As we continue to work on our junior themes I am feeling confident and stressed at the same time. Friday in class I finally put to paper what my research had culminated in. I got to four major points as an answer to my WHY question and I realized I had a lot more than I originally thought. This not only got me organized for the upcoming writing of my paper but also boosted my confidence level. Before I did this I was stressing that no matter how much research I did, I wouldn't be able to fit it into a coherent paper that could successfully answer my WHY question. Now I have gotten it down and feel I am ready and prep-ed to move forward.
At the same time, like many others in the class, I am struggling to manage the stress of the end of junior year. While it hasn't been as bad as some of my friends, the culmination of sports, schoolwork and college prep work I understand while seniors call junior year hell. For all of those who are feeling like I am right now, here is a link to a sleepcalculator website (just so we can try to be well rested for the 9 weeks left of school). So, while I am confident in my paper so far, I cannot wait for junior theme to be turned in and done with!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
"The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"
Today I saw the movie trailer for a new film coming out called The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. It is a documentary film by the director of Super Size me that focuses completely on product placement. A concept we have been talking a lot about in class, product placement is the advertisement of products in a media source usually devoid of advertisements. It is most commonly used in television shows, movies and music videos. The film The Greatest Movie Ever Sold takes a head on approach to product placement. It is a movie that documents the logistics of product placement, but is 100% funded by the products themselves.
The part that stood out to me the most was at 1:42 in the trailer when the man he was interviewing says that people deserved to be warned about the products that were being advertised. And immediately in the film pop-ups start forming about which brands were being displayed. And I was shocked to see that I was completely unaware of what I was being shown as advertisement. Although the things listed were not directly being drawn notice to in the original shot, we were still being exposed to the products.
Do you agree with the man who said that we deserve to be notified when we are exposed to product placement? Or, does product placement lose its affect when people are told of its presence?
The part that stood out to me the most was at 1:42 in the trailer when the man he was interviewing says that people deserved to be warned about the products that were being advertised. And immediately in the film pop-ups start forming about which brands were being displayed. And I was shocked to see that I was completely unaware of what I was being shown as advertisement. Although the things listed were not directly being drawn notice to in the original shot, we were still being exposed to the products.
Do you agree with the man who said that we deserve to be notified when we are exposed to product placement? Or, does product placement lose its affect when people are told of its presence?
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Junior Theme #2
As we continue with our work in the library during junior theme, I feel like I am getting closer to solidifying my ideas. My why question that I have cleared and am increasingly confident with is: Why are eating disorders on the rise? I have found a great deal on the issue of eating disorders: caused by the media, family issues, and a need for control all reflected in increased awareness.
I am also currently reading Wasted by Marya Hornbacher. It is an autobiographical book about Marya Hornbacher's 14 year struggle with anorexia and bulimia. While the book is quite detailed and frightening, I can't put it down. It is adding a personal story to the list of statistics that continue to come up in my research.
Overall, I am excited to where my research is going. I am finding a lot on my topic and although I have not yet come to a thesis statement I am happy with my progress.
I am also currently reading Wasted by Marya Hornbacher. It is an autobiographical book about Marya Hornbacher's 14 year struggle with anorexia and bulimia. While the book is quite detailed and frightening, I can't put it down. It is adding a personal story to the list of statistics that continue to come up in my research.
Overall, I am excited to where my research is going. I am finding a lot on my topic and although I have not yet come to a thesis statement I am happy with my progress.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tokens in OnDemand
Yesterday, when relaxing after finishing my homework, I was looking for movies to watch on Comcast OnDemand. For those of you that are unfamiliar, Comcast has a channel in which you can choose ready-to-watch shows and movies. In the right hand corner they always have advertisements running of new features to OnDemand. Yesterday a commercial on repeat was for "Black Cinema" in the "Movie Collections" section.
While this was not very surprising to me, the movies that they previewed for this section all had two common themes: basketball and hardship. While there are over 20 movies in this OnDemand section consisting of all different genres of film, the three that they advertised all had a black lead playing an athlete and up against diversity and poverty. This is a clear representation of tokenism, having the only black cinema represented be the athletic and diversity cliche movies.
While this was not very surprising to me, the movies that they previewed for this section all had two common themes: basketball and hardship. While there are over 20 movies in this OnDemand section consisting of all different genres of film, the three that they advertised all had a black lead playing an athlete and up against diversity and poverty. This is a clear representation of tokenism, having the only black cinema represented be the athletic and diversity cliche movies.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Lost and Gilligan's Island
The other day I heard a rumor that the original unaired pilot for the popular 60s show Gilligan's Island, was the basis for the newer show Lost. While I was not able to find out through research if this was actually true, it got me thinking on the similarities and differences of the shows. Both of the shows involve a plane crash of a group of people on a desert island, who are forced to live there waiting to be found. And both were very popular and well-recieved shows. But the plot of the shows are played out very differently. Gilligan's Island is a happy- go- lucky comedy where as Lost is a dark, action-packed thriller.
Although these shows have very similar premises, the way the show played out is starkly different. I believe it has to do with what the audience will accept at the different time periods. Lost premiered nearly 40 years after Gilligan's Island. How does the audience at the time of the show dictate the material that is played? Why is a modern audience able to watch a darker more sinister show? How do the current shows on television reflect our society and morals today?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Junior Theme Post #1
This past week has been Junior Theme work. For last Monday we had to have 5 possible "why questions" in order to start exploring one of those as our topic. When I actually got to class on Monday and started exploring my topics, I released that not 1 of them would work/ got me interested enough.
Winston Churchill once said, "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm". This quote has certainly reflected my work over the past week. By now I have chosen my topic but over and over throughout this process I have had to go to square 1 yet again. I had to continue to search for new inspiration, in topics that I was unfamiliar with previously. The only reason I am where I am now is because I accepted the (multiple) failures that I had experienced, and continued to keep looking. I just hope I can maintain the "enthusiasm" Mr. Churchill described when I am 3 weeks into the project!
Winston Churchill once said, "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm". This quote has certainly reflected my work over the past week. By now I have chosen my topic but over and over throughout this process I have had to go to square 1 yet again. I had to continue to search for new inspiration, in topics that I was unfamiliar with previously. The only reason I am where I am now is because I accepted the (multiple) failures that I had experienced, and continued to keep looking. I just hope I can maintain the "enthusiasm" Mr. Churchill described when I am 3 weeks into the project!
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