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Final Part II

I had signed up for the media literacy class because it was a requirement for my major. Before entering the class, my honest thoughts were that the class would involve a lot of writing and critiquing, and wouldn’t catch my interests. However, my expectations for the class were completely off. I believe I have become more “media literate” than I was first stepping into the class.

The first thing I like about my newfound media literacy is my ability to use software applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. It was rewarding to have this technology at our hands here at Marist College. Learning how to alter images, create a short clip, and re-create a magazine cover have enhanced my ability in digital media. Besides just getting the work done for a grade, I had fun using these applications. I think that learning Adobe will help in my future career in advertising because it’s easier to walk in to your new job and already know how to do something, instead of learning it from the start.

The second thing I enjoy most about my newfound media literacy is my new awareness of the media that surrounds us. I tune in more to the CNN and MSNBC news channels, as well as the New York Times website. During the class, it was interesting to find that websites like Twitter, although odd, exist. Also, I’m used to watching videos that are constantly blurred. However, just recently, I was informed about Hulu. I checked it out, and I like the clarity much better. When living in the world we live in today, I think we all need to be aware of what is happening. Everywhere we look, there is some form of media surrounding us. For example, right now, with the click of the mouse, I can obatin the latest news, check the weather, and even tune in to AOL Radio. The media has such a great impact and influence on our lives, that we need to be aware of what it is, where it’s coming from, and most importantly, what it’s saying to us. We also have sites such as YouTube that feed us information daily. Rather than watching television or reading a newspaper, we turn to our computers, hence the reason we witness more advertising online.

The last thing I enjoy most about my newfound media literacy is basically the way I look at media and interpret messages. All media is trying to sell a message. For example, at the beginning of the semester and at some other points during the class, we referred back to the Calvin Klein image of a man naked with a women lying on top of him. The first time I saw the advertisement, I didn’t know what it meant. But after taking the class, I am able to understand that the image represents a type of sexual gender dominance and advertised that if you buy the jeans, your life can be just as “sexy” as the two people in the ad itself. Watching the films in class also helped enhanced the way I look at media. The film Idiocracy helped understand what the future could hold and how media can eventually affect our lives. Knowing how to read messages will help in my career of advertising. But this time, I’ll be selling the message, not looking at it!

There were many things that I learned throughout the semester, and I’m grateful to have a course such as Media Literacy available. The list of things I have learned can go on, but these three were the most important. I’m walking away from this class with a better awareness of media, a more detailed way I look at media, and an enhanced knowledge of how to use digital software applications. Overall, I have a better understanding of media.

Final Blog Entry:

Parts of Chapter 8 seemed very interesting to me. One thing that stuck out was the scientific imaging of abortions in Bernard Nathanson’s The Silent Scream. After reading this part of the chapter, I found myself looking up images on Google to see how I’d react. I found myself looking and looking, searching page after page. I was in this concept of “practices of looking.” Abortion never seemed right in my eyes to begin with. However, once I saw the images of an aborted child, I couldn’t believe what I my eyes were seeing. It literally was horrifying. I became sick to my stomach. Scientific images or just images in general do play a major role in the way we think and act. These images have made me become even more against abortion. I hope to never see images like those again. I didn’t post any pictures either because it wouldn’t be appropriate.

Docile Bodies

Our textbook talks about docile bodies as these bodies that are built to perfection and regulated by cultural norms. These docile bodies have little if no flaws at all. Consumers seek to attain the physical and emotional characteristics of these docile bodies. We try to conform to these standards of beauty. Using docile bodies creates a desire in the consumer to attain perfection.

In this advertisement for Dolce & Gabbana, we can see that bodies chiseled to perfection are portrayed here. We can see two men who are physically fit with their shirts off having total control over a sexy, provocative women being handled by the men. The other men appear to me physically fit as well. This ad produces a desire in the consumer to attain the image in the ad. Through purchasing Dolce & Gabbana’s products, consumers feel they too, can reach this state of perfection and glamour.

Everytime I walk into Hollister, there are mannequins outside of the store that have six packs, and popping muscles, followed by images of models who have that perfect body. This ad for Hollister shows two docile bodies. The man and girl seem to have physically fit bodies. Hollister uses these docile bodies to send out the message that if you buy Hollister products, you will be able to look like this, and have a strong attraction between you and the other sex.

Calvin Klein is known to show “sexy” ads. Anytime I see an advertisement for Calvin Klein, I usually see a man, who is physically fit and in really great shape, modeling underwear. I have been guilty of actually purchasing a pair of Calvin Klein underwear. Calvin Klein ads use these docile bodies to attract the consumer to the products and feel that if they buy Calvin Klein underwear, they can be just as good looking and sexy as the model and attractive to women.

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

The textbook defines glamour as this state of perfection that a figure has transformed themselves into. We have this desire to obtain the glamour presented to us and develop this desire to purchase a product, making us believe it will help us reach that state of perfection. In many advertisements, glamour is portrayed by celebrities and models who have made it to the top and have no flaws. In the film, the main character works as an advertising executive. In the beginning of the film, his goal was to create an advertisement that would emit this glamour about a product in order for the consumer to want to have it and be like the person in the ad. As long as he can make that consumer have this desire for a product and feel as if the product would fill a certain hole in their lives, he has done his job successfully. His strategies force people to believe the product will satisfy a specific flaw in their life. However, as the film goes on, he realizes that making people desire certain products through the use of glamour isn’t truly the right thing. He doesn’t want to be the person who creates false impressinos in consumer’s minds, and therefore, decides to resign from his position. Glamour is this ideology that all consumers want to have. They want to be like the celebrity or model in the ad. They want to attain perfection. I have witnessed this use of glamour in ads almost every day and probably won’t see this tactic diminish any time soon..or ever. It’s all part of the business.

Blog #9

In Chapter 6, the reading discusses the idea of logos embedded in almost everything we own. Today, after reading this section of the chapter, I sat in my desk and just did a 360 degreee turn and saw logos embedded in almost everything I had. The Hollister shirt I was wearing had the seagull on it, my printer had the “hp” for hewlett-packard on it, my flat screen television had the “Sharp” bore the name sharp, and my roomates playstation had the logo on it. We have all developed a knowledge of recognizing these logos when we see them, and thus have developed an identity. Advertising truly gets into the mind of the consumer.

B Player:List all the uses for a brick that you can imagine, beyong building a wall.

1. Fireplace

2. Patio

3. Pathway

4. Chimney

5. Supports to hold things up

6. Driveway

Blog #8

In Chapter 5, the book explained how television is the fastest electronic transmission form of media. Immediately after the events of September 11,2001, television created a sense of a national culture in the United States. All news channels had live coverage of the events occuring and reached almost every American household. Also, the events portrayed on the television went international, with many countries seeing what was happening. So yes, television can create a national as well as an international culture. It also influences the way people think and react to certain situations.

Blog #7

Chapter 4 covers material on reproduction of images. Almost every place that I look in my house, I see a reproduction of an image. This is because these pieces of art arent the originals, and thus have less value than the original. This example above is an image of my cousin who lost his life on Sept.11,2001 while trying to rescue people from the twin towers. In my room, I have this mass card from his funeral posted up on my wall. My point is that the image of my cousin on the mass card is a reproduction of the true original photo of him. And many more reproductions were made. I believe we live in a world of these reproductions, and usually don’t give credit to the original piece of art work.

Blog #6:

 For about the past two weeks, there has been a marathon of Home Improvement on NickatNite. I remember watching this show when I was younger. Now that I’m older and understand things, I find the show much more hilarious. Anyway, I have noticed that everytime the show goes to commercial, there is always the advertisement for Hot Pockets. Supposedly, Hot Pockets sponsors the network and/or show. To be honest, it’s starting to get on my nerves because it is literally every single time. The company has gotten into my mind, and will keep putting hot pockets into the viewers minds. I just found it interesting, becuase I realized this re-occurence last night.