The Original Superman

So I've been on a bit of a movie binge lately, watching all those movies I always said I was going to but never got around to. One of those movies in Superman from 1978. Once you get past how dated it is, there was one thing that really stood out to me.

In the new Superman movies, Lois Lane is a strong independent woman. However, in the original, they had to make there be something wrong with her. Within the first 15 minutes that she is in the film, she has to ask how to spell something or have her spelling corrected by men at least 4 times! She is a journalist for goodness's sake! She would know how to spell.

We look at media today and see what's wrong with it, but I think it's also important to notice how far we have come. I'm glad to say this is the first time I've seen a movie with such blatant "helpless woman" issues (and not in the standard damsel in distress way).

Different Kinds of Beauty

"Just because you don't look like somebody who you think is attractive doesn't mean you aren't attractive. Flowers are pretty but so are Christmas lights and they look nothing alike."

Physical appearance is a huge part of media. There are shows like America's Next Top Model. But there are also the underlying messages. The media's definition of beauty is very narrow with only particular women and men considered good-looking enough to be on screen.

Most of us know this, but it can be hard to counteract these messages in reality. That is why I really love this quote that I saw online. "Flowers are pretty but so are Christmas lights and they look nothing alike." People do not all look alike, but looking different does not mean looking ugly. So the next time you see someone that you think is attractive but does not look like you, remember that you may look different but you are also attractive.

Big Hero 6 and The Mask You Live In

I saw a screenshot of a Tumblr comment a while ago, and I was strongly reminded of it after watching "The Mask You Live In" on Wednesday night. The message of the Mask is that we need to expand the definition of what it means to be a man so that boys and men can be themselves and not always be showing a mask to the world. The screenshot that this made me think of said this:

"Big Hero 6 did a lot of awesome stuff but can we take a moment to appreciate that it told a 14 year old boy that it is ok to cry and crying and grieving were natural responses to pain and how important it is for young boys to see Hiro cry and give in to his grief instead of continuing to bottle it up and what good that did for him because I can tell you as someone who teaches 14 year old boys they need that message SO BADLY."

Big Hero 6 is an excellent movie, but I had not thought about the message the movie was sending to boys because it's not something I have to think about normally. I had a similar feeling while watching The Mask. There was a scene that talks about media archetypes for males and it showed the heroes of various movies, and I realized for the first time that when I think that, I just think about how attractive those men are, but when boys and men see that, they think that's what they have to be. That can be so incredibly damaging.

And while the message of Big Hero 6 is good for 14 year old boys, I can't help but think about how much easier it would be to start young. If we start young, we can prevent the problems before they start rather than having to fix the problems later on in life.

Music for Healing

When we talked about music a while ago, we learned about how music, especially live music, helps premature infants with heart rate and breathing problems. The other day in End of Life Care, we talked about music in terms of the end of life. Just as with infants, music can help those of any age who are very ill or dying. It helps decrease stress, regulate breathing, and regulate heart rate.

It was also explained to me that live music is better because the sound waves aren't compressed like they are in audio files.You can actually be certified as a Music Practitioner and travel to people who need it and play or sing for them. This is such a wonderful thing that people are realizing the help that music can provide. 

Miss-representation

In class on Monday, we watched a documentary called Miss-representation. It was extremely informative, but also somewhat horrifying. It pointed out a lot of problems in today's society. Of everything in the video and in our class discussion about it on Wednesday, one thing stuck out to me:

Being a feminist really just means making sure women have the same options as men and not judging them for whatever they decide. Some women want to have a career in a male-dominated industry, and they should be able to do that without judgment or added barriers. Some women want to be a stay-at-home mom and they should be able to do that without being judged.

There are some extreme feminists that have led to many people seeing that word, feminism, as a bad word. Many people support equal rights for women but will not call themselves a feminist. You know what? Just because you don't call yourself a feminist, doesn't mean you aren't.

I'm a feminist and proud of it.

The Ship - Dying

This semester, I chose to take NURS 333 End of Life Care. I chose to take it because it is recommended for those looking to become a Child Life Specialist, but I wasn't expecting much from the class. It is largely aimed at those looking to go into gerontology, and I do not have an interest in working with old people. However, I have found it to be one of my favorite classes here at BYU. Part of what makes this my favorite class is the professor, Karen Delacruz. She has such a wonderful spirit and a respect for the topic.

In studying for the midterm, I came back across a poem she shared with us at the end of class one day. I would like to share the poem with all of you because I think it is a wonderful way to look at dying, and since we're all going to have to deal with death at some point, it's a good thing to know.

The Ship

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails in the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she is only a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky meet and mingle with each other: Then someone at my side exclaims, "There's she's gone!"

Gone where? Gone from my sight that is all. She is just as large in hull and mast and spar as she was when she left my side... Her diminished size is in me, not in her: And just at the moment when someone says "She's gone," there are other eyes watching her coming and voices take up the glad shout, "There, she comes!"

Limitless - Gore Be Gone

I watch a lot of crime TV. There are some that I have specifically had to stop watching because of how depressing they are. One of those is Law and Order: SVU. Then there are those like Criminal Minds that I can only watch one episode a week - no binge watching that show. And then there are those that generally have enough humor and drama to balance out the darkness, such as Castle and Rizzoli & Isles.

There is one new show that came out this season that is different in a good way. It is called Limitless and is based off the same premise as the movie of the same name (at least that's what I've been told, I've never seen the movie). The main character is a man named Brian Finch who has no law enforcement training at all, but helps with cases because of a brain enhancing drug that he takes. I tell you this because it's important to understand that he's not one for gore and evilness. The crimes in this show are generally less gory than my other shows. However, one of the recent episodes was about a serial killer. Because Brian doesn't like that sort of thing, so for the whole episode, words like strangle, kill, blood, etc. are all replaced with words like hug, cuddle, soda pop, etc. When they first explained what was happening at the beginning of the episode, I was very skeptical. By the end of the episode, I was very surprised to find that it really did make a difference. The crimes were very similar to the things I would normally see on Criminal Minds, but because of the different vocabulary, it was easier to forget about what they really meant when they said "cuddle her with her own unicorn". Overall, I had a much lighter, happier feeling at the end of the episode than I ever do at the end of a serial killer episode of a different crime show. Maybe I should rethink my show choices? Too bad I don't like most of the comedies on TV these days...

Bars and Melody - Prosocial Music

So I have never been one for reality tv shows, but I enjoy watching the best of the talent shows. There is one act on Britain’s Got Talent that I really like and thought of when we were talking about prosocial media and anti-bullying books in class the other day. The act is two young boys, one of whom was bullied a lot in school. The song they sang for Britain’s Got Talent is one that he wrote about his personal experience with bullying in school. They are called Bars and Melody and the song is Hopeful. When watching the video of their audition, it was obvious that the audience was very moved by their song, and they made it to the final three, I believe. They have since gotten a record deal and are producing more positive music. They are young, but that is why it works. They are writing about things that are real for them and that makes it easy for other kids to connect with it. It just goes to show that you can make a difference at any age.

Here's the Hopeful music video if you're interested.

Pottermore Identity Crisis

Those of you who are Potterheads probably heard about the Pottermore Sorting Quiz being redone and some people getting sorted into new houses. I saw so much on Facebook about people having identity crises people of being switched. I myself was switched from Hufflepuff to Slytherin. I had a lot of different thoughts in response to that. First off, that's the most drastic house switch possible. Secondly, I am nowhere near ambitious enough to be a Slytherin. Thirdly, I liked being a Hufflepuff! They value kindness and fairness and loyalty, which I think are characteristics that we should all aspire to.

Thinking about this, I realized that this situation just shows us how unique and complex everyone is. I'm loyal and I value fairness. I can be cunning and clever when necessary. I'm intelligent and love to learn. I stand up for my friends when people are being mean to them. I am all the houses and none of the houses. I think everyone has a little bit of every house in them. So who cares where you're sorted? You are you and that's all that matters.

(I've also decided I'm a Slytherpuff as those are my 2 dominant houses)

Long Distance

Long distance relationships can really suck. And I'm not even referring to romantic relationships. I'm thinking platonic relationships.

Since coming to college, I have had a lot of experience with long distance relationships.
During the school year, I'm here in Utah and my best friend goes to college in British Columbia.
My first summer was spent in Romania - time zones make everything harder.
My second summer was spent in Vietnam - while my best friend was in Germany.
Last semester, I was here in Utah while she was still in Germany.

This is when media has been wonderful.
iMessages are free internationally and can be sent over Wifi if you don't have international service.
Facebook messages are also free and use Wifi.
Skype is free as long as you are calling another Skype account and not a phone number.

Friendships can certainly last without talking for a couple months, but having someone who understands you to talk to about your life makes life better. Keeping in touch can also be a major help when suffering from culture shock (a very real thing that can make traveling very hard).

Harry Potter and the Younger Sibling Effect

We were talking about infant programming in class this week. At one point, someone commented about how a parent they had talked to allowed their infant to be around the TV and other media because the older children in the family were using them. This made me think about my own life. Harry Potter has and always will be a big part of my life. Most of my Facebook News Feed is actually HP Fandom related pictures. While it is a wonderful part of my life, it was not always.

I distinctly remembering seeing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie in theaters. I was 7 years old, and I have a very clear memory of the Aragog scene. I was this little girl curled up on the theater seat with my head tucked into my knees and my ears plugged, waiting for it to be over. While causation cannot be proven, I still greatly dislike spiders and especially do not like being surprised by them in my room.

I have two older brothers. This Harry Potter incident is only one of many instances where I was dragged into doing something inappropriate for my age because my brothers were doing it. While I understand the difficulty of separating children, I definitely think parents need to be more aware of the media exposure of younger siblings. Different age groups have different needs and different understandings of media. Remember, I am not talking about how much media usage, but the content of the media. While my older brothers were not bothered by Aragog (as far as I know), it greatly bothered me. Little kids should not be watching the same things their older siblings are, especially if there is a large age gap. They simply won't understand and respond the same way.

The Why of Media

First off, an explanation:

I am taking a class called Media, Family, and Human Development this semester. For this class, I have to write one blog post each week about my thoughts on the media I have seen that week.

So here is my first post:

We talked in class today about why people watch what they do on TV. As someone who watches a lot of different TV shows (and I mean, a lot), I thought I would talk about the shows that pull me back. The ones that I watch over and over again, not just the new episodes as they come out. After going through all my shows, I ended up with the top three shows that are my go-to shows when I don't have any new episodes to watch (and sometimes even when I do, because I just love these shows so much)

1. Stargate: SG-1

The main reason why I love this show is pretty simple. This is the first "adult" show I ever watched as a child. This show had 10 seasons that ended when I was in 6th grade, but I had been watching every new episode as they came out since season 7. Of course, back in those days, my parents wouldn't let me stay up to watch them, so we would record it on VHS (gasp) and watch it the next day. So this show will always have a nostalgia factor going for it.

As I have gotten older, this show became something more to me. In my sophomore year of high school, all 214 episodes were on Hulu for free, so I proceeded to watch them all in order. It was definitely a lesson in how much children don't get when watching TV. I missed so many major, overarching plot points. As I got to watch it, I realized how much I loved the characters and the character development. Watching the same character in season 1 and season 10 is so weird, but such a good representation of how people change over the years. It's a good reminder that change is possible, even if it doesn't seem like it at first.

I also find the science fiction aspects really interesting and love how they address various ethical concerns. Obviously, the scenarios can be a bit unrealistic (it is science fiction), but the ethics can easily be related to real-life issues as well.

2. Eureka

This show makes my top three because it's the only show I watch that could count as a comedy. Obviously, all shows have their comedic parts, but this one is the only one that is a comedy. This is also my only other science-fiction show besides Stargate. When I need something funny to watch and just relax, this is what I watch. The reason why this is the only comedy I watch is that it is smart humor (seriously, joking about Boson Cloud Exciters) so I feel like I'm learning something (unlike most humor which makes me feel like I'm losing brain cells by the minute) and it isn't as outrageous and overdone comedy-drama as most comedies.

Also, cool science! So most of the things they show don't exist, but a lot of them are totally plausible. So it's cool science without having to sit in a science class and learn all the nit-gritty details about how these things work.

And as always, I love the characters! They have a lot of variety of characters and situations to be relatable to different people. And they all have something lovable (well, all the main characters) about them even though they all have flaws too (but hey, that's what makes them human).

3. Flashpoint

This is a show that none of you have probably heard of. This is a Canadian crime drama, but it's not quite your standard crime drama. It's all about talking down people who are threatening violence against themselves or others. That's one of the things I appreciate the most about it. It's about using violence only as the absolute last resort. As part of talking people down, they also do a lot of profiling, which is super interesting to me.
The characters are also super lovable (naturally) and it does a good job of showing how the stress of a job like law enforcement can affect an individual and their family. As someone who sees how wrong families are often portrayed on TV, it is nice to see a more realistic look at families and how they handle difficulties.