Media's Effect On Me...

With all this talk about media, I was thinking how much media affects me. Do I dress a certain way? Act a certain way? Talk a certain way? Amazingly the music I listen to, the sports that I watch, and the movies that I watch really do affect me. Just over the summer I saw one of my favorite bands live and I loved their clothing style. It was different and I looked up to them because of it. When I was thinking of this I was amazed here was just an ordinary group of guys who can play good music and I was idolizing them. Also, I love soccer and basketball. When I am thinking about soccer I want to be just like Yakubu, a Nigerian soccer star. Not only do I want to play like him, but when I score I want to celebrate like him. Movies are a constant on my floor during the weekends. Many I love, many I hate. I recent one I watched is a movie called "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". This movie had me rolling at many different times, and I still quote the movie many times throughout a week. Why does media affect me and others so much? We are always trying to impress. If a band we like is wearing a certain style of clothes or saying certain things, we think we are being just like the celebrity. When I started to realize the way media affects me I realized I want to just be myself. I will always enjoy the things that the celebrity's do, but I want to be myself and just enjoy the gifts that God gave them.

Media Log

So the last 3 days I decided to try my absolute hardest to log my "media diet". I was amazed at not only how much I use media throughout a day, but by the little amount of time that I don't. (sleep) There are actually times when I am using 2 different types of media at the same time. Example- Listening to music and being on facebook or some sight on the internet. I also noticed at the amount of time I listen to music, when I get back to my room, the first thing I do is open up my Itunes. Also, when I have any free time during the day, my roommates and I are playing video games or watching some sporting event on the television. With people my age I think my media diet is very normal. Now if it was my Mom or Dad mine would be a lot heavier. I thought about all the hours that I spend and thought what motivates me to do all that I do? The only answer I could come up with is that, that is how our world works, its how people communicate. I was a little scared at first because I never realized how much I was engaged in media, but I realized there is never a time where I am engaged for more than 3 hours. I am not one of those people that can sit down for long periods of time. It was still amazing to me though that we have been raised in a world where media is such a part of our lives and some of us could not live without some media's.

The American Myths

The Myth that I am going to talk about is the Coming of the Messiah. I feel that this myth can be true in more cases than any of the other myths. An example of this myth would be the movie "We Are Marshall." This team has just faced great tragedy with almost all of their players and coaches die in a plane crash. The new coach comes in and continues the tradition at Marshall. So the coming of the messiah is when all things are looking down, somebody comes in and does just the exact opposite. So how does the Coming of the Messiah myth help us understand our world? I think that it reminds people that even when you think you can not get back up, there is still hope as long as you have faith. This myth could hurt people because some people may become reliant on somebody else to help them with there problems. But in reality there is not always somebody in fleshy form to help us at all times. Sometimes you have to deal with the responsibility's that life throws at you all by yourself. That is also how I feel this myth could hurt people. When I first learned about this myth, it was the most interesting to me and a lot of mass media's came to my mind, that I felt related exactly to the myth the coming of the messiah.

The American Dream

The American Myth of Success was an article that even after a couple times reading I had a really hard time grasping. I feel that the myth was that you can not live the American dream. Over time though this has changed, now people are starting to realize that if you work hard you will be awarded. Which I believe in most cases to be true. The author talks about pluck and luck. What is pluck? Pluck is the idea that if you put your mind to it you will succeed. While luck is the idea that you were just born to succeed. Everything always seems to fall in your lap. An example of luck from my beliefs is when people always have good things fall into your lap even when they do not deserve it. Luck can be very frustrating, especially when you feel you deserve it. Pluck to me is when you study hard, work hard, prepare yourself to your greatest ability and you are rewarded for your efforts. The American myth of success in the past I have never believed. I have always been taught that if you work hard you will be awarded. I feel reading about this myth helped me understand where people from different backgrounds come from. I feel that it affirmed my beliefs of the American Dream. The old belief of the American dream is something that i am glad that I was not taught. It is a very shallow myth and persuades people that you are born into your life and you can not work up to being what you can be.

Problems/Possibilities with Mass Media in Society

One of the big problems I see with mass media in society is that it can only reach and interest a certain percentile of people at a time. There is nothing that I can think of, that every human being in the world enjoys. With every movie, song, book, and video game there will most likely be just as many people who dislike it that like it. That is because every human is different and is given different interests by God. The good news is that there are so many forms of mass media that everybody can find something that interests and relates to them. At the same time though I feel that the possibilities of media are endless. Our culture is always craving something new and exciting that will draw much of there attention. Whether it be a TV show, video game or website. When I am watching TV my brain is flooded with opinions of people around the world (what to eat, drink, wear and watch). It can become very exhausting. Media has the power to change peoples beliefs on anything. It is up to us as individuals to decipher what we want to believe.

The TV Show That I'm Obsessed With...

LOST is has been part of my life for nearly 4 years now. This show is about plane crash survivors who land on a mysterious island and have to deal with daily struggles which include running out of food, water, and the Others who are people who have lived on the island for years. Many people who have never seen this show assume that this show is very repetitive and ask "Will they ever get off the island." The producers have included flashbacks between all the main characters and how they relate to each other. They almost all relate to each other in very different ways, and most of the main characters do not even know it. An example is characters Jack and Claire are half brother/sister, and they have no idea. It is a very mysterious show and at the end of every episode my jaw drops. LOST is a very in depth show and it would be impossible to tell you everything. If you have never seen this show, I would no doubt recommend it, but beware you will get hooked after the first episode in season 1. With the 5th season only a week away, my friends and I are cramming in as many old episodes in as we can to refresh our memories.

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