Reflection

I almost hate how much I've learned about media and the techniques it uses this year. Now I can't watch any TV show and its commercials without completely annoying all the people around me with my stories of the needs appealed to and how "they" (I don't even know who "they" are) are trying to sell this to us. My media consumption is through the roof, and it's only going to go up with the onset of summer and the beckoning of all my electronics without the counter-cry of homework and good grades. I don't even consume as much media as the large majority of people that I know, and I know that I use way too much. It makes me into a reclusive shell that would rather sit in her room than go outside and play with her dog or hang out with her friends. It also exposes me to all kinds of messages that aren't great for my development- images of heavily photo shopped, over-sexualized women and their dimwitted, jerky male counterparts. I wish I could say that after this class I'm going to cut down on my media time, but I would be lying. Media is too deeply ingrained within my life for a class, no matter how informative, to get me off of it. I will, however, be much more careful with how I consume my media. I will try not to be so susceptible to the not-so-deeply-buried messages of lesser worth and conformity. I won't let the media tell me who I should be just so "they" can make another sale. It is important for all of us to have media literacy, because most people aren't going to cut themselves off from media. But they can understand what media does to them and use that understanding to make sure that they aren't taken advantage of. Through keeping this blog, I was able to address some of the issues that I have with media, even though my short little posts weren't even the tip of the iceberg with my newfound distrust of media and everything and everyway that "they" are trying to sell to us, their consumers and cashflow.