Broken Free

It is time for me to depart this world and return home. You have shown me great things about you, both good and bad, but for the bad I see hope. You are learning how to break free from the stereotypes and the messages you face every day. Within this class, we were not taught about media, we were taught to think about media. We were shown what to look for in what the companies tell us and how not to be fooled by their tactics. We need to take these skills and use them to be smarter than most others. We are able to think about what we see. We now have the responsibility to make informed decisions and not follow the herd. I only hope that when I leave, through the same doors as you, that we all remain independent thinkers. Be smarter than those who think you are weak and gullible. Coming to this word was quite an experience and I have learned much. I am sure to take home with me, the stories and memories of my time here.














For the final time,
May the will of Corrilon be in you favor,


The Blade of Corrilon

Thinking Pink.

Pink.
It's just one of the ten million colours that our eyes can distinguish.
Look at these two photos.

Did you assume one was a boy and one was a girl?

Why?

Simply because of the colour their wearing?
It's not like they can choose the colour of blankets they are wrapped in or the colour of the clothing they wear. But why is pink so overly associated with females?

Not only are baby clothing and toys seperated by pink for girls and blue for boys.
Think of all the commericals kids see growing up for toys that are pink for girls.
The pink power ranger was a girl.
The colour pink has such a negative connatation around it towards men. There have been instances when men wear pink shirts and get called gay. But what does a colour have to do with someone's sexual orientation? It's ridiculous, it's simply a colorur! When a woman wears blue, she is not seen as masculine or 'manly', so why is it so different when a man wears pink?

Elvis drove a pink cadillac, and in the 50's it was popular to paint cadillacs various shades of pink.
Pink floyd? Pink Panther? Not exactly the face of feminine in the least.

So are we really that easily media persuaded, that we are so brainwashed to associate a colour with a specific gender just because everyone else does? Do you really agree with pink being a girly colour? Or have you been bombarded with messages surronding pink, that you have bought into the association of colours rather than using your own rational opinion?

Monday Night TV date

On a Monday night, with little homework and nothing to do what is your first instinct? Most teenage girls will turn on the tube for eight o'clock, switch to Much Music and sit down for a two hour date with Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. Both shows are filled with a world most of us could only dream of, but why? Why would we dream of a world filled of lies, betrayals, secrets, cheating and stealing?

Pretty Little Liars is built off of the concept of a small town, rich families and dark secrets. Secrets centered around the death of a girl who appeared to be as innocent as the average 7th grader, but as the story progresses all the personal information she knew about her so called best friends begins to unravel. Everything from student and teacher affairs, stealing your sister's boyfriends to questioning your gender identity. These scenarios on their own sound unbearably delicate to handle and would most likely make the lives of teens today unpleasant and stressful. PLL has become so captivating because of the way these deceptions are presented. Remember the small town and rich families mentioned above, families willing to keep secrets private to avoid humiliation and foreclosure, family members committing similar acts and parents that are unwilling to accept their children's true identity. The young ladies with these secrets are constantly decked out in the latest fashions,surrounded by expensive shops and cars. Not only this, but they also seem to luck out when you feel that the last few threads of the web of lies will come undone. Someone or multiple people that the girls only know as A seem to have control over their lives because some how they know the details to all of their secrets. The main thrill to watching the show is the race to see if you can guess who A is before they tell you. The show being wisely thought out, leads you in different directions to keep your interest.

A parallel to this is Gossip Girl which has the same general scheme, connected through family and friends, relationships and lies. GG has had more deceptive turns than you can count and many more in store for the future. GG also has a secret identity, an internet blogger unidentified to all, who updates Manhattan's elite young adults with each other's secrets. Again this show holds the ideological messages that are in PLL.

The similarities between the two television programs are endless, hidden identities, rich, beautiful, happy, glamorous people all trying to keep their status. The pair both shed light on the latest in peer pressure issues among teens, such as sexual orientation, drugs and alcohol giving both the "positive" or fun side and the negative down side to each issue. They also give the audience the opportunity to choose their own meaning. The best example of this is attempting to determine the identity of both A and Gossip Girl.

Even with all of these details both shows are still captivating, thus being able to keep rating high and keep viewers interested. Don't believe me? keep an open mind and tune in next Monday.