"Music just isn't as good anymore"

Often people will reminisce about "the good old days" and through the rose tinted lenses of nostalgia, convince themselves that things just aren't quite as good as they used to be. Of course this is untrue. Things have actually not changed all that much. This is especially true in the music industry.

Many people will swear on their lives that "nothing can beat the classics" or that "the oldies are superior to anything produced today." The main issue with this way of thinking is that "the oldies" that we listen to are still being listened to for a reason; they were the best songs from that time period. There are old songs, from the era of The Beatles and Micheal Jackson, even from the era of Mozart, that were genuinely bad songs. We just don't know about them- or listen to them- because, they were bad songs. It is this simple logic that some people cannot seem to grasp that leads to this thinking that the quality of music has some how degraded over the years. 

To make a fair comparison, one must choose two songs of equal caliber in their own time period. Far too often, to show the degradation of music over time, people will put the lyrics from a Rolling Stones song next to those of a Ke$ha song. Obviously, this is not at all an accurate comparison. People do this, of course, to prove their own biased opinion, but, if one would compare the lyrics of say, Rick Astley to the modern Cold Play, they would likely find different results. This is why comparing the quality of music over time by sampling two songs of different time periods is often faulty- because you can so easily manipulate the outcome- because, the quality of music hasn't changed over time. 

Another problem with discussing the supposed degradation of the quality of music over time is that the criteria for "good music" is incredibly subjective. One person's "good" is Nikki Minaj while another person's "good" is The Beatles. Also, the ideas of "good" will change over time, so this adds to the unfairness of the comparison as well. 

So, my conclusion is, music is not better, or worse than it used to be. The quality of music has not changed significantly over time, at all. 

To prove this point with examples (because this assignment requires it- not because I think that comparing two songs for their quality is at all accurate) I've chosen two songs- equally bad, in my opinion, to illustrate that music has not, in fact changed over time. 

"True Colours" -Cyndi Lauper

"Tear Drops on My Guitar" - Taylor Swift

As you can see by the above examples, whiny, mainstream pop music has always been bad! The quality has not improved or degraded over time. Music is just as good (or bad) as it's always been. 

Media Ownership in Canada

The Top Parent Companies
Newcap Radio
Rogers Media
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Astral Media
CTVglobemedia

The ownership connection between these companies is that often, they are co-owners of smaller companies

Product Placement

Apple would want to advertise in this medium because it is subtle, and it gets straight to their target audience. The audience that Apple is reaching through product placement is the the teenage fan girls who are tweeting about Glee, on their iPhones while the show is happening, and are too busy squealing during the commercials to focus. So, it's most effective for them to casually show Finn with a MacBook in his bedroom, or Kurt answering Blaine's text via his iPhone, or Mr Shuester typing away in his office on a shiny iMac.

Tough Guise

Finn Hudson is an emotionally complex character, who is concerned with the feelings of others and of his own well being. His meaning is defined by his dedication to other people, and the Glee club, and also his loyalty to his girlfriend and his family. For example, when he was dating Quinn, and she told him that she was pregnant, and he was completely committed to being a father figure to her child, and also staying with her and protecting her. Another example is Finn's commitment to his step-brother, Kurt, he is very dedicated to making sure that Kurt is treated fairly and equally, and that he gets all the opportunities he deserves, he is also very supportive of Kurt's aspirations and decisions. Finn is also emotionally vulnerable, in various scenes Finn is shown turning to either his mother or Mr Shuester for advice, both with whom he is very open and honest. Finn is also portrayed as being somewhat vulnerable, after being bullied for his weight by Santana, he is visibly distraught, and unwilling to take part in traditionally masculine events later on, such as taking off his shirt in front of girls, and later on Finn admits to dieting, because of this insecurity. In summary, Finn Hudson is the opposite of the traditional "tough guy"- despite his interest in athletics and mechanics etc, he is still a very emotionally complex character, who is invested in his relationships and looks out for the well being of others ahead of himself, he is also not at all violent and can be vulnerable at times. I believe that Finn is a good, balanced representation of masculinity that is far more positive than the "tough guise" that some male characters portray. 

10 Minutes

Media Constructs Reality 

I think the theme and purpose of this short film is to shock people and reveal a new perspective. I think that the two settings shown, those being the tourist in Rome, and the young boy in Bosnia, represent people, like us, in western society, who have few dangers and threats in their lives, and then, people in crisis.

The sharp contrast between the tourist and the young boy give a very clear image of the discrepancy that exists in the world today. The use of the time constraint, ten minutes, I think was meant to further this contrast, to show how much can happen in only ten minutes. One person impatiently awaits his family vacation photos to be developed while another narrowly escapes death trying to collect rations. The purpose of revealing this contrast is to make people appreciate their own situations, and to evaluate their own lives and realize how well off they are. This theme can be applied in anyone's life by them learning to appreciate the time they have, and to not be impatient or upset about "wasted time" but to rather feel fortunate to have the time that they do. Maybe (probably) this is cheesy and cliché but this is the main meaning I could draw from this film.

Media is a Construction

Darren Criss



The above photos are both of Darren Criss, though one is obviously constructed and retouched and the other is not. The major differences apparent in these two photos are that, for one, in the candid picture, Darren is unshaven and has a lot of stubble, which he does not in the picture from a photo shoot. That is something that would have definitely been decided by the director of the photo shoot. Another major difference is that in the constructed photo, his skin is very clear, and has an even tone. Also, his face has a more masculine, less rounded sculpt than in the candid photo. In the constructed photo, Darren also has more clear, sparkling eyes and his eye lashes are longer and more defined. The biggest difference though is that in the picture from the photo shoot, Darren has a much more flattering look on his face, seeing as he wasn't mid-sentence when the photo was snapped.
As for my emotional reactions to these pictures, my first one- and my only real reaction to it as a whole is that, wow, even when Darren isn't photoshopped he's still gorgeous.

Lady Gaga 



In this series of photographs we see Stefani Germanotta and her celebrity alter ego, Lady Gaga. It's almost hard to believe that the same person is in both of these photos. The changes made to Lady Gaga's appearance that are immediately notable are of course her hair, in the constructed photo, she is wearing a blonde wig. Also, she has a lot of make up, mainly accentuating her eyes and lips. Another major difference is her skin tone- it's lightened in the constructed photo (which is interestingly in contrast to the changes most white females will undergo in post production.) Her skin, of course is touched up, we see an even complexion in her constructed photo, where as in the candid picture her skin has a natural flush and uneven colouring. Overall, my reaction to this set of photos is the power of makeup and photoshop, just how much altering can be done to an image. I suppose I'm not quite awestruck, closer to indifferent than that, but the emotion is something like that.

Media Literacy

Media Literacy (n.): the understanding, and ability to communicate with different forms of media (see also: books, magazine, films, the Internet)

Media literacy is the product of the introduction of all new kinds of media to western- and global- culture. It's ancient precursor, literacy, was a term applied to the understanding and writing of only print media, which was limiting, when media such as film, music and the internet became a more prominent way of communicating.

In my view, someone who is "media literate" is one who 1) can efficiently operate technology such as computers and televisions and 2) can easily browse the internet and find the information they need and 3) be able to make intelligent decisions about the validity of the content being presented (i.e. this person would know that the free iPad being offered to them in the ad on the side of a website is, in fact, a scam).