One Month Later

Only a month into this school semester, and I feel so different.

If I had stuck with my old study habits, I surely wouldn’t have survived this month. I used to treat my green highlighter as my soul mate whenever it came down to studying for tests and exams. Now, I don’t even know my green highlighter. A lot of my work is done online or typed out on a word processor. Honestly, I love this new adjustment. High school looks like a playground now that I look back at what I have done. I can do that work in my sleep. Now, I feel so much more independence entitled to me, and I love it.

I don’t have anyone badgering me to get things done at a certain time; I get to be my own boss. Mass Communications and Media Writing are the courses where I found my study habits have matured the most. In my Media Writing course, we have to read through chapter readings in order to progress in the course. I have read and taken notes on everything I have read so far, and absorbed the material better by reading a portion every night. In Mass Communications, I have weekly readings and books assigned for me to read throughout the course. I have accomplished to be on time so far, and I have surprised myself and did not think I could time manage as well as I have. I have a part-time job, and I clock in about 20+ hours a week on top of my fulltime school schedule. I am so glad I’ve learned how to time manage my schedule better than I thought, I just hope I can keep up with this practise and make time to rest.

Imperfections in Perceptions

So my writing sucks. I just got my assignment back and I am less than pleased. Thankfully, Mark Lipton gave us an opportunity to hand in a paper on why we feel we deserve a better mark.

My creativity grade is fine; my writing grade hurt my feelings. Seriously, I wanted to run out of class and cry today. 2.5?! SERIOUSLY?! Well I can’t do anything about it now except look over my paper tonight and start on my new one. Hopefully it will be an improvement and put me in the category of getting a better mark.

The student advisors came in to speak with us, and until today I was only previously familiar with the program advisor, Jael Richardson. The other advisors talked about our writing skills and how at the writing center, students learn how to further improve their writing on their own. Another step at independence, after receiving my paper back, I feel that maybe I should have taken the time to do just that.

Today, we discussed how humans are imperfect, infallible creatures. As humans we are unrealistic and always strive for perfection. I admit that I aim for the best and absolute perfection, but who doesn’t? We are human and this is how we react at a time where we feel we need to prove ourselves to be superior.

Number 3 on Postman’s 10 Theories states “We are not born perceiving. We learn to perceive and not to perceive.” I agree with this statement as our environment shapes how we think. We are told how to think and how to feel about the actions of our everyday lives. I believe that the friends we make, the material we read, the sitcoms we watch on TV, and the videogames we play make up the kind of perception we have. This is how we learn how to perceive certain messages and turn away others.

I also think our selective perception gives us selective hearing. It is sad that we only listen to what we want to hear such as entertainment gossip, and what we don’t want to listen to, such as the amount of garbage we are dumping into our Ontario waters.

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

We are a very self centered and conceited race (McCLoud, 32)

After reading this book, I totally worship Scott McCloud. I love comic books and I think that this was a brilliant piece to pickup. Not only did he talk about all aspects of comic books for those on unfamiliar ground with it, but he also taught us how to really understand the concept of comics. Now I have a better understanding of comics and how they’re not just simple illustrations, but images that grab our mind because of detail and colour choices.

I remember Mark Lipton telling us about the success of the show “The Simpsons”. I always thought the success came from Matt Groening’s simple detail in the basic skeletal drawings of each character as well as the script written by the show’s writers. Mark Lipton explained to us that it was because of the basic colour choices used in the show. Apparently, Matt Groening’s animators use the same consistent colours rather than having various shades of the rainbow. Mark told us this was because of our perception as humans; if we saw all the colours of the rainbow in the show, it wouldn’t be as successful because our attention would be all over the place. I never thought colours could play such a crucial part to a television show until I finished reading Understanding Comics.

Scott McCloud has a chapter about colours where he explains if he had used colours in his text; our attention to the context would have a different perception than it would if he left his book in black and white. There was also another portion McCloud talked about when he was explaining about detail. If he detailed so many features in his facial expression, he claims we probably wouldn’t take him seriously. Further speaking into detail, Scott also said we see ourselves in just about everything; cars, automobiles, electric sockets, and even in cartoon illustrations. He simply replied, “We see ourselves in everything...and we make the world over in our own image” (32, 33). McCloud was right when he said this; we are self absorbed. The way we see ourselves in everything shows we think of ourselves as a dominant outline for everything around us.

I’m currently researching some more of Scott McCloud’s other books and want to purchase Reinventing Comics, which apparently was published after Understanding Comics. This has got to be my favourite text so far as the visual context kept me interested and also because I love comic books.

McCloud, Scott. Reinventing Comics. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.

Media Presentations

Today’s presentations were an interesting experience. I presented a media mobile that displayed several aspects of the media that influence my everyday life. I volunteered to be one of the first people to present for the sake of getting it over with and not waiting around for my name to be called. I got up there and presented what was in my head and I tried not to think what was on my paper. Usually what happens in my presentations I remember what is written on paper rather. This time around I presented what was there and what I had planned rather then what was written in my essay. It turned out that maybe I was talking too much because Mark Lipton cut me off =S It’s not a big deal though because I understand we were under time constrictions and he was only trying to get everyone in the class the chance to present their media creations

I realized that more than one person had come up with a media mobile like mine, and I admit I was a bit discouraged for not being more creative. However, my project was different in the way that it did not center around a specific strand of media but rather several branches of the media.

I also found it ironic how I was slightly nervous when presenting but once I got into it, it was a piece of cake. The factor that it’s a new class and I don’t even know the neighbour sitting next to me played in to the part of whether or not what these students will think about me.

All in all, it was a rather interesting experience. I think that in order to improve my presentation skills, I should be strictly to the point rather than build up an explanation. Mark Lipton wanted it to be brief, and I tried to have an explanation for everything. Next time, rather than beating around the bush, to the point is best.

How do you See me?

Men survey women before treating them. Consequently, how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated. (Berger, 46)

When I saw this book, my first impression was it looks quite different than Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Since Ways of Seeing has pictures throughout the context, I felt I was given a better sense of understanding since I am a visual learner. My greatest interest in this book was when I came across the chapter with the collection of all the female ads displaying women’s body parts and the woman portrayal in art. Women were used as figures to look at rather than appreciated. Women were definitely not taken seriously, and instead were viewed to be seen and not heard.

Women did not get a significant role in the pre-renaissance era, and nudity was used as the audience would perceive it. “The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.” (47)

The message I basically got from these quotes was that women feel they should always be concerned with their physical appearance. Today, the majority of women are still insecure with their body type because of the kind of women they view in the media. Back when art was appreciated, a woman would pay attention to their audience, and how they are looked at is determined but how the audience sees her.

I admit that when I see Evangeline Lily in a magazine, I wish I looked like her in a bathing suit. I think I have more control on what I see in terms of female appearance, as I acknowledge how the media tries to make me feel. I believe my personal eating habits and self-esteem has not been impacted from the images of women I see in the media. I also believe that men treat me a certain way because of a sense of confidence I have in my persona. I know I won’t be able to look like women I see in the media, and I definitely don’t look like a piece of meat for men.

I think if a woman has enough confidence, she does not need to feel insecure about her body in anyway. If a man sees a woman in a particular way, she allows them to judge her. Women should not be used as an object for a man’s eye candy, but should take pride in her other intelligent strengths that truly make her a beautiful person. The point I am getting at is physical appearance is nothing compared to who a person really is.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972.

Image Distortion

For the group project with Mandi and Meg, we chose image distortion. At the stages of the discussion process, Mandi, Meg and I thought we should run by a topic reflecting upon women’s sexuality, exploitation, or patriarchal societies. It came down to an image shown in John Berger’s Ways of Seeing that we finally made a decision. In Chapter 2, there are exquisite photos of women in all different body shapes and forms. In my opinion, each woman is potentially beautiful because of the confidence they portray in their poses. The pose on page 45 made us think that we should talk about how images are made to influence our emotions, on body image.

When we saw this image, we saw what the definition of natural beauty used to be. If you look closely, you see a male figure watching the woman through the window like a piece of meat. Today, this is how the media displays women as, objects for the public to gaze at without appreciation of who she is.

This is where we brought image distortion into our image slide show. Our slideshow is a collection of various pictures and images we distorted ourselves to display just how much manipulation can be put into a photo in order for it to be called beautiful. Being beautiful like these women will make you a "happier" person.

It is not only women, but men are also viewed in a way where they appear “just for show”. Predominantly, our focus was on how anything in the media can be altered to fit the writer’s perspective.

We also learned the alteration of images in the media have a strong impact on the general public in terms of what we purchase, what we consume, and the different messages we absorb (hidden or not). No one realizes that a simple advertisement can change our spending habits almost instantaneously and input ideas into our heads; ideas marketers do not want us to recognize off the bat.

Amongst my group members and I, I found that I probably consume a lot more from the TV than the two of them. Mandi does not have cable in her room at res by choice, and the only show Megan assures she tunes in to is her Tuesday night "Gossip Girl". Since I commute from my home in Mississauga, I'm guilty for tuning in to about three TV drama shows a week, which is evident on how many coffee and clothing advertisements I am exposed to. On the comparison of advertisements, it is relatively the same since billboards splash across the same distorted images. The media affects our ideas on body image when we see these images. We either see someone we adore or someone we envy and want to become; no matter what, these distorted images will always toy with our emotions.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972.

Post on Postman!

Last Thursday, I finished up my last class for the week and had to wait about an hour for my friend to come out of class so we could get home together. To bypass time, I decided to open up Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.

As I sat down and began to read, I became drawn to what the book was about. Even though it was just the introduction by Postman's son Andrew, as well as a Foreword, I paid attention to the context. This occurred as I knew of the references to George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, thanks to previous knowledge in my academic career. I felt proud to have this previous knowledge with me as I had a better understanding of what the ideas presented.

Saturday evening rolls around, and after an evening with several close friends, I opened up my copy of Amusing Ourselves to Death to read of several referrals to Sophists, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; a few of the many key points found in the Philosophy course I took in my graduating high school year. Again, I am once more fascinated with many of the elements the book has had to portray, but I do admit there were other factors that I did not understand until I had to look them up.

One of the quotes I read from Postman made me think about what television really does to us. "Television does not extend or amplify literate culture. It attacks it...What is television? What kinds of conversations does it permit? What are the intellectual tendencies it encourages? What sort of culture does it produce?" (Postman 84). Television redefines its purpose according to our behavioural changes, rather than providing messages we receive as ‘knowledge’. In other words, television definitely plays a part in terms of how we act, our self motivation, as well as attitude.

Before I finished reading, I disagreed with Postman on our world being similar to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World rather than George Orwell’s 1984. The Orwellian world portrays the government to be in control, where everything an individual does is conditioned. The dominance of the government in 1984 convinced me that our modern society can turn into this limited dystopia. It was not until nearing the end of the novel that I realized present day is more of Huxley’s Brave New World after all. “The President does not have the press under his thumb...Lie shave not been defined as truth nor truth as lies. All that has happened is that the public has adjusted to incoherence and been amused to indifference...Huxley grasped, as Orwell did not, that it is not necessary to conceal anything from a public insensible to contradiction and narcoticized by technological diversions” (110). Television presents what we want to see, and the media pays attention to society’s demands; it works both ways on how television and society function. Postman presents evidence by paralleling Huxley with Orwell on their views of society portrayed in both novels. Huxley had the more accurate type of dystopia whereas Orwell’s dystopia features the government taking over our lives completely by feeding continuous lies. I believe Postman was right in a sense that television provides us with entertainment which we see as “news”. This shows the media and television provide us with our demands (our entertainment). This becomes a part of the information we believe to be actual news.

I enjoyed this read about media culture and how society gets a dosage of corruption and manipulation. Corruption in our society only goes as far as we allow it to happen, similar to how far we let television feed us our information.

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Penguin, 1986.

First Day, First Post!

So we received our course outline and syllabus, and I must say I am excited. This is a new start and finally a chance for me to do something I am interested in. This is the second class to ask me to create a blog as a part of the course (the other class is my Internet Survey and Research course). This blog however is different. It is an account I get to make on my own with my own name whereas the one for my other class is somewhat of a forum-type of format.

I haven’t blogged since my early teen years and I am so excited to do it as a part of the course, mainly because I talk too much and it is what I do best? We also got a list of books we need to purchase, thank goodness my sister goes here or I would be lost without her. Even though she is graduating from the Business program, she showed me the book store in Humber and the Media section where I will be purchasing my books.

Mark Lipton is an interesting person, and I think he is a really funny guy who knows when to be serious; a Jack of All Trades. When I saw his syllabus, I saw the group tasks we have to do, the assignments throughout the semester, the books and online readings we have to read, and of course the neat blogs. I began reading Postman, and I like it so far. I've only bought it earlier today at the book store, but it's really good. I'm going to continue it in the car ride home today and hopefully have it done this weekend.

This rushing feeling is like adrenaline; I think it’s because I am now in a new environment and I’m ready to dive in with all the new possibilities. I don’t know what to expect, but I feel ready. Is this normal? Probably not, but only halfway into the week and I find this new experience interesting.

Whoo-hoo for the first blog post of the semester!!