Give me Drugs!

I had an interesting class discussion in my JMC 661 class. I had to do a presentation on health in the media and the way messages are presented.

There are many ethical issues (at least I think so) because most pharmaceutical companies care about is the profit that they make. They design their ads to make people think they are depressed or that there body is under attack. We take the blame away from our lifestyles and blame a "disease." Whether there does a legit disease exist or not, the bottom line is that the ads are very deceiving. I know that advertising is a tool used to promote a product, but shouldn't there be standards and more regulations? I get that pharmaceutical companies and the ad industry aren't the only ones to blame, but they need to take caution and the first steps in framing disease differently. Majority of our society are using one or more prescription drugs. I just think that is healthy. But what can be done? Who is to blame? These are the questions that make this debate difficult because the lines of responsibility are blurry!

One point that I think is valid that alludes to how politics, wealth and power control most decisions is that the three main "sponsors" for a drug-free America were pharmaceutical, tabacco and oil industries. Now, the campaign for a drug-free America has lost pharmaceutical companies because prescription drugs are abused and have been abused more than drugs off the street. YET, the drug-free America campaign failed to campaign against that because they were threatened by pharmaceutcial financial help!!!! These three indsutries are very powerful and control a lot, a lot more than we think they do!! Something to think about?

Rihanna Comes Forward

Nine months after the world watched pictures and stories spread across all different forms of media, Rihanna has decided to step forward and tell all. I applaud her. Being a star and living in the limelight is obviously an extremely difficult thing to do, and most stars deal by hiding from the cameras and the public eye. To let such personal aspects of your life get tossed around for pure entertainment is challenging for stars, and many choose to keep most areas of their life private. Instead of letting the continuous rumors spread and letting people draw up their own conclusions, Rihanna set the record straight. Despite the level of difficulty in going public with this, she has done much more than clear up some ridiculous celebrity gossip. She has shown women around the world that it is okay to speak up. That it is okay to admit it wasn’t your fault. I also think this whole story is a good eye-opener because it goes to show the rest of Hollywood that it doesn’t matter who they are, they can’t always get away with everything. Chris Brown has gone public with his apology and also explained that he is serving time and is also unable to contact Rihanna for five years. Though the whole incident is unfortunate, I think the end result will be encouragement for people out there experiencing the same type of situation.

Rihanna on Good Morning America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuQJICTEeO4

People of Wal-Mart

This site titled People Wal-Mart is a site where people can send in images of people from the local Wal-Mart. I admit I have sat on this site and scanned through and laughed at some of the things people wear but at the same time I feel that this site is an invasion of privacy. On the site there are supporters of the site who write love mail. Also there are people who don't like the site. You can become a fan of this site on Facebook, follow them on Twitter. One thing find in a way strange is located at the bottom of the site. “This site is NOT in anyway affiliated with Walmart. If you are looking for Walmart.s official website you can find it by clicking here “This will take the viewer to the Wal-Mart Site.

Reflections on a Mad Men world

Watching the first season of the AMC series Mad Men (a recent birthday gift) I’ve reflected a lot recently on a pre-Civil Rights; Women’s Liberation Movement; and Gay Rights Moment. The necessity for all of these movements was interrelated because they respectively pushed for equal access for all people to be afforded the opportunity to pursue the happiness that our founding document guaranteed.

In Mad Men wives and secretaries labor in obscurity confined to home and desk. They attempt to explore other avenues of their humanity but are prodded and sometimes pushed back to the positions in which men are comfortable seeing them. Black people serve as elevator operators and other servants and pop up to utter a line occasionally while the Civil Rights Movement is bubbling on the periphery. A closeted gay character fights his sexual urges while living the lie of a heterosexual.
My reflections on the early 60’s time frame the show depicts makes me pause, and thank God for progress.

Planes, Pigs, Elephants, and Automobiles

In today's edition of the Journal Sentinel there are not one, but two articles describing what ensues when technology collides with nature...literally. First up was a national airline plane in Zimbabwe that was disabled after colliding with five wild pigs on the runway. In a statement by Associated press, the plane's undercarriage collapsed on impact, and all 34 passengers on board were safely evacuated. They made no mention, however, of what became of the pigs, but one can only imagine that they did not come out as safely as the passengers, seeing as they were pigs and their opposition was a multi-passanger airplane.

Bizarre animal accidents seem only to report extensively on the condition of the animal involved if the animal at hand is on a path to recovery. Such is the case with a an elephant involved in a car accident with an SUV in Enid, Oklahoma. An article detailing the accident and the elephant's injuries and post-accident care can by found on the page following the article about the wild pig plane crash. It seems a gentleman named Bill Carpenter was driving home from church on Wednesday evening when he swerved at the last second on the highway to avoid hitting nothing less than a an eight foot, 4,500 pound pachyderm. His SUV ended up sideswiping the animal, which had run away from a nearby fair, resulting in tusk puncture on the side of the SUV, and a broken tusk and a leg would for the elephant. The elephant was treated by a veterinarian who found the animal "hiding in the some bushes just off the highway" after the accident. I personally would love to see 4,500 pound elephant "hiding" in some bushes. I'd also be curious to see what a "tusk puncture" in an SUV looks like.

The driver of the SUV claimed that the elephant "blended in with the road". I have a hard time imagining that an elephant of that size blends in with anything, especially in Oklahoma. Some future advice to pilots and drivers: check the road ahead of you for wildlife and the occasional elephant.

Cheap Movies = Big Bucks

In order to make a profit on a movie, a film obviously needs to rake in more money at the box office, than it cost to make the movie. So how does a film maker make the big bucks? Its easy. Take a handful of skeptical people, throw them in a paranormal situation, and give them a camera. So far, movies like the new Paranormal Activity have proven this a fact.

The new movie Paranormal Activity, has made a killing at the box office since it was released in late September,only costing $10,000 to make. The movie only has up to four characters throughout the whole movie, and the film only has one setting. The only other thing that is needed to make this film work is the audiences imagination.

What is it exactly that make Paranormal Activity such a smash hit? Simply enough, it is everyone's basic fear of the things that go bump in the night. Every noise you have ever heard at 3 a.m., ever shadow you have seen, every time you have felt the vinrations of your house settling, this is the fear that paranormal Activity feeds on. After seeing this movie, any creek shadow, or vibration that you may experience during the night will never let you forget about this film.

Playing on these simple common fears is what has given such a long lasting impression on the audiences. Who would of thought that a $10,000 film would have profited for millions of dollars. This goes to shows that it is the good ideas and stories that make a good movie, and not just stunning special effects or dialogue. A good movie has to evoke strong emotion within a person. If a film is able to do this, then there is no telling how much success that this movie will recieve.

The Onion, Comedy Central team up for new show

The Onion is combining with Comedy Central to have a half hour sports comedy show aimed at longtime followers of The Onion. It's being billed as "The most intense sports show in history," so it will have a lot to live up to.

The show is an extension of the Onion Sports Network online series. The site is The Onion's sports coverage in video format, and is a must-see for sports fans.

An example of an OSN story:


NHL Tries To Woo Fans By Increasing Scoring With Bigger Nets, 3-Point Line

I can certainly see this being pretty successful, especially with those of us that are sick of SportsCenter running the same stories all day long.

"The Onion is the biggest, most fearless, most influential news organization in the free world," said Steve Hannah, CEO of Onion, Inc. "And we see a collaboration with COMEDY CENTRAL as the next logical step in the expansion of the Onion Sports Network's hard-hitting coverage."

I can see this new program taking several jabs at Brett Favre's indecisiveness, Terrell Owens' awful reality show, the Cardinals' recent hiring of the much-maligned Mark McGwire, and the Twitter revolution by athletes.

This type of show will fit in well with Comedy Central's other satirical shows like the Colbert Report and Tosh.0. I'm really hoping that this show succeeds as there's no other sports show like it currently on television. I think the creative minds at The Onion will have plenty of new material for the show to keep it going.

This just in

I'm sure by now, everyone has heard about the Ft. Hood shootings down in Texas. While this is obviously a tragic event, my topic isn't exactly about the specific news in itself, but rather in how it was brought to us and how it is termed.

When I came home from class around 4 o'clock, my roommate was watching TMJ and they were covering this story pretty extensively. When I saw that they already had a field reporter in a local person affected by the shooting, I asked how long this had been going on. He guessed since about 1:30 that afternoon. That means they were able to find someone and get out there and get the house ready for TV in a matter of a little over two hours. Since this was not a local event, I found that impressive.

This is still not my main point though. My main point is when the 6 o'clock news came on they called this tragedy "breaking news." My roommate instantly started mocking that term, since he had clearly heard about the story 4 + 1/2 hours earlier. But to the working class of America, this is probably still relatively breaking news. I'm sure they heard something about it on their drive home from work, or while they were surfing the web while at work, but the details they were probably getting at that moment. It just made me wonder, at what time frame does a story stop becoming breaking news, and just become news? If something happens between the major news times (morning, noon, 6 pm, 10 pm) does that make it breaking at the nearest news time slot? I think that makes the most sense, but I could see the argument others could make that five hours is a long time in our current "gotta have it now" style world we live in.

Meth and Celebrites

Not only do celebrities get their elated fix off fame, but drugs. As of late, celebrities such as Andre Agassi, an olympic gold medal winner in men's tennis singles, has recently admitted to his addiction to crystal meth. After years of denying it when being tested positive, he has come out to admit it in his new book, "Open". Now Agassi is clean and proud to tell his story of what he overcame, but like other celebrities it was a hard thing to overcome because the feeling of meth provided euphoria, hope and a lot of energy. Something that couldn't have been achieved in other ways.

Other well known open meth users of celebrities include, Amy Winehouse, Ryan O'Neal, Fergie, and Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie on Full House). Sweetin also has a book out "Unsweetined" and talks about how she hit a rock bottom in her meth addiction. Ended up in the hospital one night after a long night of partying and seeking rehab. However she kept the addiction binges while she was trying to seek help.

Not an easy addiction to overcome, but in the fame life it seems to be an easy thing to get a handle on and find an obsession with it.

Lights, Camera, Scandal!

Once again a scandalous story has found its way on every gossip magazine's front page! “Fergie Betrayed” “Did He Really Do It?” they are talking about newly married couple Josh Duhamel and Fergi. The most recent gossip has been about a stripper who confessed that Josh had sexual relations with her while he was away from home/Fergie filming his upcoming movie. Okay so this isn't the first time a story like this has found its way on these covers, my question is that did they plant it themselves? I actually won't be surprised if they did, they are both currently working on projects that will be surfacing soon.. maybe they just need all the help they could get! Fergie calls all these claims nonsense and doesn't believe any of them. They also took a picture together and probably sent it to these gossip magazines because I found a picture of the “happy couple” on people.com saying that this was taken after all these allegations. Once again Hollywood has outdone its self in order to sell more of the same!

877-CASH-NOW

As I sit on my couch watching the continuous feed of pointless commercials that never seem to be that effective, I come across a commercial I have seen to many times and always dread hearing it. Although it is probably one of the more effective commercials it still drives me crazy when it comes on. I do have cable however I have only seen the commercial come on the local channels. It is the J. G Wentworth Opera commercial, which I am sure some of you have heard of. Throughout this commercial they say the phone number 8 times!! If you don’t remember the number to J.G. Wentworth after hearing this you must be crazy. Besides the effective repetition this commercial uses, the overall construction of the commercial is pretty lousy. The words on the bottom of the screen help develop a visual memory of the number and who you would be calling but the people used in the commercial and the overall annoyance of it makes it very unappealing. Although I dislike this commercial very much you have to give it credit for being able to use repetition to become familiar to its consumer. Just try not to sing it after watching it… 877-CASH-NOW!!!

Stewart and Colbert: Getting Youth Involved

Ever since I've had access to comedy central, I've been a fan of their mockery of political pundits and the shows these figures pretend to host without bias. I'm talking of course about The Daily Show with John Stewart, and it's spinoff, the Colbert Report. These talented comedians have done more to inspire an interest in politics among youth than any one else in my mind. It doesn't matter that it's not "real" or more aptly put "traditional" news. The fact that it presents some of the important issues, even though it's in a comedic light, is enough to give the show validity. I once heard someone say, "it's sad that some people get all their news from [these shows]." I highly doubt this is the case with anyone, as people who watch these shows are not dumb people relying on it for news. In my experience, they are most often people who have been inspired to care about something they normally wouldn't due to clever repackaging. In this sense, I can't help but think that these shows do an enormous service to America by teaching young people to care about politics without them even knowing it. It's also often entertaining as hell too.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

The recent previews for the next Tim Burton film, Alice in Wonderland, have everyone talking. The film is supposed to be released in March of 2010. The film is said to be using both live action as well as motion capture, which is said to be the recording of real motion and translating it to appear digital.

We all know and love the 1950’s version of Alice in Wonderland produced by Disney, but with the enormous expansion of technology over the decades one can only imagine the improvements made. The movie is said to be made available in Disney 3D as well.

The story is said to be both a combination as well as an expansion to the two novels, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, written by Lewis Carroll. The plot resumes as Alice as a 19-year-old young woman. Alice, in need of an escape from a party, follows a white rabbit down a hole, finding herself in Wonderland. The only difference is, she had already visited Wonderland as a young girl, but does not remember. Alice then embarks on a journey to slay the “Jabberwock” and save Wonderland from the evil Red Queen.

Mia Wasikowska, who plays Alice, is accompanied by Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway as The White Queen. With this powerful cast as well as a trailer that will suck you in, all most everyone has to be anxious for March!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWsZ2b_pK4 (Video would not attach)

Meet my friend Hank Moody..

I don’t know for some reason I wish there was a real Hank Moody. Well I can’t say I don’t know why because I know why. It’s because I want to live vicariously through David Duchovny and his character Hank Moody.  Sounds pathetic but it is what it is. Did you see how attractive all those women were? This show makes Californian women look oh so gorgeous. How can a man not be tempted? No wonder Hank gets himself in the most ridiculous situations. Anyway, I wish that was my best friend. Ha-ha. 

 

 If you don't know, now you know. This is another one of my many favorite television shows. Californication is well into its third season now and doing quite well on Sunday night cable prime time. Networks HBO and Showtime go tit for tat with award winning shows. Californication has experienced tremendous success for only being in its third season. It has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe award.  The show is a comedy-drama that will have you bursting out in laughter and leave you reflecting on your relationships with loved ones. Hank Moody is a witty and promiscuous writer. He just can’t seem to keep his libido incognito. However, he is intelligent man and father who love his daughter and her mother very much. The plot is great and full of interesting and funny characters.  If you haven’t heard of this show start watching it because its good. 

Bachelor and Flavor of Love Race Issues

This article comes at a perfect time as we just finish Chapter 6 discussion on social inequality and media reality. This article 'Performing Race and Flavor of Love and The Bachelor' discusses the racial ideas played onto both shows. I have watched both shows, but I will admit I do love trashy TV and have watched not only 'Flavor of Love', but also the VH1 spinoffs 'I Love New York' and 'Real Chance At Love'. There is something about this crazy TV that I cannot take my eyes off of it. I have watched 'The Bachelor', but was not as entertained by it, probably because I do love the crazy fights and rowdy girls of 'Flavor of Love'. However, this leads me to what the article discusses how Flavor of Love places a focus and emphasis on the color of the contestants, where as The Bachelor, although it hardly has a diverse cast that strays from white woman, it still hardly emphasizes race as much as Flavor of Love. I believe, that this emphasis is what makes the show what it is. Flavor Flav even addressed himself as the 'Blak-chelor' once. Clearly, racial ideas are present here. However, what kind of racial ideas are being given off. Anyone who has seen the show, can easily agree that it does not shine light on the poise and class of these African American woman, with much more of exposure on 'the hood' and 'ghetto' lifestyle that these girls defend, stand for, and come from. It shows how The Bachelor, even if you never noticed or let it cross your mind before, does not have any racial diversity, and doesn't comment on the skin color, background or ethnicity of any of the woman. This may seem negative, but in reality there are such few contestants that are not white, that it isn't even an issue that really can be addressed. On the other hand, it seems that, after I read this, 'Flavor of Love' has taken it almost too far, putting so much focus on the fights, the ghetto, and the bad girl background that these girls actually strive to prove they come from and have. If you have ever watched either of these shows, the article is defiantly worth checking out. It shined the light on how racial ideas are spread throughout reality, even when they are not present, for example in shows such as 'The Bachelor'.

newspapers, a dying art form

Print newspaper have been the largest consumed form of readily available information since the printing press was invented. Now days, the newspaper medium is taking a back seat to the other information outlets that new technology have made available. With television and the internet, fewer and fewer Americans are running out in the morning to fetch the daily news. Newspapers arent dying in other locations around the globe, it just happens to be in the U.S. Why is that? Is it because the U.S. has many technological outlets and opportunities to view the news in a different medium. It could be. But my theory is that Newspaper sales are declining because they are just plain old boring. Newspapers in Europe and Asia follow a very different out line of what a newspaper should look like. They use racy pictures, and controversial dialect, to draw the audience in. Their articles are concise but not boring, and they don't clutter the front page with type. I think that the newspaper industry can be revived in the U.S. if we give it a face lift. Try something new, step outside the box, design the paper to give the reader and incentive or want to read it.

Obama featured in 3 new documentaries

President Barack Obama is featured in 3 new documentaries about his life, politics, and family.

All 3 have different sides of the Obama story. The first is directed by Edward Norton (star of Fight Club) and deals with Obama's historic rise to the top of the political world. The doc was actually started before Obama announced he was running for president. Obama was actually advised by his people to continue shooting the film once he announced his presidential candidacy, but Barack thought it would offer the public an "interesting slant" on American politics. It will air on November 3rd on HBO.

The second documentary is titled Labor Day, a movie about how the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) quickly mobilized to ensure a Democratic victor in the 2008 election. Directed by Glenn Silber, the documentary is more about the events leading up to the election. The movie goes into theaters today.

The final documentary, Becoming Barack, will be released on DVD November 3rd. It tells the life story of how Barack Obama, from his younger years all the way to the present. The documentary attempts to give viewers a sense of what Obama is like outside of the White House, from his early days as a community activist to his time spent teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

All 3 films should give a really interesting perspective on the real Barack Obama. You may not agree with everything that's happened so far while he's been in the White House, but the journey he's taken to become President of the United Sates is certainly fascinating.

SportCenter

I am a big time sports fan. But I must admit that ESPN is starting to get a little old. I can only watch so much SportsCenter over and over again. The station runs the same stories over and over again. The news in general has been accused of looking for every possible angle when a big story hits (think Michael Jackson’s death); ESPN does this with practically every story. I find myself rooting for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez just because I don’t want to hear countless reports on how he can’t perform in the post season.

ESPN should take a cue from MTV’s relative abandonment from music videos, and ditch ESPN for different programming. Well, maybe not that extreme. Just get rid of the 3 hour block of the same stories in which the most informative bits run quickly across the crawler at the bottom of the screen.

In Eminem’s m music video for his song “3 a.m.” the director did a masterful job of styling the video in order to really bring the viewer into the story. The use, or lack thereof, of color and lighting throughout the video really helped to set the depressive/drug induced scene that was the theme of the song. The majority of the video is shot in black and white with very dull lighting with the exception of brief ‘blasts’ of bright light to enhance the eerie feeling of the location. In addition to the lighting used, the filming technique is key to immersing the viewer in the story. Most of the scenes were shot with what appeared to be a handheld camera in the style of “The Blair Witch.” The jerkiness of the camera along with the scratchy quality of the video played a large role in creating the tone of the video. The final main element that I noticed play a large role in making the video very effective was the use of editing. To kind of go along with the handheld technique used, the editing jumped around a lot in quick bursts. When all of these elements are combined with the beat and lyrics, they come together to really bring the song to life. In this day and age of music video basically being short films, the creators of this one have done a masterful job of telling this particular story

. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMrBcVx33Ek

Disorderly Conduct for McDonalds Rap

Most people have seen the video of the kids rapping their order in the McDonald's drive-through. Many I'm sure would agree that it is pure entertainment to watch and listen to. Apparently in Utah, employees didn't find it so funny, and they called the cops on four kids who did a similar rendition of the popular video. Though it is pretty hilarious that these kids got a disorderly conduct for rapping about some burgers and fries, it is beyond ridiculous. Maybe in Utah there isn't a whole lot of crime, but that doesn't mean people/cops should classify minor incidents as criminal. All this was about was a couple of kids wanting to have a good time and joking around for their own entertainment. I feel like the whole law enforcement process is incredibly twisted. Just because you can’t find crime doesn’t mean you should create one out of nothing. Would you rather these kids be sneaking around after curfew doing drugs or drinking? Let’s get real here.

Here's the infamous McDonalds Rap from 2 years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sw2OvIgoO8