Reflection

I consume media every single day of my life. The screen time app on my phone says that I spend an average of six hours on my phone every day. Half of those hours are spent on instagram, where I am constantly exposed to media and advertisement. Its a problem, I am very well aware. I am always listening to some form of music as well. Furthermore, I do homework while watching netflix in the background every single day. I would say that all this media consumption affects me negatively. I have a tendency to be influenced by or believe whatever I read. This is very not good. My constant consumption of media also causes me to be very insecure. An example of this would be seeing ads on instagram for clothing and feeling bad about my body because of it.
After taking a semester of critical thinking, I am much more aware of the media I consume. I find it funny actually. I find myself constantly pointing out the advertising techniques in ads I see and hear. For example, today I saw an ad for some car and they literally said “it’ll bring instant confidence”. Like damn, they really lead with making an implicit message explicit. It’s like they did not even try to hide their blatant simple solution. It was said right there in the open. The thing is, I never would have noticed that line if I hadn’t taken this class. I would have just glossed over it and acted like it wasnt something obviously strange. Also, I find myself being aware of the target markets when I see commercials. I immediately know the demographics the company was advertising to. Now, it seems like things like that are much more apparent and obvious to me than they used to be.
It is so important to have media literacy. This is because we all need to be aware of what we are being told to buy and not fall for it the way big companies want us to. We must see through it all clearly in order to make smart decisions as consumers. In my opinion, I find being aware of the media I’m consuming to be liberating. I feel that I make much more well educated choices regarding what I choose to buy. Media is being shoved down our throats constantly and it is all around us. It is so easy to get caught up in all of it. We all must educate ourselves and make an extra effort to be in the know in order to avoid it. 

I got a lot out of keeping this journal/blog about media. I used this platform to talk about things which I am genuinely passionate about. An example of this the Disney adaptation of Pocahontas which I made a post about. It felt nice and almost fun to write about it and share it with others. This assignment definitely helped improve my media literacy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lovemarks in my own life: Disney

Image
         A lovemark is a brand or product which has created undeniable loyalty in it's consumers. Although I do not like to admit it, Disney is a lovemark in my life. It began when I was very young. I would watch Pocahontas and Mulan nearly every single day. That was wear it started. Even now, when I hear the Disney opening theme, my heart warms. I associate it with all my great memories of childhood. Today, as soon as a new princess movie comes out, I go to the theatres to see it despite the quality of the movie beings  poor. Disney is so much of a lovemark in my life that despite knowing all the problematic things associated with Disney, it still has a special place in my heart. I am fully aware about the messages about body image, race, gender roles and the unrealistic expectations is gives little children yet still I love Disney.        I don't think I am alone in this. Many young girls and even older women much like I still know every single Disney song by heart. Thes
Read more

Miss Representation: Self Objectification

Image
        I began worrying about my weight at 8 years old. Now I'm nearly 16 and still worrying about my weight years later. I remember being much younger and watching America's Next Top Model on TV. I would watch that show religiously. Those women were everything I aspired to be. Skinny and tall. I already had the tall part down even as a little girl. However, being skinny was the next thing I needed to achieve. Counting calories, weighing myself two times a day, excessive exercising, every diet trick in the book, and laxatives; these were the things which I lived and breathed. I ate less than 400 calories a day for two months. As the pounds began to fall off, so did my hair. I was always cold. I stopped getting my period. The thought of food consumed my mind constantly. Shockingly, I was being complimented more than ever. I was the sickest I had ever felt and yet strangers would stop me on the streets to say a kind word. This just motivated me more, so I continued. I was on
Read more

Tall Girl

Image
       I believe many of us are familiar with this movie from the quote, "You think your life is hard? I'm a high school junior wearing size 13 Nikes. Men's size 13 Nikes." As you may be able to tell, this movie is pretty awful. Tall Girl is counterproductive in it's message. For one, it was meant to be empowering to young tall girls and send the message that we are all fine the way we are. However, I was left feeling even more insecure after watching it. On top of this, the movie feeds into stereotypes regarding race and gender as well.       The main character, Jodi, is 6'1" tall. Because of this, she feels very singled out. She is constantly commented on because of her height. This is the only aspect of being tall which the movie got right. Her father insistantly makes negative comments on her height and compares Jodi to her much shorter sister. The difference between Jodi and her sister is very significant. Her sister is extremely petite and is por
Read more