Persuasions: Identities, Stereotypes, & Fights

My group is doing a stop motion film. What that is, is a series of photographs that will be in slideshow form, moving so fast that it almost appears as a movie. We chose to do this because it will allow for the highest quality, since I have a Nikon D3000, and because it will impact the viewers differently than will every other group’s project. You have to be original right!? So far, we are going with a love story, as I posted about in my original proposal. This will allow many different perspectives to be seen at once; the perfection seeking boy and girl and the boy and girl who are comfortable in their own skin. I’m hoping our message is clear to everyone; that perfection seeking will end in disappointment.

My progress on finding relevant information on Lady Gaga’s effects on society was quick and easy. The only problem that I have is writing my essay. The pressure to write the perfect essay is high when I have all the information at my disposal and approved. I guess whats left is my video. I’m not afraid of it because I have already used Mac’s Final Cut Pro and luckily I have it on my Mac. Shooting scenes or whatever is needed for the digital essay might be the only problem considering my last project I was on my friend’s roof and got kicked out by the landlord. Being on private property is definitely a problem.

I’m gathering material for my topic, I already have my copy of Romeo and Juliet and I have some ideas I want to work on. In terms of the digital part, I’m thinking of reenacting scenes from Romeo and Juliet, but I’m unsure of whether to portray the scenes exactly, or to do them in a modern sense. Actually I’m kinda worried abut writing a 7-10 page analysis but once I get all my ideas down, I think I’ll be able to cover that much.

I’m really excited about the video part of the research. I’m not a pro at making videos, but I love trying new things involving technology. I think that this will be really fun. I don’t know how I’m going to do my video yet, we’re still trying to find a way that we [me anna brianna] can do the video part together. I would really prefer to do it with them.

I looked through my computer programs and I have windows maker =D now I just gotta figure out how to use it!

Hi all,

I am happy to say that I’ve secured us all seats at the lecture that we had mentioned going to (when Luke Waltzer came to class).  Please let me know if you are unable to attend. I’ve gotten us all reserved seats. Here is the information:

How Should the University Evolve?

A Conversation About the Future of Higher Education

Thursday, November 18, 2010–6PM to 8PM

VC14-220

I want to write this paper about the health of every woman that is influenced by the media. The main thing I want to focus on is commercials. People hate waiting for commercials so why are there are always three to four of them within a half hour show? As we’re waiting impatiently for our show to come back on, the commercials are out to trick us. Commercials portray everything in a positive way towards their product and don’t tell us the flaws. It makes everything so perfect and creates envy. Envy to be able to be like those super skinny, perfect proportioned, unbelievably gorgeous women in every commercial. Sadly, people attempt to be like this, hurting themselves physically and mentally; harming their health. Along with commercials that make us envy others, there are commercials on food. These commercials are advertised by skinny men/women that inform us about how good the food is but never about how unhealthy it is. Commercials are harming our health in every way possible.

I think this would be a great topic to write about for my 7-10 page research paper because it is specific yet broad. My topic isn’t too specific so it can be very flexible. Having flexibility is a great thing so I am not limited to talk about only one thing. I feel as though I would be able to research a lot and talk about various things in commercials that affect us. I definitely want to make use of good sources. Online resources will be a huge part of my research project. I would be able to find an abundant amount of information about my topic on the web. I plan to prove that media affects a person’s health in a negative way. I hope to achieve this by writing about how big of an impact media through commercials give to people watching.

Most people might not even realize it but media plays an enormous role in their everyday lives. Every single time you walk out onto the street, you are bombarded by over a thousand examples of media in the form of advertising.  There is advertising on everything, and everywhere. The posters stuck to the poles, the labels on purses, the walls on buildings, even the tag on the bag of your shirt. Whether or not a person is conscious of it, media is what affects the way a person makes their decisions. Another way of putting it is: monkey see, monkey do. Public figures in media on ads and commercials are idolized for the way they behave, and for the way they dress. Public figures are sometimes sponsored by companies to wear their product because of this.

Walking down the street as a normal pedestrian, I take notice of my surroundings. I see the iPod ad, the Dunkin’ Donuts poster, the 7Eleven flyer, the huge billboard for treating hemorrhoids. Walking down the street as a normal girl, I take notice of the apparel of many. I see the Burberry rainboots that girl is sporting, the Gucci tote the woman is carrying, the Urban Outfitters jacket that girl is wearing, and the Uggs that dude is rocking in 70 degree weather. But what I also see without recognizing it is the colors of the ad, the wording and the style which makes the clothes and posters so appealing. There is a clear influence on ads on our society but the point I want to make in my paper is that sometimes the influence isn’t always that clear. What makes you chose one product over the other? Just as fans of celebrities scrutinize the celebrity, every single aspect of an ad, no matter how simple it appears to be is scrutinized to the tiniest detail, and even the smallest error can make or break the ad.

Media:

Media Artifact

I’m a very complex guy and I’m very picky when it comes to the girls I like. I’ve come to find that I like girls that are well spoken, smart, funny, sarcastic, caring, and talkative. I like girls that I could have a conversation with about anything, the type that I can take out to dinner and not be worried that I’ll get embarrassed because of her behavior. But the sad truth is that none of these things are what I see at first. When I’m walking down the street the first thing I do is look at a girls face and if I don’t find her pretty I usually walk away, not bothering to take a second glance.
I was raised with a sister who is three years older than me and when I was a child I would sit and watch as she would take her Barbie and Ken and have them make out, and this stuck with me for quite a few years. I believed that only girls with curves, straight teeth, and long hair were attractive. Not only would I see my sister play with these dolls, I would see her sit these dolls on her bureau and fix her hair so that her and Barbie had the same exact hairstyle, and I thought to myself “If my sister looks like Barbie, then every girl should look like Barbie!”. It was not until years later that I discovered that some of the most attractive and interesting females I’ve come to encounter look nothing like Barbie.
Along with Danielle Minch and Vicky Vien I am going to make a still motion film demonstrating how people who waste their lives looking for perfection will end up alone. Our media artifact is an advertisement for a line of Barbie’s called ‘Barbie Basics’, where there are 12 Barbie’s, all of different races. The sad truth is that no real women looks like any of these twelve, so going after a human look alike is a waste of time.
In my actual paper I will write about how men are raised in a society where women are presented as meat and we are raised to believe that only certain women are attractive. I will also make it clear that there is no real Barbie out there, and that we as men ought not focus on looks only, but what lies underneath the surface. The truth of the matter is that I need a REAL woman in my life.

My Point Exactly.

What is love? Love is something that cannot be defined; it has so many shapes, forms and variations that there is no one definition for the word.  So how can we begin to define it? What makes something an act of love and not something else? We base our answers to these questions based on our experiences and largely the society surrounding us.  I feel that in our society, media and works of literature portray love as an ideal perfect romance, paired with intimacy, understanding, and a “happy ever after”.  We are influenced to believe that love is supposed to be everlasting and close to perfection, that one person can fulfill our needs and desires.

Films and works of literature that portray this so called “love” are Romeo and Juliet, The Twilight Series,  Titanic , etc. However, it’s not just limited to films and books. Music, commercials, and ads all bomb us with this ideal love. There’s even an entire holiday dedicated to romanticism, which we call Valentine’s Day. With all these media sources constantly pushing the idea of love into us, is there any wonder why we are so influenced by all of it?

So knowing the influence the media has on our ideas about love, I want to examine it in detail in a paper. I want to dissect popular preconceptions about love and examine in detail just how realistic they are. The ideal love is something that is pushed on us by countless sources, and isn’t something that can be realistically pursued. I will use this as the driving thesis of my research paper, and prove it through examples and my media.My media artifact is a music video of titanic which I believe is a classic example how media influences us on love.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known for her stage name, Lady Gaga has repeatedly slapped our faces with her outrageous outfits, awkward music videos, and catchy music. Her influence on the media has led her to be nominated as the 4th most influential woman by Forbes Magazine.

As I struggled to think of “What role does media play in our society?” I immediately thought of Lady Gaga and started to find out how she influences her followers. I came across Lady Gaga\’s Attempt to Repeal DADT. I was not surprised to find Lady Gaga in support of anti-discrimination reforms/laws but then i came across Gaga followers who don\’t know anything about DADT. They were simply under the influence of Lady Gaga’s view and hardly knew anything but they were able to get the support of their senator as seen here. The effect that Lady Gaga has on society with a simple video is simply “speechless”.

In comparison to the article we read in the beginning of the semester, Bieber for President(?), I’m thinking, Gaga for President for this research paper. With her blunt views, fashion sense, and relatable music, Lady Gaga has used the media as a tool to influence her fans and alter society’s monotonous view on topics such as politics and fashion by acting as a role model.