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?