Melrose Place,90210,Gossip Girl

I love drama,as long as it’s on TV.But shows like Gossip Girl and Melrose Place take this too far.These shows show an unattainable level of well in the hands of teens.The shows have cat fights,blackmail and threesomes all carried out by teens,in some cases young teens.To top it of the stations offer teens ways to achieve low rent versions of the lifestyle they see on the screen offering downloads of songs and by creating discount lines so viewers can dress like the stars.But what this does is make these kids simultaneously think they can be like the stars (i.e. behave like them) and still not be as cool because they have to low end version.So what you get ae girls who blackmail and back stab all to cover low self esteem.Thanks broadcast TV!

Radio

I don’t have an Ipod so I am often at the mercy of the radio.The other day I was flipping stations and came to the realizatio that the last 4 stations I had passed were all playing the same song.I love GaGa as much as the next person but why were Power 106,KIIS FM,KROQ and STAR 98.7 all playing the same song?I decided to check the “Last 10 Songs Played” lists on all of these stations and came to this conclusion: they all play the same songs! Despite the fact that they all proclaim to cater to different genres of music.I understand that a lot of people have crossover tastes but if you claim to be the home of hip hop and R&B then it is a trifle odd that GaGa is on constant rotation.But then I looked at (O.K. Googled) who owned all of these stations and the logic became clear.ClearChannel owns all of these stations.And ClearChannel has ties to all of the record companies so it stands to reason that they would play the records.But what this illustrates is that the media is a small network that is run by a few people.

Grammys

Kanye was so wrong to cut in on Taylor Swift.But I get the sentiment after watching the Grammys.The girl is not that good of a singer but was nominated for about a dozen awards!And the camera kept panning back to her in the middle of everyone elses’ performance.Can we say overkill?Teh media made it clear:listen to Taylor,buy her album,become her!

Oscars

The grandaddy of all awrds shows is set to take place on March 7.But are the movies up for accoldes really all that great?While they do cover more varied genres than in previous years that doesn’t change the fact that most of these movies promote something rather than tell a story.

Avatar is the top grossing movie of 2009.And consists entirely of plot piece of other kids movies or action adventre movies.The only original thing about the movie is it’s animation,but it is not nominated in the animation catagory because it contains live action elements.The Blindside is a movie that is advertised as the story of a Black athele who finds a family with a White Texas family.But in reality it’s focus is on the family and how they change and benifit from the new family member.

These movies don’t tell a story so much as advertise a feeling or product.If you look closer at other movies they aren’t telling you a mindless entertaining story they’re selling you an idea or lifestyle.

Awards season!

If I see one more ad for the Grammys or Oscars I’m going to scream! They only feature the “pretty” people,though who decides what pretty is I’m not sure,and they are everywhere!I know that theses shows are comming upI don’t need to see a 20 foot tall likeness of the BEP to remind me.The media is drumming it into our heads taht this is important,but this is overkill even for them.In the middle of the New York times they have full page spreads on the Oscars and what the stars “might” wear.Umm why do I need to know this?What are they advertising a show or a new take at world domination?

TV

I,like most people who couldn’t afford a new TV bought a converter box in hopes that digital would be sooo much better than analog. And I have been sorely dissapointed. The free channels provided are horrible,or worse redundant.I can’t say that this is some great conspiracy to force people to get cable but…it looks that way. The movie channel not only plays movies no one has heard or but it plays them over and over an over again.The news “raw” station is the least informative group of news casters in history!They discuss what they think is going on and give us up dates on…well nothing really. The only time digital basic channels are any good is during awards season when EVERY channel halts all programing to show the red carpet. Digital basic makes me want cable,and I’m pretty sure it’s by design!

Hati

Hati was hit by an earthquake earlier this week.And somehow the media beat aid orginazations there.Everystation has an anchor on the ground,yet supply planes have nowhere to land.The well fed reporters relay tales of hunger,illness and sorrow and seemingly never question why they have passage,food,shelter and Hatian do not.The reports disscuss the fact that the country is almost completely illiterate yet consider the survival without basics something that makes Hatians “good” people.It makes no sense that the media is the 1st on the scene yet does nothing.

Fanfic

Fan fiction is one of the fastest forms of advertising and entertainment in the world.During the first Harry Potter movies there were fanfic contests held.The top prize was an all exspense paid trip to the New York premier.When the Boondock saints sequal was announced Fanfiction.net almost crashed due to the increase or users uploading stories.

But beyond the free adverting fanfic is doing something else:getting America reading.There is no “average” reader,and that is what companies bank on.When Star Trek came out ,several new writers appeared on livejournal.Later it was revealed they were just advertisers,but if you read their comments you see moms from Tulsa,teens from Iowa and even doctors from Belgum.Fan fic can give instant exsposure to multiple demographics.

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