Reflection

These posts have been a surprising amount of fun to write. I really enjoyed all this class had to offer and feel like I've learned a lot about how the media affects me and how my actions can be influenced by it.


My relationship to media honestly hasn't changed much. As much as I would like it to, it's very difficult. All of my friends don't live in the city or are moving very soon, so I use media to contact them. With a bunch of my friends heading off to college this coming summer, the amount I use social media may actually increase.

I think it's okay to use social media in larger amounts, so long as we are aware of the effects it has on us. This class has made me more aware of the ways advertisers are capable of making people buy their products, and I'm more aware of how those ads are targeted specifically at my demographic. I'm spending my time on social media now more aware of what the world around me is doing and how they're doing it.

I think it's very difficult in this day and age to lessen the amount of social media intake. It's so ingrained in our systems that it's hard to pull away from. It's a integral part of so many people's lives. I think so long as people are aware of the things the media is doing as an attempt to control you, it's acceptable.

As I reflect back, I was certainly not as informed when I started this semester, about the effects of media on us. I've learned a lot about advertising, and these blogs that caused me to analyze media more up close have certainly helped me to realize the effects of it. The advertising world wants to control us, in a way. This is a fact lots of people may be unaware of. I certainly didn't know growing up since its such a key role in our lives. This class helped me to further realize it.




It's been a good semester. :)

"Make Happy"

Bo Burnham is a comedic genius. His specials are so funny but so deep at the same time. He can make a joke and spread an important message at the same time, which is extremely difficult to achieve. A few days ago, his new special Make Happy  was released. While it was really funny and astonishing, it caused a lot of contemplation about our own happiness and what we base it on.

I would recommend watching it if you want to understand this blog post in its full capacity (there's some kind of inappropriate things and controversial topics in the special so keep that in mind)

There is so much to say about this special, so please bear with me.

The show starts by discussing that the world is not funny, and that we are all dying, so many people are starving and don't have water. Once Bo makes it on stage, a deep voice says, "Entertainers are not here to help you. They are here to control you." This is a direct critique of the control that entertainers have over the things we talk about, the things we think and the things we say.

While the whole special is amazingly written, I wanna keep my focus on a few key parts, mainly the last 10 minutes or so. Bo starts to sing about how he can't fit his hand in a Pringles can and how his burrito is too big for him to eat. These are the things he presents as his problems. The lights go off and he starts to sing again.

"I could sit here and pretend that my biggest problems are Pringle cans.
Or burritos.

But the truth is my biggest problem is you. I want to please you. But I want to stay true to myself. I want to give you the night out that you deserve. But I want to say what I think, and not care what you think about it. Part of me loves you. Part of me hates you. Part of me needs you. Part of me fears you.

I don’t think that I can handle this right now. I don’t think that I can handle this right now. I don’t think that I can handle this right now. I don’t think that I can handle this right now. I don’t think that I can handle this right- I don’t think that I can handle this right- Look at you you’re just staring at me like Come and watch the skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health, And laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself.

I don’t think that I can handle this right now. I don’t think that I can handle this right now. They don’t even know the half of this right now. They don’t even know the half of it."

These lines really made me think about my relationship to media and the celebrities I choose to praise. The affect that we can have on celebrities is much more massive than we think. They want to say the things that we want to hear, but that prevents them from ever finding happiness and saying the words that they truly want to say. The thesis of Make Happy goes something like this. Entertainment is a temporary distraction from the utter sadness that so many people feel. It's a way of feeling artificial happiness, even if it's just for a little bit. Entertainers may have to fake it so we can experience it for an hour or so. Deep down though, we're all just hiding pain to a certain extent. 

After this little introspective look into Bo's mind, he sings, "So I should probably just shut up and do my job. So here I go." and starts singing about burritos again.  That part is so powerful to me. It shows how even entertainers have to cover up the things they really feel in order to appease others, which is a prevalent thing that the media makes us do.

Bo's parting question to the audience is, "on a scale of one to zero, are you happy? 'cause you're on your own from here, so are you happy?" 

Entertainers cannot make you happy. They can give you a taste of it, but it doesn't last long. Happiness is something we have to discover and find on our own. Until then, it's an uphill battle that consists of constant pretending. 

I have so much more to say, but my mind is boggled enough already.

On a scale of one to zero, are you happy?

DJ Khaled: How Snapchat is Used to Spread the Major Key

If you have heard phrases like "major key", "another one," or "bless up" in the last year, you can blame DJ Khaled for that.

DJ Khaled to me is synonymous with Snapchat. While he does make music, he's become big and known for the keys to success that he shares with us lowly folk through means of Snapchat. These major keys have made him more famous than he was before, especially with youth.

DJ Khaled uses Snapchat for a number of things. For one, he uses it to spread positive messages to his viewers, telling them that life is amazing and something we should feel grateful for as a way of trying to inspire us. While it's kind of cheesy and often laughed at, I actually think it's a pretty great thing. The world we live in is filled with hate and gossip, and often times there's not a whole lot of people trying to build you up.

Secondly, he uses it to spread advice to his fans. Whether it's to have a lot of pillows or to use cocoa butter, Khaled tells us all the little things that can help us gain success. Dove soap, cocoa butter, watering your plants, all these things are keys to his success. “Almond milk. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Major key to success,” DJ Khaled shows us all the things he does that make him successful.

Lastly, DJ Khaled keeps us woke. Lots of his snapchats tell us about "they". "They" represents those who want to keep us down, who make sure we don't have success, who make sure we don't get the things we truly want in life. "They" don't want us to eat breakfast. "They" don't want us to jetski. "They" is the force that stops us from doing the things we want in life. DJ Khaled is the one fighting against "they" as he has surpassed them. 

In short, DJ Khaled uses media to spread the messages he so wants us to absorb and show us how we can have the same luxuries that he does. 

What is Cool?: Merchants of Cool in 2016

Merchants of Cool had some very interesting ideas, which have become outdated. Since it was released in 2001, the people, songs, and ideas have long since became uncool. In 2016, there are new things that are cool in the eyes of teenagers, and new Mooks and Midriffs have made it out into the world. Let's find out what is considered cool in 2016.

Social media apps are the pinnacle of what is cool in 2016. Everyone has an Instagram, everyone has Twitter and Snapchat. This is the primary means of communication for a lot of us, and as such, advertisers have infiltrated the spaces we use to communicate as a means of trying to sell us their products. Promoted advertisements will appear on Instagram based on your interests or things you follow. Snapchat has a thing called Discover which has entertaining videos and articles put out by different companies. I wouldn't say it's explicit advertising, but it's something that gets the companies name out. It's a way to talk to millennials and gain an audience that is almost explicitly made up by youth.

These are a few of the companies who have taken to Snapchat to reach out to youth.

Now, I'll be honest, I have no clue who the Mook of 2016 is. If anyone has any idea who that might be, feel free to comment on it. I do think there are a few Midriffs this year.

Midriff was defined as a sexual cliche for female empowerment in Merchants of Cool. I think a Midriff might be Ariana Grande or Rihanna.  

I also think a Midriff might be Kim Kardashian. When she stood tall and confident when people were attacking her for the nude photo she put on twitter, she really embodied the idea of female empowerment because she wasn't ashamed of the body she has. A trait of the Midriff is that your body should be flaunted and I think she does that (not that that is a bad thing)

I'm not necessarily cool, so this post may be wildly inaccurate since I don't know a lot of what is. If there is any added insight, I'd love to hear it.

The Actual Most Annoying Company of All Time (in my opinion)

(this is just one huge rant because apparently I've discovered my hatred for this ad again)

It's the reason I started paying for Spotify just so I wouldn't have to hear it anymore.

Lunchables Uploaded ruined my life.

There was a 30 second ad on Spotify over the course of last summer that made me more mad than anything else. I honestly started encouraged people to start boycott Lunchables. I was mad for reasons I couldn't quite explain.

Who's the subject of my rage? Malcolm McDowell, who plays an old man who knows nothing about youth culture that Lunchables hired for some reason. I'm not sure what they thought any of the ads with Malcolm McDowell would do to help their company, but it's whatever.

The ads with Malcolm McDowell attempt to target a youth audience, but I don't really see how these ads could ever be effective with youth. An old guy pretending to fit in with the youth is probably the worst way to target youth that I've ever seen. I'm reminded of that meme with Steve Buscemi in a hoodie carrying a skateboard saying, "How do you do, fellow kids?"

Essentially Lunchables way of advertising.

Look, Lunchables is just trying to find a way to fit in with the youth, despite the fact that their company is growing kind of irrelevant. These ads only prove that they are a company fresh out of ideas, and if they have to result to an old man to make any business (which probably hasn't worked) that's a sure sign that things aren't going so well.

I'm sure there's a smart mechanism hidden in this ad somewhere, but you have no  idea how annoyed I was at this advertisement constantly. Spotify made a good decision by playing this ad all summer, because I got so annoyed with Malcolm McDowell that I couldn't take it anymore and upgraded to Premium. Smart for Spotify, I suppose. Y'all have no idea how much I hate Lunchables as a result though.

Watch "Mad Jelly" here.

Autism: According to the Media

Autism isn't a joke. It's something that exists withing a wide portion of people, who are all different and don't fit a certain mold. However, there are certain traits in the media that supposedly all autistic people possess, and that's what this post is about.

I'm no stranger to autism. It's something many people in my life have been diagnosed with, including my brother. I had a diagnosis at one point in my life, and although my diagnosis was taken away, it's still a part of who I am that I'm learning to not be ashamed of. I've seen and experienced first-hand the harmful stereotypes that are associated with autism. These harmful stereotypes can be executed through the media.

Autism Speaks is an organization that is very guilty of this. The things they put out about autistic people are some of the most offensive things that I've seen in my lifetime. The fact that they are the most well-known "charity" for autism only makes it scarier that their message is the one that most have seen. Here is a commercial Autism Speaks took down, but someone reuploaded. While they did take it down, it sparked much controversy and still reflects exactly how autism is portrayed by the masses.

Watch 'I Am Autism' here.

The first half of the commercial is absolutely disgusting, and autistic people everywhere were enraged when this commercial was put out. Saying autism knows "no morality" portrays autistic people as cold, unrelenting, unforgiving. Saying "I will make sure that your marriage fails" tells every autistic viewer that by simply being themselves and existing, that they are responsible for any problems their parents face in their marriage. "I will make it virtually impossible for your family to easily attend a temple, birthday party, or public park without a struggle, without embarrassment, without pain." If Autism Speaks's intention was to make all autistic people feel guilty for things they aren't able to control, I guess they succeed there.

While it turns into a seemingly positive message halfway through the ad, according to this video, autism is something that needs to be eradicated, it's something that is bad. Something to look down upon, and it's something that we must fight. Autistic people are constantly erased through messages like these, and told that something that has become a part of who we are is something we need to get rid of. 

Other forms of autistic representations in the media portray autistic people as emotionless voids, such as Dr. Dixon from Grey's Anatomy who has Asperger's.

Dr. Dixon is very much portrayed as one-dimensional, and somehow has every trait at once, all to an extreme. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone, and doesn't seem to really have any emotions, among other things.

What the media fails to portray is the diversity among people who have autism. Autism knows no one form of existing. Every autistic person acts in different ways. While there may be some common traits, no one trait fits for everyone. No stereotype about autism, no negative connotation can be the case for everyone. 

Autistic people are wonderful. Autistic people are intelligent, autistic people have emotions, and we sure as hell aren't burdens.

Being on the Set of a Commercial

A few weeks ago, I was granted the opportunity to be on the set of a commercial. This commercial was for Henry Perea, a candidate for the mayor of Fresno, California. The shoot took no longer than 2-3 hours and was a great glimpse into the behind the scenes techniques advertisers use to make their message sell better.

Watch the commercial here.

Henry Perea used to be a police officer, which they centered an advertisement around to show that he has done good work for the city of Fresno, and, if elected, he will continue to do good work for a city like Fresno.

Lots of little things go into creating a successful ad. For one, the lighting. The amount of light or the way the subject looks within the light actually matters a lot. In this commercial, they had Perea move into the light to give the impression that he is sort of the light in the dark, that he symbolizes change.

Second, the way the subject looks and talks. The way Perea talked was super important. He had to relay a serious but relatable and casual tone, which certainly isn't an easy task. He had to prove that he meant business, but was also a relatable and reliable candidate for the position. The way he looked during the commercial was also very important. For example, he had to make certain hand gestures at certain times. They also put a lot of emphasis on the smile you see at the end of the commercial. He had to smile to make him look more casual, which contrasts the seriousness of the commercial. The smile conveys a sense of humanity that is often absent from politicians.

The cutaways that they use in this commercial (a video of a driving police car) also help to make him message look better. The words  "to protect and serve..." on the side of the police car show that the line of work he comes from is beneficial to the community. Since he's also putting more cops on the street, it makes his agenda seem more beneficial to the community as well.

This commercial uses the Plain Folks technique because it talks about an "old-school, conservative" approach. The target audience is an older community because they want to target the largest voter turnout, and the emphasis on taking it back to the good old days works best with an older audience.

Every little thing that they put in a commercial serves a purpose. Being able to see the other side was an excellent opportunity to learn about advertising.