I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day.

 My roommates and I had a girl's night for fun this week and we watched "Hercules". I have not seen that movie for probably 10 years. It was so great to watch again and understand all of the jokes I didn't when I was a lil' kid.

Okay, let's look at a picture of Hercules and Meg:

Look at that BICEP. Look at her HAIR and WAIST.

This class has totally made me aware of what media wants us to see. I do not really care actually, but I just think its funny to notice the gender stereotypes we often talk about occurring in Disney movies. Meg is awesome though...smart and can hold her own. I think she'd be an okay role model, don't you think?

Conscious Media Choices

I have been thinking a lot about what we discussed in class this week. Why do we watch the things we do? It seems there are so many crime and reality shows on TV that do not even teach a good lesson at the end. I was at home the other day and switched to the TV Guide channel. It is crazy how many crime, but also inappropriate TV there is on in the middle of the day. I am grateful for parental controls on all things media...even for myself. I do not want those bad things to pop up and stay in my brain forever.

"The choices we make in media can be symbolic of the choices we make in life. Choosing the trendy, the titillating, the tawdry in the TV programs or movies we watch can cause us to end up, if we're not careful, choosing the same things in the lives we live." M. Russell Ballard

This quote made me examine my life. Shoot! This is from Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk titled "Let Our Voices Be Heard." I am grateful for leaders who know what is going on in the world and guide us through life as we try to do what is right.

Read "Let Our Voices Be Heard" here.

What Defines YOU?

TED talks are the bee's knees. I bet everyone could agree that has ever seen one. I turned 21 last August and I made a decision for my 21st year to make the daily choice to have a good day. I am the one who decides how I feel about my life. Along with this goal, I decided to cut out the things that made me not the best and seemed to make me judge others or worry about what other's thought about my outside appearance.

I saw this TED talk this week given by Lizzie Velasquez. She is a rock star and has an awesome story. I think a lot of the media today causes everyone to see things in an unreal way. The media sometimes makes us define things in a certain way, we define ourselves through comparison, and we forget the most important things in our lives. The debate on the influence media has on the physical appearances of woman, through celebrity photos, pornography, and shopping is clearly a big part of how we have to limit and be careful what we decide to bring into our lives. I am making a more conscious effort while in this class to use the media for good!

http://shockable.com/called-worlds-ugliest-girl-response-unbelievably-beautiful-literally-cried/

"Without music, life would be a mistake."

Said Friedrich Nietzsche. Ain't that the truth.

 I was thinking this week what type of media I use the most in my everyday life. It is definitely music. I use my smartphone quite a bit but I think my Pandora app is possibly one of the best things to happen to me and the most used. I estimated that I spend at least 12 hours a week listening to music. It is a powerful source of emotion that brings all people of different backgrounds together and I think that is so incredible. Here is are a random song I heard in a film class once that I've been feeling lately:

"This is Water"

This is worth watching.

For me, this is a good example of using media for good. This is part of a commencement address for college students and someone put it to a video which helps the viewer understand and connect to it easier. I will be graduating in April and I loved this video. I have been working on making the conscious choice to have a good day and to focus on others instead of myself. I am a sucker for motivational videos and documentaries and books and poems, etc etc. The media is powerful and I like to share things that lift others up whenever I can so that others can focus on the good and less of the meaningless, time-consuming, silly things that we often fill our days with.

This past week I spent a lot of time doing work training so I did not have many opportunities to interact with the media. I did however watch The Truman Show. I had seen the movie when I was younger and knew the basic premise, but decided to watch it again. In light of this media class, I found it really interesting as I looked at it in a different way. Truman has had his entire life created and filmed by producers who broadcast it on television for the last thirty years, all day, every day. I paid particular attention to the producers and the audience that are portrayed in the film. The viewers have watched this man's life almost completely straight and have become involved in his life because they have always been a part of it. They laugh, cry, and rejoice with him as they live through his experiences. The head producer created a perfect world for Truman. He says "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented."

Isn't this true today? I feel that as a society we often get caught up in television and other media because that is how we want reality to be. We must be careful though because just as the producer in The Truman Show, we can be presented with a fake, contrived reality. The damage in this is that we forget what is real and we constantly strive towards an impossible world. 

"I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place." This is a quote I want to think about as I take this class. Media is good, but it can be bad as well. We live in an interesting time where we are presented with many things that are not healthy if used incorrectly. I am looking forward to learning the good of media and how it can be used to benefit individuals and families.