#teragawa

[entertainment-and-society]

I highly doubt anyone has failed to notice the affects YouTube has on our society.  In case you are not aware of these things, here is an article from the Examiner that describes some of these things. 

Obviously YouTube has caused many people who should not be idolized in our society to become ridiculously famous.  For example, "Gangnam Style"...Seriously guys? Who decides these things are cool?! I guess I am not one of those "Cool Kids" like in merchants of cool because I am no trend-setter and I definitely do not find these obnoxious songs that become chart-toppers as "cool".  

I think what is worse about this is that people create their own remix, cover, or even parody to these songs.  For example, I just discovered this video called "What Does the Spleen Do" which is obviously copying the grossly infamous song "What Does the Fox Say".  The most frightening thing about this video was that it was made by HARVARD MED STUDENTS!! Ugh!

So my question here was, "What makes people do this?"  A big reason I think is everyone has extravagant expectations as talked about in Boorstin's The Image.  We also discussed in class how our generation seems to be taking their expectations to a whole new level and how we as a whole are completely unrealistic.  To me, many people make these YouTube videos simply to get attention.  Somewhere along the line, they hope they can also become a "YouTube Sensation."  And yes, this is an actual website dedicated to showing you what a YouTube sensation is.  I think this is great that people are ambitious! But it's also totally scary as to how unrealistic everyone is and how narcissistic our society has become. Much like how Boorstin mentioned how traveling and vacations are no longer spontaneous and have become so narcissistic, this YouTube craze simply reflects that to be true.

:: tamara teragawa

[entertainment-and-society]

So we all know that sex sells. That has been common knowledge basically forever.  Today I cam across post on Facebook.  It is a blog written by the actress, Rashida Jones, that she posted on the Glamour website.  She discusses how EVERYONE is getting naked (specifically in the celebrity world).  However, this directly influences all of us.  It is disturbing that it seems as if the female celebrities on the cover of Cosmopolitan are getting younger with captions like "Your Best Sex Ever!" feature right next to their face. What is the media teaching everyone?! 

Having such young celebrities be seen in such sexual ways is not sending an appropriate message to the youth of our society.  People criticize and judge these young girls who display themselves like this, yet we as the consumers continue to soak this all in, even if it means redistributing the information in a negative manner.  The perfect example is Miley's VMA's performance. I know we have discussed that before, but that seems to be the ultimate pseudo-event.  Same thing happened when Britney Spears wore an outfit implying she was practically naked.  Or when Madonna and Britney kissed on TV.  Or when Justin Timberlake "accidentally" exposed Janet Jackson's boob during a performance. Seriously, how many of these things can we say are an accident when we know just how successful sex is at capturing an audience's attention. An article from North Kentucky University's website analyzes what's a pseudo-event or if these things are actually special events, but that isn't important (it basically just clarifies why these "special events" are actually pseudo-events).  

Sexual exposure to the young is something that our society struggles with.  Look at this article.  It is from The Examiner and discusses whether the stars of the 2011 film, Sucker Punch, are too young to be portrayed in such a sexual way.  I definitely think so. Just look at their outfits! They are ridiculously sexy and you know every young girl who idolizes these actresses want to be just like them.  Even in one of my favorite shows, Modern Family, they "deal" with the sex topic with the eldest teenage daughter, Haley.  Many girls who watch this show may think it's completely fine and casual to have sex, and there won't be any real consequence since that's not how it worked on TV.  This is another big problem.  People live in this hyperreality and don't think anything bad will happen to them. 

At least shows like "16 and Pregnant" try to shoot its viewers with some sense of reality by displaying the hardships of being a young parent.  

Any way, I strongly think the media needs to tone down the sexuality of EVERYTHING.  They are sexing everything up and it's really sad.  Have some dignity people!

[entertainment-and-society]

I found this video on YouTube.  As we all know, Disney is notorious for embedding stereotypes into their creations.  This video only covers a handful of racial stereotypes in Disney films. It focuses on all of the different minorities that are present in different animated movies and shows how those characters are portrayed in a negative way.  I wish this video covered the gender stereotypes that are ALWAYS present in any Disney product, but I'll try to find another article or video on this.

Disney is one of the most influential entertainment companies around.  People all over the world are familiar with something of Disney.  Just imagine how much of an impact their films have on shaping children's perspectives on the different types of people in our society.  It's kind of scary.

:: tamara teragawa