Watching TV Is Hard Now

I've always considered myself to be a pretty critical person, but this class has pushed my critical thinking skills past what I thought the limit could be. I'm sure other people feel like this, right? You sit through these classes that teach you to see past the surface level of what pop culture is producing, and then you can't help but notice how screwed up everything in the world is. Okay, that sounded a little pessimistic. What I'm saying is that I can't help but view the world around me with a super-critical lens ever since I've been in this class. It happens the most with the concept of branding. I'm really skeptical of every commercial's true intentions since we talked about branding in class. It has made watching TV a lot less mindless for me; now it's like work, and I like that. Since discussing branding, I've watched a couple of video clips and documentaries that have validated my dubious thoughts. Pink Ribbons, Inc. and the Dove beauty campaign have made me seriously consider how harmful branding can really be. For those of you who may be reading this and have no idea what those two titles refer to, I won't spoil it. I will say, that the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon and the Dove beauty campaign aren't all they seem cracked up to be. You should check them out and take a closer look for yourself.

Anyway, it makes sense that I would be critical of these artifacts within a classroom setting, but now it's starting to seep further into my personal life. For example, I was watching ESPN the other night and saw a rerun of that Ian Up For Whatever Bud Light commercial from the Superbowl. Instead of not really paying attention to it (like I would have normally done), I found myself thinking, "Niiiiice try, Bud Light. Your brand centers around status and adventure, but my life will not be like that if I drink your beer. Also your beer still tastes awful."

Now, don't get me wrong, I love being able to make what I learn in class applicable to my real life, but now it seems like I have a critical opinion about EVERYTHING! Kind of like nothing can be mindless anymore. I guess I know that dumb commercials are now a lot less likely to trick me into buying their gross beer. But, god, learning makes things so hard sometimes :)