Movie Review: High School Musical 3 – The Message

High School Musical 3 has been gaining a lot of attention especially with the youth. The series has been known to be clean, fun and safe to take the family. As a full disclosure, I have never seen a single ones of these movies. However as someone spends a great deal of time mentoring youth, I wanted to take the time to at least read about it. Though it’s rated G, you really don’t know these days. I’ve walked into movies that are pg-13 with very questionable content. Also what I find even more dangerous are the underlying messages of what is right and wrong, what is the norm, a way of thinking… these subtle things have much more of a lasting impact in the way we view our lives and the world.

What you will find in this post has nothing to do with how good the story is or how well the movie was made, just excerpts talking about the messages conveyed in the film. Note these are excerpts from articles or comments I’ve read so it doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with it! I tried not to leave in spoilers, but no promises.

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Social Network – Facebook – Friends Forever

Facebook Logo - Large Square“Thanks to Facebook, I never lose touch with anyone. And that, my Friend, is a problem.”

A perusal of my Facebook Friend roster reveals that I, a medium-social individual of only middling lifetime popularity, have never lost a friend. They’re all there: elementary school friends, high school friends, college friends, work friends, friends of friends, friends of ex-girlfriends—the constellation of familiar faces crowds my Friendbox like medals on Mussolini’s chest. I’m Friend-rich—at least onscreen. I’ve never lost touch with anyone, it seems. What I’ve lost is the right to lose touch. – Wired Magazine

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Children See, Children Do. Media & Parents

Below is a video depicting the influence of parents and adults on their children. It is always amazing how much children are fully aware of what goes on around them and pick up on subtle cues and actions.

Though this video does not necessarily talk about media’s impact on children or our culture, it does highlight (though the form of media) that rather than simply blaming media for everything that has gone wrong, we as a whole need to take personal ownership over how our actions and behavior impact those around us especially the children.

Watch the video and read on below!

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Role of Media in Promoting Smoking & Tobacco Use

A new 685 page report from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) backs the claim that smoking in movies influences children to smoke. The report is called “The role of the Media in Promoting and Reducing Tabacco Use”.

The NCI found that tabacco advertising and marketing is causally linked to increased tobacco use. It also states that smoking depicted in films and movies are causally related to smoking initiation among youth. There are very few movies out there where smoking isn’t shown as a normal part of life. Smoking is done so casually on TV and movie programs that it simply seems like something anyone would normally do. This is most likely old news for most people, but the rate in which smoking scenes are appearing in movies may catch you slightly off guard.

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Who Regulates Online Advertising & Marketing to Children?

A new report by Berkeley Media Studies Group, part of the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, California focuses on the different methods companies use to advertise food to kids. It focuses on methods that have become popularized in the last two years such as the utilization of social networks. The main concern is that though mediums such as TV are somewhat regulated, but the online world still has no true regulations. Junk food advertising has been a huge concern and lawmakers have started to move to present a proposal to Congress to restrict junk food advertising. One author of the report says “With social networking, marketers are getting the kids to create the ads and share them with their friends. It is incredibly sticky and it is viral. Regulators need to understand that.”

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Media Perception of Beauty Revisited

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!

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Media’s Impact on Sexual Freedom

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?

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Kids Consuming More Online Content

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
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