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CPT Blog #6

Question: Describe your all-time favorite movie. Why is it your favorite? Do you think it will always be/stand the test of time? Explain.

My all-time favorite movie is Back to the Future. Back to the Future is about teenager Marty McFly who is thrown back into the 1950’s when an experiment by his mad scientist friend Doc Brown goes wrong. While travelling through the 50’s, Marty encounters young versions of his parents and must make sure that they fall in love or else he’ll cease to exist. What’s even more difficult is that Marty needs to return to his own time so he can save the life of Doc Brown. Back to the Future is my favorite movie because unlike most movies, Back to the Future is a character-based saga. Throughout the entire movie, Marty’s main goal is to ensure his own continual existence but to also save the life of his family.

I do believe that Back to the Future will always be my all-time favorite movie as well as stand the test of time because it’s such a cult classic. Back to the Future is the type of movie that you could watch repeatedly and it would never get old. Back to the Future is so iconic and legendary that even though the movie came out in 1985, 33 years later the movie is still extremely popular. The movie is so popular that fans have come up with theories about the franchise. For example, one of the theories is that George McFly actually knew that Marty is Calvin Klein. The theory goes that George was more open to the idea of the possibility of time travel since he is a sci-fi fan. The theory further explains that Marty has left a trail of breadcrumbs from playing “Johnny B Goode,” mentioning Vulcan from Star Trek and ordering a Pepsi Free, that George slowly recognized the patterns over the years. Back to the Future will forever be a cult classic film.

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CPT Blog #5

Question: Do the sitcoms from the 1950’s to present studied this unit show an evolution or devolution of the TV family? Justify your position using specific examples. Which of the TV families studied can you relate to the most? Why? The least? Why? Which of the TV families do you think is the most realistic? The least? Why?

The sitcoms from the 1950’s to present that were studied in this unit show an evolution of the TV family because more recent sitcoms try not to be racist, homophobic or anything that would offend someone. The reason for this is because with this generation, little things can come off as offensive and things have changed over the decades. For example, the sitcom All in the Family, had a main character named Archie Bunker who was loudmouthed and prejudiced. He regularly made racist, homophobic and extremely offensive comments about everyone he knew, including his black neighbours Lionel, Louise and George Jefferson.

The TV family that I could relate to the most would be The Brady Bunch. The reason that I relate to this show is because even though all the siblings cause trouble and often fight, at the end of the day they are always there for each other. For example, in the episode Dear Libby, in the beginning the kids were not getting along but, throughout the episode that started to change as they realized that one of their parents might’ve wrote a letter in a newspaper column and suddenly everyone was getting along. This demonstrates that even though the kids weren’t getting along in the beginning, by the end they were if it meant their parents would be happy.

The TV family that I could relate to the least would be All in the Family. The reason I can’t relate to this show is because of the main character, Archie Bunker. Archie Bunker was very conservative and had many negative things to say about stuff that he didn’t understand and because of this he would often make offensive comments about religion, gun control, race etc. The Funny thing about him saying all these offal comments is that they usually come back to bite him in the butt. For example, in the episode Archie and the Editorial, Archie gets invited to give a “man-on-the-street” editorial on television where he speaks against gun control. He later meets two people who saw the editorial who ironically rob him at gunpoint.

Out of all the TV families that were studies in class, the one I would say is the most realistic would be Arrested Development. I think this because this show actually deals with real life problems that some families go through like a family member going to jail, and financial problems. Even though the show is about a wealthy family, I believe that people could still relate to it since it does deal with problems some people face daily. For example, in the pilot episode when we are first introduced to the family, it’s shown that the father is arrested for white-collar crimes. This shows that even though the family is wealthy, they can’t escape normal everyday problems with money.

Out of all the TV families that were studied, the show that I believe is the most unrealistic is Leave it to Beaver. I think this because the show was made in the 50’s and in my opinion shows from this decade would show the “ideal family”. This is proven throughout the episodes when Beaver does something wrong or rude, the parents don’t really tell him what he did was wrong as if he should already know the difference but in reality he shouldn’t because he’s still a kid. For example, in the episode Captain Jack, Beaver and his brother Wally secretly keep a Florida alligator as a pet because their father said that they couldn’t have one, so they try to prove him wrong in secret. Even though this is realistic by the brothers trying to prove to their father that they can raise a pet, it’s unreasonable to get an alligator and also unrealistic that the parents didn’t find out about it sooner.

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CPT Blog #4

Question: Describe your all-time favorite TV show. Why is it your favorite? Do you think it will always be/stand the test of time? Explain.

My favourite TV show of all-time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is about a young woman who is forced to fulfill her destiny of fighting vampires and demons with the help of her friends while at the same time trying to live a normal teenage life filled with heartbreak and drama. The reason that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all-time favourite is because it’s very different from other shows. Buffy was created in the year 1997 and because there were no other shows like it, it was unique and very well liked. Even though the show is from the late 90’s, the show is still very popular. In fact, last year was actually the 20 year anniversary of the show and the cast had a reunion. I know for a fact that many people including myself as well as my friends and family were thrilled to watch the cast back together. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is so popular, that until this day it is watched not only among an older generation, but as well as a much younger one.

I do believe that Buffy the Vampire Slayer will always stand and be my all-time favorite show because of how different it is, even from shows of today. Buffy is one of the many shows that provide a strong female lead as well as a bad-ass character. Buffy was also the first ever show to have a musical episode. Now, 17 years ago this was very different from now a days where shows are more frequently making them. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has also inspired many other popular shows such as Supernatural, The X-Files, Charmed, The Vampire Diaries, as well as their very own spin-off Angel. In my personal opinion, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will forever be an iconic and legendary show that no other show will ever be able to top its uniqueness.

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CPT Blog #3

Question: What is “culture jamming”? In your opinion, is “culture jamming” democratic or criminal?

Culture Jamming is a tactic that is used by many anti-consumerist individuals to disrupt corporate advertising movements in an attempt to make a statement about the incorrect and misleading messages in advertising. Culture Jamming consists of individuals who purposely vandalize property to try and get their message across to people. There are numerous culture jammers who try and re-configure logos and images in the hopes of people starting to question the values of corporate advertising. Culture jammers believe that because corporations are pushing advertisements in our face from all different angles that they should be able to have the right to fight back against the corporations and advertising. Multiple of these culture jammers feel that they are attacked from the amount of advertisements that they see throughout their day. A majority of culture jammers share the same ideology about advertisements and believe they are just as powerful and important as big corporations.

I personally believe that culture jamming is a criminal act. If vandalism is illegal then there should be no difference when it comes to culture jamming. I do believe that everyone has a freedom of speech and their own opinion to things  such as democratic rights but, I do not agree with their method of protest. There are definitely people who share the same beliefs when it comes to advertising but there is a logical way to protest it. What good does it do to vandalize an advertisement when a multi-billion dollar company such as Pepsi who will not even hesitate to put up another advertisement up in the same exact location. Culture jammers do their work and then run from the crime. What’s the difference between a person vandalizing an advertisement to a person vandalizing a public wall? The fact is that culture jammers are rebellious and attack advertising in the wrong way.

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CPT Blog #2

Question: Create a “clutter collage” using the photos/sketches of ads experienced in your neighborhood over the past week. Answer the following questions in journal form - “do you feel overwhelmed by the advertising that bombards you daily? Why or why not?

During this week, I kept an extra eye out for ads. Turns out I didn’t need to, at almost every corner it seemed that there was some sort of advertisement. Seeing so many advertisements made me feel extremely bombarded and ever since I feel like everywhere I go, I see advertisements. Before I never realized how far companies will go to have their product have an advertisements be shown everywhere. Surprisingly, I didn’t only see advertisements when going out. I saw many advertisements on social media such as instagram and snapchat, and also saw them in commercials. What really shocked me was the fact how many times I would see the same exact advertisements being repeated over and over again.

Seeing so many advertisements in such little time did overwhelm me a bit because I didn’t expect to see that many advertisements. But, at the same time, i’m also not really surprised by seeing so many advertisements because i’m so used to seeing ads everyday on social media that I almost get used to it. I do believe that being able to witness so many advertisements in one day, that it does make me feel like I am being bombarded daily. I feel this way because I am exposed to too many advertisements, especially in commercials and social media. Corporations tend to show advertisements on things like highways and billboards, and also like to repeat the commercial of their product over and over again so it will get stuck in our mind.

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CPT Media Blog #1

Question: Based on your media consumption inventory, discuss what types of media you consume most and least. Discuss possible reasons for your consumption patterns.

Before doing my media consumption inventory, I didn’t think that I consumed that much media. But, after I realized how much I actually did. The most media I consumed was by being on my cell phone. I was very surprised when I saw that because I never realized how much I really use my phone. This result also surprises me because I can go many hours without using my phone, so to see that I spent most of my time being on my phone was actually a shock to me. The least media that I consumed was hours reading fiction. Just like before, I was again shocked to see that I didn’t spend a lot of my time reading fiction since I enjoy doing it and spend most of my weekends reading.

Coming to think, I believe that the reasons for my consumption patterns is because I’m so used to always being on my phone as well as that I don’t actually realize how much time i’m spending online. Growing up around technology starts getting kids more and more addicted to the internet and make it seem like they can’t live without it. Even though technology is amazing when it comes to medicine and research, when it comes down to kids, more kids would actually spend more time online then outside.