#27 One Last Thing

From taking this class I learned that the media is so much more than music, movies, magazines, and television.. etc. I learned that it's all constructed and planned out perfectly. I also learned that the media is s\ruining all our lives.

#26 Fast Food

I eat fast food with my friends. Usually we go to McDonalds before our youth group. I don't eat it everyday but it's often. I don't really think about damaging myself when I eat fast food, but I probably should. My family never eats fast food, but we do go out for dinner a lot because my dads company pays for it. In the future I will probably eat the same amount I do now because it delicious.

#25 Celebrities And The Paparazi

I think they deserve some privacy, but when you choose to be famuos then you give up those rights. But if it's something like a famous celebrity is at a restaurant then it doesnt really matter and the paparazi people shouldn't make such a big deal of it. I feel bad for the celebrities who are out doing something and then something happens and the paparazis capture it and then they make a big story of it thats not true.

#24 Stuff That's Hard To Sell To Teens

My group chose the HD wrap around sun glasses. It will be hard to sell to teens because they are just rediculous and completly unnessicary to be completly black out from any light. If you get a lot of people wearing them then you could probably sell them. And, we showed the other things that it can do, other than blocking the sun, like shielding you from lazer pointers and flashlights.

#23 Cool

My deffinition of cool is something that everyone is doing, saying or wearing. What is cool now might not be cool is the near or far future, and what is cool is always changing. An example of something that is cool right now is short-shorts. I don't wear them for several reasons, but a lot of people do.

#22 Teens Are Like Africa

I think the mook and midriff image is still very present even though it was created several years ago. It's deffinitely changed a bit though. It's more present on Jersey Shore than anywhere else. All the guys all really  muscular and all the girls wear skimpy clothes. Even though that show is fake, they definitely shows the  mook and midriff image quite well. It's kind of creepy that "the man" crafts what we, for the most part, wear and do. I don't think that we realise how much we are constructed by "the man", but it's hard to escape it, and if you don't participate you ultimately arn't "cool".

#21 Amercian Teen

American Teen deffinetly shows what it's generally like to be a teenager these days. Every school has cliques and you, to the most part, fit into a clique. It could be nerds, popular, jocks, rebels, etc. IDCI deffinetly has cliques but it's not like some schools where you can only talk to certain people. American Teen shows the drama and peer pressure many teens face during their time in high school. What it didn't show were any fights, which is something many schools have. But, that could be because they only focused on a small group of kids.

#20 Public Figures And Offensive Tweets

I think it was a little extreme for Damian to lose his job. He should know to keep his comments to himself because a lot of people are probably reading what he says. But, if I had to make the decision about Damian's career at Sportsnet I probably would have let him go too. His comments could make the company get a bad reputation and lose views, which ultimatly leads to the loss of money, and as we all know, money is everything. His situation is very similar to the Dixie Chicks. Since they all don't have a good career anymore and arn't really doing anything with their time anyways they could get together and talk about how stupid they were with their words.

#19 Viloent Video Games

Yes I play violent video games. I like to play Call Of Duty, Halo, and Grand theft Auto. Violent video games are deffinetly a danger for people. Once you start to see people being killed you become desensitized to the whole idea of murder. It's not a big deal for you anymore. I think that once your a teenager you should be able to play violent video games. But, you have to recognize that they are bad. Children should never be exposed to violence even if it's just a video game. I think that the makers of these violent video games should have a limit on how violent they are. That wouldn't be hard to do, but they could be pressured by the consumers for more violence. You couldn't really control who gets to access the video games because there are so many ways to get ahold of them.

#18 The Dixie Chicks vs George Bush

I think that the Dixie Chicks were wrong about saying that. It wasn't really nessecary for them to publicly talk about their opinion. Yes, we have freedom of speech, but when you say things that could be contoversial, you have to know that it's not going to end well. They did end up being right about the whole situation but their music sales went down dramatically, and that doesn't seem worth it to me. They destroyed their career in a few seconds. It showed us that you have to be careful about what you say. We also learned that people can freak out about what people say.

#17 News Print To TV

My group chose the story about Mesha Barton and how she plans on staying out of the spotlight. We chose it becuase most celebrities try as hard as they can to stay popular. We decided to have Mesha (played by Sarah Debackere) be very calm and relaxed. The poparatzi (played by Kelsie Irwin and Melissa Wilde) came rushing up to her and tried to get to become overwhelmed. Mesha calmly gave them the book she was reading and walked away.

#16 Ellen

I didn't know about Ellen's past television apearances. I think she has deffinetly contributed to the change in society about the views and opions on gay and lesbian people. Her new show Ellen is very popular even though everyone knows she is gay. I respect her for being able to overcome the homophobia so many people have. There will always be conflict about this issue but Ellen is deffinetly showing people that she is still a good and normal person even though she is gay.

#15 Codes And Conventions

My favorite is every detail is thought about carefully for everything. I think that a lot of us forget about that one. The clothing that people wear in movies is carefully thought about. When you actually mindfully critique a media product and look for the little details that were put in place, you can finally see how we mindlessly consume. Before taking this class I didn't really think about what I was mindlessly comsuming and now I mindfully critque every media product.  Example, listening to the lyrics of a song and seeing what they actually say.

#14 Growing Up Online

I don't think that just because you have go on internet sites means that you will be depressed and that will eventually lead to suicide. But, it does depend on what you put on the internet for people to view and judge.
Take Formspring for example. Although the site has been made so that you can ask people questions anonymously, you can just openly make fun of them. You can write anything about some even if it's not true and they will have no idea. I would never get Formspring because I wouldn't want that.

#13 Over The Line

I think that Lady Gaga's video Telephone is way over the line, and where to begin with that. First of all, most of the people are wearing as little clothes as possible, and it's almost pornagraphic. Then they start to do this little dance and it's just plain wierd. It should never be on TV. Worst of all, little kids have seen this and are getting a bad message, and they look to her for a role model. Also the song is just dumb.

#12 Media and Violence

I think that the violence in the media has an effect on us. It's not like after watching a violent movie were going to go kill someone, but over time we become desensitized and start to think it's okay. I've noticed that some people say "I'm going to kill you." and they probably don't mean it littereally. But the fact is, it's never okay to say that. It's actually quite disturbing when someone does say that. I'm some people laugh at it too.
The violent games also have a big effect on people. Over time you start to act different more violent because thats what you've been seeing on the games. Let me just say, it's never okay to kill someone.

#11 Friday Song

I think this song has become to popular because it's just so stupid. It's crap, apsolutle crap. It's garbage music, and the video for it is just as bad. It's deffinetly a low budget video, no doubt. Also, Rebecca is 13 years old and she's talking about partying and going out. A 13 year old should never be going to parties, and I would have never done that at 13 or had any desire to do that. Maybe childrens aid should take a look at Rebecca Black. Also in the video her 13 year old friends can drive and they come and pick her up at a bus stop. Then  they're sitting on top of the car in skimpy little dresses. It's disturbing.

#10 Seahaven Is The Way...

I think that Seahaven would be a boring place to live. It's completly perfect. If you haven't experienced sadness you don't know what it's like to be happy. Truman's life was so perfect with nothing bad happening. The perfect place they had him live in was a sick place. He should have felt sad once, or done something wrong and felt consequences, or had people hate him. That's how we learn, and develop social skills. He's been sheltered all his life and around the same people all the time that he probably didn't know any different. But, once he left Seahaven and he interacts with people who come from different homes and have had bad experiences he wont know what to do or how to react.

#9 Teens Influenced By YouTube Videos

I think it makes perfect sense that YouTube encourages risky behavior, it's all most a no brainer. Monkey see, monkey do. Of course people will want to do whats done in the videos where the people are acting stupid. And the fact that most of those videos have become hits on YouTube with so many views, why not go and try it yourself, you could get instant fame. Parents should deffinetly be concerned about what their kids are watching on YouTube. It's so easy to see something that is really dangerous or just plain stupid.

#8 Charlie And The Celebrity Factory

What did you take from the Charlie Sheen interview?
I learned that Charlie Sheen is crazy and needs to address his mental health issues.

Do you like Charlie Sheen?
I don't like him. I find him obnoxious and narcissistic.

Do you watch his show?
I don't watch his show.

Should Charlie Sheen be on T.V?
I don't think he should be on T.V because he needs to get some help.

Should Charlie get the raise he wants?
Absolutely not! He has let his money go to his head, besides how much money does one person need?

Is he sane?
Charlie is definitely not sane. He definitely has some mental problems. Probably bipolar.

What does his story and life say about celebrities today?
His story basically says that you lose yourself when you become famous. Your no longer a normal person because your constantly being watched and studied. There is no privacy and I think thats what makes a lot of celebrities go crazy.

#7 T.V News Survey

Do you watch the evening news?
I never watch it. I don't have T.V.

How often?
Never.

What channel do you usually watch?
I don't have T.V.

Why do you not watch?
This is repetitive, but I don't have a T.V.

Do you think the news has any influence on how we view the world?
I definitely think it does influence how we view the world. The news can make us have an opinion on a country or event that has happened without us doing research on what has happened. The news could also have a certain bias with it.

How do you think the news is usually organized?
I think that the worst news is put first because it grabs the most attention, and then just down the list of worst to good. Then the weather, and then the boring stuff that doesn't make sense like sports.

Which part of the opening of last night's city t.v news did you find most interesting?
I like the intro that the news always has. The song and short 5 second video that tells you it's 6:00.

#6 Your Spoof Ad

What's your idea? Why did you chose it? Why do you think it will work?
The idea for our spoof add was Ancestry.ca. We chose it because the people in the add are trying to make it look like they're related to all these awesome people. The reality is that you could be related to someone bad. I think it will work because people don't look at the other side of relatives. That not everyone is a good person.

One other good idea your group had that you didn't go with?
We also had an idea for the Justin Beiber movie ad.

#5 Your Facebook Competition

It's name?
I chose the name to be Burst.
Whats different about it?
My site would have video chat, different backgrounds, music (which includes songs and music videos etc.)
Why would it work?
I've gotten extremely bored with Facebook lately. There isn't anything new being introduced. I think that people want change from Facebook because it's gotten boring. My website would have new colours which allows people to customize their profile. Video chat is very new but is rapidly taking over the regular chat. People want see the other person when their talking. The music aspect of the site would have something like iTunes. You can take a look at the latest artist or even add yourself on there if your a musician.

#4 Six Random Articles

I chose to read the article about the 10 year old Youtube sensation. I'm a huge Youtube person. I love watching the different videos posted by people. When I saw that Maria's video was up on the most viewed charts, I wondered why. Sure, she can sing but so can a lot of other people who post videos just like that on Youtube. When you take a child and make them famous really fast it doesn't end well. Although the oppourtunities for her may be endless she wont get to enjoy her childhood like a normal girl. I can't imagine missing out on the things I did when I was little. I would have never wanted to spend my time putting on shows and recording songs.

#3 Mark Zuckerberg

So... the interview... the Social Network... whats your take on the 50 billion dollar man?\

I think it's very wierd that he doesn't blink or look away when he's talking to someone. It's just a bit wierd. Next, what he did to his business partener Eduardo was extremly rude and just heartless. Mark has deffinetly let his creation and the money that comes with it take him over. I'd like to compare him to the Grinch and say that maybe his heart is two sizes too small. Maybe if he donated some of that 50 billion dollars he could do some good in this world.

#2 Grammy Awards Reflection

Who was your musical artist of 2010? Explain.

My favorite music artist of 2010 would have to be Lady Gaga. I like how she can outsmart the media with what she wears, her music and what she says. I like how she is open about her daily activities (like drinking and drugs). I don't like the fact that she does those things but since she doesn't try to cover it up i'll give her some credit. Although her outfit choices are deffinetly different she does catch everyones attention and gets people talking.

#1 The Constructed World Survey

what did it reveal about your life?
The survey was like a slap in the face. I realised that I had been spending too much time on facebook and my phone. I need to start focussing on my school work more and not on the latest facebook news.
what about the lives of your classmates?
I think the lives of my peers are the same, although some of them might not care about school work as much as me. I think that we all need a little reality check on what were doing in and with our lives. Our teenage years should not revolve around facebook statuses and text messages.

observations?
Facebook has taken over. Litterally. For most people who have Facebook, it has become addictive. Not only is Facebook addictive but text messageing is too. It's an good way to communicate but it's easy to get caught up in it.