What’s wrong with being a Princess?

Critics, academic researchers and parents alike seem to be quite quick to judge Disney for corrupting their children through their fairytale movies.
Personally I think that Disney does a good job of instilling good morals and promoting positive character traits, especially among women.

Each Disney Princess and the main female characters closely associated with the Princesses like Mulan and Pocahontas have strong personalities and fight for what they believe in.

Princess Jasmine refuses to be forced into arranged marriage to any man with whom she is not in love with.

Cinderella puts up with her unjust circumstances to eventually be rewarded with love and happiness.

Belle breaks the Beast’s curse by overcoming superficiality and falling in love with him based on his personality.

Mulan abandons the comfort and security of her home life to pose as a man and enlists in the war so that her aged and disabled father will not be forced to go,
and Pocahontas tries to combat hatred between her native people and the English explorers. She demonstrated how differences can be overlooked as she tries to bring the two worlds together.


The appearance of these women is also worth mentioning. They are all of differing skin, hair and eye colors, and all from different social status’ and areas of the world. They do not subscribe to a typical race, lifestyle or gender role, and in my opinion would all be considered to be great role models for young children.

Most importantly all of these films are all age appropriate, entertaining and contain a good moral in their stories.

Suicide

After typing suicide into Google search engine, I was surprised to find that most of the matches on the first page were supporting suicide prevention. This is only a minor comfort of course, because should you be seeking the alternative pro-suicide web pages they are most certainly common and available just by modifying the search to ‘how to’.
It is also interesting to look at how they market these websites. The prevention websites have tag lines pleading to the person behind the computer screen to read their information and get help before taking any action. The web pages in support of suicide, such as suicide.com speak about it as if it is comparable to making a purchase. In this description they are approaching the topic from the viewpoint of human rights, while at the same time, making it seem like the decision is as easy as making a list of pro’s and con’s and choosing your fate accordingly.

Suicide.com - A decision-making site for those contemplating suicide
Suicide.com: Will you live, or will you die ?, Assistance for those facing the ultimate decision, The right to commit suicide, and other contemplations.

I do not think that these sites can be blamed for anyone’s decisions but I do question why they exist. There is a difference between being informed and being influenced, and I feel that most people who would be looking at these sites are in a compromised state of mind, and therefore might be easily influenced by the information that they receive while viewing them.

Facts and Film

In last week’s lab we did a quick write exercise to help us come up with ideas for our video projects. I thought this was very useful as I instantly came up with several issues linked to media that I would like to address. The difficult part was trying to imagine how we would get the message across in our video without being too obvious. A 3-5 minute video is a fairly short amount of time to present our ideas, so creativity and efficiency are a must! Video is very different from the other types of media that we are typically exposed to in a classroom. It appeals to more than one sense, and can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the viewer. So for this project our challenge will be to find a balance between then images we show and information we present. Using a camcorder and the 'iMovie' program allows us to focus the eye of the viewer with varying camera angles and voiceover applications. This increases the chances that our intended message will be received.

Foreign Movies through Hollywood's lens

Take a second to think about the movies that you have seen recently. How many of these would fall under the categories or ‘Foreign’ or Independent films? Please keep in mind that films like Valkyrie and Slumdog Millionaire don’t count. You might wonder why I don’t include these films in such categories – the answer becomes clear when you think of who the producers are.
Even if the film is shot on location in a foreign land and extensive research has been done into the lifestyle and culture of the country, it still does not change the fact that it is being told through the perspective of an outsider.
Slumdog Millionaire is based in India. During the introductory shots they show nothing but poverty, filthy markets and corrupt government. This is where it may be argued that this is actually a very accurate description of the living conditions in that area. This may very well be the case; however how accurate can a representation be through the eyes of a director who has a particular incentive in making the film? His/her views are biased.
Often times Hollywood producers will take up a movie such as Slumdog Millionaire to get publicity and make the world aware of the inequalities present in foreign countries, in hopes that people will offer to help and change will take place.
Although this is very noble, it often creates animosity between the two lands. Many people in India objected to the way their country was represented, and I completely understand why they are so upset. Even if everything in the movie turned out to be true, it is extremely insulting to have an outsider come in to your country and expose you for all of your faults. If movie producers in India wished to do so, they could make a movie that would put Americans in a very unflattering light.
What Hollywood tends to forget is that they have similar issues in their own country. Maybe they should use their powers of publicity to battle the poverty, racism, gender inequalities and corrupt government in their own backyard before they go around exposing foreign countries for the same problems.

EDUSPEAK- The newest language barrier

Communication seems to be difficult enough as it is, with the number of languages present in any given community, without adding more sets of ambiguous words into the academic arena. With a multitude of definitions for the same words, you may now need to clarify your intentions depending on your audience.
Much like the problem with governmental jargon Eduspeak does not stand to benefit anyone but those in the hierarchial positions who invented it. The Quebec Education Program (QEP) is the perfect example of a disadvantage in this area. The QEP is formulated by members of government, involved in the ministry of education. It is a document that dictates what teachers must teach using extremely vague terms. Not only is this an attempt to control what people think through limiting and constraining what can be taught, but it also generates a lot of confusion as the language is often difficult to understand and can be interpreted in more than one way. We are further inconvenienced by this new vocabulary as it widens the gap between the already difficult parent-teacher communication. Eduspeak offends parents just as teenagers who develop their own type of slang lingo do to those who are trying to communicate with them. In the case of teens, the purpose of an alternate language is to keep others out of their conversations or enable them to speak amongst themselves without some people understanding their meaning. If there are similar intentions on the part of the developers of Eduspeak there can be no surprise that there are so many issues between teachers and their administration, as well as teachers and parents.

Living WITH Technology Vs. Living IN technology

I think that introducing technology for learning purposes is a great way to build on the experiences of the new generation of students that we are faced with these days. Many elementary and secondary age children are already computer savvy and use the internet as a source of entertainment and a venue for academic research.
As stated in chapter three of the textbook "Rethinking Technology in schools" websites like YouTube, SchoolTube and blog sites allow students the opportunity to interact with each other while learning. Although these sites do support the idea of a 'Cybercitizen' (a person who is actively involved in online communities and uses the internet to engage in activities that are socially and/or politically responsible) there is also a danger of these types of communication being taken too far.
A good example of this would be applications like Second Life. When people start creating Avatars and participating in virtual communities there is a sense of self that is lost. There is a difference between using technology as a tool and re-creating yourself through technology. People may loose touch with reality and and become less responsible or accountable for their own actions. The goal of technology is to improve and facilitate life not replace it.

Pictures!

These pictures represent me because I am planning on going on vacation to Europe this summer, my friends mean a lot to me, and I talk a lot!!

Bullying

The 'Social Issue' that i will be focusing on is Bullying.
As a future teacher I am concerned with the issue of bullying.
Name calling and exclusion can on the playgrounds of school yards can escalate to physical abuse off of school grounds, and more recently with the growing popularity of cell phone and home internet access cyber and text bullying has become a major problem with today's youth and teens.
The following link is a photo album that I have started, which includes some images associated with the issue of bullying.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34513428@N03/

Now & Then

After reading a comparative table of film and television aesthetics I began to notice how unconcious society has become in postmodern times.
The first forms of moving pictures, film and television brought about thinking and watching. It was understood that the images being viewed were orchestrated events, that were recorded in the past and that the audience were absent spectators. As time goes by, technology advances and effects improve. It would be expected that our interest in these forms of media would be increased with all of these new advantages, however I have noticed that instead of a heightened interest we look at television and film with increasing demands.
We expect computer generated effects and spontaneous event driven plots to keep our attention. We are used to reacting to what we see instead of stopping to think about it. Authorship has been lost as we are able to see so many television shows and movies in such a short period of time that we often forget or never bother to pay attention to actors, actresses and directors involved in the creation of these works. More recently, the new craze of reality t.v has moved us away from the staged pre-recorded events and scenes we were used to and highlighted the "presentness" of the action. The audience has even made a shift from a mere viewer to a participant with vote in shows like 'American Idol' and 'So You Think You Can Dance'.
Is it possible that these rapid changes be sending us into a sensory overload and giving off a numbing effect?
I am not trying to take sides on the issue of whether or not these advancements in technology are good or bad just yet, I am just suggesting that we take the time to look back on where we came from and look ahead to where we are going. Sometimes technological advancements do not amount to personal/social improvement, we may soon find ourselves getting nostalgic for the simpler times...

Sitcom Scrutiny

Our readings and class discussions have been focused on realizing the true meaning and motives behind the television shows that we watch.

Although I completely agree with what is being said about shows such as Gossip Girl, 90210, Desperate Housewives, The Hills etc, mainly that they are targeted at young people to promote ideals of wealth, beauty and popularity; we have to remember that whatever the producers intentions may be, the shows ultimately depend on ratings to survive. We can't blame them for making these shows when we are the ones who create the demand for them.

Someone had mentioned in class today that these shows fascinate us because we feel the need to idolize people. In other words, these shows are of interest to us because we envy the characters. While I do think that this has some truth to it, I feel that the real reason for society's obsession with these television series is quite the opposite. We watch these shows because we want to be reassured that we are better off in our own lives. We tell ourselves that we are happier without the fame and fortune, and these sitcoms demonstrate this to us by portraying the downsides of money and status.

It is very interesting to discuss the common characteristics of shows like this because we begin to see how all of these hidden messages are intentional, and so we feel that if we realize it, we will be less likely to be affected by it. But on the other hand, isn't it possible that we are just reading too much into things? Maybe these shows are so successful because the story lines are so outlandish that we are simply watching them for pleasure; interested in the suspense of what will happen next. Must our only reason for tuning in to these programs be that we feel a connection the characters or that we are searching for justification in the way that we live? 

Internet Use/Abuse

During my last stage I encountered a group of girls who had learned to use web blogging to their advantage to bully classmates outside of school. When this topic was brought up in class, some people suggested that there be a section in the curriculum that covers behavior to try to prevent these things from happening. I think that this is a very good suggestion because how students/ young people choose to use media tools is part of media literacy. 

These tools are a privilege; if students are being asked to use different forms of media in the classroom, they should also prove that they know how to use them responsibly. 

Most classrooms have a set of rules or behavior codes that are agreed upon at the beginning of the year. It is important that the same rules, in terms of respect and academic excellence should be upheld when working on the internet. This will ensure that all entries/posts be appropriate as well as eliminate the tendency some children have to use abbreviated text when chatting online. 

Periodic monitoring/screening is essential to ensure that the guidelines are being followed.