Reflection

At the beginning of this semester I was excited to take Media and Identity as a class.  Media has been a concentration of mine, and I have always been interested in the way it shapes our perceptions, and how I can influence media to be better as a part of my future.  A couple weeks into the semester it was clear that I did not previously know to what extent the media was shaping our identities. Sure, I knew that media was constantly selling culture and products to us.  I thought it was something I could ignore and that it would not effect me.

Media penetrates much deeper than I originally thought. It reaches our subconscious and has an effect on our identities.  It truly effects the core of who we are and what we believe to be true. For instance, If someone before this class had asked me if a show such as Friends was racist, I would have thought they were crazy.  Then I learned that there are different ways to classify ideologies of race.  The fact that the show features no racial minorities as a way of symbolic annihilation was something I would not have thought of.  By not featuring other races this medium appeals to a white audience with white only ideologies.  This audience never has to worry about race and it is a comfortable ignorant bliss.  This alters the way the audience views the world and what they believe to be true.  But the world is truly a diverse place and there are people of different races everywhere.  We cannot let heteronormative shows influence us to separate ourselves into groups of “us” and “them.”  As a result, I have started to watch more shows that are diverse in culture, cast, and ideologies.  I am gaining more knowledge about others and growing myself as a person this way.

I have also noticed that in every show, movie, and advertisement I see that I am constantly analyzing and interpreting their different meanings.  What is even better is that I am doing this without realizing it.  This has actually started to get on my family and friend’s nerves, but they are appreciating the different perspectives and learning from it as well.  All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and the impact it has had on my life.  I will continue to extend my knowledge on this subject and be careful of how the media effects me.

Madeline’s Reflection

Prior to coming into this class I had taken multiple classes on the media and its impact on society, I also have a brother who works in the movie industry as a director/producer; that being said I felt that I had a strong knowledge on the subject coming into the class. I truly believe and still do believe that the movie, film and entertainment industry is just that, entertainment. This class did open my eyes to some of the moral wrongdoings that have been seen in the industry but I do believe that just like anything times are changing and most of the things we were shown were outdated. A lot of good points were made in this class about race, gender and etc. but I also felt that there was a lot of negativity aimed towards the entertainment industry. Having a brother that works in the industry and I also have interned in the industry I felt insulted at times when the industry that I love and strive to work for was continuously bashed, when yes there have been times that they have made mistakes but to me the good outweighs that bad. The entertainment industry cannot be defined as good or bad, its up to the viewer to decide that. That being said I see the points that were made in this class and I will look more closely and critique different methods in the industry. I enjoyed hearing about your insightful viewpoints on what you think of the media industry and learning about all the theories was interesting to me. Overall thank you for presenting a class that made me think deeply about the subject matter, I can tell that you are passionate about what you do and thats refreshing to see these days among professors. Good luck with next semester and the semesters after that!

Final Reflection

Before I took Media & Identity I had taken a view other identity classes in college about pop culture and media effects on our society – one course that I took at Miami University was very similar to this one. Classes before this one had challenged my perspective but I think this course was still different with showing more real examples of how media shapes our society.

I think this course made me think differently about some new perspectives, and other topics we discussed I would sort of disagree with. When discussing the ratio of races in America compared to the ratio of races on TV made it very clear to me that media can shape society into thinking certain ways. I also really noticed that the media really plays up to certain stereotypes, like the smart Asian friend, the hotheaded Latino (Glee is the perfect example of stereotypes by the way). But at the same time I feel like even though I noticed that media was portraying society this way, I didn’t think that way. I knew that not all Asians were ‘stereotypically smart’ and that not all Latinos want to start a fight. I realized that TV was TV, movies were movies and I wasn’t going to judge society based off what I had watched.

I think that from a young age that I always knew that movies and TV were here for entertainment value. In my past media/society classes we often discussed Disney and how Disney has had a negative effect on people to which I have always disagreed. These are movies, I feel like I was just a super child or something for knowing that these were movies and that my life was not like a princess. I feel like I had the same view in this class, that yes I can identify the problems with our media in society but I also understood that it was just a show or a film and to not let it give me false assumptions about life.

Overall I did enjoy this class – it made me think outside of my normal box and did challenge my views.

Reflection

I have a split decision about if I learned a new perspective or not. There were definitely some things I did learn and others I already knew. I gained more knowledge about the way races are portrayed in films and television shows. I thought that was interesting. I was just disappointed by how we really only looked at two cultures. When I signed up for this course I was expecting to learn about a variety of different cultures. We spent too much time talking about racism between white and black people. I have nothing against either of these I really just wished we learned about some more cultures. I also was disappointed by not really going more in depth about religion. I really wanted to learn more about different religions other than just Christianity. Again I have nothing against Christianity I just really wanted to see a broader spectrum of religions. That aside this class gave me a better view of how people still view our society. By that I mean how racism is a big topic in our society. Thank you and I hope you have good rest of your year!

Reflection

Before taking Media and Identity, I had taken classes previously that dealt with pop culture and the media as well as gender and the media. Because of these classes, I had a pretty good knowledge about the media’s impact on society. However, I was not aware of the way race and religion is shown through TV, movies, and music. That’s why I took this class, because I wanted to learn more about the media’s effects on our identities.

I definitely believe I have seen a new perspective in the way I look at things now since taking this class. There were theories and ideas that I never even thought about that affected me because of the way media portray them. I now look critically at television shows and movies to see how race, gender, religion, etc…are shown. Even in music I can identify elements of race or class or gender through the lyrics and music videos that I would have never considered before.

Since I am more aware of these issues now, I know how they can have an impact on people. I believe I am more well-equipped when talking about sensitive issues and seeing how the media affects each and every one of us. Now that I understand these issues, I need to do my part to help make sure that I treat everyone equally, and that the media does not tell me how I can and cannot act.

Reflection

As I began this class, I believe that I was naive to think that media had little impact on my own thoughts and beliefs. I am constantly connected to media and the skewed reality it depicts. And after this class is finished, I can now say that I am educated enough to know that not everything I see in media is as real as it may seem- a big example of this being body image. I used to look at magazine articles and wonder how these women were so perfect, and this class helped me realize that no women is. I have gained a new perspective because of this class in the sense that I feel I have the power to allow what can and cannot impact me when I encounter any type of media. I also have a new perspective in that everyone truly is unique and Americans aren’t as cookie cutter as the tv and internet portray them to be.

This class has also taught me that it is important to step back and realize that everyone’s beliefs and upbringings may not be the same as mine, and although they may be different, they have the ability to bring something new to the table and can teach me something I never would have thought of otherwise. I think my favorite section of the class to learn about was how different men and women were depicted in advertisements. I did not realize the stereotypes these ads create in the young minds that view them and the negative impact they instill in their viewers. I think pro social media is vital in media to destroy these stereotypes and break down the standard image the world has ignorantly accepted.

Reflection

When I first signed up for this class, I thought that we would touch on different TV shows and go into details about specifics of different shows. I did not really realize how much we would touch on the different theories and touch on all of the different subjects that we did. In the end, I am very glad that I took this class because I did learn a lot that I really had never even thought about before when watching TV. I have gain a lot of new perspective on many different of the different issues that we talked about especially race and gender. I never really took like time to look at how these two issues are shown on TV and now it is all that I can think about when I watch TV. Some of my favorite shows are lacking so much in incorporating different races and it is very obvious now. One of my all-time favorite TV shows was Friends and after we talked about it in class and read the article I know exactly what the author was talking about in “May the Circle Stay Unbroken”. Even though I do notice these things now we all still have our favorite shows and Friends is still one of mine.

I have learned a lot in this class from the lectures but I think I also learned a lot more by doing the Blogs. The Blogs have allowed me to further explore the different topics and relate shows that I do regularly watch. I think being able to freely write allows us to apply the topics that we have learned about in a way that we personally understand. Sometimes the mind just wanders when freely writing and personally I have hit on different things that I normally would never bring up in other classes. I think that this course has been very educational and has been very insightful. I would definitely recommend this class to others.

A Reflection and Farewell

Neil Skinner

Media & Identity

3 December 2014

               A Reflection and Farewell

As I sit here and reflect about what I am going to write for my last blog, many things run through my mind about Media & Identity class. It does not even feel like my eighth blog either, probably because I forgot to do one at the beginning of the year, sorry Dr. Banjo. Signing up for this course last semester, I was not sure what I was getting myself into because I figured it was just another communication class that I needed to take before graduation. Little did I know that it would become extremely educational and one of my most favorite classes of the semester. My viewpoints coming into class were weak, I did not care about most things I saw in the media. Over the course of the next ten weeks, my perspective on media was sharpened and completely changed. I slowly began to see the ways that media can impact our lives, they have a tighter stranglehold on us than we may believe. The media can shape the way we view everything in life from the opposite sex to different races. Media & Identity class has taught me to take a step back from all the media consumption and analyze what is actually right and wrong in our society. This course has given me the tools to be a better person and more accepting of other people and cultures.

The blogs have been one of the best parts of this class because I love to write and be creative. They are always engaging prompts because they encouraged us to always look a little deeper into what we see everyday on television or in advertisements. Using this method of analysis, we can see media messages that we may have never noticed before. Overall, Media & Identity has been an extremely educational and one of the best communication classes that I have taken at UC.

Reflection Blog- Crista Brown

Before taking this course I had no idea what I was getting myself into, not in a negative way. I knew we would discuss how media portrays racism but I wasn’t sure about the other social issues (religion, sex, class, etc). I had never watched a movie or television show and dissected it into social problems that we discussed in class. I always just watched it for entertainment and left it at that. But now when I watch television there is a part of me who watches for the portrayal of race, class, class, sex, etc) as well as entertainment. After the first day of class which was also the first day of lecture, I thought that I would find myself becoming offended by the comments other students made. This was true for a few topics. Hearing students of a different race comment on how they see African Americans (almost always in a negative light) would bother me but that is just because I was not prepared for it. For example, when we discussed race in The Lion King and someone mentioned how the hyenas were supposed to be African Americans, I was offended. By the end of the course I have learned to not become offended because everyone has their own opinion and I represent myself and who I am as a person, not how people see me. I must say I have gained a new perspective on the way I look at the media. Before entering the class, I already had the idea in my head that the media only put out there what they think is going to sale. However, I don’t think they intentionally make these stereotypes to hurt people, but to sale, and make money. It is what the people want. This course has definitely confirmed that thought. I really enjoyed the Prosocial Media Project because it was interesting to see the different ideas groups came up with to address a social problem, it gave me a chance to see how everyone else felt about the problems and what they personally would do ti address it. Overall, I am really happy I took this course because I now have a new perspective on the way the media portrays us. I have a stronger view on this which was once just for entertainment.

Reflection

This semester I took this class because I needed another elective and by reading the description of the class, it seemed interesting. I never expected for my viewpoints and thoughts to change so drastically. This class opened my thinking and I am now able to think about different situations in a way that I never had or I thought that I would.

I was aware that the media could make you act, think, and feel a certain way. Movies and television shows can change how you would act in a situation after seeing that same situation. Music can change your mood and your feelings depending on what is going on in your life. People turn to these media forms to make them feel better and so that they know they are not alone.

In this class, I learned about the different theories that are behind changing our feelings and our attitudes. It is incredible to me how a 15-week class can change your viewpoints so much. The race and cultures discussions of the class changed my thinking the most. I never paid attention to how underrepresented different races and cultures were in the media. After this class, I am much more aware and pay much more attention to different races and stereotypes in todays movies and television shows.

Although group projects are always tough with everyone having different schedules and we didn’t have much time to complete the project, I really enjoyed coming up with an idea to bring people together. It allowed us to think in a different way and to come up with our own idea about how we would solve the problem of the separation of today’s society. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s ideas and how they viewed different problems and what they would do to fix it.

Overall, I thought this class was tough, but in a good way. It opened my mind and allowed me to think in a way I never had about topics that I was unaware of. There are many problems we face today as a community and it only takes one person to want to start a change to fix one of the many problems.