Brazzy Ben's Blogs

Because this is my last media blog, I wanted to revisit the effect of media on my life, and kind of write a concluding post to end my blogs on this website. From watching videos in class, and other experiences that I've had in life over these past months, my perception of media has changed dramatically. In the beginning of this blog, I went into it thinking that media was for the most part all bad and that it was all toxic. The documentaries in class reinforced this. Most of them highlighted how much time we spend on our phones and how it's not healthy for us to be online all the time. I definitely think that there are negatives to media in general, but I think that if we look collectively at the effect that media has good and bad, using everything that I've experienced in my life up to this point, the good definitely outweigh the negatives. An example of a positive happened last weekend. I went to the regional meet for the NCAA D1 Track and Field Championships. It

As many of you know I am a big fan of the game Clash of Clans. It seems like wherever I go whether it be during free time in class, in the hallway, or just when I'm bored I'm playing Clash of Clans. This is a strategy attacking game that takes a lot of time and is incredibly addicting. I have been playing this game on and off since 6th grade and I realize that I get very little done when my mind is on the game. But how does this incredibly addicting game connect to media? Over the past three months the game has gone through many updates, mainly to gain the attention of many people who simply got tired of playing. Using techniques seen in other games like the popular game Fortnite, players must complete changes in a gold pass similar to the battle pass seen in Fortnite to earn certain rewards. What is the draw of this "gold pass." Putting it simply, the more achievements you do, the more rewards you get, and especially in a game like clash of clans, it means a lot

In an episode of Black Mirror that I watched over the weekend, people rated each other through every social interaction. Through every social interaction, you would rate people on your phone. This created a superficial way of talking to people so you could get a higher rating from a stranger. In this society, your rating meant everything, so it influenced where you were able to live, what job you had, and who you could be friends with. This episode shows how much we care about our appearance and how we will do anything to show people that we appear to be perfect. This connects to our world today because we like posts on social media which rates people. I think that this episode connects to present day media because we will often chose to go on social media instead of talking to someone face to face that is right next to us. This episode, (while very extreme) shows us what can happen when media is taken too far. It will ultimately change how we talk to each other because we are so focu

One of the topics discussed in the movie Miss Representation  that we watched in class was how the media affects teenage girls. I have seen at school and in my personal life how girls constantly judge themselves and others around them, but I never really understood why they do that to such an extent. The movie discussed how there is a lack of females in the media and in politics. Even with the women that are in the media, they are very skinny and what is shown in TVs and ads are fake because of photo editing. This holds unattainable standards for girls because boys start to think that girls in their lives should look like that if they are on TV. Also with women in politics, instead of talking about the different policies that they support, they are degraded by the media because the media will only talk about if their dress is too short or what they are wearing. As a guy, I've always wondered why girls are so mean to each other. Why do girls always hate on what another girl is wea

In response to the movie we watched in class, the documentary  Merchants of Cool  opened my eyes to the impact that advertising and advertisers have on the teenage mind. Even though the movie was old and a lot of the facts stated were outdated, I think that what they said still applies to the world we live in today. An example of this is how advertisers try and create a relationship with teenagers by emphasizing loyalty. Advertisers understand that teenagers are a big market and in order to understand them, they have to relate and think like them. Something that the movie brought up that I think still applies to today is "marketing a lifestyle." Even in class during part 1 of the marketing analysis project, most of the ads were trying to sell a lifestyle. I think that it appeals to most teenagers because people want to feel like they are a part of something. If they see a commercial that tells you you can be happy all the time if you have this product, or you will be deemed

Supreme. One of the most popular brands in the world. However, why has this brand become so popular? Why do so many people want to own some of the apparel they sell? The simple answer is supply and demand. Supreme purposely drops a collection of limited items at certain times during the year. With only so many items in stock, and such a large demand for their products, no wonder the resale for their products is so high.  By doing this, having a supreme product is more rare than having something from a generic brand like North Face. People in todays society want to stand out, which is a common trend in media. All of us want to be deemed as special, thus we do everything in our power to separate ourselves from the stereotype that is placed on us. With a brand like supreme, having one of their products sets you apart from the crowd and allows you to be "different." Supreme has also become so popular because their pictures and ads target specific audiences. Somet

When thinking about the most common form of media I think that music can be the most influential, especially towards pre teens and teenagers. Speaking from experience, most people don't really listen to music for the lyrics or the message it is conveying, but just for how it sounds. A lot of the time, kids don't realize what the artists are saying in their song.  Take today's pop music for example. Most of the time, lyrics are talking about sex or drugs. This  message that is being conveyed towards children without them even knowing is harmful. Take a 10 year old boy for example that listens to rap in today's society. The lyrics are objectifying women, so this may lead him to think that women are just objects. This obviously doesn't happen to everyone, I'm just merely pointing out that things like this could happen. With lyrics that talk about drugs, to someone 12 years old, this may rationalize the use of drugs. Artists today may not realize th

Youtube is one of the biggest social media platforms in the world. I will watch more than 3 hours of Youtube everyday whether it's just watching Clash of Clans live streams, Fortnite, or NELK boys I can always find a way to entertain myself on Youtube. However, it was taken over my entire life. So much to the point where I can't go one day without it. When I don't go on Youtube I feel like I have missed out on so much, which will often result in me watching more youtube than I normally do which is a problem in itself. Youtube is a way for me to escape from reality. With the suggested bar constantly attracting me with new videos I always find a way to stay on Youtube till 12am. But what's the attraction to Youtube? Why do I spend so much time on it? I think it's because Youtube has so many videos that it's easy to find a video you're interested in, and from there you just keep looking more and more. Media in general can take over your entire life but I th

                Caster Semenya dominates the world in the 800 meters. She currently runs a 1:54.25 as her personal best which is the fourth fastest 800 of all time to be run by a woman. Recently the IAAF which is like the NBA of running won a case against her. Caster Semenya is born with an abnormally high amount of testosterone. This gives her an edge against her opponents and it is clear in the way she looks as well. In this case against Caster Semenya, the IAAF would give her hormone suppressants. And since the IAAF won this case it means she will either have to start hormone therapy to lower her testosterone or not compete at all. Surprisingly, this isn't the first time that this has happened to her. From 2010-2015 she had to take this same drug in order to compete in races. Media comes into play with this issue because there has been a lot of publicity of this story. Many people have been voicing their opinions online and have been starting lots of rumors about her p

Teenagers today have a big problem. It's the amount of sleep they get. Teenagers are supposed to get between 9 - 9 1/2 hours of sleep. However most of us, me included get around 6 hours every night. This is a big problem because it affects our mood the next day, our ability to function, and our overall health. Even though there are many factors that contribute to this issue, in my opinion the main issue is media. Media is everywhere we go, there is no escaping it. Even just going on your phone for a few minutes before bed can turn into a 2 hour session of scrolling through your Instagram feed. It's amazing to think about how intrigued we get to different types of media. Youtube is an example of this. In my own experiences I will stay up past 2 am watching random videos on Youtube simply because they popped up in my "Up Next" tab.  As time has gone on and I started to face the consequences of getting less sleep, I try to limit my phone use around bed time because

Recently during high school I got really into running. And not just running itself, but watching all kinds of different videos on youtube that had to do with running. Whether it was what was the newest shoe, how to improve running form, the best diets, race vlogs, documentaries and much more. Since summer going into freshman year, I've been obsessed. And of course, for me to be obsessed with running documentaries, I had to have watched the Breaking 2 project from Nike. This documentary was centered around a group of scientists and three of the most elite runners in the world. Nike who was sponsoring this documentary was attempting to have all three of these runners run a marathon under two hours. This is by no means an easy goal. They would have to shave a couple minutes off the world record. One of the factors that Nike branded was the shoes. They came up with a new shoe that was supposedly supposed to give back 4% of energy or "energy return." Nike probably spent

In the tragic recent terrorist bombing in Sri Lanka I sought out one source more skewed to the left (The Los Angeles Times), and another more skewed to the right (Fox News). The responses to this event were very different in approach. Beginning LA Times is pathos with the story of child which gives a description of the event from someone at the scene. It also describes the mourning process and the white and grief associated with it. An example of political speech is “gravest crisis since the end of a brutal civil war a decade ago.” Another example is “at least” … we’re killed etc; the writer wants to show severity instead of saying around or about say at least. It also uses lots of numbers gives people sense of how serious and puts an image which can be seen as logos. There are lots of personal stories about people and how it affected them which gives the article authenticity. It also says Islamists are suspected but not proven which doesn't directly blame a certain group of p

South Park. What seemingly looks like a harmless cartoon will permanently damage your six year old's mind. South Park creates the appeal of a kids show with its cheery theme songs and animated appearance, however the show covers a number of controversial issues in a bad way. These include the issues of race, religion, gun control and sexuality just to name a few. One of the main characters Kyle, is bullied by his friends for being Jewish. This occurs in every single episode. What message are we sending to our youth by installing these beliefs into a TV show? Are we really going to let our youth believe that one certain race is above the rest and gives them entitlement to bully another person based on their religion? Another example of a controversial topic is the school cook that goes by the name of "Chef." He seduces women by singing a song and the show portrays women as if they are objects often with the male character telling them that they need food to be cooked. Dur

           My relationship with media summed up is complicated. I go through phases when it comes to media. Sometimes I will distance myself from it which usually includes me not spending as much time on my phone, and other times I will be addicted to my phone going on Snapchat or whatever grabs my attention first.            For me, I have been surrounded by media for my entire life. I can remember watching my favorite TV shows as a little kid. The first time that I was introduced to social media I was in sixth grade. My parents tried to hold back on me having social media for as long as possible, but looking back I can definitely see why. When I first got Instagram and Snapchat (the two main forms of media I use to communicate with people), I was in a word addicted. I was always on Instagram seeing what the latest meme was or who posted what. I've had these types of media for a while now and I recognize that it takes up a lot of my time. Looking at my usage reports of Instagram