Technology

I've been thinking a lot lately about how technology has changed over the past few years. It's amazing to me that we can carry a computer and the internet with us everywhere we go in something as small as out phones. I keep hearing stories about how the first computer was HUGE and took up and entire room. It's so great that so many people have been inspired to create such marvelous things which we can use for good if we desire to do so :)

Letter to the Director of Iron Man

Jon Favreau,

I would like to start off by telling you how much I enjoy your Iron Man movies. I love Tony’s humor and the action in the movies. I am, however, disappointed at the portrayal of the character, Pepper. I feel that so many movies do not give female characters enough credit for their accomplishments and instead focus on their sex appeal, their insecurities, and undeniable dependence on men. I will tell you right now, that I am not a crazy feminist. I actually have many traditional beliefs about the roles of men and women, yet I will not waver on my belief that women deserve respect. And I do not believe that Pepper, from the Iron Man movies does not have this respect and this portrayal will affect many women’s views on their worth.

Movies have such an effect on people, which you probably know already. And knowing this, I feel that the Pepper character should be portrayed as a much stronger woman than she has been portrayed as. For example, Pepper does get in on the action, which is so great for women to see that they can do crazy things as well. However, when Pepper does an investigation encounters Vanko in Iron Man 2, she is wearing a pencil skirt and 5 inch heels, which she would never be able to wear if she were to realistically run away from Vanko! I think that this image would give many women and girls the impossible notion that they must look good for men at all times, even when they are doing something that could be dnagerous. I would have rather seen Pepper rip off her heels and actually run. This would have been more realistic and would have made Pepper seem more legit.

Also, I feel that Pepper seems too dependent on Tony. She does so much for Tony, and yet Tony treats her terribly. If I did as much for a man as Pepper does for Tony and was still treated like dirt, I would get out of that relationship. And yet, many females watch this and acquire the false notion that if they wait long enough, their overlooked acts of love will finally pay off. I could see this as easily influencing abused women to think that eventually their partner will stop abusing them and actually love them. I am not saying that Tony is depicted as abusive, but many women and girls could use these principles in their own lives and continue to be hurt. And even if females are not in abusive relationships, they could be influenced to stay in terrible relationships because they believe their partner will change and one day realize how much he loves her.

I’m not saying that I want you to change the world and change how every woman and girl thinks. But, I would highly recommend that you critically look at the movies you are creating and see how the female characters are truly being portrayed. It’s great that Pepper can fight and help Tony, but how is she truly being portrayed? My hope is that you will do this and portray women in a more positive manner. They don’t have to necessarily fight and be the most hard core girl that was ever depicted on a screen, but they do deserve to be respected. I think that every female deserves that, whether on or off the screen.

Sincerely,

Megan Smith, a college student who cares

Violent Video Games

The subject for the mock trial was fairly interesting to me. It's so crazy that media can have such an effect on people! I am a huge proponent for people not playing violent video games, yet some people have the complete opposite view from me. I feel like even though the effect sizes are small for the research showing that violent video games have an effect, we should still make an effort to limit the amount of people who play them. When one person yelled "Fire!" in a crowded theater when there was not a fire, he ended up causing people to die and there is now a law against doing this. One person! We have several cases of minors who play violent games and then go out and kill multiple people, so why don't we have a law against this?

The "Red" Obsession

So, ever since Taylor Swift's new album, Red, came out I've been obsessed with it! I listen to it ALL the time! I think I listen to the album at least 3 times a day and I never get sick of it! I've talked with lots of people and they say they miss the old, country songs Taylor used to write, but they are so in love with her new album! It's exactly how I feel and I think it's because Taylor really knows how to get to her audience. All my friends say there is at least one song that relates to them completely! My sister's relationship with her boyfriend her senior year of high school/freshman year of college can be told in the song "We Are Never Getting Back Together" because they just kept getting back together and she got so exhausted from it! It's so great that we have music to make us feel like we are not alone in different situations we are faced with. Go Taylor!

Scams

The other day I had some random guy post on my blog with a link to a website where I could make money fast. It amazes me how people can bombard others through the internet in order to promote their scams. On the same day, I got a call at work (I work in a phone room for BYU Continuing Education) from a woman who said some random guy told her he would pay for her daughter's online courses and took her daughter's information. When I couldn't find anything to back this up, the lady realized that she had been scammed. I would have figured that out when the man told me his name was Maurice Johnybear, but I guess everyone is different. It just makes me so sad that people have to take advantage of one another and they use the media, something that can be so good, and turn it into something bad.

Halloween Costumes

So almost every single year I have had no idea what I want to dress up as for Halloween. So while I was at work the other day, I did a Google search for different ideas and I found a TON! There are so many ideas that people have and I love that we have one place to put it (a.k.a. the internet) so that everyone can see them! I really would have a much harder time figuring out what I want to be for Halloween if I didn't have the internet. :)

From 1950's-2010's

It's interesting how media has changed over the years along with social norms. I randomly found this commercial from the 1950's warning boys against homosexuals because they were "sick." While watching it, I didn't know whether I thought it was funny or awful or sad. Being able to say certain things in the media has definitely changed in the last 60 years.

Miss Representation

While watching the video in class "Miss Representation" I became so passionate about what they were saying (they used really good persuasive tools). I found myself thinking that I wanted to go into politics, but once the movie was over and I really thought about it, I realized that I would never want to do that. It did make me think, though, about how much power the media really has in this world. I didn't realize that there were so many girls who hurt themselves by cutting themselves and engaging in eating disorders. It made me happy, however, to see that there are people in this world who view slutty ads and TV shows and movies as a negative thing. There are still some good people in this world who understand that slutty and catty girls is not the norm and is not good. I believe there is still hope for this world.

Les Misérables

For my book assignment, I wrote about my favorite book, Les Misérables (the abridged version of course). I absolutely LOVE this book, which is crazy because I do not like to read (don't hate me, avid readers). but I love how this book is all about a man attempting to change his life for the better. He overcomes so much and yet continues to have so many hardships and trials. Through it all, however, he continues to remain an exceptional man who helps all people, even those who are attempting to destroy him. It's such a good story line and well written and I would recommend it to ANYONE! I'm also overly enthusiastic for the new Les Mis movie, so check out the trailer and the extended first look and you will know why :)

Here's the extended first look which tells you about how they are making the movie :)

Homework Help

So I've been working on homework for the past few hours and sometimes I honestly don't know how i do it for so long. I finally finished one of my assignments that I've attempted to start on many occasions, but couldn't because I really did NOT want to do it. So this morning I sat down and turned on some good music on Pandora and was able to get through it! It's amazing how much music helped me to be able to finish this assignment because I would have had such a hard time being able to focus enough without it.

I Won't Give Up

One of my most favorite songs right now is "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz. I will listen to it over and over again because it makes me feel good and makes me want to continue in the difficult things I'm encountering. In class on Tuesday we talked about different positive influences media can have on us. One of these influences was on perseverence and I think this song fits well into this category. I love that some songs give hope to people who are suffering from different things, like losing a limb or a loved one as the video depicts. Love <3

Are We Really Being Green?

I found this post on Facebook and thought of how it's so sad that our generation has been affected by technology and media so much that we think we are so conservative and green when in reality we are much more wasteful than past generations.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=462014107166714&set=a.371272369574222.90570.370132559688203&type=1

PS I think you have to log onto Fb to view this link. Sorry!

Farting can Bring you a Husband

Once again I was working and my coworker, Cameron, was sitting next to me giggling like a silly little child. Naturally, I needed to know what he was reading and so he sent me the link. I read it and could not stop laughing! I even started crying it was so amazingly funny. I love how in media people can share their lives with random people they never know and never will know. And yet, we are thoroughly entertained by some wonderfully written stories that would otherwise remain unknown.

One lesson I learned from this story is that not all hope is lost for you if you have a terrible date where you do the unthinkable. If someone really likes you, things will work out. It's also nice to know that I am not the only one who has unbelievably embarrassing moments where I want to sink into the floor and never see a human being again. So enjoy and know you are not alone! :)

http://hahasforhoohas.com/the-fart-that-almost-altered-my-destiny/

Bad Lip Reading

So, this is probably one of the funniest things I've seen. I have talked with all my friends, coworkers, and roommates and we are not sure why this is so funny. However, it could be that it is about Twilight which everyone makes fun of anyway, so it makes it that much more funny to make even more fun of it. Does that make sense? Anyway enjoy the humor. I love the media for letting me spread humor.

Long Day of Childhood

I work in a phone room on campus and it's probably one of the greatest jobs ever because of the people I work with. Almost everyday my coworkers show me some sort of video clip, picture, or song they encountered while "working." The other day my coworker, Cameron, showed me a commercial for Ragu. It shows a kid going to his parents bedroom and through the lyrics in the song playing and the look on the kid's face, you know his parents are "doing it."

I didn't particularly care for the commercial (whoopsy), but I think it was interesting how a pasta sauce company would promote their product this way saying that it's a good way to get through a "long day of childhood." I guess Ragu is trying to reach out to children so that they will annoy their parents at the grocery store to buy Ragu sauce, but personally I don't think it works. What do you think? Are they trying to reach out to a child audience or adult audience to let parents think they can save their children from awful things that happen to them by simply giving them Ragu's sauce?