Blog 12

Respond to the film Killing Us Softly.  What impact does advertising have on how people view themselves?  Can you describe or include in your blog an ad that perpetuates some of the messages Killborn describes?

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Advertisements such as these often make women feel as though they are sex objects.    Here you have a topless woman lying on one man while making out with another while another man lies on the floor looking like he is about to remove his pants.   There are many ads that make women look like strippers.   They are here for the mans pleasure, nothing more nothing less.   I personally have had many issues with self image mainly due to the projected image of advertisements.   It makes me question my self worth as a human being and whether it is more important to be smart or beautiful.    This somewhat links to the piece we read at the beginning of the semester on Victoria's secret.   Do we need a man to be worth anything?   I know the answer is no but I also realize that often times my actions do not agree with this statement in the least.   In my current relationship we went through a time where I was ignored, disregarded, and pretty much disrespected.   I can not say that I am unhappy that I put up with so much but I will say that it is not something that I feel like I should have done, especially considering the reasoning behind it.    I just didn't want to be alone because a woman isn't worth a god damn thing by herself.  I know that I care about my appearance to much.  I am not saying that I put on make-up everyday or iron my clothing but I care an extreme amount about how my body looks.   I know that I have anorexic tendencies but only when I feel like I am gaining a ton of weight.   This seems to be happening more and more with the less exercise that i do.

Blog 11

How is impatience a problem in America?  How do you imagine this problem can be fixed?

Instant gratification has become the way for people in American society.   We want everything now.   We for the most part do not want to cook dinner because why should we spend the time cooking when we can go to McDonald's or even Panera and order dinner and have it in front of you ready to eat in five minutes or less.    This is one of the causes of obesity.   If people worked to prepare their own food they are burning calories in the preparation, and generally the food that is prepared at home contains fewer calories and especially fewer calories from fat making the meals at home far more healthy.   This is not the only instance where impatience is a factor.  Many young people no longer want to attend a four year college before going to get a job.   In fact there are many young adults who do not want to go for any college before getting a job to support themselves.   Unfortunately in today's society the only way to make a living worth having is by going to school for an extended period of time.   This is all not to mention the fact that courtesy has pretty much gone out the window.   Everyone is in a hurry all the time to get to their next location that road rage is a common occurrence on the public roads.   No one wants to give a little.   Its all about me.   What do I want? What do I need?   Where am I going?  How fast can I get there?   This is the story of our lives.   I say our because there are very few people who are truly more about the good of the community than the good of themselves.   
As far as fixing the problem, I am not sure that that is a possibility.   We would have to reverse a lot of things, such as fast food chains, television shows, technology in general, and our values as a society.   If we valued human life above all else then perhaps we wouldn't be so impatient to be the first, the best, and the wealthy.  I honestly do not think this is going to happen.   Everyone would have to live a more simple life, which for the most part people do not want to do.

TV vs. Body Image

I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard a radio show about the correlation between tv and females body image.   I found it interesting that there seems to be such a big correlation between the two.   There is a much lower rate of body issues among women in countries that do not have tv.   Not just that but in one country when tv made its debut in 1993 the rate of anorexia among women went from 0% in 1993 to 11% in 2009.   This is shocking and scary.   What can I do to protect my daughter from going through what I went through?   The radio program suggests that you limit the amount of television that you and your kids watch so as to deter the effects.   Whose to say that they wont get it else where, like walking down the halls at school, watching a movie, reading a book or magazine.   These images are everywhere.   How do we escape?

Neighbors?

Todays society has me quite worried as far as what is considered to be good or appropriate behavior.   My mother brought up something the other day that really made me think.   She was talking about the art of hospitality which is, in her opinion, completely lacking from todays society.  After she explained what exactly she meant by this I must say that I have to agree.   How many people know the names of their neighbors?   How many of those people are friendly with their neighbors?   When I was younger we had no issue running next door or across the street to barrow a cup of sugar or a stick of butter to finish the brownies or cookies that were almost completed save that single item.   It has been years, like a decade, since I felt comfortable enough to go to a neighbor to borrow anything.    Hell its been a decade since I knew more than the first and maybe the last names of the people who lived in my surrounding area.   People don't really have impromptu neighborhood get togethers anymore, everyone is to busy.   It also seems that people are all to judgemental.   Everyone is trying to out do everyone else on the block.   Even my mother, who made the comment that our neighbors house was beautiful no matter what the season was and our house was never any more than ok.   She seemed to hold some hostility towards our neighbor because she was a stay at home mom and had the time to do the things that she used to.    No one seems to be truly happy anymore.   There seems to always be a hidden meaning or an ulterior motive.   What path has our society started down?  Is it a path of no return?

Teaching Children?

I was working at a school with a child, we will call him Grant, with disabilities and in working with this child I have come to realize that frankly children are cruel.    Most of the mainstream children do not like being with Grant.   In fact if he sits down at a table the children already sitting there will get up and move.  For the most part many kids dont want anything to do with him.    No one has taught these children that sometimes kids are different and you shouldnt treat them any differently because of that.   The children do not understand that all people have feelings and all people need to be considered.    Grant is in the after school program to get more social experience with children but do to the children's reaction to Grant he spends an awful lot of time a lone.   I find this very disturbing.   It hurts me to realize that the values children seem to be picking up on are values of being the same.   Children are taught to shun people who are different, not to look at every body's strengths to figure out what these children could do to enrich their lives.   Every one can teach a message but you have to pay attention to the little things that might not be expected.

Blog 10

How does reality television relate to and affect people who watch it?  What makes reality television shows so popular?  What is the largest archetype that you see being used in reality television shows?

It seems to me that reality tv is great for people who really dont want to have to think about anything.   People who need an hour or two to just sit and veg.   It is watching situations that dont require a whole lot of foresight or reflection to understand.   I personally think that some of the more popular reality television shows tend to create single minded beings who are relatively content doing what they are told.   I do not watch a lot of reality tv (if any) and therefore I am probably not the best person to judge this.   I believe the biggest archetype used in reality tv is the young girl who is either coming from really bad circumstances and has made it to this show to fulfill her dream or the young girl who has not had to endure anything of any consequence.   Like I said I am not an avid viewer of this specific type of television so I do not know for certain.

Blog 9

Select a popular culture artifact (company, celebrity, brand, sports team, etc.) that you can discuss in terms of "religification."  How has this artifact been "religified"?  How do people discuss this in reglious terms?  What people follow this particular "religion"?  Who are the people who directly oppose this popular culture "religion"?

The one that currently comes to mind is the "religion" of Harry Potter.   Even before they started making the movies, people would stand in line for hours to get the new book.   When people had the holy scroll they would sit and everything else would cease.    Anyone who grew up in the late nineties to early two thousands knows of and understands who Harry Potter is and where he comes from.    The last book has been compared to the bible.    Some people claim that the stories of the bible are being told through the Harry Potter series.    Good usually prevails over evil which is one of the bible's main messages.   Dumbledore has been compared to God and Harry being the Son of Christ, but it has also been said that Dumbledore is the self sacrificing Jesus and Harry is where the rest of civilisation should be, a disciple if you will.   Like Christianity, Harry Potter is not accepted by everyone.  The "true Christians" view Harry Potter as evil.   Due to the subject matter of witchcraft and wizardry the Harry Potter series is evil and shows signs of devil worshiping.
         People have many different outlooks and opinions of life and things in life, this is one reason that there are so many different religions.   No one can agree.   Harry Potter is similar in the way people look at it.   One person can look at a situation in the book and see that good trumps evil and therefore it is a good thing for people to read.   Someone else may see that in the end evil is not completely destroyed so there is a chance that it will come back and take over and therefore it is bad.   There are to many people with to many thoughts to say that this way is right and that way is wrong.   Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and may do with it as they wish.   If someone sees Harry Potter as something to believe in and model their life after the good morals that are presented throughout the books and movies than who are we to say that that is wrong?    Who cares what someone believes in as long as it is keeping them happy and benefitting the common good or at the very least not harming it?    There are too many things in this world to worry about as it is, why care about whether someone chooses to follow a fiction book as a role model when there are so many other role models that could be leading children to drugs and violence?