Drugs in Media

                Drugs are everywhere. It is normal for a person to have some sort of encounter with drugs in their lifetime, especially in high school or college.  When someone is seen around drugs, a certain judgment is passed about them, and they are sending a message.   Even if someone is not actually doing the drugs, simply surrounding yourself with them speaks about your character.   Our culture has grown with drugs especially through music.   Listening to music that sings about drugs also sends a message out about yourself.   My dad listens to a lot of music that expresses words about drugs and this made me ask him if he has ever done any drugs.   He, who is a man of his word, told me he has never done any drug or even smoked anything, such as a cigarette or cigar.   Because of the verbal drug paraphernalia used in the songs he listens to, I passed judgment about my dad and assumed that he has been exposed to some kind of drug before. There are hidden meanings in drugs and involving one’s self in that sort of situation sends a message to your peers.  

                In Europe, a much calmer and more laid back culture, drugs are used casually.  They do not inflict the same judgments from society, but they do receive media messages.   In their book, Media Society, Croteau and Hoynes write that “the flow of media products, the argument continues, results in the erosion of local cultures and values” (355 Croteau and Hoynes).   Drugs, as a media product, is traded, sold, and bought throughout different states and even countries.   Drugs being shipped from America to Europe would impose a rushed and somewhat addictive media message on the Europeans.   Drugs shipped from Europe would ensure a relaxed and casual environment based off of the media message that is sent with the drug from overseas.  

E-Harmony

Within the last couple of years, online dating websites have become one of the most common ways to meet someone.   It is a way for people to meet someone online in order to start dating, a relationship, or even lead to a marriage.   In order to use an online dating site, a person must first make a profile of themselves, in which they list specific characteristics, likes, dislikes, personal information, and even pictures.   This profile serves as a list of what a person wishes for others to see, it is often what they consider to be their most attractive traits.   People hide the skeletons in their closet because of the fear that if they show any weaknesses on their profile, they will not meet their soul mate.  Media forces us to hide important parts of our lives and create a façade of what we believe to be perfection through online dating profiles.   People feel obligated to post pictures of themselves in bathing suits or minimal clothing in order to attract others.   Media influences our perceptions of what is attractive and what is socially acceptable to show the world.

Along with media constructing our personal profiles, there are many advertisements along the sides of dating sites such as E-Harmony, which distracts the user from finding true love.   Croteau and Hoynes express that “Marshall McLuhan (1964) wrote that with the rise of electronic media, ‘we have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace’ (p. 19)” (Media Society 337).   McLuhan is right in that our whole central nervous system, or society, is now available, or becoming available, on the internet.   Through the internet and dating websites, anyone is a few seconds away from being connected, in a relationship, or even married.   Communication and peoples’ personal lives are heavily influenced by media.   Using online dating sites, such as E-Harmony, allow people to create a profile of themselves.   Through these profiles, they attempt to create a façade of perfection by hiding their flaws and subjecting themselves to the media movement.  

As you can see in the pictures, E-Harmony advertises itself to be a happy site where love can easily be found.   There are pictures below of different advertisements and profiles made my users of E-Harmony.

Below is a Mad TV parody video of an E-Harmony commercial (this is fake!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvjAnPe_1eA 

News and Newscasters

Many people around the world watch news stations and listen to the daily stories and events.   As they tune in every day to hear the newscasters, they are being subjected to different biases.   One story could be that a neighborhood boy rescued a cat from a tree, but it can be spun many different ways.   One news station could focus on how it was irresponsible of the cats’ owners to even let it out in the first place.  Another station could center on the young boy and his bravery in rescuing the cat.   When listening to the news, viewers must remember that the truths of the event are most likely hidden behind political opinions and disguised media messages.  

                The newscasters are also dressed up in fashionable clothes and covered in make up in order to look ‘presentable’ to the public.   They must hide their natural look and change their physique to appeal to society’s shallow needs.   Croteau and Hoynes express that “the media give us pictures of [society]…and by their sheer repetition on a daily basis, can play important roles in shaping broad social definitions” (163).   Media expresses that newscasters are people we should look up to and desire to look like.   They are loaded with makeup and their every word is structured by a teleprompter.   Newscasters have little freedom with what they look like and what they say, yet they deliver a strong media message encumbered with political views and hidden meanings. 

Below is the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 shown on CNN News.

 Below is a female newscaster wearing lots of make up and a sexually suggestive shirt.

 Below is a picture from the show Family Guy in which the two newscasters, Tom and Dianne, are sending a sexual media message over the news.

 This is a notoriously left-wing news station.

 This is a notoriously more centered and somewhat right-wing news station.

Tea Leaves

In some cultures, it is believed that a person’s future or fate can be known by reading tea leaves at the bottom of their cup.   When a cup of tea is finished, there is a design at the bottom that is known to supposedly withhold a person’s future path they with embark on or encounters they will have.   It requires a person to ask a question, in which they can read the tea leaves to figure out the answer.   This allows the trained leaf reader to impose a message or opinion upon the person who is asking the question.

                The reader is given much power because of the trust and belief that the person who is asking the question has with them.   The leaf reader has the power to change the story or make up an answer to impose a specific future or thought upon them.   People who have their tea leaves read usually are completely devoted to the response that is shown by the leaves, which leaves them vulnerable to the media that the leaf reader can impose on them.  

                Croteau and Hoynes illustrate their thoughts on the social devotion to certain messages portrayed.   They show this as they write “What began as a practical solution to a user problem…was now driven by commercial concerns” (327).   This explains that search engines on the internet were created in order to solve people’s problems with real answers, but it has developed into an advertiser’s dreamland in which profit outweighs integrity.   This is similar to the powerful position that tea leaf readers hold as they are trusted by their customers to provide an honest answer about this person’s fate.   They can easily lie and tell the customer that they must get their tea leafs read every day in order to live, which would result in the leaf reader gaining profit.   The powerful position that a tea leaf reader holds allows them to deliver a media message through tea leaves which influences their customer’s life.

The picture below shows a special cup and plate used to tell the specific message of the tea leaves.  

This picture shows tea leaves and their message and how it is read.

The picture below shows two women having their tea leaves read by a professional reader.   This prooves how the art of leaf reading has been practiced for decades.  It is a powerful medium that has a historical background.

This is an advertisement against a specific kind of pants.  This shows that tea leaves can be used as a powerful media advertising tool because of the strong group of followers it has.

Here is a video on how to properly read tea leaves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F11rPQ3Ez0

Babson Men's Soccer Live Feed

Right now I am watching the live feed of the Babson Men's Soccer game against Plymouth State.   Live feed is constant updates on exactly what is happening in the game so that people at home can keep up with the play by play action of a far away game.  This is a strong medium because the person who is typing each word is from Plymouth State, and therefore is most likely bias against Babson.  Every play he describes is written with the underline message of a Plymouth State fan.   A Babson player may take a shot that goes over the goal but the Plymouth people retain from calling it a “shot” because that would lower the stats of the Plymouth team.   I am a loyal Babson Men’s Soccer fan and watch the live feed of their away games quite often.   This means that I am subjected to receiving the media message of the opposing teams’ opinions and views.   My love for soccer, as well as my love for all of my best friends on the boys team, requires me to obtain the media expressed from the words of the live feed given by a Plymouth State fan. 

Croteau and Hoynes discuss the influence of newspapers and written articles on society.   They believe that “there is, in fact, good reason to believe that the historical roots of what we now refer to as ‘objectivity’ in journalism lie in this process of commercialization, whereby the news industry developed a new non-partisan framework for reporting news” (69).   Just as written work, such as journalism, effects society, the online live feed from college sports has an impact on its viewers and followers.   Every word written by the author of the live feed from Plymouth State influences its viewers by imposing a media message upon them.  

I have included a picture of the live feed of Babson's game against Plymouth State as well as a picture of classmate Pete Crowley making a save in goal against Wheaton.

Seasonal Media

The seasons of the year each portray a special and unique type of media. The weather, colors, and pastimes of the seasons deliver a message to individuals and consumers about how they should behave. As Henry David Thoreau said, "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." (Thoreau). There are outfits, beverages, foods, and outings which are characteristic of the seasons.
The media of summer surrounds the warm atmosphere. Summer expresses a care-free nature and an attitude of happiness. The hot temperature sends family’s to the beach and outside for picnics, b-b-q's, and reunions. Summer style beers, fruity drinks, and cold beverages flood the drink market, and on-the-go outside foods are found in the hands of summer lovers.
The changing of the leaves and cold weather brings about feelings of fall and the media of fall takes hold. Just as in summer, drinks and foods are shaped around the fall feeling. Fall events, for the most part, are focused on the media of Halloween. Pumpkins, costumes, and candy are staple mediums of fall.
When winter comes, coats, boots, and hats are worn and are prime examples of what the medium of winter suggests. The main focus of winter and what the media of winter suggests are the holidays. Almost all religions have an important celebration. When spring comes, its media creates an oncoming of summer and a positive, out of winter, feeling.
Businesses have capitalized on the media and feelings represented by each season, creating products, advertising destinations, and marketing ideas. Using the media of the seasons, entrepreneurs have made billions of dollars representing the holidays and behaviors of each.

Where's the BEEF? - Food Within Media

Food is a big part of people’s lives. It is necessary for survival and everyone must eat it.  Food plays a big role in media through sending various messages and by dominating the advertising industry.  By purchasing and consuming specific brands, food groups, and amounts, a message is sent to the buyer, seller, and all people around who observe this happening.  

What people buy expresses a message of how much disposable income they make, what their political beliefs are, and how they wish for their body to look like.   Mark Pursehouse expresses the large influence media has on us by writing about how "the danger is of entirely missing the levels at which these tabloids are recognized (the identities and investments they serve)..." (Looking at the Sun: Into the Nineties With a Tabloid and Its Readers 205).  Media forces people to take on an identity when buying a specific food.   Media stereotypes certain foods to specific races, religions, and genders.  If a man buys steaks, lobster, or items from a high end store or restaurant, he is saying that he has lots of money.   Media imposes into cultures by branding them to particular foods.   It is often seen in advertisements that Asian people will be eating rice or sushi, and Black people will eat fried chicken or watermelon.  This is shown in the pictures provided.

The picture below shows Whole Foods grocery store where the customers pay a higher price for excellent customer service, high-end food, and fresh groceries.   Customers here deliver a message of having a steady solid income, and wanting good quality food.

 People who purchase organic foods express messages of wanting unprocessed foods from a safe and natural environment where animals and nature are unharmed.  This often portrays a consumers' political views of being left-wing.  Many foods communcate ideas beyond hunger, such as politics, race, or desired body image.

 This is a model of a thin woman made out of peaches.  This expresses that in order to look very thin and feminine, women must consume fresh fruit such as peaches.

 McDonald's has recently recieved a poor image due to health studies and experiments.  It has become a place where their consumers have little income and are generally overweight.  If a person eats from McDonald's they are often frowned upon through media, such as this picture having the McDonald's logo and catch phrase branded on a person's obese arm.

 This woman is eating an apple and drinking water, which shows that in order to look very thin and healthy, such as the woman shown, you must eat and drink the things that she is eating and drinking.  This advertisement speaks to women and lets them know that they must eat fruit such as apples in order to be thin.

 This picture shows how America has received a poor image for consuming large amounts of fatty foods.  The ad shows that Americans are involved in unhealthy foods from a young age, and continue these eating habits into adulthood.

 Eating at a fancy dinner setting such as the one below shows high power and income.

 This man is interested in the organic fruits and vegetables below, which hints toward his political and social views.  Media transforms simple grocery shopping into a way of delivering social status and portraying a public definition of one's self.

 This ad is for chicken fingers named "Obama-Fingers".  This ad is stereotyping Black people for liking chicken and relating it to our current President Obama who happens to be Black.  This ad delivers the message that all Black people love fried chicken, especially Barack Obama, the President of the United States.

 This ad is making fun of Black people and portraying that all Black people love watermelon.  This is a stereotype within media and ads such as this continue to deliver this message.

 These cookies are in the shape of elephants and American flags.  The elephants are representing Republicans and by eating, baking, selling, or buying these cookies, people are expressing politics through the medium of food. 

This is a creative combination of different foods to represent a graveyard.  The use of gummy worms, candy pumpkins, Oreo crumbs, and cookies with "RIP" on them deliver the message of a graveyard through food.  Much of our culture revolves around food and the combination of different foods can deliver an even stronger message through media.