The Power of $$$

Throughout this semester, we have focused on the role of media in our lives and how it affects the world we live in. While we have mainly discussed technological forms of media in class, we know that media exist in all forms depending on our own definitions. From phones to games to fashion, media's impact on our lives is a direct result of one particular media form: money.

Money is an "extension of ourselves" because it is the primarily way through which we show the world what is most important to us. In addition, it is the way society shows us what "should" be important to us. The ways through which we use money is a great indicator of how we live our lives and what we see in the media reveal who has the money. Both active and passive audiences are not free from the influence of money's power and neither can deny that American culture revolves around the importance of money in both societal improvements and rampant corruption.

Money is power and authority. It influences all other media forms in a way that nothing else can. The profit-incentive of numerous media forms clearly shows us that money plays a huge role in what we perceive as reality. What we see on television to what we hear on the radio are very often influenced by the wealth of those we see on television (Cosby) or the economic class of who is actually listening to the radio (Invasion from Mars). Even more importantly, the wealth of the people behind the media controls what we see/hear. Money is the message and that message is clear: the more you have of it, the more powerful you'll be in the world of media.  all It is the driving factor behind many decisions and the attainment of monetary wealth is the goal of most individuals. 

Now You're Speaking My Language

After nearly a whole semester reading about the different forms of media today, we often forget the true value of the foundation that made it all possible: language. The main way people express themselves is through verbal communication and verbal communication would not be possible without a common system of sounds and meanings. We do not consciously think about the language we speak because it comes as naturally as breathing. Therefore, the importance of language gets lost on us until we have to directly confront it.

An example of when confrontation leads to consciousness is when we cannot understand the language used around us. It makes us realize the shortcomings of the language we personally use and opens our minds to the various forms of communication out there. We come to this revelation because we are forced to find new ways of expressing the simple things we would have used language to do. This usually occurs when we struggle as we try to learn a new language. It makes us realize difficulty involved with communication and how much we take it for granted. Luckily for us, English is spoken nearly everywhere you wish to travel and thus, we never have to experience the extent to which language dictates our lives.

In my Cultural Anthropology class, we recently read a novel about a Hmong family who immigrated to America and had an incredibly difficult time trying to assimilate into the new world around them. Aside from all the expected culture shocks that the family went through, language was at the center of it all. It laid the foundation for the family’s future because it determined whether or not someone could get a job, understand street signs, watch television, or even get from one place to another.

As the saying goes, we need to have something taken away in order to fully appreciate its value. Language embodies the meaning behind this saying so well because as much as we believe we are capable of now, a shift in what symbols and sound represent will completely throw us off.

Fat in Your Waist and in Your Breasts

Plastic surgery is a medium that does not flaunt itself the way its recipients do. In fact, there are many who would never reveal their “beauty secrets,” but would be more than happy to reveal their post-surgery bodies. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the two most popular cosmetic surgical procedures performed in the last few years have been breast implants and liposuction. In other words, we live in a country that spends $10 billion a year trying to get either bigger or smaller. Apparently, no size is just right. Well, unless the fat is in the exact place you want it.

This obsession we have with size would be easier to understand if it was overall size. However, it is not that at all. As the statistics show with boob jobs and liposuctions, there is a strong desire to be small in some areas while larger in others. We want smaller thighs, larger eyes, tighter butts, bigger busts, thinner hips, larger lips. This obsession with size is entirely unhealthy, but it has become a medium in itself. This distorted image of beauty now serves as our way of expressing ourselves. Forget our personalities and opinions; if we don’t have the bra size to match our brain, we might as well give up.

When we do discover that someone had plastic surgery, the thought that they are insecure individuals is overshadowed by the thought that they are wealthy people whose looks are their livelihoods. Therefore, we have this idea that bigger boobs and smaller waists equal a disciplined person with a fat wallet, pun unintended. It has come to a point where we see our bodies as customizable commodities that can get the fat sucked out of it and then be injected with silicone.

There should be no surprise that this dichotomy of needing to be big and small at the same time causes self-image issues for the youth.

Silicone Implants

“We must, we must, we must increase our bust...the bigger the better, the tighter the sweater, the boys depend on us. “

5 Easy Steps to Selling Yourself!

No, I'm not talking about prostitution and I'm not actually going to give you tips on how to sell yourself. I'm talking about the medium of networking, specifically for jobs. As business students, we are constantly told to sell ourselves to companies in order to get a job. We need to create an image of ourselves that will sell. The true person inside? Oh no! That won't do at all! They want to see what they expect and they need to hear what they want.  Basically...play by the employers' rules, kiss serious butt, and forgo your true self to get the job. 

"If you can't sell yourself, you might as well just give up"- this is the message we're bombarded with. So we put on our suits, paint a smile on our face and proceed to be fake. What happened to the days when skills mattered? Why are we managing personal images rather than company assets? How is it that we're putting our focus on people's perceptions rather than the actual job at hand? Why do rumors play as big of roles as they do in our professional lives? Most of us can answer these questions through superficial justifications because we've been trained to believe there is nothing wrong with holding back to gain more.

It's ALL about image control and how people perceive you as opposed to how skilled you actually are. Those who aren't social butterflies will definitely find it difficult to compete in the business world

Is it no wonder that our society is so focused on image when that was the most important thing for the business leaders of our nation?

Makeup your mind (face)

If we want to see the effects of the media on our society, we can just take a look at ourselves. Just by reflecting on our own consumption patterns, we will find it extraordinarily difficult to deny that we are greatly influenced by media. One of the main victims of media is appearance. The way you look; the way I do. We are constantly being bombarded with advertisements telling us that we need this lipstick, that cream, those shoes. The irony is that these weapons against our appearance have now become the medium through which we express ourselves.

For the sake of keeping this post short, let’s focus on one medium; makeup. Makeup is one of the highest grossing industries in the world. It emphasizes the “flaws” we all have and then introduces a solution for our flaws. Of course, we would have to buy this solution for this amount and use it this many times to see this much change. Many females (not exclusively) use makeup, myself included; use makeup as a way of expressing ourselves. Because of what we have been led to believe, we wear smoky eyes for those nights out, red lips for those elegant events, neutral shadows for those interviews, and endless other combinations.

Because media is a profit-driven institution, its sole intention is not to shape society in a way that positively affects all the participants. If you know someone’s main goal in life was to make money, would you not find it more difficult to trust them in critical situations? This should apply to the media in the very same way. We need to stop letting profit be the justification for allowing our own reflections to be victimized. 

The American Comic Book

When I began to learn English, I picked comic books as my medium of choice. Because I did not have a strong grasp on this new language, I relied on the images to help me understand what the words meant. Outside of school, television helped me speak English, but could not teach me how to read or write. For my parents, it was much better to see their daughter with a comic book than in front of the television. They believed in the idea of a “weak audience” and thought that television corrupted impressionable young minds.

My favorite comic books were the Archie comics that were famous way before I was born (founded in 1939). These comics were not funny in the modern sense (“stupid funny”), but were appealing because of its corny jokes, positive outlook, and representation of carefree teenage lives. What I read in the Archie comics shaped my view of American living and the stereotypical American family/friends.

The fact that I loved the artwork in most comic books and graphic novels made this medium even more appealing. Although comic books today are not as popular as they used to, most great comic books have turned into television series and/or movies. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up for debate.

Paper and Pen of the Modern World

In my last post, I talked about the progression of traditional paper books into revolutionary digital eBooks. Since the media through which we view ideas are changing, it stands to reason that the media through which we create ideas would change as well.

Today, let’s focus on the paper and pencil. These have been our staple mediums for inscribing messages and relaying information to one another for centuries throughout the world. For many years, we never believed we could really improve on these tools, but then came pens, markers, crayons, etc. 

However, they were all still pretty basic tools.

Let me introduce you to the paper and pencil of the modern world.  

This is a digital tablet. It comes with a stylus pen to write/draw with and the tip of the pen has pressure sensitivity so if you push down harder, the lines are thicker and darker. 

I originally bought this tablet for digital drawings on Photoshop, but have come to use it as my mouse too. It connects to my laptop through a USB cable and is very ergonomic in design.

Drawing have become much easier and writing handwritten notes in programs such as OneNote is a breeze. Not to mention, with all that paper I save, digital media is very eco-friendly.

Here is an example of a simple eye I drew with the tablet.

Let's turn back a page or two

With new advancements coming out in technology almost everyday, it's surprising that some people would complain about these revolutionary feats. This is the case for eBook readers. As companies try to make their e-readers lighter, sleeker, thinner, and overall more cutting-edge, consumers are complaining that the devices don't feel like real books, that the screens do not resemble paper, and that the e-readers are ruining their dating life.

One journalist points out that in the past, one could meet a stranger by making a comment about the book in the stranger's hand and now, the only comment one could make is about the device itself. This idea that "too much privacy" leads to antisocial behavior truly amuses me. While I agree that books are a great way to start up a conversation with the person you'll be sitting next to for a 6-hour flight, it definitely is not the main way people meet one another. Perhaps some people just want some things to remain as they are in a world where permanence is a fantasy at best.

It makes me wonder whether those who want a return to simpler times just dislike adapting to our new world or if it is something bigger. Perhaps those people are fearful of the reach that technology has on our society and how reliant we have all become on it. Media may be extensions of ourselves, but how much of it is an extension and how much has a life of its own?

2-page e-reader to resemble a real book.

Seeing if e-ink can compare to book ink in the sunlight.

A touchscreen e-reader. 

Video Didn't Kill Anything

Just in case you didn’t get the pun in my title, it’s a reference to the song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” If you don’t know this amazing, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ.

The writer of the song, Trevor Horn, believed it was the end of the radio era and the dawn of music videos. In fact, this music video for this song was the first video ever aired on MTV. In many ways, this was true. MTV’s popularity exploded all over America as more and more bands created videos in addition to their music. Now, we would be thoroughly shocked if a popular song did not have a music video.

Personally, I never felt that music videos were a replacement for the radio. There are many situations where the radio trumps not only music videos, but even mp3s. Before you stage an intervention, allow me to explain myself. Music videos are usually only great when you have time to kill and are able to sit there and actually focus on what’s happening in the video. For example, you wouldn’t be able to drive and watch a music video at the same time. Arguably, you could- but I wouldn’t recommend it. So now you’ll argue that you can just plug your iPod into the stereo and listen to your mp3s while driving. Well, you can and many people do. However, where did you find the songs you have on your iPod? The radio.

The radio offers you the chance to listen to songs you’ve never heard before and broadens your music selection. It  opens you up to hear songs that you may love, but would have otherwise never heard. By keeping the radio on for just an hour, you’ll hear at least 5 songs you’ve never heard before. Do it everyday and you’ll be music connoisseur.  Personally, I listen to the radio before I even wake up (my alarm’s set to radio mode), when I shower, when I’m hanging out, and even right at this very moment. 

Alarm clock set to radio mode.

Radio in the shower. 

(All the girls in my suite turn it on when they're in the shower--> no accidental walk-ins!)

Radio on cell phone. I don't always have my mp3 on me, but I definitely always have my phone.

Pandora Radio- Great way to find news songs in the genre you already like.

Capture the Moments

My mom bought me my first camera during the summer of 2005. I was 15 years old and it was a week before our family trip to China to visit my grandparents who we hadn’t seen for over half a decade.  She did not want to limit the amount of photographs we took by the amount of film she brought with her so we decided on a digital camera.

During our month-long stay in our hometown of Wenzhou, I made sure to take as many photographs as I could not only because I was fascinated by everything around me, but also because I wanted to remember the past and preserve the present. Although I was 8 years old when I came to America, most of my memories of my native home quickly faded as I learned the culture and language of America. Many of these memories slowly came back as I traversed around my old neighborhood and explored the places I use to love. For person I met and every place I went, I took a photo. Pieces came together as I “retraced my steps” and rediscovered hidden stories. Photography was my way of making sure that these memories would never fade again because they were a large part of the person I am today.

A rice field.

In addition, it ensured that those memories not only existed in my head, but also in an external form that I could share with others. It helps me describe my home to those who have not been there and allows me to reminisce about my “other home.” I find that every time I look at photographs (which I admit, is quite often), I find something new I didn’t realize was there before.

           Artists use cameras to capture emotions, parents use them to preserve memories, and journalists use them to capture events. Anyone and everyone who uses a camera is documenting time; I just happened to be documenting the past as well as the present.

"Modern" rickshaws.

Family Home.

Huge grasshopper.

Urban meets rural.

What is Media?

            Media are the channels through which connections are made. They can come in all forms and express all kinds of ideas. They are channels through which the creator sends his or her message to the receiver. Media are the ways through which human beings have formed connections to reach each other. Media are books, games, movies, and so much more. Media all contain messages and are messages in themselves. I definitely agree with McLuhan that the medium is important, but I do not believe that the medium is the complete message. Rather, a balance of content and the medium itself is what defines media.

Marshal McLuhan argues that “the medium is the message” because the medium itself is more important than the content it carries. He believes that content is secondary to the actual media itself because media carry all the content within themselves. I do not agree with his idea that “the effect of a (medium) is not related to (its) content” (McLuhan 18) because content definitely adds to the media. Neither the media itself nor the content can stand alone and thus depend on each other to create a message to the receiver. While McLuhan believes that all the necessary content is embedded in media, I believe that although media have their own content, additional messages are also necessary. For example, while McLuhan believes that a computer is the complete message, I would not dismiss all the computer applications as completely vital to the medium.   

Our current mainstream understanding of media is those who cover the news and special events. We say things like “the riot was so outrageous that got media attention” because we see media as those who bring the world to us in a neat package. Whether in a television news report, a video of an event, or a newspaper article, the media to us is what connects us to the events that occur all throughout the world. I do not agree with this simplified mainstream definition of media.

My definition of media is very similar to McLuhan’s in the sense that I believe that media are messages in themselves.  However, I do not think the media contains the full message. To be more specific, I think that media are not things that occur naturally in the world. Trees in the Amazon are not media because there were no planters to give it a meaning. Media are things that have content and are content themselves. There needs to be someone to add messages to the medium by creating the medium or adding additional content to it in order for it to be media. Buildings, even though they may not seem to be media at first, are. They encompass the owner’s desires, the architect’s designs, and the construction worker’s labor. The buildings may not express an explicit message but the content is there, within the building. Contrary to McLuhan’s belief, if a family moved into the building, it adds content to the building and thus, affects the building’s job as a medium. Added content (family) is just as important as the embedded content (the message of the building).

You cannot separate the building from the creators, just as you cannot separate the idea of yourself and your home as an entity. We build for a reason. Even after the building is constructed, the reason does not disappear. It is, in fact, the core essence for why the building stands. There are different forms of media, such as electric media, paper media, sound media, and so on. However, they are still media.

Citations

McLuhan, Marshall. "The Medium Is the Message." Understanding Media; the Extensions of Man,. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. 3-47. Print.