I don't think I ever will bother, either. I've seen the show for all of five minutes and I had to leave the room. Comedy, drama, reality, fashion, what is this supposed to be? Regardless of what it attempts, I can't take it seriously in any regard.
It's can't even feign interest in these kind of shows. Arguments between beef heads and dressed up dolls really aren't my type of entertainment.
It worries me that this actually is a form of entertainment for some. For me, it calls into question the very nature of media today. The fact that this show kicks other quality programs off the air because of its huge draw is sickening.
I hope shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians don't continue to dominate television. I want shows to have depth, not fake tans.
I watch The Wire. Even though I've already seen every episode.
Created by David Simon, a former Baltimore police reporter, The Wire tells a thrilling tale based loosely on what Simon and his writing partner and former homicide detective Ed Burns experienced during their work.
Every season focuses on one aspect of Baltimore, while continuing a gripping narrative with the same cast. The first season focuses on the streets and illicit drug trade. The amount of violence and corruption is frightening but at the same time riveting, following a cast of gang members and their struggle to survive the streets.
The second season focuses on the port system and its role in the drug trade. It was interesting to see how dock workers live and the balance between corruption and unionized work ethic.
The third focuses on the government and bureaucracy. Oddly enough, while this season had significantly less bloodshed than the previous two, it was far more horrific. The level of corruption that The Wire constructs as a reality is truly frightening, as government officials work with drug dealers for extreme sums of money.
The fourth season focuses on the school systems. It portrayed the principals as hardened as the cops, having to deal with kids as wild as animals. Stabbings would occur in middle schools and a complete black hole of education sucked in the youth.
The fifth and final season focuses on the news print media. Journalists scamper to get the prime story, often bullshitting to make the front page. All these seasons are tied together perfectly, the steady cast never failing to provide thrills, and surprising, equal amount of laughs.
A crime scene investigation, using only one word. (WARNING: High levels of profanity and graphic images...aka HBO)
The majority of the actors were unknown before their roles, but this only adds to their ability to seem like realistic portrayals of Baltimore's touchy subjects.
All in all, The Wire is awesome. It makes you laugh, gasp, think and sympathize. You have to watch it to understand.
Habitat World "A Celebration of the ways that belief and service come together in the Habitat ministry" -Habitat CEO Jonathan Reckford (Image found on Google)
Thesis: People, regardless of color, gender or race, are interconnected through faith in God. The less fortunate who are willing to be a part of the community deserve to be helped by voluntary efforts, rebuilding homes and lives for the needy.
5 Facts: A great list of facts about the Habitat World on their website.
Triune Brain: This magazine is drenched in LIMBIC stimulation. The cover of this issue depicts two paint covered hands, clenched together, resonating a sensation of faith. IMAGES of happy families next to newly built homes conveys the success of Habitat's mission. Other images of families in tattered clothing next to run down buildings evoke an EMOTIONAL response, causing the reader to feel for them. This pulls the reader into the parts of the magazine where the NEOCORTEX comes into play, processing and analyzing the different stories given by volunteers.
A stirring Limbic representation of Habitat's work.
8 Trends: Habitat World is the magazine that is run by Habitat for Humanity, which operates largely out of their website. These two medium work in conjunction to call for PARTICIPATION in Habitat's community and their efforts in the world with a PERSONAL approach. While the magazine is full of information that furthers your knowledge, it is dominated by powerful IMAGERY over WORDS. These images prove the age-old adage of "A picture is worth a thousand words."
7 Principles: The OWNERSHIP of Habitat is benevolent. A nonprofit Christian housing ministry that aims to eliminate impoverished homes worldwide. PAYED for and OWNED by Habitat for Humanity in order to give accounts of their mission in action. An enormous amount of EMOTIONAL TRANSFER is present in Habitat World, brought into focus mainly by powerful imagery. They help to convey positive VALUE MESSAGES about religion, humanity's unity, and the work of nonprofit organizations. These principles of questioning media brought me to an INDIVIDUAL MEANING of Habitat World. In reflection of the magazine's contents, I see that religion clearly plays a huge roll in society today. A belief in God and a conjoined drive to better the human world draws all walks of life together in a single effort. Atheists and Agnostics would have to disagree. A REALITY that is CONSTRUCTED by Habitat World is that there are impoverished families who can better themselves with a leg-up.
A Habitat team taking a deserved break from their work.
Persuasive Techniques: Habitat World uses a large amount of persuasive techniques to keep the reader interested. The Imagery is absolutely loaded, containing techniques of PLAIN FOLK, SYMBOLS, WARM FUZZIES, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, and even THE RACE CARD. On top of this, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife give TESTIMONY to the good work of Habitat.
If you asked me to define "media" a couple months ago I probably would have said, "Music,duh." However, Media and Society classes have shown me the truth. Media is more than simply music, media is the culmination of storytelling mediums that we experience every day in almost every facet of life. 21st century media have progressed over decades, societal factors influencing it's development. I've also learned how different mediums impact media as a whole. For instance, the legitimized news blog is beginning to put printed newspaper out of business.
So far, I've come to realize that I don't read nearly as critically as I should. I tend to scan over text without processing it, because I don't ask myself questions as I read. I've also learned a few things about myself as a writer. My first personal blog was weak because I didn't grasp the appeals that make a blog post successful as a medium. By my second blog post I already feel like I made a huge leap in quality. My critical thinking isn't quite up to scratch, another thing I realized when reading our textbook. After I was done with a chapter, I realized I had barely analyzed anything I read...this ended once we started having quizzes.
The one thing I would do differently from the get-go of class would be drilling the power tools. It was a while before I took them seriously, a big mistake. The power tools are a huge part of understanding the media we study in class, allowing me to better pick apart and analyze media.
I would have liked Rob to perhaps more clearly explain our personal blog posts. It was unclear for a while how the posts should be constructed, especially how we are supposed to integrate the power tools into our post.
The power tools have been infinitely useful as learning tools. They've shown me necessary questions to ask when I'm experiencing media in addition to explaining the different processing centers in the brain that respond to media. The course blog is perhaps one of the best tools employed by Rob. Assignments are available in a clear presentation, in addition to our submissions being in the same place, making it easy to take care of business. It's a way for us to tap into class information without being in class. The personal blog is fun and educational, too. By trying to form relevant and interesting ideas on a new medium, I've been learning about entirely new forms of information sharing. Not to mention...I'll take blogger over Angel (AKA the devil) any day of the week. The in class quizzes keep me in line and make sure I'm keeping up with work. They also show me what information I should be gathering from the readings. The films are always great demonstrations of our power tools and how they relate to all media. Watching them helps me apply the tools and understand media more thoroughly. The book is pretty good, but a little thick. The chapters are soaked in so much information that it makes it difficult to absorb anywhere near all of it.
