15. My Overall Reflection on Media

With every end comes a beginning, no? Though this media blog has come to an end, I think that my time as a more aware consumer of media has just begun.
I, myself, think that I consume a fairly large amount of media. I don't watch a lot of TV anymore, but I do spend a good four or more hours on my laptop during school days. I think this impacts the amount of media i consume because when you're online, you're exposed to so much more media-copious amounts of advertisements are confined to a smaller space and the headlines (whether they are about Kim Kardashian or international affairs) are shown in a smaller place as well. I think the fact that I consume a lot of media impacts me, but not in the way that analyzers of the media's affects think it might.
 Many have said that teenagers, such as myself, are brainwashed to believe that they should be a certain way and look a certain way. I will admit that I'm quite permanently convinced that the ideal woman should beautiful and slender, but I most certainly don't think that the media has convinced me to be promiscuous with my body. In addition, in the documentary "Miss Representation," it was stated that females have been less enticed to want powerful positions because of the media's portrayal of women, but I don't think that I've ever felt that way. My closest friends and I have always wanted to do well in school, go to good colleges, and become wealthy and powerful. Even though the media has portrayed woman to be a certain way, I think it is safe to say that many females see right through it and choose to be who they want to be regardless of what the media tells them.
Throughout this quarter, as a result of keeping this journal, I think I have become more aware of the media I consume. Most of the times, now, when I see a commercial, I'll think about the techniques the advertisers are using and the needs the advertisers might be appealing to. I've also started paying much more attention to the product placement in TV shows and in movies.
 In keeping this journal, I also think that it has helped me to increase my media literacy. In my opinion, it's important to have this because it's just more important to be aware in general. Why go through life unaware of what advertisers are showing to us consumers? Why go through life without knowing what brands are doing in television programs and movies? By becoming more aware, we are less likely to just go along with the ideas and perceptions the media wants us to simply accept.
I've come to enjoy this online journal of mine and I owe it to this assignment for making me more aware of the media. This is the Tsoi Bean signing off. This may be the end of this blog, but it's only the beginning of a lifetime of being aware.

14. My Dislike of Dubstep

First thing's first, WHERE ARE THE WORDS. Oxford dictionary defines a song as "a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung." Therefore, using this reasoning, dubstep "songs" are not songs! The rapid growing popularity of this type of music continues to annoy me as more and more pop songs integrate aspects of dubstep.

Songs such as "We Found Love" and "Sexy and I Know It" are half dubstep and more and more songs are continue to do the same. The main reason I find this genre of music so annoying goes back to my first point. Why aren't there any words? I just find it... unfair that some artists go through the process of actually writing a song and then putting it to music while other artists can take a big shortcut and just hire people to put music in the place of words. Many have said that the quality of the music industry is not what it used to be, and I agree. I'll admit that the type of music I like (pop) isn't of the highest quality either, but in my opinion, songs that lack words are far worse. 

My dad plays a lot of oldies music in the car when we drive around so I've gotten to know some older songs. These were songs that had lyrics that were full of meaning and songs that are still remembered several decades after they first came out. Compare this to the newer songs nowadays. We don't necessarily listen to songs from say five or so ago anymore and sometimes we forget them altogether. Songs these days are far less meaningful compared to songs from twenty or thirty years ago. I can deal with the quality of lyrics slowly worsening, but to get rid of lyrics altogether? Now that's just crossing the line. 

13. The Combining of Pop Music and Rap

These days, the type of songs that dominate the songs are those of the pop genre. While many enjoy this type of music, many others find this type of music to be annoying and seemingly meaningless and shallow. 

Over the past few years, though, I've noticed a growing trend in songs- "poppish" songs have now turned to rap for the bridge. This trend has made poppish songs increasingly more appealing to a larger group of people and has taken several songs that didn't have rap in the bridge and made them popular.

An excellent example of such a case is Katy Perry's song, "E.T." when Katy Perry's album, "Teenage Dream" first came out in the summer of 2010, I listened to the entire album and I really liked the song E.T. and I thought it would quickly become popular. The song eventually did go on to be very popular, but not until about a year later when the original bridge was swapped out for Kanye West's bridge that is all rap. 

By adding this aspect to the song, this song now appeals to people that may enjoy rap music over pop music. The songs that are now topping the charts are those that have combined both rap and pop, thus appealing to two different groups of music lovers. 

12. Thoughts on "Mirror Mirror"

After watching "Miss Representation" in class over the last week, female empowerment and the role of females has been on my mind quite a bit. In the documentary, it was mentioned that even women in animated movies such as "Snow White" were portrayed as damsels in distress, wearing suggestive clothing, who needed to be saved by men. 

This weekend, I watched one of the newer renditions of the classic story of "Snow White" called "Mirror Mirror." In this movie, you have the expected characters: Snow White, the evil queen, the seven dwarfs, and Prince Charming. The plot has characteristics similar to the classic movie, but one huge aspect that is different is that of Snow White's personality. In this movie, Snow White is no longer the damsel in distress. She is trained by seven dwarfs to fight for herself and in one scene, when she has to face the beast, she says to the prince and the dwarfs,"I can think of no greater group of warriors to lead into battle, but this is my fight."

In contrast with the 1937 Walt Disney classic, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the female protagonist has gone from a needy, semi-clueless female to a clever, vivacious female perfectly capable of defending herself. However, in the other rendition of "Snow White" that has been released this year, "Snow White and the Huntsman," the character of Snow White is even more different from the classic protagonist of Snow White. Portrayed by Kristen Stewart, this Snow White is a full on warrior with armor and weapons. Through this great change, we can see how our view on females has changed over the years. Though women still have ways to go, females have come very far from the once completely male-dependent persona that was so commonly portrayed in the years past.