my media madness

yes, fall is here!

and u.v.u.'s fall break ended yesterday... but i spent today at home as well because i'm still sick. i've spent the whole time being sick (and trying to sleep it off). when i'm not sleeping, i'm coughing and blowing my nose because my body is basically incapable of doing anything else. being sick is no fun, huh? and i feel like i'm always getting sick these days! yucky.

i am pretty sure this go-round is due in large part to stress. i bottle my stress up rather than find healthy, productive outlets sometimes leading to unwelcome viruses nestled in my chest... and throat and nose and you get the idea.

haha! isn't this exactly what so many of us do? i do it!

right before fall break, i had a group presentation in one of my classes that produced a productive class discussion and my head has been churning ever since. for the presentation, my group incorporated the teaching model "socratic seminar" to teach a lesson about healthy relationships contrasted with how the media portrays intimate relationships.

we showed the music video for "love the way you lie" (beware! violent and risque!), a clip from the britney spears glee episode, and the music video for sugarland's "stuck like glue" ---- and we didn't show the katy perry "teenage dream" music video, but we were going to (beware! highly sexual!).

after a whole lesson about the topic and a class discussion, i'm reevaluating the way i view and listen to media. "love the way you lie" was one of my favorite songs! why? the part the rihanna sings was so catchy and intense, it stuck with me and rang in my memory. besides, the song is blasting everywhere! bombarding us on every side is violence, sex, obsession, ... unhealthy relationship behaviors on all counts.

well, if you're interested here's a look at the media i have analyzed so far that i've been consuming --- first, the bad and the ugly:

• glee. i've been a glee-aholic for a while now. the vocals are fantastic. looking at their more recent episodes, now, it seems they're heading in a downward spiral. there is even more sexual promiscuity, a whole episode devoted to questioning the existence of God or any higher power, and the continual pushing of gay agendas. i'm not sure that my love for the show is worth looking past its crassness.
• katy perry ... ugh... what do i say? i am mostly disgusted with her songs. i admit that i do enjoy two of her songs (thinking of you / hot n cold), though the majority of her songs are explicit and the videos just more of the same. what makes me despise katy perry so harshly is that the beats and tunes of her songs are so blasted contagious. if you have the misfortune of turning the radio dial while a kp song is playing, you're bound to land on it just in time to hear an awful line (such as "i kissed a girl and i liked it") that will stay with you all day... and will probably pop up in your mind at random times for endless weeks following the incident. save the children!
• lady gaga. oh heaven help us. and yes, it's heaven's help we need because i believe some of gaga's songs come straight off hell's conveyor belt. you may think that statement a bit harsh, yet i think this is just blowing away the smoke and flare to see clearly the girl standing beneath the chaos. even though some of her songs aren't abruptly sexual, the music videos are borderline gruesome and shove sex into every crevice of each song. i admit i was slow to realize this about lady gaga for i really did enjoy some of her songs that rang through the radio waves. however, it has become increasingly apparent that lady gaga is a singer of catchy songs that lack substance. does she, as an artist have substance? i am simply posing the question. ***regardless of your stance, read this this article for its interesting insights.
• now... i have strong negative opinions about the above mentioned artists and television show. adversely, i have been a fan of many disney stars for a long time and one of those is selena gomez. i think she's a good singer and has great timing as an actor. when i saw a picture advertising her new album "year without rain" i was struck with awe (the bad kind). i am aware that little disney people want to 'stretch their wings' and grow up, making a transition from youth to adult but c.o.m.e. o.n.! she just turned 18! miley cyrus is not even that old! 18 still seems so little to me ... even though i'm only 4 or 5 years older than that. why are all these little girls sexualizing themselves? why are we allowing it? ahhh! society! this is wrong!

ok. off my soap box.

as for media that i like:

• demi lovato. love love love her. her music, too. ok, so she getting a little more 'grown-up' and sexualized, but of all the disney girls she is definitely the least and i like her the most. she also seems to be the most down-to-earth - and that gets lots of points in my book.
• jonas brothers. i am not ashamed to admit it (anymore. ok, so i'm coming out of the closet), i a in love with them. head-over-heels, full-blown jo-bros fan - that's me!!
• bandslam. this is a movie that, yes it has disney kids in it... but it was actually quality! and this isn't coming just from me, a friend who is not a disney fan watched it with me and she conceded that it was a good movie. however, i think it's a great movie. seriously. loved it.
• 500 days of summer. i hated this movie at first. then i watched it a second time with the same friend as mentioned in my bandslam comment. it seems we help each other see things differently? because that is what she did for me and this movie - she changed the way i viewed this movie. now i love it. i hate love/hate the main girl. but i do like that this movie simulates the way we look back on the past and only see certain things. anyway, i liked the moral of the story.
• according to greta. now this is a movie that is true-to-life! this stars hilary duff and, though it's rough and bleak, it's so real and honest. i really enjoyed it and how relate-able it was.
• freedom writers. one of the very best movies ever. if this one doesn't make you want to become a teacher, i don't know what will!