence was somewhat tame and sexual scenes very minimal. However that really got me thinking.

Advertising, Video

New Dove Beauty Campaign “Onslaught” Video

March 22, 2008 No Comments

Video focuses on a child’s face than proceeds to show seemingly a hundred ads in a matter of 20 seconds showing the “onslaught” of media that a child sees in regards to what is considered beauty. The ads vary from skin product commericals, cosmetic surgeries, diet ads, skinny models dancing, provocative ads on the streets and so on. Only 5% of children consider themselves beautiful. I am not surprised. Please be aware there are a few provocative sexual imagery shown (ex. models dancing). The clips themselves are only a fractional of a second to 2 seconds long.

Advertising, Video

Distorted Perception of Beauty

March 22, 2008 No Comments

There is no explanation needed for this one. The video speaks for itself. What is it about our culture that shapes our perception of what define beauty when it comes to people? Why are people treated differently for the way they look? Why does the way one look tie so heavily with how we feel about ourselves? Think about the “beautiful people” in Movies, TV Shows, Print Ads… Enjoy.

Video

Creativity, Humor, & Randomness

March 22, 2008 No Comments

I appreciate creativity and humor. I also love to share what I find, so as I run into different videos that strikes me either due to the content, creativity, or humor – it will be posted here under the category of “Others”. Hope you can appreciate the videos that I have learned to appreciate for their various quirks. Two Videos below.

Who Am I – Executed by the Oslo UPC Youth Group (high school). Very Creative. Remember this is high schoolers. It is done to the song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns

Random simple video that tickled me like it would a child. Don’t ask. Videos like these are such a far cry from what children are exposed to in our generation.