SEXposed PSA

Why can't it just be sports?

As I was watching the movie in class today regarding sports and politics, I was thinking about another aspect that affects every sport in our culture today... MEDIA.  When I want to check in on sports today, I do not go to ESPN or CBS Sports, I check Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates. With everything at our fingertips, moments get lost easily. In this blog, I am going to look at some of the ways media has changed sports, not for good!

The first impact I am going to look at would be the impact the media has on the NFL draft. Before social media and the instant information that we have become accustom to, the NFL draft was purely off of skill and what needs to team had. In today’s society, you have a media frenzy looking at every aspect of the players going in to the draft. Take Johnny Manziel for example; since the day he announced that he was entering the draft, the media has had a constant coverage on the player. This player has not won a national championship, or even set foot on a professional stage yet, but Nike is giving him contracts measuring to Payton Manning money. WHY? Because we as consumers are eating up everything that the media is covering about Johnny Manziel. It is to the point where half of the coverage is not even about football, whether it is reports he got kicked out of a college frat party or him sitting courtside at NBA games, to his pro day (finally actual football), you cannot go a day on Twitter or ESPN without hearing Johnny Manziel’s name. But what is the point? Over the past few years, the media has hyped up “big time” stars going into the NFL draft and they have all turned to flops. I think we should let the players’ performances speak for themselves and choose off of talent, not who has the most followers.

The next area I am going to look at is the harsh critics in media. Let’s look at the New York media circuit. Opening day 2014, Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy chose to miss opening day to be by his wife’s side while she was in labor with their newborn baby. Once this hit the New York media, it was a frenzy. New York sports talk radio host Mike Francesa calls Murphy’s paternity leave a “scam” and “gimmick”. He stated “One day I understand. And in the old days they didn’t do that. But one day, go see the baby born and come back. You’re a Major League Baseball player. You can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help.” To me this is SO wrong on many different levels. First, just because you have the resources to get a nurse, that doesn’t mean you should ignore your family. And who is this guy to criticize a professional baseball player for wanting to spend time with his new family. If this were before social media, we would not have heard this.

My point is, whether it is politics in sports or media ruining what is good about them, just let the professionals play and let the fans enjoy the game. Shut up and JUST LET THEM PLAY!

Reducing in T.V. Shows

I was sitting around this weekend, watching One Tree Hill on Netflix, episode after episode, when it hit me… This show reduces A LOT of things that the age group watching should know about. A particular episode struck me as being blatantly obvious about reducing issues. In this particular episode, Brooke Davis, who is a main character, has lost her clothing company due to her vice president forging her signature and lying to investors. Along with losing her multi-million dollar clothing line, she gives everything she has to repay the investors that lost all their money. In the episode, after you see her lose all of money and even stating she is broke, she is driving around in a BMW, living with a fully-stocked fridge in a mansion beach house, while going out to the clubs that night to enjoy what I presume is a $10 martini. 

As I was watching this episode, I was thinking about how messed up this is to think about. In real life, a person who just lost their income source, their life savings and basically everything would not act this way. The show’s producers reduced what the lifestyle of Brooke Davis would have turned into if this was reality. Reducing real-life situations out of TV shows is a common thing, not just in One Tree Hill. As I began to think about what was being reduced in One Tree Hill and other current hit shows, the largest thing I could think of was the amount of time characters work. Now, this excludes shows like Scandal, Suits, NCIS, and other shows that revolve around the particular job. Shows such as Modern Family, One Tree Hill, New Girl and several other shows reduce the work the characters do. They show them living these fabulous lives without any worries as to money when it doesn’t show you how they are making a living. 

I believe this is an awful thing to do, especially in a country that supports so many people with welfare and other government assistance. They grow up watching these shows, idealize these characters and believe they can live the same type of lifestyle. We need to start watching realistic shows, not reality shows, but shows that show the struggles you go through in real life… not shows that show you hitting the club the day after you lost your life savings and your multi-million dollar business!

"Princess" Culture

After reading the articles for class and listening to what everyone had to say about this “princess” culture, I started to think about what has changed between when I grew up with the Disney Princesses and the girls growing up with the same princesses now. After looking at what is different, all I could find was the difference in media. The media exposure that young girls are getting has tainted the idea of “princess” for them. When I was growing up with the Disney princesses, all I knew of was the positives in Disney, how Cinderella fought adversity and ended up getting out of an abusive environment, how Bella from Beauty and the Beast was able to see past the exterior of the beast to see him for who he really was (i.e. what is on the inside is what matters the most), how strong Mulan was and how she was willing to fight for what she wanted. Those are the lessons I learned from Disney movies when I was growing up. I did not have media picking apart the abuse in Cinderella, or the racial undertones in Aladdin. In today’s society, we have “experts” finding the worst in movies that are made for entertainment; we have parents who are making it so their young daughters believe that they are princesses for real and have no boundaries. Today’s society and media is to blame for the “princess” culture. Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo, and other media outlets that highlight spoiled, self-righteous girls who think that they deserve everything and have no morals. Don’t blame Disney and their princess movies that were written in a time where everyone had a moral compass and watched the movies for what they were, fairy-tales. Blame the media, the parents who give their children whatever they want and do not have a balance between make-believe and real life, and blame those who think it is okay to pay little children and their families to be exploited for their lifestyles that aren’t the norm. A public service announcement to parents, it is okay to spoil your young daughters, even sons, let them watch the princess movies, dress up in make-believe, but be sure there is a balance in their lives and they grow up with some morals and a balanced sense of life.

Connection between War and Pop Culture!

After listening to the last two lectures in class, I have really given some thought to who is at fault for the virtual citizen-solider and the lifestyle marketing. After much consideration, I have concluded that it is both parties fault. On the one side, you have the Army who is doing what they believe is in their best interests, recruiting and training wise. They believe that if you get a child younger, he will grow up wanting to be part of that bigger picture, something bigger than himself. They would want to be part of the action he sees in Call of Duty or movies like Lone Survivor or Act of Valor. The child will feel the patriotism and live the certain lifestyle of a solider. As for training, the Army is using social media and interactive technology, such as simulations to help bridge the gap in training. There is only so many resources that the armed forces have to do training exercises, so with the interactive training, you can use this while in areas that cannot have traditional training exercises. I can see how both of these efforts are relevant and helpful to the Army and armed forces. 

On the other hand, when you think about the people who are affected by the simulations, video games, Army experience centers, commercials, movies, and everything else that are making the Army look glamorous and not as dangerous and difficult as it is in real-life, I would say that it is both the Army’s fault and the person’s fault. First off, the Army should not downplay the seriousness of enlisting just for the sake of high enrollment into the armed forces. They should be cautious when dealing with impressionable teens. When at Army Experience centers, the simulations, video games and relaxed atmosphere sends off a faulty message to the viewers, especially the younger generation using the center. They need to be more conscious of that situation. On the other side of that argument, teens and children who use the experience center, play Call of Duty or Battlefield, or watch war movies need to take it upon themselves to research the field before enlisting and acting as though because you play video games, you would be able to go overseas and protect your country like our men and women in uniform do every day. 

Overall, I blame both sides. I think that the simulations and video games are a great training tool and can help recruit but at a certain point, I believe there needs to be a level of education about what you are getting into. War is not a video game that you can just wait 10 seconds and get your life back. It is a life or death situation that we need to begin taking more seriously again as a society!

Para Social Relationship With Justin Timberlake

When sitting in class talking about obsessions, para social relationships, and how social media effects the way we form relationships, I kept thinking about one person. That person would be Justin Timberlake. This is a deep rooted para social relationship that began in 1998, when I was 9 years old. In 1998, NSYNC debuted as a boy band, rivaling The Backstreet Boys. Their hit "I Want You Back" was their first hit, and I can remember comparing it to everything I heard. I knew there was something special about them, something that I liked.

It wasn't until I was watching MTV with my friends and they performed on TRL when I began my para social relationship with their frontman, Justin Timberlake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y8pLasQXc1E#t=0

The songs, performances, and videos kept going. As NSYNC became more of a sensation, Justin became more of a frontman of the group.
From "Bye,Bye, Bye"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eo-KmOd3i7s

To "It's Gonna Be Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GQMlWwIXg3M

Then between albumns, Justin cut his bleached, curly locks in 2001 and became a heartthrob! In NSYNC's albumn "Celebrity" Justin stepped out as the leader officially.

Their first music video for "Pop" was released... https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TWZKw_MgUPI He showed that he wasn't just a pretty face. He could sing, dance, and even beatbox with the best of them.

Then came "Gone" when you got to see the emotional part of the band, especially Justin. This is where the relationship hit a high point and I never turned around!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IbRwSI8yi1o

NSYNC had one more single off their "Celebrity" album. After that album, Justin went on to pursue a solo career. The career was so successful, that no one could have foreseen that NSYNC was no longer a group. I believe it was about the time "Cry Me A River" was released when the media started hitting Justin hard.

You were able to get a glimpse into his personal life, what he was like and make that intimate connections. I believe that my para social relationship has become stronger throughout the years because of the advancements in social media. Now I can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I can follow his wife on all forms of social media as well. Doing this makes me feel as though we are friends, I know what is going on with his life and makes him seem like a normal friend. Watching him do interviews with Ellen and Jimmy Fallon makes me feel as though I know his personality.I believe that this is true in all parasocial relationships, I am just lucky that mine is with one of the most talented human beings on the planet!