Andy Griggs

I love the song by Andy Griggs titled. "She Thinks She Needs Me."  I think portrays such a cute romantic couple.  I could totally be wrong, but I think it is healthy when both people in the couple look up to the other person.  I love that each of them get strength from each other.  I guess I just like happy stories and happy songs.  It was interesting, because our group did a content analysis on body objectification in music.  We found that country has the most affectionate references of all the genres tested.  It was even more interesting that the country only had a few vulgar references.  I just love country even more!

The FCC

Federal Commission Committee

445 12^th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20554

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing you concerning the rating systems and content information of various media forms. I am a college student attending Brigham Young University.  I am currently taking a class discussing the different effects of media on family.  As we go through the history of media, I am impressed by the good content that is now available such as appropriate children’s TV shows and movies.  I am also surprised by the content “now okay” for PG and PG-13 movies.  For example, the number of times the F-word can be used in a PG-13 movie has changed from 2 to 3 to 4. Often what is allowed in the movies is constantly changing as the years go on.  Sometimes as a consumer it is hard to stay informed and up to date on the rating systems. 

There are two areas that would greatly benefit users if they were improved.  The first is a universal rating system, and second content labels for books.  Although, I do not necessarily believe that you should restrict certain media, there should be a more consistent rating system across media forms.  Songs, books, TV shows, movies, and video games all have different rating systems.  Movies go from G to NC-17, even though TV ratings are similar there are many differences.  The TV rating system has TV-Y, TV-Y, TV-MA.  Video game ratings seem to run on a completely different track.  Music only has the one rating.  Consumers are not even sure what constitutes the rating “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics.” If there was universal rating system confusion would be greatly reduced. 

Books are a type of media that have no rating system or content warnings. Parents and other readers would greatly appreciate a content label for sex scenes, high levels of violence, profanity, and drug/alcohol use.  Many people would benefit from content labels on books.  These could be a simple box on the back warning for sex scenes, graphic violence, profanity, and etc.  These simple warnings would help readers know what they are about to read and whether the content is something they want. It would also be beneficial for parents who are trying to promote good literature to their children and teenagers.  I understand that it would be costly and time consuming to go over every book, but it would be worth it. It also doesn’t have to be all at once, but we do need to start somewhere, so why not now?

12 Dates of Christmas

Last night I watched 12 Dates of Christmas.  I loved this movie.  It was such a great motivator for me.  I finished that movie and wanted to serve.  Not only serve, but be kind, giving, selfless, and everything else that movie portrayed.  The movie was about a woman who is stuck on her old boyfriend (who is about to get engaged to another woman) and has a blind date on Christmas Eve.  It is similar to Groundhog's Day, in that she keeps repeating the same day over and over.   I loved it!  What a great way to motivate people to do good!  I love movies that motivate me to be a better person!

Media Overload!!!

Have you ever had a media overload?  No, I'm not meaning watching back to back episodes of Psych or hours and hours of Facebook (but that is definitely a type of media overload).  I mean when your refrigerator is so full of announcements that you don't even know what color the refrigerator is?  Or when you just open your email and you can't believe the junk mail you got that day.  Or when you check the mail and all the mail is advertisements?   I sometimes feel we are bombarded with media that we don't really need or even want.

Moods

I love music because of its ability to change your mood so quickly.  I love that I can a choose a song to choose my mood.  When I want to be happy, I go "Walking on Glass."  When I want to be sad, I listen to some sappy sad country song (I am not bashing on country I love it).   When I want an empowering song Carrie Underwood is the artist of choice.

A Baby

I have the cutest niece, in my opinion.  She is just over two months and I love her!  I love getting pictures from my sister-in-law of her.  I love being able to stay connected with such a cute baby and that I get to be part of growing up with her.  I love that the internet is able to keep you connected with family members, whether it is through Skype, email, chat, pictures, etc.   I really rely on the media to be able to keep up with my family.  What would I do without the internet?

Looks Can Be Deceiving.....

Photoshop.... greatest deceiver since magic tricks.  Take anything and turn it into something completely different.  Speaking of magic tricks, I recently saw the Illusionist.  It is an amazing movie that makes you sit back and think.  I loved that it taught the message that some things are perceived incorrectly.  Even though there was tons of evidence to support their assumption, they still made the wrong assumption.  This is exactly what happens in Media, airbrushing, special effects, etc.   What incorrect assumptions are we making?  What untruths are the media convincing us of?  Some things we obviously don't believe in.    For example, can an orange tree grow in the space of five minutes, probably not.  What about simpler yet profound things?   Do they effect our beliefs about beauty, occupations, violence, love, education, and weight?  Studies have shown that they do.  Maybe we need to realize that we are believing too much in illusions.  It is interesting to note that even in the movie Eisenheim tells everyone that everything he does is an illusion, yet they still believe in the illusion.  What illusions are you believing in?

Mission Calls!!!

      So I just recently opened my mission call.  I am going to the Adriatic North Mission speaking Croatian.  I had no idea where that was.  I was so excited to look it up on Google Images.  So here is my mission!  I am really excited!  It is interesting to think of how much I depend on the internet to inform me on different things from the Adriatic North Mission map to images of each of the different countries to YouTube to hear Croatian!  So crazy!  

Sorry, there is so many pictures!  But I think it is so beautiful and couldn't just pick one!

        

         

        

     

Trailers...Got to Love 'em

So trailers always make me want to see the movie more (which is definitely the point).  I recently saw two trailers.  I really want to see both of them!  

In Iron Man III, I just know that this movie is going to put me in emotional turmoil (even though everything hopefully will be okay in the end).  Even though I know it will put me through emotional turmoil, I really want to go see it.  I never would want to be a super hero, but I love super hero movies.   This is an example of how I want to vicariously live through someone, but never want to be that person.  

The second trailer I watched was the Rise of the Guardians.  I really want to see it!  I think it is basically the same idea as the Avengers, just not so much violence and it's animated.  Even the bad guy reminds me of Luki from the Avengers, crazy.  I am really excited to see how it ends up.  

Forgers

 

I have never really understood why forgers' work was never wanted.  I mean sure it was not the original, but everyone buys fake copies of the Declaration of Independence, so why not a Van Gogh?   It just never made sense to me (obviously I am not an artist).  Then my brother came over yesterday and I told him about my beliefs on the subject.  He said that it was the idea, not the painting itself.  Now, I am not claiming that I fully understand his explanation or do I claim that I can even explain it well, but I'll try.  What my brother meant was that the artist was famous for his ideas and putting them into art.  For example, many people could paint a woman.  But Leonardo da Vinci captured an idea when he painted the Mona Lisa. Starry Night is more than a picture of the night, but an idea that the artist once again captured.  The idea cannot be recaptured by a forger's hand, because it is a fake. He can perfectly imitate the masters, yet he cannot create what the masters created. Thought provoking.  So the next time I see a painting or a sketch, I am going to try to see the idea in the painting.

Music Can Or Break Your Day

After a devastating lost of the Brigham Young University football bowl game, the stadium played, Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond.  One of my friends was absolutely depressed and downtrodden after this game started to whistle and bounce to the music.  Soon, he felt happy even though BYU lost. This is an example of the power of music in people's life.  Talk about "Mood Adjuster," regardless of the external situation.  After hearing this story Sweet Caroline became our family's pick-me-up song.  Then I came to college and my roommates converted me to Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows, by Lesley Gore.   Both of these songs help brighten my day.  This morning my roommate decided this was going to be a horrible day (especially since she woke up at five and didn't get anything done all morning).  So we played these two songs and another one her favorites.  It immediately improved her mood.  What a great way to help improve attitude.  But on the flip side, music can immediately bring you down.  Interesting.  What a great tool, now the question is whether or not we will use it wisely.  

Picture Power

Tell me which recipe you would make....

a recipe for a chicken pot pie or a recipe for a chicken pot pie with this picture below...



I don't know about you, but I would definitely make a recipe with a picture.  That's why my favorite, most used cookbook is the Reader's Digest cookbook.  It has tons of pictures, and I love it! Think what power pictures have in advertising.  Classical Conditioning is a major one!  What about restaurants? Would you rather eat from the menu with pictures or eat the food with just a description?

Which would you rather see when you buy a sandwich? (And they both still have pictures!).

Does picture power influence your decisions?

My Bologna has a first name..

My Bologna has a first name.... how many people can finish this song?  My roommates can.  In fact, they can quote this song, the Cherry Hill song, and the entire Shane Company ad.  Effective advertising.  So then for fun I asked my friends and family the first thing that popped into their head when I said advertising song or slogan.  "Give me a Break" from Kit Kat.  "He went to Jareds" from Jareds.  "Put a smile on" from McDonald's (this was before they changed to I'm Lovin it).  "Maybe She's Born with It" from Maybelline. "Every Kiss Begins with Kay" from Kay Jewelers. Crazy right?  Catchy songs and slogans have a "stickiness" factor that Malcom Galdwell talks about in his books.   The advertisements become more memorable when using this principle.  I think that it is so interesting that you can recall so much more information because of a song or slogan.  What great advertising!

 

Ella Enchanted

From around 8 years old until about 16 years old my favorite book was Ella Enchanted.  Ella Enchanted is a spin off the story of Cinderella.  I loved Ella Enchanted, because Ella, the main character, thought like I did.  I could relate to her thought patterns, so when I read this book I felt that I vicariously lived through Ella.  I became a girl who fell in love with the prince, went to finishing school, made friends with giants, tamed ogres, danced with the prince under disguise, and eventually married him. I loved this book because it was a love story without being too unrealistic and too romantic for my young mind.  It is interesting how books influence your personal identity.  That is way it is so important to read out of the best books.  

Harry Potter....Interesting

We read an article about using Harry Potter in therapy.  The book allows different people to open up and relate with the characters.  One of the themes used in this article was the theme of legimiency.  Legimiency is a skill that Dumbledore is quite good at.  Legimiency is the ability to attune to people’s thought and understanding their feelings. They then talk about how this could be applied to real life.  I really like the idea of using books, especially Harry Potter, in therapy.  After reading Noctor (2006) I think therapists should use novels in therapy.  I agree with what Noctor said, about many adolescents or children feel that therapy is a “public discourse about their private problems.”  I think that if a book is age appropriate, it could be a good way for the patient to overcome their problems.  I think that children and adolescents can live vicariously through a book, so in a way they overcome struggles through reading the book.  I think this in turn can give them the courage and a desire to overcome their problems.  Although, I do not think that this would be good for all patients.  But if this strategy helps a patient then it is a good idea.

And for those of you who haven't read or seen the books this is a good summary...

  

 

Blast from the Past

Remember this game?  I barely got finished playing this game with my brother.  When we were little we use to play this game a lot (I remember we played it so much I would dream about it).  My brother's roommate has this game.  So we decided to play this game together during a lunch when we both weren't busy.  Talk about laughing, bonding, and just being crazy.  I thought afterwards about the great bonding experience we had and Dr. Coyne's study (even though it applied to fathers and daughters).  I think this was a great way to catch up and be together.  

Cultivate your Secret Garden

Brother Huntington spoke for the devotional today.  His talk was on "A Heart of Gratitude."  One of the things that he said really stood out to me.  You can choose to cultivate a garden of things you have or don't have, but if you choose to cultivate your secret garden of what you have the "evasive" garden will disappear from your life.  (Or something to that affect).  I loved that.  He also challenged us to do 5 things.

1. Keep a gratitude journal

2. Add "thank you" to your vocabulary more often

3 Write thank you notes

4. Live in the present moment (to be able to see small things to be grateful for)

5. Make your prayers more thoughtful

I loved each of these things.  I want to be a more grateful person and develop "chronic gratitude."  I loved that this message was able to be broadcasted through media to more than the audience of BYU (it will be re-broadcast on Sunday).  I think this message will help many people who struggle in the world today who need a different perspective of the world.  

Being Positive

Today's devotional speaker was Jeff Wilks.  I absolutely loved his talk.  I felt so inspired and uplifted.  I feel that this subject is one of my favorites.  Who doesn't love being around someone who is positive all the time?  It reminded me of my prose and poetry coach.  She is so genuinely happy for people when they do well. I remember going to her house after a competition.  She got so excited about me taking first place.  I loved the way she treated me and everyone else. After Jeff Wilks talk, I want to be more like her.  What a great message to convey.   

Switched My Priorities...

So after I watched the whole first season of Jane by Design, I really did swear off of TV shows.  They are not good for me.  Then my roommate got hooked on another one....which means I did by default.  Sadly, I know there is more than one season (unlike Jane by Design) which means I'll watch until I get caught up.  I can't believe that my self-control is completely lost when it comes to TV shows.  After one show, I am completely caught in their trap.  So I know TV shows are not good for me.  I just need a happy conclusion, or I keep watching.

Scripts...

Yesterday I realized I was following a script that I learned from a movie.  A guy in my ward was dressed up in his army stuff.  I immediately felt like saluting him.  Now, some of you may feel like saluting every time you see a man dressed in his army clothes.  I usually do not.  I am pretty sure I got it from watching Captain America.  Captain America is one of my favorite super heroes.  What does he do every time he is talking to someone in army clothes?  Salute them.  Immediately as I had the urge to salute my friend, I imagined Captain America saluting someone.  Interesting that in such a small aspect of my life, my mind had written a script for me to follow from all the media I saw about the army.

Fire? Or Ice?

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

I recently read a talk by Elder Holland.  The title of the talk was "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacrifice".  He references this poem.  In this talk he quoted the first four lines.  Ever since I read it, I constantly think of this poem.  I finally looked it up.  Now, I love this poem.  I think it captures a little bit of human nature.  I think this poem was good for me because it helped me reflect on my passions and emotions.  As I self-evaluated I decided I want to be neither ice or fire.  

What have we done?!?

My roommate convinced me to go get Oreo with her.  I quickly agreed.  I mean who says no to free cookies (especially Cool Mint Oreos).  I mean who hasn't seen the commercials?  Twist, Lick, and Dunk.  Anyway, we bought the Oreos.  So the bag also promises happiness and inexplicable joy.  I mean look at that bag.  Happiness.  Anyway, I realized that every time I looked at the bag (which we put in a horrible spot...right in the middle of the desk).  I knew that the advertisement conveyed the message it wanted to.  I gave in.  Every time. Even now as I admit my wrongdoings I continue to put Oreos in my mouth.  Now we are ending the end of the bag.  I quickly realize that there is two things that dawn on me.  One of them is good...the other one not so good.  I can't eat anymore if I don't have any left.  The store is within two minutes (walking distance) of my house.  Rats.

Speed Racer!

I love the movie Speed Racer.  I watched it yesterday while making a cake with my brother.  Although I love this movie, it is kind of scary for a PG movie.  I think we often think that PG automatically means that it is okay for older children; however, I think that we still need to be more selective with our movies.  Also this movie has a lot of violence for a PG movie.  I think the main reason they were able to put this much violence in a PG movie is that they made it more cartoon-ish.  Making something cartoon doesn't change the fact that it still influences us.  Last night I had more violent dreams than I usually do (weird...I know).  I think that it comes directly from this movie.   On the flip side, after I watch this movie I also want to fight cartels and crime by doing the right thing.  So does the good outweigh the bad?  This movie I think overall has a neutral affect on me.  Because I don't think that I am more violent in nature because of it, but at the same time I don't think that I am better at fighting cartels and crimes. 

Jane By Design

I recently finished watching the first season of Jane By Design on Netflix.  I feel this is the first real TV show I have watched.  I grew up in a home where our TV had only 5-7 channels depending on the weather.  Three of the channels were always fuzzy and two were PBS.  So basically I never watched TV.  I never really got why people were so into TV shows. Although I have watched some episodes of Monk and Psych, I didn't think these counted because they just always solve cases and there was very little underlying plot.  So when I watched Jane By Design I got absolutely hooked.  I watched multiple episodes in a row needing to "just watch one more".  I figured out why, because they never resolve the tension or problem.  They always leave something hanging so you have to watch more.  I think that although most people can deal with this well, I don't. I just "binge" watch. I just want to keep watching until everything is resolved.  I think it is important to realize that before you get addicted to a TV show.  Also Jane By Design is not something I suggest for others.  Not because I didn't like it, but it doesn't have a second season. 

Easy, not really...

 So today I have had this song stuck in my head.  I finally just broke down and listened to the song in hopes that I would be able to get it out of my head.  I love this song, but it drives me absolutely crazy.  I just wish they would get back together especially when they both want to be with each other.  Pride.  What a silly thing.  I wish I wasn't such a romantic that this song drove me crazy.  I think it evokes such a strong emotion, because I have done this.  Maybe this is a good lesson for me.  I can realize that my pride shouldn't get in the way of things.  I think this example of media was good because it helped me reflect on something I wouldn't normally reflected on.