Challenging Media

The video that I have chosen to refute in this blog post is Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power. One of the topics that this video discusses that I did not agree with was how they believe that Disney is shaping the children's imagination. I believe that history shapes how society should behaves not Disney, therefore Disney incorporates society's values into their movies. For example, Disney altered stories like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, because the originals had culture values that were old-fashioned compared to today's culture. If Disney was truly in control, than they would have kept the original stories from the Grimm Brothers, which is far worst for teaching children values that would not be appropriate for this modern age. And not converting the story would save Disney a lot money. So this proves that Disney actually cares and bothers to make changes to their movies so that the movies would be more family friendly.

As for me, when I watched Disney movies, I did not think of anything about race or hidden messages. I was too into the story and wanted to see how the plot ended. I think that children back then watched Disney movies because the stories were just so captivating and interesting. The adult researchers that criticize Disney movies in this video were not children themselves while watching the movie. To me that is a big factor in questioning the researchers statement that Disney movies have negative messages for children. And to add, the little girls in the video seem like they were asked those types question about race; the little girls in this research video would not strike me as girls that would critically analyze a movie, but rather watch the movie to enjoy the plot, music and the characters.

Luckily, children of today are old enough to argue back and defend their childhood memories. Or course we will be defensive, you can even see it on the comments and the number of "dislikes" on that video. We are offended that people would try to ruin such an innocent thing. These researchers are very nit picky. They only see the cons, but the cons are definitely outweighed by the pros within Disney movies. One researcher interprets "Beauty and the Beast" as women giving in to angry men and that it was the women's job to find the goodness within angry people. She says that this is an unsafe message to teach young girls because it can put them in harms way of getting physically hurt. Well I can see what the researcher is getting at, but you can see it as being patient with others and that you should not fight back. I mean should Disney have Belle fight back? No, because that goes against what we teach our children about two wrongs not making a right. Plus Beast never physically hurt Belle and in the end Beast changed for Belle because he loved her so much. It was not just Belle, but Beast had to find it in himself to become a better person. And finally, one researcher's comment about Disney making women slim and more attractive was another concern. I do agree with this statement and Disney as been improving over this issue. But way back when, before Disney, that was how the stereotypical princess was viewed. I do not think that we should blame Disney for what society's past has promoted.

I can say that Disney movies have definitely changed through the years, and they are even better for children nowadays. My last comment that I will make is that if we ever want the media change, we ourselves must individually change the way we judge others in terms of stereotypes and other differences. The media follows values that are present in today's world.

Dissenting Voices: Pokemon

Something that I have read and did not agree with was a blog post about Pokemon. Pokemon is a children's television program that involves a young boy name Ash, journeying the world to catch creatures known as Pokemon. Pokemon are creatures that possess unique powers such as having the ability to control the elements and evolving to become stronger. Ash is on a journey to become the Pokemon master. The blog was trying to explain how Pokemon is evil or satanic. The author of this blog insists that Pokemon teaches children violence and encourages animal cruelty. He goes on to say that it is the work of Satan, that Satan is influencing children to become "evil". The author speaks about children becoming possessed by these "evil" Pokemon spirits. His example was that children were acting as if they were Pokemon themselves. I can honestly say that every children in their lifetime has played "pretend" before. Children have the tendency to pretend to be their idols or something that they are interested in.

The author goes in depth with how children become violent toward one another over the Pokemon card game, and that the card making companies only care about marketing and money. I do not agree because children will fight over any toy, regardless of what form the toy may be in. I mean toddlers fight all the time over toys like firetrucks. So does that mean that we should ban actual real firetrucks since the toys "promote" violence? I also think that it is unfair to generalizing that all kids will hurt one another over Pokemon. You rarely hear kids wreaking havoc over silly card games or t.v. shows. Companies market products that they think will get popular and that is exactly what they did. When children watch Pokemon it is obvious that they will want toys from that show, like for a keepsake or to own something that relates to the series to show that they are a fan.

I think that Pokemon is being attacked because it is so popular, which is understandable. Anything that becomes popular also becomes a threat. Certain groups of people feel uncomfortable when they see a fad becoming widely popular. They feel as if it will grow to the point where it will take over the world. What I mean by taking over the word is that the fad will have great influential power over it viewers. They get the notion that its viewers have been brainwash. In my eyes, it is nothing of the sort, kids watching the show are just interested, and just think about their favorite Pokemon and what kind of adventures that they would be having with their Pokemon. I also do not agree that it is an obsession that is out of control. Everyone has an obsession, this may be a bad comparison, but it is like having a crush on a girl/boy. You cannot stop thinking about the person, but does that mean that you are obsess and out of control? No, you can obsess a bit, but you would have to distinguish whether it or not it is a healthy obsession. And once again, we should not generalize one child's out of control behavior to every child in the world. It is not an unhealthy obsession if kids are also socializing with their friends about the show and who their favorite characters are. The children interact with each other by playing pretend, and in a way, it is getting the kids off the couch to be physically active.

And finally, it seems to me that the author of this blog does not research Pokemon well enough to see that the show teaches moral values. This show promotes companionship with the Pokemon and their trainers. In the show Ash has at countless times shown that he truly loves his Pokemon by taking care of them, letting them make there own choices and  has never used force or shout at his Pokemon. His Pokemon seem to care for him as much as he cares for them. I truly hope that the author of this blog will have a second opinion about Pokemon in the near future.

Online Interaction

So far, online interactions with my classmates have been going pretty well. It was hard at first because I had to get use to the transition. It was difficult at first since you can read the tone of any blog or comment differently. My problems with online interactions is that it does not have that emotional feel to it. The tone of comments are not definite. Whereas, in class you can get a better understanding of how your classmates feel about a certain issue. Another problem with online interaction is timing. Once you leave a comment on a discussion forum, you are not sure when your peers will comment back or how long you will wait, and vice-versa for your classmates. But if you are in class, you will get an answer quicker and your teacher is also there to help you. It is also easier to procrastinate if you are doing work online. You will feel as if you can do the work anytime, just as long as you do it before the deadline. So comments or interactions may come really late, however, if you are in class, you are given a set amount of time to interact. I guess being told what to do is best in this situation, but it is obvious that teachers would have to tell students what to do because no one likes to do what they do not want to do. My final concern is that it is easier to forget your assignments if you are not reminded, well not paper assignments, but assignments that involve interacting online with your classmates. Overall, I do like online interactions with my classmates.

What I like about online interactions with my classmates is that I do not have to go to class. You can choose to work anywhere you want at almost anytime. You can also proofread your blog and comments, you also get a chance to think of great comment or reply. The perks of being in class is that you can get your questions answered faster, but for the person providing the answer, it may be more difficult since they would have to think of it right away. So the perks of online interactions would be not having to provide an answer right away. Even though you may have to wait for a reply longer than you would in class, the time in between your comments and classmate's replies you can multi-task, like work on other homework assignments. Or you can listen to music as you are typing your blog or waiting for your classmates to reply. You can even watch a movie! I guess my point is that you can do whatever you want just so long as you are participating on the forums or typing your blog.

I love this hybrid class and I have recommended it for most of my peers to take it next semester. Mainly because you only have to go once a week and that teaches you to be more self-reliant. I mean as of now I am a bit behind on my work, but it is the consequences I deserve for procrastinating. I will admit that this is a problem for me but I feel it is a great way for me to learn how to prioritize my life. To me, failure is another chance to succeed.