The Danger of Bieber Fever

    While recently waiting for a video to load onto Youtube I had to endure a minute preview of Justin Bieber’s new music video, “Boyfriend.” If you can’t tell- I was not thrilled. Justin Bieber just doesn’t appeal to me. While having to watch this minute of the music video, I was a little disturbed by what I was seeing. Since, Justin Bieber’s main audience is pre-teens, and then some teenagers and other age groups strangely enough, I thought his music video would be more directed at pre-teens. However, as I watched it, I felt that the video was sending a message that maybe pre-teens shouldn’t take in, especially girls. The music video starts out with Justin Bieber driving up in a sports car wearing black leather while the word “swagg” is being whispered in the background continuously. From that point on it’s a lot of girls in half shirts and short-shorts, dancing up against Justin Bieber. Gross. What bothers me about this is that a lot of the people I know who like Justin Bieber are about eleven to fourteen year-old girls, who are at a time when they are very impressionable. Viewers who watch the music video get the reality assumption that to be appealing they have to wear barely anything and dance in certain ways. The music video also uses sex appeal, and the need for prominence with the sports car and other materialistic things to appeal to people. However, I think Justin Bieber is trying to appeal to himself instead of his fans, which is sending out the wrong message.

Why I Love "Dan in Real Life"

     Whenever I am just having one of those days where I don’t feel great or even when I just feel okay, I always get something like a craving, to watch the movie, “Dan in Real Life.” The movie stars Steve Carell as a widowed dad of three children, who writes a column in the newspaper about life and everyday-sorts of things. Steve Carell, or Dan as he is known in the movie, heads up to his parent’s house with his daughters for a family reunion. From that point on it’s a lot of awkward family dinners, funny relationships, and comforting scenes between family members. Since I watched this movie again recently, I realized that it this movie is so appealing because it comforts you and reminds you that it’s okay to have those awkward days when nothing seems quite right. When I watch this movie I always end up feeling that everything is alright and safe. Throughout the movie, the value assumption is used that whenever we are experiencing a rough patch in our lives, it’s okay to feel down, and there will always be something or someone to cheer us up eventually. A major theme throughout the movie is how nothing turns out as planned, which shows how the movie uses the reality assumption that we all think our lives will turn out a certain way, but of course they don’t. Overall, between the hilariously sweet Steve Carell, and the relationship he has with his family in the movie, “Dan in real Life,” is a great movie that always makes me happy.

Why I Love "Dan in Real Life"

     Whenever I am just having one of those days where I don’t feel great or even when I just feel okay, I always get something like a craving, to watch the movie, “Dan in Real Life.” The movie stars Steve Carell as a widowed dad of three children, who writes a column in the newspaper about life and everyday-sorts of things. Steve Carell, or Dan as he is known in the movie, heads up to his parent’s house with his daughters for a family reunion. From that point on it’s a lot of awkward family dinners, funny relationships, and comforting scenes between family members. Since I watched this movie again recently, I realized that it this movie is so appealing because it comforts you and reminds you that it’s okay to have those awkward days when nothing seems quite right. When I watch this movie I always end up feeling that everything is alright and safe. Throughout the movie, the value assumption is used that whenever we are experiencing a rough patch in our lives, it’s okay to feel down, and there will always be something or someone to cheer us up eventually. A major theme throughout the movie is how nothing turns out as planned, which shows how the movie uses the reality assumption that we all think our lives will turn out a certain way, but of course they don’t. Overall, between the hilariously sweet Steve Carell, and the relationship he has with his family in the movie, “Dan in real Life,” is a great movie that always makes me happy.

The Popularity Behind "What a Wonderful World"

     Since I was little, one of my favorite songs has always been, “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong. As I’ve grown up I’ve found that this is also many other people’s favorite song, which makes me wonder, what is so appealing about this song? I know that it is a happy song and Louis Armstrong is a classic musician that a lot of people like, but what else about this song makes it so popular, even today? As I listened to the song again, I realized that this song provides people with hope, reassuring them that the world is a wonderful place. In a way it uses the reality assumption that all people should see the world as a beautiful place, and if someone doesn’t, then this song reminds people of the simple and beautiful things in life. It uses the technique of, “Simple Solutions,” because it reminds people that the simple things in life like, “trees of green, and red roses too…friends saying I love you,” are all things that we have around us, we just have to notice them. Once we notice these things and don’t take them for granted, life becomes wonderful and beautiful. Overall, “What a Wonderful World,” is such a popular song because it reminds us that living in a beautiful world is simple- we just have to look around and realize it… Also, Louis Armstrong’s amazingly awesome, scratchy voice probably helps the song’s popularity.

Madison and Vine in "30 Rock"

                After watching “The Persuaders” in Starace’s class, I found it interesting how the company Madison and Vine would have advertisers advertise for their product in a TV show or movie. The first thing that immediately came to my mind was an example of this Madison and Vine technique I had seen in my favorite show, “30 Rock.” In an episode of the show, the writers in the show are all sitting around in the writers room talking and drinking Snapple. Next, Liz Lemon(Tina Fey) says how it’s neat that Snapple has little facts written on the bottom of the lids. Everyone else agrees and then it cuts to a clip of the “hot” assistant saying, “I only date guys who drink Snapple.” What I found so interesting about this ad was that they made it completely obvious that it was an ad, and they basically made a bunch of jokes about it, all throughout the show. Not only was 30 Rock used a testimonial, they had the attractive assistant used for sex appeal to advertise for Snapple. Overall, by making their ads throughout the show overly obvious, it not only made the show funnier, but also brought a lot of attention to Snapple.