Michelle's Media Blog

Well, at the beginning of the year I was not too sure of what this class entailed. I had heard to take the class because it was very easy, and I had one open period so I figured, “Hey, why not fill this with Media, it can’t be too hard”. Now, I almost disagree with my own judgment. I do not feel that media was ‘difficult’ class, but I do believe it was a very time consuming class. I did not think I would be doing as much work as was required. There were many group projects, little assignments and tests. I did not really enjoy any of these, aside from the music video. Also, we took many long dull power points. Although I made the class sound not so good right now, I disagree with myself once again. I did have fun in Media class this year. I liked my fellow peers in the class, along with my teacher. Just because I did not enjoy much of the work in the class did not mean it was a bad class. I honestly do not enjoy doing a lot of work in any of my classes, but you have to face the fact that it must be done. Sure, the projects may have been very time consuming and the power points may have been long and dull. But aside from that I had a good experience in that class.
When I went into this class I did not know much about media. I think I knew just about as much as the average person knows. You watch the advertisement and simply look at it. You do not truly understand the meaning of the ad and what they company is trying to throw out at you. You either like the ad and believe it, or you don’t. Now after taking Media class, I am able to have a better, clearer understanding of what is being said to me. You learn how companies are willing to do anything to get you to buy their product. They may change the whole subject (item) of the ad around just to make it look more appealing than it really is. A very god example of this was shown by the ‘Dove Campaign for Real Beauty’. I personally knew that things like this were being done before media, but never realized to what extent this is happening. There are companies who will completely change the whole look of their product in order for us to buy it. To me that seems wrong, because they are not giving you the truth. But that is something I learned in media. YOU, the viewer or consumer, has to find the truth yourself. The class has opened my eyes to many advertising schemes, and just trick in general. I am now much more media alert and can really analyze what is happening in our society, or furthermore, the world.
Also in Media class, the next big interesting concept I learned was about the paparazzi. I always knew and read often about the paparazzi; they will follow you to a crazy extent, but never knew exactly how wild it could actually be. I saw how they will put not only their (the paparazzi)’s life in danger, but also their peer’s lives on the line. I think this is just an insane concept. If a celebrity wanted you to know that much about their life, they could have told you. The paparazzi spread way too many offensive and private posts about innocent celebrities.
Throughout this class I have learned a lot. This has helped me understand what is happening around me, and shows me how I cannot fall into the media trap. By being under the spell, I will just be another follower. Media has taught me to think for myself, and be myself.