Alright, my bad…I still have one more blog to go for this class so here it is.
I decided to go back to my first topic for this blog, Reality TV. So, how real is this new and popular form of television?
According to this article, there are more than 70 different reality shows that have been produced. And just about every channel on television airs at least one reality show. These shows were originally produced to portray real people in their real lives, however, when put in front of a camera these real people begin to act real strange!
“Take the case of the hated apprentice contender Omarosa for example. According to a Time magazine article, she may have been the victim of reality TV editors. Some reality TV shows are edited to be dramatic and some quotes may actually be manufactured. Clashes and ugly feuds between the reality stars may be constructed and some parts of the shows may also be completely edited and cut out so they don't make the final show that people see on TV. Some critics actually charge that reality TV is not so real and that these shows may be far more manipulative than we think.
According to a poll by CNN, 57% of 1016 adults believe that Reality TV shows provide a distorted picture of events while another 23% say the shows are "totally phoney". The amount of pressure for TV ratings pushes people to make the show more interesting.”
And the worst part about these reality TV shows is that once these people make complete asses of themselves, they try to take it back by saying that they unfairly represented. However the networks of these different shows are smart, participants are given warnings and they have to sign extensive and detailed legal waivers that protect the network from any liability if someone gets hurt on the show. It’s like the network knows that there is going to be trouble! I hope this blog has given you a little insight into the wild and ever-growing world of reality TV(and some other media aspects).
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sexual Imagery in Advertising
For my final blog for this Comm 112 class, I have decided to write on the topic of my final project: Sexual Imagery in Advertising.
As a class we have watched online videos entitled Killing Us Softly and Dream Worlds. I found these particular videos extremely fitting for my project topic. They talk about how sex is such an overpowering part of advertising and everyday life, today more than ever. The following links provide segments from each of the movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMo5cIJN3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpyGwP3yzE&feature=PlayList&p=0FB656A37B7E6DC5&index=0
It is really amazing to me what these videos had to say about advertising. I always knew that sex played a role in all sorts of the media, but I never realized it played this much of a role. In Killing Us Softly it says that advertising had a $120 billion revenue, as of 1999. Now that it is ten years later I can only imagine what that number must be at now.
Killing us softly also stated that the average American is exposed to about 3000 advertisements every day. Again, that is an amazing statistic to me, however now that I think on it it’s probably close accurate for me. It’s crazy to think that advertisements of all shapes, sizes, and forms come in contact with our lives so much every day!
The movie Dream Worlds, is more about the music video industry, but it also ties right along in with the idea that women are suppose to be something that they are not. Both videos showed how these forms of media are making women seem more like objects than actual beings. The camera will focus on a woman’s breasts, butt or skinny body, in order to objectify that that is what makes her a woman.
These “perfected” images that have been placed in both men’s and women’s head’s are almost unachievable. And the worst part is that women of all sizes, shapes, and ages are giving into these false images, and trying to become the beautiful women they see in the advertisements or videos. I admit that I too, have dieted to “look better” many times, but some women starve themselves to become the pretty faces and perfected bodies they see in the magazines.
So the question here is, when will women be seen as beautiful just as they are, without dieting or surgeries? Will that day ever come, or has society tattooed these images into every human beings mind?
As a class we have watched online videos entitled Killing Us Softly and Dream Worlds. I found these particular videos extremely fitting for my project topic. They talk about how sex is such an overpowering part of advertising and everyday life, today more than ever. The following links provide segments from each of the movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMo5cIJN3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpyGwP3yzE&feature=PlayList&p=0FB656A37B7E6DC5&index=0
It is really amazing to me what these videos had to say about advertising. I always knew that sex played a role in all sorts of the media, but I never realized it played this much of a role. In Killing Us Softly it says that advertising had a $120 billion revenue, as of 1999. Now that it is ten years later I can only imagine what that number must be at now.
Killing us softly also stated that the average American is exposed to about 3000 advertisements every day. Again, that is an amazing statistic to me, however now that I think on it it’s probably close accurate for me. It’s crazy to think that advertisements of all shapes, sizes, and forms come in contact with our lives so much every day!
The movie Dream Worlds, is more about the music video industry, but it also ties right along in with the idea that women are suppose to be something that they are not. Both videos showed how these forms of media are making women seem more like objects than actual beings. The camera will focus on a woman’s breasts, butt or skinny body, in order to objectify that that is what makes her a woman.
These “perfected” images that have been placed in both men’s and women’s head’s are almost unachievable. And the worst part is that women of all sizes, shapes, and ages are giving into these false images, and trying to become the beautiful women they see in the advertisements or videos. I admit that I too, have dieted to “look better” many times, but some women starve themselves to become the pretty faces and perfected bodies they see in the magazines.
So the question here is, when will women be seen as beautiful just as they are, without dieting or surgeries? Will that day ever come, or has society tattooed these images into every human beings mind?
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