Media: Ads and Billboards

The media heavily influences the way people perceive themselves. For a Media Literacy project I am working on, my group decided to take pictures of billboards and advertisements that we are exposed to on an everyday basis. We separated it into the Ithaca area and the New York City area. Coming from New York City, there are a lot of advertisements and billboards. I guess I never really noticed it THAT much until I had to take pictures of them. There are ads on payphone booths and construction sites. I took pictures of ads from Verizon and Cingular and Gap. It was actually an interesting experience because I felt like a tourist in a place I go to so much. I also had to take pictures of sale signs on store windows and people actually stopped to see what I was taking pictures of. I never realized there were so many clothing ads. There's even a huge PSP near Broadway. 

Essay 2

Three more days until the rough draft for the second essay is due and I'm stuck. I feel like I don't have enough to say for a specific topic and yet I have a bit to say for each. This essay is going to be harder for me than the first one because I've never done an MLA or APA type essay before. I enjoyed the first essay although it took me a while to figure out what I was going to write about. But after that, it was pretty easy. So for this essay, I'm leaning more towards Option 3 which is about being normal. I think I'll do body image since that should be a bit easier? For the past week we've watched the movie "Freaks" and talked about the concept of "normal." I don't like the fact that the word "freaks" are used to categorize people because in the end, who is to judge who's a freak? The physically disabled people in the movie weren't the freaks, instead Cleo and Hercules were. In the movie, they united in order to help their friend, Hanz, get revenge against the villains. There also isn't a definition for normal because this word is different for everyone.

Response to Danielle's Entry

I was reading Danielle's entry titled "What is normal?" and I have to say that I agree with her. There really is not a definition for the word normal. We only consider things to be normal when they are within our comfort zones. Like Danielle said, everyone is a "freak" in their own way. The movie "Freaks" twisted the idea of NORMAL as conjoined twins, dwarfs, the torso man, a man that walks with his arms, etc. Ironically, Cleopatra, the beautiful woman, is portrayed as the odd one out. What we consider normal are the freaks in this movie. Cleopatra and Hercules are the villains and evil enough to try to poison Hans. Instead the "freaks" (what a terrible word) unite and bring down Cleo and Hercules. In the very end, Cleo gets a taste of her own medicine when she is some duck-hen-peacock looking thing. She was always laughing at others who weren't like her. I don't really watch black and white films but I actually enjoyed this one. I wonder what the reaction was like when people saw this in the 1930s.

Freaks

Today in class we started watching Freaks and the first thing I wondered was if it was special effects or actually real people that looked like that. If it was special effects, I was surprised that they had that back in black and white films. But apparently, the people actually looked like that. I know about dwarfs but I've never actually seen the people with the tiny heads. At first I was a bit confused why this movie would be considered horror. I sympathize for Frieda because she knows that Cleopatra only likes Hans for his wealth and he would not believe it. How can Hans move on from Frieda so fast when he is still engaged to her? In addition, Cleopatra is involved with another guy. How is Hans so blinded? This love triangle is showing how "beautiful" women use this fact to manipulate guys. There are some parts I don't get in the movie but maybe I'll catch on later. I find it hard to understand some of the dialogue though. 

Welcome to Cancerland

The title of this story itself captured my attention. When you hear the word "welcome," you normally wouldn't associate it with cancer. I think this story was very powerful. I liked how she wrote in first person because it makes the reader feel a part of it. Instead of just focusing on her personal experience, she talks about the "commercial" part. She talks about the pink ribbons, gift packages, jewelry and walks. Instead of promoting awareness, she'd rather more time be spent on the cause. I just never really thought about it that way. I found this story especially interesting because about a year ago, my mom had a breast cancer scare. Luckily, it was only a scare. My mom got called back for an additional screening because the doctors thought they found something in her mammogram. The details are fuzzy but thankfully after the biopsy, she's alright. I don't think I've ever been so worried in my life. Reading the beginning of Ehenreich's story enabled me to feel what she was going through. I loved how she made it seem like she had to prove them wrong and it seemed like she was on trial.

Response to Danielle's Entry

I agree with Danielle's post that women are perceived as a "thing" in advertising. I've never really thought about it but after reading Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt, I look at advertising differently. Women are basically objects pasted onto a billboard. Guys may look at it as no big deal but women are portrayed negatively. As for me, I think Kilbourne looked too deeply into the ad with two girls in cherry dresses. However, I think she is pretty accurate when it came to the ad that says "If your date won't listen to reason, try a velvet hammer." It seems to neglect reasoning. Although I get Kilbourne's point, she never really tried to be on the other side. She only talks about how women are portrayed as things. In every advertisement that she talks about, it relates to sex.