Does Media shape our lives?

I am a firm believer in that media shapes our culture.  Recalling the research I have done previously regarding this matter, it is evident that media shapes cultures.  Early 2012, there was a film released called “Project X.”  The movie follows three high school students that throw the ultimate party where anything goes which of course spirals out of control.  In Houston, a spring break rave was meant to emulate a movie turned deadly when a few attendees fired guns and killed one person as police tried to break up the party.  The party in Houston attracted between 500 and 1,000 people.  Mark Stephens, a private investigator working for the home builder told WFAA, an ABC affiliate, “I asked some of the kids why, and they said “Project X” and I said, ‘O.K., what’s ‘Project X’?”  He also stated, “When you look at the movie, and you look at what happened here, the parallels are uncanny.  It was a copycat.  They did everything that I saw in the movie.”

While researching this topic, I took it to my personal Facebook to see who exactly it was that people wanted to trade lives with in the movies.  Popular answers include your typical Superhero’s like Iron Man, Spiderman, and Captain America.  I also found many stating random people I had never thought people actually wanted to be such as Bella Swan from “Twilight.”  There are a lot of great qualities portrayed in all of them except one, if you take the psychological standpoint.  The one that actually shocked me the most was Bella Swan from “Twilight.”  The relationship between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan throughout the “Twilight Saga” is needless to say slightly less than masochistic.  She hurts him, he hurts her, he hurts her again, she runs to her wolf friend, she hurts him, and yet they still want to be with one another no matter how much it literally could kill them.  Edward exposes Bella to things that he should have thought more than twice about.  Yet, teenagers want to be her.  They think the obsessive and controlling Edward is the perfect relationship, which it is far from it.  This isn’t a movie about hero’s it’s about a violent and controlling relationship, yet almost every teenage girl wants Edward as their boyfriend.   

     If prior to this I had thought differently about my position on media shaping our culture, this would have done it to turn me over.  These teenage girls want something that was portrayed on screen and is the farthest from reality.  Yet, these are the same girls that hold guys their age to a “higher” standard and complain that they are alone.  Movies are shaping our cultures, beliefs, and lives, whether we willingly want them to or not.  

Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet Service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally; basically meaning, that internet providers cannot charge more to have their websites run faster while their competition runs slower.  The internet is a carrier of online content that does not distinguish one website from another; it is the internet service provider’s responsibility to make sure all websites are running at the same speed the rest of them are.

The government has no authority to implement this policy.  It cannot be regulated.  If we regulate the internet provider’s speed, the companies would fold because none would be successful, it would become federalized.  According to JudgeAndrew Napolitano, “Today the FCC does little else but regulate as much electronic communication it can.  You have the right to know that the First Amendment makes the FCC unconstitutional.  Think about it.  The FCC regulates content.  It tells broadcasters what to say, but the first amendment guarantees the right to free speech.  If speech were truly free, why would we need an unnecessary intrusive and unconstitutional government agency to oversee the distribution of speech?”  The FCC was started for radio, so broadcasters knew what they were able to say on air and what they were not able to say, not for regulating something that should not be apart of the government.

 My personal policy is to leave the internet as it has been since the beginning.  Do not disturb something that has worked so well in the past.  However, there are some certain websites that should be kept the same speed for any internet service provider that your household or company chooses to sign an agreement with.  Websites that should be kept at the same speed should be state, government and educationally run sites that hold a higher importance then for instance social media.  Keep the internet free of the government.

Converting YouTube Videos

YouTube is clearly one of the greatest inventions known to mankind.  Whether you want to look up old school music you forgot about to movies/TV Shows to even song lyrics, this is the one website you go to first.  However, the videos that are posted are often converted into mp3/mp4 so that they avoid paying the $1.29 for a song on iTunes.  

            Before iTunes changed the price from $.99 to $1.29 per song and $1.29 to $1.99 per video, I used to only buy from iTunes.  I would never convert a YouTube video to a song because $.99 for a song was reasonable.  Now, even though it is just thirty cents more, that is just ridiculous to be paying $1.29 for one song.  I also discovered that buying the CD from a store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart is also cheaper than buying the whole album off of iTunes.

            Since converting YouTube videos to mp3/mp4 is essentially stealing and illegally downloading a song, YouTube has been trying to shut down any converting websites.  However, this does not stop people from downloading the videos.  The site that was shut down just reopens under another name.  There are also apps for converting YouTube videos right on your iPhone/iPad.  Obviously iTunes is doing everything on their part to combat converting YouTube videos.  In the newest iTunes update, you are no longer allowed to edit the song name, album, artist, and even album cover unless it was bought by iTunes or downloaded the CD.  As everything else, there are always ways around it. 

Fantasy vs. Reality

            Many kids are now losing out on the experience of the real world and diving into the fantasy world.  Kids now would rather play a video game or computer game alone with people they do not know rather than going out and experiencing the real world for themselves.  Why are more and more kids playing video games than involving themselves in activities in school where you are actually communicating and building real life relationships rather than online relationships?  The common stereotype of a gamer is that they do not fit in or do not have many real friends that they can go out and play with.  Having a screen to hide behind is a benefit for those who do not fit in.  That way they cannot be judged like they may be in reality.  However, video games do offer many educational values which can be applied to the outside world.  Qualities that a person may have but hasn’t mastered it: team work.  Team work is something you see a huge presence of in the work field now.  Playing on a team will help them master strategy and communicating with people they do not know

            There has been a huge debate whether or not video games make children violent.  I firmly believe that they do NOT make the children violent.  Before playing a game, the parents should always make sure their child understands that what they see in the game is not necessarily how life works.  If a parent fails to teach their children what right and wrong is, the parent fails as a parent but will be the first to blame the video games they let their children play.  From the time I can remember, my mom has always taught me right from wrong, so when I did end up playing violent video games, I knew that this was just a game…nothing more.  If all kids acted the way characters in video games or even movies were, the world would be more messed up as it is.  There must always be a balance and the education the parent has instilled in their kids to know that what they see on screen is just a fantasy NOTHING ELSE.

            Everything comes with a price.  Most people see the negative aspect of video games.  However, when it comes to war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, video games can help the victim get over it.  Currently only 4 military hospitals treat PTSD patients with the virtual reality video game.  It has helped these people overcome the PTSD.  Video games will always be a major topic of discussion on whether or not it helps or hurts the person.  Examples like these are what disproves the theory of video games making children violent, in my opinion.  Our nation has come so far in treating patience coming back from war but not much was able to help them.  This way offers a great solution that could benefit the patient in the long run.  Video games are just like books, never judge them buy their cover. 

test :)