Reflection Paper

                 The main thing I took away from Mr. Starace’s Critical Thinking class this semester was realizing how much media impacts our daily lives. Even though I don’t watch a whole ton of TV or have a Facebook this class still made me realize that I am constantly impacted by media. Whether I am listening to my favorite band or driving past a billboard I am unconsciously absorbing the messages that these things are trying to send out to us. Now when I see a commercial or pass by a billboard I am more aware of the purpose behind that, and I know longer just see a picture or video clip, I see it for what it really is and the message it wants me to receive from it. I find myself half-mindedly watching a commercial and thinking that the company is using Simple Solutions and the Need to Aggress to make me want to buy their product instead of simply watching the commercial with no second thoughts. Due to this more in-depth look at commercials I now realize that I am not as eagerly tempted to buy certain products, which is wonderful because it keeps me from buying things I don’t need and I therefore spend less money. It is important that I am now more aware of the impact of media and smarter about what to consume because what we buy and what we consciously choose to let impact us sends out a strong message to the world about who we are a person. Therefore, it is important to have media literacy because we are more aware of what we consume and if what we are consuming is something that we really want to represent and be part of. I think a lot of the time we see a commercial, or any type of ad, and just see the surface-level message that advertisers want us to see instead of the deeper meaning that the product actually represents. Some girls see a makeup ad that their favorite celebrity is endorsing and just go to the store and buy it without second thoughts, and then realize that because they bought this makeup it doesn’t mean they’re going to look like that celebrity all of a sudden. At the same time, commercials that advertise for these hardcore sports usually include mostly men in their commercials because they want boys to receive the message that by buying their product, they will become these hardcore athletes that they see on these commercials. However, most boys come to realize that buying a fancy pair of athletic shorts isn’t going to magically turn them into these amazing athletes. So, media literacy is super important to what people consume and what they let impact them.

            One other super important thing that I have taken away from the Critical Thinking class and media blogs is that even though we can control a lot of how we let media impact us, we aren’t immune to the impact that media has on us completely. What I mean by this is that even though we can choose what we consume through purchasing products, we can’t always control how media impacts our values and mindset on certain topics. Even though many of us say that we aren’t impacted by media that much because we don’t watch TV or don’t go on the computer a lot, we still are. It could be as simple as driving by an advertisement at a bus stop for a certain type of gum. If we continually see this ad out of the corner of our eye and don’t see any other advertisements for different types of gum, we are more than likely going to buy the gum that we saw the ad for over and over again. We will buy that specific type of gum because we have been exposed to it the most and are most familiar with it. Therefore, that is why it is important to constantly be mindful about what we consume and how we allow media to influence us. Ultimately, we have to try to see through the clutter.