Option 2.

After completing the power point exercise, I was left very curious as to what other people put down as heroes and celebrities. I know that my hero count was significantly less than that of the celebrities, and I wonder if that is normal in today's media drenched world. I know the mass media today would have me believe that many of the movie stars and tv hosts I saw should be heroes. They put them on pedestals and tell us that we should strive to be like them, that they are perfect, almost god-like. I know that almost every hero is not perfect, and those vets in that picture surely aren't. My Grandpa is a veteran and he is not perfect, but I love him for it and he is a hero in my eyes. A hero is not a perfect bodied movie star, or a loud mouthed talk show host, or even a comic book character, as the media would have us believe. No, a hero is someone who is not perfect, but somebody who sacrificed so others could gain. I wonder how many people had even heard of, not to mention knew about, Harvey Milk before they saw the Oscar's on Sunday night..

Core Values

While watching the television this weekend, I came across a show that always seems to catch my attention. Survivorman, on the the Discovery Channel, is a show that demonstrates several American Core Values. The first of these would be activity and work, as the host of the show is constantly moving and working in order to teach survival techniques, and to aid in his own survival. Similar to this is efficiency and practicality. Les Stroud, the host of the show, carries himself in a professional matter, and goes about his tasks very efficiently. He wastes no time and applies his knowledge of survival skills effectively. The final core value, and perhaps the most important that is shown, is individualism. The whole idea of the show is that one man, left alone in the wild, can fend for himself and survive until he is rescued. This is the main point the show makes, and it is obvious that viewers should value this individualism above all other things.

Consuming Kids.

I thought this video made some very good, if frightening, points. The more I think about it the more I see how from the day we are born, the media tries to turn us into consumers. Through this process of transforming children into consumers, they also objectify them. They show kids stereotypes, and teach them that this is the way they should be. Another frightening thing is the products that are marketed to these kids are often unhealthy both psychologically and physically. Kids born today will have shorter life spans than those of their parents, and the connection between that fact and the unprecedented media saturation today is something that cannot be overlooked.