Final Mass Media and Health

Mass Media and Health

Written by Maya Hunter

As much as the mass media has formed America's culture and how the people dress, eat and live, it has controlled what the proper way of living is for the people. Instead of letting the country make its own decision. The mass media has ultimate power over many minds, from the commercials that are all over television, to the billboards that are plastered all over the roads. This may seem like an intense way to come out and label the mass media, but as many people know these advertisements do sway many strong willed minds take away freedom of expression. People live their lives day in and day out striving for certain things. The mass media is such a wonderful tool, but I fear is being used for all the wrong reasons, reasons that generally only include one thing, making money. The whole world is in money hungry, starving economic frenzy.

The reason I chose this topic is because I truly want all of the media to be exposed one day. I find it very sad that people around the world become brain washed and make choices that they themselves are unaware have been made by someone higher up. Ever since I started this class I started to observe a lot more when it came to people and the conversations about the media and news reports and so on. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people do not even know what they are putting in their body scares me. The food that is commercialized and made so American its hard not to pick up the box is disgusting. The fact that the media monster has no good intention for the people makes me wonder why we listen to it so intently? Right down to how we eat, what we wear, our body image and how we are supposed to act is all predisposed. It hurts me to see so many people so unhappy because of poor education on the most rudimentary of things in life. So with all that said the main reason I wrote this blog is because I have to express how important it is to know what is important in life and to become happy with what has been gifted to each individual.

I see many people who look unhappy, unhealthy and well quite frankly angry at the world. I can’t help but feel like it is some how the faults of the big guys on top spending big cash on the best advertisements that advertise the most unhealthy things. In all aspects food, mind state and desires that may or may not be possible to attain. When I walk grocery stores I can’t help but feel a sense of doom and gloom myself. It pains me to see grocery baskets full of lucky charms and sugar filled food with absolutely no nutritional value. If the world eats nutrition less food and never has even taken a walk, how is anyone healthy or fit? It’s impossible to eat a diet full of carbohydrates, sugar, protein and fat and be the healthiest being. It is imperative that a well balances diet of vegetables, fruit and protein is taken in along with moderate exercise everyday. When this happens people are fit and happy, when this doesn’t happen people become fat and a vessel for disease. Diabetes is one of the leading diseases in America due to the ridiculous diets of millions of people. Then the media feeds off of the people running around looking for diet pills and quick fixes to an on going problem. This is perhaps where the equation becomes the most depressing. Every magazine is packed full with amazing fit and skinny bodies. This starts the mold in the minds of every person man, woman and even child that is the most important thing to have a hot body, but downloads absolutely no important nutrition facts to help. So with every person freaking out about needing the hottest body, they are feeding themselves the Mcdonalds and Burger kind. Sound familiar, on a Friday night a family watches a movie on television and the movie comes to a Commercial with a huge burger covering the entire screen, yet the movie is filled with hot actors and actresses who do have the perfect body. What a backwards message!

The world is filled with amazing clothes, as a girl I love fashion, it is as big an industry as food itself. Maybe even bigger, the runways the fashion shows, the three thousand dollar shoes and a car that could buy four house. This only completes the images we constantly see in magazines. This creates another frenzy perhaps an even more dangerous one. People getting money and expensive things at any cost. Robbing banks and car theft are some of the things people have to worry about all to often. Also having a home be broken in to and have all of the most beautiful antique jewelry gone. Money, Money!! If anyone could hear people’s thoughts for a day the two thoughts that are probably on repeat are, I need money and sex. Is this because we are constantly downloaded with the desire for money and sex relentlessly?

Learning Outcome 5

The most effective way to start to change the brain washing would have to be to educate the people about the proper way to take care of the body that has been given to them with no instruction manual. To start to help healthy choices be made through the mass media. If a major corporation just paid for a proper commercial of a huge salad with lean protein and sensible dressing or a big plate of steamed vegetable and some brown rice, maybe people would know what is truly good for them instead of what has been shown to the world for years to come. Another way is that is should be required of every school to make a nutrition and physical education class mandatory. This would help the proper information get to children before the media monster can.

Learning Outcome 6

When it come to the media monster it is almost impossible to stay away from it. It truly is everywhere, newspapers, billboards, and television commercials. Even when a seeing a movie you are not safe, everything is an advertisement right down to the shows that are on the actor’s feet and the packet of cigarettes and bottles of booze in their hand. So I do not watch television and I try to stay away from trashy magazines, although as much as a contradiction as it may sound sometimes it way to fun to check out what is going on in a celebrities life and what hand bag they might have paid to much money for. I think that it is the materialism of this country that drives me bonkers. Wanting all the finer things in life and not being willing to lift a finger. Work hard, be happy and healthy and work the bliss job that would fill your soul. What more could make anyone happy than to work a dream job every day? This is what I strive for and I let everything else roll of my back.

Blog 2

Oh the wonderful American dream, beautiful straight, white teeth. The wonderful advertisements about fluoride toothpaste being the best of the market are all lies. The fact is that millions and millions of people are using fluoride toothpaste, every night and every morning. Little do they know, that fluoride is actually poisonous! Yes we have all read the side warning on tube, but I do not think anybody truly knows just how poisonous it truly is. Many people do not know that there are quite a few horror stories of children swallowing toothpaste and becoming terribly ill. It really is frustrating to me that this is allowed, but what is even worse it that there is fluoride in our water and there have not been any studies done to see how much is in our tap water. My guess is that they have no idea if we are slowly being poisoned. This might seem a little intense, but I believe we should educate ourselves and be healthy and strong-minded. So I believe that this whole American dream we see day to day with the ads for using toothpaste that keeps our teeth white is extremely harmful to us. We can have clean, nice, white teeth with out fluoride. Don't get me wrong white teeth are amazing and I want my smile to reflect the sunlight, believe me, but please find a different way!!!

This was the second blog I wrote in this class and it is all about being healthy and knowing what is being put in to the body.

The most important things that I would like to see anyone take away from this paper would definitely be these five things:

(1). Before believing anything that is said on television or on any advertisement do your research until you are satisfied with the correct information.

(2). Feed your body only the best foods, foods that the body needs and educate yourself on the correct amounts of each vitamin the body needs.

(3). Read ingredients like a crazy person. It is so important to know what is entering your body. As well as research all of the strange long words like monosodium Glutamate and find out what those nasty ingredients are all about.

(4). Try not to let the mass media change your image of a perfect body from something healthy to a stick figure. We all have different bone types and different needs.

(5). Exercise the body and exercise free will.

Chapter 10 " Is google making us stupid?"

This article was a little overwhelming when I first started reading it, I was almost in denial about the internet... Almost. : ) Ok ok I was totally in denial, but who is to blame me it is quite scary to think about technology this way. Pretty much this article is saying that all the internet surfing is giving human beings a sort of ADD with important reading materials. This scared me because I love to read more than anything else on this earth. Reading transports the mind to the most incredible imaginary scenes. To think that when we read we can teach ourselves anything in this world because our brain retains so much more than anyone could have imagined. To think that the internet is slowly taking this away from us is the worst conceivable thought. I hope that before anyone loses their ability to read long books, that they train their brains to keep focused and clear. This article seemed to be full of real facts and was biased because the article was proving something rather large and scary to the world of technology. It truly is scary how far we have gone in this century.

Chapter 9

This video is by They Might be Giants. This particular band has made a few videos that are like mini science classes. I don't think I really ever listened to the words until one day in the car and had a really great moment! I learned something, well I already learned it when I was young, but it was refreshing to hear songs like this for young children who can actually take something away from this song. I am forever greatful that there are bands like this out there.

This is another mini science explanation that I though was very interesting. It is about the big bang theory and how matter became matter. It is just a couple of minutes and may blow some minds. Unless people already new about this, which is probably the case and I was just living in a cave for a while.

Ok for the last video on this blog we have Steve Spangler the Science guy. For all those who remember having the teachers put his videos on class T.V and being kind of in to it, but all at the same time not at all, this is for you. He is a very very funny guy and he is giving Ellen Degeneres a mini science class and fun ideas for Halloween. Unfortunately Halloween is over so it wont be much help in that arena. A very funny video and it has quite a few interesting facts floating around. Enjoy!!

A late chapter 7

I really enjoyed this sock advertisement because of the older time period element to it. It is like grandpa and that makes the buyers want to buy the socks for their grandparent. It says so much with just one image to me. It shows a whole seen of twenty minutes prior, this man was on the golf course in the peaceful sunshine, making every hole. Then he comes to the changing rooms to admire his brand new socks that have kept his feet all toasty and dry. Assuming that this ad came from the fifties this was the perfect way to grab the buyer. Family values. Maybe it is just suppose to make the older buyer want to be more fit and look as good as he does in his shorts ; ). Just kidding!! Yes we all new it would come down to a lovely alcohol advertisement being sold by sex! It has to be the oldest trick in the book. Corona does it and so does every major alcohol company that has enough money to hire an expensive agent. Corona has a very different approach to getting people to want their product. The message that is sent from them is, if you drink Corona you are immediately transported to some amazing paradise and in shear and utter bliss. This Sky and most other alcohol companies like to sell the product with the promise that if this alcohol is drunk an automatic confidence boost happens, which insures hooking up with some hot guy or girl. Sad and true that this is the absolute best way to insure that the alcohol company makes a lot of money. If a person remembers one thing in their life it is probably the amazing bright colors of an expensive advertisement and the large amount of skin and kissing shown on a billboard.

This is a very clever advertisement. The way it shows the people that they are all the same because we all touch things and also all need to keep clean at the same time is awesome. Not so much that we are the same, but we should stick together to make the world a more sanitary place because we do very similar things with our hands and what we touch. The door knob of an extremely dirty bathroom, the table where a 3 year old with the flu sat. It shows people that is is important to be sanitary. Definitely creative and does not use sex or anything like that to sell. The whole together we can conquer the bacteria on the floor idea is appealing to most Americans.

Chapter 8

This is a parody of the Twilight movie trailer. The whole thing was done exactly like the actual trailer but, is done with Taylor Swift and I am not sure who the other actors are. Snl did the spoof and I thought it was super funny. Yes I do love the twilight books but, it was still very good. The first twilight movie was not to great in my opinion but, hey then we can make fun eh?
I definitely would have done Weird Al Yankovic but sadley all the embed codes were taken off. Hope this is enjoyable to all.

Media & Three Learning Outcomes

1. The Mass Media is such a powerful tool. The ways of collecting knowledge and being connected to the world. All of the tools that are used to display facts and news examples being the newspaper, television, radio, magazines, books, sound recordings and the internet are all ways for the big bosses to send out a mass message to the people. Whether a good message or a misleading message they are sent daily. We the people are always being downloaded upon with all of the buy buy buy! Also the lies that constantly fill our heads, its starting to wear us down. The people of this country are no longer empowered, they are scared and dependent on a government that does just that. Lie to them constantly to keep them in fear and keep the economy afloat. There are some very beneficial properties to all of the components that have been touched up on. The first thing is breaking free of what we have to do that is ok by society. Stop talking about things that don't matter. Like how Britney Spears gained 10 pounds. Nobody care! Empower the people to take their country back, give the people the right to make decisions and laws.

2. The cultural impact of the mass media is pretty powerful, if in India the clothes would be different. What is considered ok to say in front of all sorts of people in certain places of the world is very different then here. America is pretty lenient with the words aloud to be said and the clothes and style can be pretty skimpy. Anyways back to the point the cultural influence in America is lenient, but its very subtle there is a very corporate business aspect to how one is to dress when having to represent the country. America is a melting pot of amazing cultural differences that is not always portrayed correctly. It seems that there is a corporate portrayal overall. If you look beyond the mass media and all of the stuff that really should not speak for an entire nation, there are amazing cultures thriving within homes and traditions are being kept alive. Which is the best part of this country because these traditions are aloud to flourish. The main point being is that the cultural differences in this country are not showed to the extreme that is really going on. The political aspect of the mass media is ridiculous though always an undertow of making one believe that they should change their mind.

3. The mass media has changed in so many ways. It has become so bold and in your face. As it can be detected my opinion on the mass media is some what pessimistic, but thats ok. In the fifties girls could not have a music video of them with their booty hanging out of their chaps. Woman were just being aloud to vote let alone be interviewed and shown on television in a lot of important debates. Thank whatever is out there that things have changed. It seems that the initial grab was all the cigarette and alcohol advertisements. Now its all about what the president is doing to mess up or what scandalous celebrity has come out with a new sex video. Yes on the lighter note the mass media is free from constraints on a lot of words and the mass media sometimes comes around and talks about something worth it. This once again is such a powerful tool and if used properly it could change the world, lets just start with us first. Wake up America

The "Charged" Message

This was the former Lebanese president named Bashir, who was in office twenty years ago. This man was a great leader and very loyal to his country. He was also the head of the Falangist Christian party, a man of god. Lebanon is the only Middle eastern country lead by a Christian president. So for Bashir to be the the leader of the Falangist group was a great thing for the country. He was assassinated right after he ordered all of the citizens of Lebanon to return their weapons to the government. This caused some fear towards opposing countries that do not wish peace for Lebanon. So this is charged full of love, adoration and pride from the Lebanese people for their beloved president.

Realism & Perspective Blog

This game is called Bugdom, hopefully this is known from the videos title. This game is very simple, but very fun. The bug is a rolly polly and this is the character that is played by you.

The game is older and is not as high tech as most new video games and the geometric linear perspective is not great. Object stay the same size whether Mr. Bug is close or near.

The way the game is set up is that the view is as if you were running right behind the bug, so it would appear to be pretty hands on. The way the game creator

made the depth perception is as realistic as it gets when video games first started to come out. The depiction of hills, height and length of the flowers and

objects in the game seem accurate. There is no subjective gaze or violence, except when ants that are attacking Mr. Bug are coming, then kicking ants it a

must. This game was so much fun five years ago, everything has evolved so much, its almost scary how real video games get!

Modernity: Spectatorship, Power & Knowledge

For the first Image I have chosen the ever famous American style hot dog. This image defines New York to me as hundreds of football fans encourage their players. As people crowd the stands, hot dog vendors all along there are people yelling " Hot Dogs, Get your hot dogs!". This is a norm that to me many people could relate to. I do not personally eat hot dogs they scare me, but aside from the point, the whole be a true American and support your team while eating an all American hot dog is a norm in America for sure. To make my point this image was put on the internet by American Digest.

In this alcohol advertisement this woman is dressed in full on cowgirl clothes. This is the foundation of American culture in a sense. Way back in the day and even up to this day this has been known to be a typical American style dressing, people road horses all the time and had to protect themselves from the hot sun, so the hats would definitely come in handy, heres the catch, vodka is not a typical American drink. You see the cowgirl and then you look at the bottle of vodka and think that she should probably be advertising whiskey by a fire in the country side. So this is not really a normal thing to see in American advertisements, it sends a modernized outlook to me.

Ok so for my last Advertisement I chose a cigarette advertisement because to me a lot of what a typical outlook on America has been all the booze, cigarettes and hot dogs /football games. I decided to leave the football games for another time. This is not a negative blog mind you; to me throughout the years I have seen many movies old and new. In most movies there is a combination of drinking and smoking, you begin to notice more and more actors light up a cigarette. There have been so many cigarette advertisements that basically state that you are not an American man if you don't smoke "these" or you are not an elegant American woman if you don't smoke "those". In this cigarette advertisement there is a catch, Santa and cigarettes do not really go together and they never have. This is strange growing up we are led to believe this is father Christmas come to give us our presents and spread the joy of holiday cheer. Then you add cigarettes to the boiling pot and it is the ultimate message of 'celebrate the holidays with your loved ones on a fine snowy American evening: Oh and smoke!!!' No thank you.

This image of jane goodall always brings up interesting feelings for me. When I was much younger, I was told that she was killed in a very brutal way, but later on in life I found out that she is still alive and well. That always makes me happy, especially all of the amazing research she has helped with. What an amazing woman! I also think that this photo was meant to evoke an understanding and love between the chimpanzee and jane. To show how much she deeply cares for these animals. Which touches my heart. = )

Oh the wonderful American dream, beautiful straight, white teeth. The wonderful ads about fluoride toothpaste being the best of the market. The fact is is that millions and millions of people are using fluoride toothpaste, every night and every morning. Little do they know, that fluoride is actually poisonous! Yes we Have all read the side warning on tube, but I do not think anybody truly knows just how poisonous it truly is. Many people do not know that there are quite a few horror stories of children swallowing toothpaste and becoming terribly ill. It really is frustrating to me that this is allowed, but what is even worse it that there is fluoride in our water and there have not been any studies done to see how much is in our tap water. My guess is that they have no idea if we are slowly being poisoned. This might seem a little intense, but I believe we should educate ourselves and be healthy and strong minded. So I believe that this whole American dream we see day to day with the ads for using toothpaste that keeps our teeth white is extremely harmful to us. We can have clean, nice, white teeth with out fluoride. Don't get me wrong white teeth are amazing and I want my smile to reflect the sunlight, believe me, but please find a different way!!!

Strong vs. Weak "News"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/13/india.boy.thrown.train/index.html

This article is about a boy being thrown off a moving train, by a guard who was collecting money as bribe money. Don't get me wrong there is most definitely a soft spot in my heart for this young boy and the problems with corrupt government in India is quite terrible, but how many stories a day are there everyday about someone dying, being eaten or being crushed by a bus? Way to many, I just do not understand why our country has to focus on the negative like it is all that is out there. News was created to keep us warned if anything really horrible was happening. For example a serial killer is going around door to door in a certain neighborhood and killing everyone, so stay in your house or a natural disaster.. So to conclude that I believe we should have more positive news!

http://current.com/1d95u4c

Ok so this article is about Guy Labliberte, the man behind the wonderful Cirque du Soleil, going to space to raise global awareness of water conservation and other issues. The main reason this is all happening is because this man is passionate about everyone having clean drinkable water. The awareness is not only coming from Guy Labliberte, it is also coming from earth, where a large show is going to be performed throughout fourteen cities in the world.

I think that this article is so wonderful and positive. I think that it is really important to raise awareness over this matter because it seems we so easily forget that certain countries still do not have clean drinkable water. It is sad and we do forget because we live fast busy lives. That is just how it is. So it is refreshing to hear of people raising more awareness, everyone is trying hard and I hope to hear more articles like this on Fox News or CNN. Would that be the day. The News is one of the most powerful ways to get people to listen and it is being jaded by everything negative, I say we use it to become a powerful nation together and fix all the terrible injustices!

Hello everyone! This is my first blog post in Karly's JRN 131 class. I wish everyone luck!