Merchants of Cool...again.

As I was studying for the Mass Media exam I went back to the video of Merchants of Cool online to refresh my memory. When I referred back to the video I began to question the idea that they presented about sex. What is it that is so appealing to teens and even a lot of society about the sexual content presented in these movies and television shows? Most of us were familiar when we saw Dawson's Creek on the video and how they referred to this show as "a group of sex obsessed high school friends". Although, Dawson's Creek was not the only television show for teens that they mentioned, but also Beverly Hills 90210, MTV's Undressed, and the movie Cruel Intentions. Just from the clips that they showed on the video from these shows I was amazed at how much sexual content was actually present. At a younger age in my home I was not allowed to watch shows that contain this kind of behavior until I was older. After watching Merchants of Cool a friend and I actually went to rent the film Cruel Intentions. When they introduced this movie on the video I thought to myself who would ever want to watch a movie about step siblings who desired each other sexually? To me I thought that was just strange, inappropriate, and basically disturbing. I think it was the sick and uncomfortable story line that made this movie a "must see". Even though while I was watching the movie I still felt awkward and uncomfortable with what was going on. I must admit that it was addicting and entertaining. The movie kept the attention of all of us watching it and I do believe it was the story line of the two step siblings being sexually active with each other that made the movie interesting and held my attention because you always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Not only is this sexual content found on television, but also in our own lives. In the film when they introduce the "Midriff" and "Mook" everyone can either think of someone or maybe even themselves who present them self in the way of one of these labels. Its the "sexy" and "dangerous" styles that grab the attention of teen age girls turning them to the world of sex symbols. Boys are not far behind with their macho man lifestyle that they are trying to portray. I will say at first I did not believe that teens could be so interested in the idea of sexual behaviors and physical sex appeal, but after watching the weird and disturbing film of Cruel Intentions I will say that there is a way to grab your attention through this sexual content.

Genre

Last Tuesday in class when Alyssa was teaching about genre's it all a new concept for me. When ever I think of genres I always usually just assume books. In elementary school we are taught the different genres of books that are labeled in the library, but I never really applied the idea of television to this world of genres. When we did the activity where we list all the genres that we could think of from TV it amazed me to see the amount. It was funny when after making this list I felt like our group nailed all the genres, but then as the other groups began to put there list up i realized that there were EVEN MORE genres! Now, when I think about or am watching a television show I begin to think about what genre the show could be apart of and realize that some shows are part of multiple genres. Beyond just beginning to recognize genres of television Alyssa also taught us that there are two different concepts of genres, which I had never heard of in books or television. The idea of recursivity and hybridity makes it even more of a challenge for us to identify what category a certain show could fall into. Now, being more aware of these different genres in my life it can help me to identify television shows that will be interesting for myself. Being considered a member of the audience for these show you would never have guessed that you are a factor of what determines these genres. I know that their are many polls and percents that express the "love" for a show, but I never knew that based on how much you like a show can help to determine the genre. I think that genres are important to the world of mass media because it helps to keep division in the media and it is easier for an audience member to become involved when they know what they like and what they are looking for.

Digital Media Story

Lately, I have been think about what to do for my digital media story project. At first when we heard about this assignment in class I thought it was going to be extremely easy to come up with an idea and for some people it may have been easy, but not for me. Already just beginning this project I have learned something new. I have learned that media, indeed, does play a enormous part in our lives today, but the concept of how a type of media has shaped or changed our lives it what I find confusing or difficult. I come from a family or readers and we all love to read different types of books. Now, although my family loves to read no one actually considered reading to change their life, but finally I found someone. After asking many family members about themselves and their own reading experiences along with the memories of other family members who have passed away I found that the persons whose life has been changed was myself. I have always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in the second grade, but in high school I ran in circle with the idea of what subject was the one I wanted to teach. My junior year in high school I mentored with a middle school science teacher and really enjoyed the opportunity, but there was still something missing in the science class room that bothered me. The thing missing in the classroom was books. I know it may sound corny, but I realized that science wasn't my passion but books and literature in general was what I has a love for and that is what I wanted to share. So, even though I have known all along that books have changed my own life I never really considered it to be what influenced me to be who I am and who I want to become.

In Class Movie..."Merchants of Cool"

After watching the movie in class the past couple of days it has amazed me at how much it takes to reach the teens in society. If I would have never watched that movie I would never have guessed that companies work so hard in order to attract the youth. When I watch television I never notice or realized that I am being impacted so strongly by what is on, but I can now see that I am being greatly affected by this media. It was interesting to me to see how companies would work together to draw in the young people. When I heard the term "Cool Hunters" in the movies I just thought to myself, "You have got to be kidding. That can not be a real job title", but it was and the description of this title fits perfectly. When they described the idea of the trends and how when one thing is cool, it does not stay cool for long, but instead it becomes old and unpopular making a new "item" the cool thing. When I heard this cycle of coolness I found it to be very true. I have always felt that the "cool" world moves so fast. First, you see the "cool thing" and become introduced. Next, you begin a mission to have or to buy this cool thing. After sometimes a long mission you finally get the "cool thing". You can usually enjoy the "cool thing" for a little while before the cycle starts up again with the next "cool thing". Now, that I have seen this movie and realized the way the media and production world works I think I will pay more attention to how they are trying to get my interest and suck me in to their trap.

Reading Four

I found reading four to be very interesting. In class we discussed the difference between signifier, which is a oral or written symbol and the signified, which is defined as how you think about the signifier or in other words the mental representation. In the comic reading that it was assigned I feel as though the "comic man" gave a very good example of signifier and the signified. In the example that he gave her was talking about how when we are given the signifier "FACE" as a written word or orally then there are a variety of mental representations that can appear in our mind. When we hear the word "face" there is no particular and certain face that we see in our mind, but many. These different faces can range from complex to simple. In the example that the comic man gave he said that faces can come complex and so realistic thats it's hard to tell if it is a portrait or not, but faces come simple also. He discussed how us as humans can see just a couple circles and lines and put them together to make a face. After this reading presented this example I found it was interesting to think about how the mind works and although one thing can paint a detailed picture in our life it can also be as simple as a couple lines and circles.

"I'm Yours" By Jason Mraz

After class of Thursday I have found myself listening to to music in a more observant way, which has become frustrating but can be interesting. Over the past weekend I have done quit a bit of driving which allows me to listen to a lot of music. While driving in the car I had to of heard the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz over 100 times. Now, every time I hear this song I remember the discussion we had in class about how songs are carefully placed together for a certain meaning or sometimes multiple meanings. I also decided that I wanted to analyze a song for my media text analysis, which was very different from that of Jason Mraz and it helped me to understand how different songs can have different meanings. I have become more aware of the way the music of a song and the words work parallel to each other in order to create the meanings and thoughts coming from the artist. By being able to analyze different text can help to make that text more meaningful for an individual.

Discussion About Semiotic Domains

In class last Tuesday we started off the discussion with the quote, "Reading is not only a mental or cognitive act, but it is profoundly a sociable practice" and as we continued to discussed we decided that this quote was saying that we read in order to interact with the people who know the same topic. When I heard this quote and after the discussion I had mix feelings about what it was trying to say. At first I really liked the quote and thought it explained the way we are perfectly. I thought about how many times people may read a certain book or magazine or maybe watch a certain show in order to fit in and communicate with others who enjoy that same subject or are a part of a particular affinity group. Then I also felt a negative feeling toward this quote. I disagreed with this thought because I feel that often times we watch a show or read a book for our own personal pleasure and not for the reason of communication with others in a certain group of interest. I also thought about how a lot of us will just engage in a certain media because we are forced to or expected to for a certain group or class. So, althought I agree with this quote I also believe that it is false and that we participate in material for our own pleasure.

Signs

After the discussion in class on Thursday I have found myself evaluating and thinking about signs and what the mean quite frequently. One example of what I thought about was the new "MU" logo for Malone University. The other day at practice we received our new jackets with this "MU" logo. As I looked at the logo I realized that some people would understand what the MU stood for while others maybe confused. As I thought about it I thought about the fact that of course almost everyone on Malone's campus would know what the "MU" stood for and probably many people around the Canton area since it is a local university. Then I thought that people around Columbus where I am from would probably have a more difficult time understanding the meaning of the embroidered "MU". After this encounter with a certain sign I realized that some signs may be more familiar or well recognized by people depending on location or other differences between people. Even though some signs maybe more familiar towards a certain type of people we still have the universal symbols that are familiar to a large number of people. An example of a universal sign would be like the stop sign that we discussed in class. Whether it is a "local" sign or a universal sign we can see that are everyday lives are overwhlemed with signs everywhere.