Reflection

As a teenager, I would say that i consume my fair share of media.  Whether it be Instagram or Snapchat, I find myself spending hours a day on my phone.  Wherever I go, no matter the place, I will always find time to check my messages or scroll through my feeds.  Media has basically imbedded itself into my life and I can't tell if this is a good or bad thing.  On the positive side, media provides me with a way to communicate with friends and make plans, but on the other hand, it distracts me from homework and even makes me feel isolated at times.

Being aware if this consumption definitely changes the way I interact with this media.  Without my parents lecturing me and having me acknowledge how much time I spend on my phone, I don't think I would know my boundaries.  I think that awareness of media consumption is crucial and helps to fix the problem.  I am definitely noticing a lot more when it comes to advertisements etc. through media and I catch subtle techniques that companies try to use to reel me in.

My media habits have definitely changed this semester.  I would say that I was a bit out of control freshman year due to the fat that the work load wasn't too much and I could manage it.  This year however, I have an extra class and the workload is overwhelming, which I think allowed me to reflect and limit my screen time.  Now, I know when to put down my phone when it is time to work, and I don't check it until all of my homework is done.  This year I was able to figure out prioritization and what comes first.

It is important to have media literacy because media surrounds us.  Media is everywhere now a days and we live in a world where you can't go anywhere without exposure to media.  Media Literacy is important because it allows you to understand, analyze, and evaluate this media, which ultimately allows you to enter understand the world around us.

Being an educated consumer is important because most companies are manipulative and just want you for your money.  If you are an educated consumer, you are able to recognize the advertisement techniques and your experience when it comes to buying products will be much better.  Once you are able to recognize these strategies, you can determine which companies stand by you and have the same goals as you do.

From keeping this log, I was able to learn a variety of new things.  Through the logs, I was able to look deeper into media and discover new things about the topic.  Ad techniques were especially interesting, because I now understand how companies attract consumers, and I have started subconsciously noticing these techniques in everyday life, which I thought was pretty cool.  For example, one of my first blogs was about the newest Avengers movie and I was able to recognize the product placement that occurred throughout the film.

I honestly think that media and literacy is such a useful thing to understand or have.  Like I said, I think that media is everywhere and constantly around us, so it is necessary for us to learn about this media because it gives us a better understanding of the world
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evolution of rap

Now a days, there are so many different styles when it comes to rap and music.  Rap has become the number 1 most listened to genre of music, so it makes sense that there are so many different artists with different styles.

Rappers get popular through social media platforms and through other rappers. Many have grown through Instagram and Soundcloud, two major platforms that allow people to attract an audience.  Other popular rappers will also shoutout growing artists to help them gain popularity.  Through this spread through the media, rap has grown into such a diverse genre.

There are also mumble rappers, which is a genre that grew through Soundcloud.  This branch of rap involves the artist mumbling their words over a beat, so that the words are inaudible but still rhyme and go with the beat.  I think this is a dumb but funny form of rap.  There are also super lyrical rappers, who create lyrics that have meaning and enunciate their words.  I like this branch the best because it allows the artist to be smart with their lyrics and create songs with clever lines.

Another way these rappers gain popularity would be through collaborations.  Many will create songs with other popular rappers to attract fans from the other side, ultimately making both of the artists grow.  The songs they create are spread through social media an many get millions of listens within hours.  It's as easy as recording a song and pressing send for that song to become a hit.

I think that many people in the rap game shouldn't be famous at all and have zero talent.  Many yell or scream over a beat and people like it, which I don't understand, but as long as you have an audience, you can make it.

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misrepresentation in media

Women have constantly been represented in media for as long as I can remember.   In most cases, women are portrayed strictly as sexual objects with 2D personalities.  If a woman is the star of the movie, the movie is commonly based on that woman trying to find a man.  In the end, women are only portrayed in the media for their sex appeal and don't have much freedom when it comes to media.

The first movie I really remember when it comes to women's misrepresentation is Transformers.  In that movie,Megan Fox really doesn't have a personality and is only there for her looks.  They dress her up in revealing clothing and hope that the male audience builds a connection with her.  This is the case with hundreds of other movies.  Women are constantly shown on the big screen only for their looks, which needs to stop.

Advertisement is another culprit with the misrepresentation of women.  They frequently inappropriately display women for attention, as seen in the picture.  They disregard a woman's personality and just want her for her body.  This is happening all across the world and it is disappointing to me.

Although this misrepresentation has been going on for quite some time, Think it is definitely getting better.  More women are getting the star role in movies with plots that don't involve the woman being objectified and I feel that society is finally coming to this realization that women are not just sexual objects.  Women empowerment movements are also happening more frequently than before and I feel women are stronger than ever when it comes to misrepresentation in media.

In conclusion, women have been misrepresented in the media for decades, and although it is getting better, they are still objectified and this needs to come to an end.
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Memes

Memes are constantly evolving and you can't surf the internet without seeing one now a days.  Memes have changed so much over the years that I don't even know how to define them.  I would say that they are any social media post that is made to make the viewer laugh, because the concept of a meme has become so vague recently.

Memes spread most commonly across social media platforms such as Instagram, and they spread whenever they are sent from one person to another.  Through social media, memes are able to grow and grow until it is all you see when you go on your phone.

Around 2014, memes were simply pictures or videos with witty captions, posted to make people laugh, but they changed drastically within the past year or so.  What people find funny is so much different now and for that reason, memes are so much different now.

I know from personal experience what memes have turned into and I can say that from an outsiders perspective, they are definitely perceived as weird or odd.  Instead of pictures and captions, memes now are all about being weirder or edgy.  It is no longer about making the viewer laugh through wit and humor.  Now, the memes posted all across social media have one goal.  To weird the audience out so much that it is funny.  There are multiple meme formats and they are constantly changing.  Once one meme starts to get old, another takes its place.

Another form of memes are just plain stupid.  Some posts are so dumb ad pointless that people find them funny.  I personally think these are the best types of memes just because of how dumb and harmless they really are, but I can understand how an adult would react strangely to these jokes.  I think that  have a very dark an twisted sense of humor, so sometimes I find things that aren't funny as funny, but it is all preference.

Memes spread across social media like a wildfire and once they become popular, nobody can stop them.  The only way a meme dies is after it gets old or becomes repetitive.

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The Mook Frontline Pt. 2

What is the Mook?  To start, the Mook is a persona used by a variety of entertainment networks.  In the early 2000's, the Mook was primarily used by MTV in order to boost ratings.  This character is portrayed as reckless, crazy, and irresponsible, which is supposed to connect with the viewers but does it really?

 MTV used this character primarily.  People such as Steve-O and Howard Stern were Mooks in multiple MTV shows.  These characters were partiers and did crazy things to entertain the viewers.  For a time, this character was extremely effective and the channel's ratings went through the roof, but eventually people caught onto the gag and stopped watching.  A variety of shows have Mooks in them today, but they aren't as effective as they were 10 years ago.

Personally, I don't find Mooks entertaining at all.  When I see them on shows I don't feel compelled to watch more.  They just don't establish any connection with me in general.  In most cases, I actually find characters like that annoying and reckless, which does no good and just creates more problems.

The reason why I think the Mook has a lesser impact on audiences now is because teenager's values have drastically changed.  We think different things are funny and the introduction of technology, specifically phones and social media have changed our views on certain topics.  I just feel like we don't humor or value the same characters as we would have 10 years ago and the entertainment industries need to realize this.

Marvel and the X-Men

Marvel has been making movies for decades now.  These movies and characters have had huge impacts on millions of lives and I would even say they are a part of American culture at this point.  Throughout the years, Avengers an the X-Men have never step foot on the same screen, but this may all change within the next couple months.

The reason that the two franchises never shared the screen was because they were apart of two different branches of Marvel.  One was owned by Disney and one was owned by Fox.  Disney recently bought out Fox and currently owns the X-Men franchise, so naturally fans started to get excited about the possible collaboration.  Hopes were raised even higher with the release of the new Spider Man Far From Home trailer.

In this new trailer, the characters talk about a multiverse and how it has been opened up after the events of Avengers Endgame.  Fans are speculating the collaboration will occur through this multiverse.  An X-Man or someone from the Avengers could possibly cross through to another Universe and every Marvel Fan's dream would be reality.  Millions of people, including me, have been asking for this collaboration for years now, and the new Spider Man movie could just be the way we get what we want.  I grew up on X-Men and Avengers movies and I would love to see the two franchises finally come together.

Personally, I am really excited for this possible collaboration, but even more excited to see if Deadpool makes an appearance.  Deadpool is an extremely funny character in the Fox owned Marvel universe, and seeing him with all of the Avengers would be so cool to see.  I have been wanting these two universes come together for years now, and I think the new Spider Man movie would be the perfect way to do it.

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Searching for what is cool/Frontline

The common goal of all growing companies is to appeal to the largest audience possible.  It has shown in various studies that teens are one of the biggest consumers on the planet when it comes to buying products, so naturally they would be the first on the target audience list.  These companies try their best to find out what teens think is "cool" and want to incorporate those ideas into their advertisements in order to make maximum profit.  These industries conduct hundreds of focus groups with different teens.  Not just normal teens, but the ones who are "cool" and trendsetters in order to obtain information on what is popular before it reaches the population or becomes too out of date.

In many cases, these occur groups are unsuccessful due to the fact that once teens realize the marketing strategy, they immediately move on and the word "cool" is redefined.  When these teens realize that companies are trying to incorporate what is "cool" into their commercials, they don't like it and move on to the next trend.  It is an :unsolvable puzzle" as someone said in the Frontline episode.  

Personally, I think that companies will never be able to truly appeal to the teenage mind.  I think that there are so many complex and different ideas teens find cool or funny that adults will never be able to understand or laugh at due to the fact that our generation grew up in a much different environment than the pervious generation.  I also think it's a little annoying how us teens are seen as a "country ready to colonize"  These companies only want one thing and that is money.  I don't think that their marketing strategy will ever work because trends hit teens first and constantly change.  Once  the adults or companies find out about them it is already too late and the trend has just become outdated an annoying.  

From personal experience, I don't think I have ever seen an ad or commercial and thought "dang I really relate to that"  I just don't think that companies have the capability to correctly appeal to a teens sense of humor or mind.  The only way that companies would be successful with this marketing strategy would be if they let a teen take control of the entire operation.

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