Mass Media

Mass media is an extremely powerful force in molding the minds of people today. The types of news we prescribe ourselves to will inevitably affect our views and even influence our mindsets about certain issues. Based on the cultivation theory, the influence by the media is a gradual one in the sense that our perceptions of various issues alters with increased frequency of the information we take in. The great amount of mass media that we are consuming, especially through the development of new communication technologies (NCT), has probably accelerated the influence it has on us.

Furthermore, through NCT, barriers of time, space and limited resources can be eliminated. People can watch these shows on the Internet or download them from various websites. There have also been other systems, such as the Hub Station from Starhub, to record the indicated shows the user desires. Now, people wouldn't need to rush home to watch the show, but can finish what they want to do outside before enjoying the recorded show when they return home. Or, they can gather any information they desire from Wi-fi or surf the Internet from their mobile phones. Thus, more of mass media and new media are consumed by people because they are not restrained by time or location.

An especially prominent aspect the media has changed in the masses' mindset is the definition of beautiful people. What makes a person beautiful? More often than not a slim, slender lady with perfect teeth, flawless skin, luscious hair and bedroom eyes, or a guy with a strong jaw line and sharp noses is depicted as beautiful like those in the pictures above. It is rare that people with messy hair, bad complexion (like the one below) are called beautiful in the mainstream media. They may even be associated with bad mannerism and portrayed as ugly or crooks in the mass media. These images strengthen the stereotypes in the society and causes people to judge others more by their outlook than through their personalities.




Many have tried to diet to attain the "perfect figure". Some have even gone to the extreme, becoming bulimic or anorexic in the process, while some have turned to cosmetic surgery to attain their ideal features.

Reality TV and long running programs like Miss Universe have been feeding the society this notion too. Through their good looks, they are able to win a scholarship for further studies, and become ambassadors of world peace. Are only beautiful people allowed to be ambassadors of world peace and AIDS especially when they are not even related to it in the first place? Probably, they are stepping on the title of Miss Universe to garner more attention about it within the communities. However, i think the feasibility of this project is very small, because Miss Universe is more well known as a beauty contest than a search for ambassadors for AIDS prevention, which is a role the crowned Miss Universe has to take on as stated in their website:

"Miss Universe uses her title to champion HIV/AIDS prevention, particularly among adolescents. During her reign, Miss Universe will work with the Latino Commission on AIDS, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and Youth AIDS/PSI among other organizations."

America's Next Top Model (ANTM) has been so successful that it is now in its 13th cycle and running in more than 100 countries. Although the show's contestants comprises mostly of ordinary people of different backgrounds from all walks of life, most of the winners are small sized and fit the stereotype of a model. Plus sized girls are rarely in the show and even rarer do they win. Even the first plus-sized winner - Whitney Thomson- in ANTM is not considered that plus sized in the normal society.



In the picture below, Miss Thomson is seated on the extreme right.



Below are pictures of past ANTM winners and as you can see, most of them are slim, some of them too skinny.





Below, is Yoanna House, winner of ANTM season 2.
Although she was always interested in fashion and wanted to be a model, she was overweight. She only auctioned for ANTM after losing 45 pounds, and went on to win. Imagine, if she didn't lose that 45 pounds, do you think she'll even have chance at a shot of being on ANTM? I highly doubt so.




However, there are still a few plus sized people who have made it in the mass media and changed the depiction of beautiful people. Queen Latifah is a good example of one who has made it big in the entertainment industry despite them being plus sized. Her works has earned her many awards and nominations, such as the Golden Globe award, Grammy award, and Emmy Award nomination just to name a few.

Now, more people are also more aware of the negative influences mass media is having on the society (especially on impressionable youths and woman) when they portray being slim as beautiful and cool.

The movies she makes are usually centered on themes like love, family and personal growth. The movie Hairspray, for instance, has gone against the norm and has featured many plus sized actors in the movie like Nikki Blonsky and John Travolta acted as a big lady as shown below.





This movie has shown that you do not have to have the perfect body to be considered beautiful and cool. Being big is not a sin. Being healthy does not mean one has to be stick thin. I know many people who are big sized, but they are as fit as the rest of the group, and can even run faster than the skinnier people.

You can be big and happy too.

Culture

Traditions and practices passed down generations. Culture creates templates and structures which we use to interpret meanings, and gives rise to various scripts that we believe should be followed in certain situations. It also shapes the beliefs and values shared within the community. And these may in turn give rise to a collectivist or individualist society.

Singapore has certain values that she has that are passed down through the generations. For instance, filial piety is especially important in our society, where the young are expected to take care of their elders. It is also common to see working adults still living with their parents here as compared to more westernized countries, where they strike out on their own at a younger age or when they have reached a point when they are considered adults (i.e. 21 years).

Very often, in the Asian culture, we also do not voice out our opinions if it goes against the majority in the group for fear of being ostracized or put down due to an opposing view. For instance, we always have to respect the elders, and we rarely scold them if they have said something wrong or advise them on something different that goes against what they are used to doing. We usually just let it pass, accept it as it is and pretend nothing happened.

Silence is a great example of non verbal communication that is interpreted differently across various cultures. Some time back I went to the states for holiday and I tried surfing there. The instructor was a local. We were practicing for quite some time and I was tired. When I didn't reply to his command, his response shocked me when he said "Do you understand English?"
In the Asian context we would often interpret silence as unwillingness to speak, or rejection, or taking the person to be thinking of a response. However, in the western context, it was seen as not understanding the other party and a further elaboration was needed for comprehension to be acquired.

At that point in time, I felt that he was extremely rude and i did not deserve that insult from him. However, now I have learned that it was culture shock that i had experienced. Culture shock is when we do not know what to expect of the locals and how to behave there. It was due to our difference in culture that caused the misunderstanding, and I will be more aware of the intercultural communication that occurs in future.

Culture goes across boundaries and can be "transferred" over to others through interaction. i believe that for one to really embrace a certain culture, one has to be exposed to it, experience it and immerse in it for long periods of time.

Culture also causes us to dress differently for different occasions. Even within the Asian context there are variations in the costumes for the same occasion due to distinctive beliefs. For example, the Japanese brides wear white Kada, while the Chinese brides are decked out in red costumes as shown in the pictures below.

The traditional Chinese wedding costume.



The Japanese wedding costume and dolls dressed in the Kada

group communication

In the morning, touch rugby training proceeded as per norm. However, this time I noticed more about how we achieved group synergy through task delegation and taking up roles with initiative. Group synergy is achieved when the task is assigned to the members with the right skills and the members can optimize their potential when working hand in hand with other members.

In the game of Touch Rugby, at least two persons are needed to play the game. The game starts from the center of the pitch. When the person who starts the ball is touched, he places the ball on the ground and walks over it. He is now the dummy and he needs his teammate (to act as a dummy half) to pick up the ball, who in turn needs another member to pass the ball to for the game to proceed. This is because the the dummy half cannot be "touched" by the opponents or his team will lose possession of the ball on top of forfeiting ten meters.



However, in the standard game, there are six players on each team. Each will take on a certain role: Center, Link or Flyer. Centers are people in the center of the field, and usually command the game as they hold possession of the ball most of the time. Flyers stand on the outermost of the field, and are mostly made up of the fastest members of the team and are basically the “strikers” in the touch rugby team. Links (standing between the Centers and Flyers) are usually playmakers that create opportunities for “tries” (goals) to occur and assist the Flyers to score.


Later in the day, there was a match at Turf City and while we boot up, Coach was prepping us up and briefed us on the objectives and moves that we have gone through during practice. His role as a leader brings us together and gears us towards one direction. Everyone has different roles to play in the team. Some are in charge of bringing bananas to energize the team before game starts, while others need to help bring the balls for training. Therefore, for a higher chance of winning in a match, it is important to identify the attributes of each member so that the roles we take on and positions that we play in will allow us to develop our potential and assist the team towards a common goal.

Moreover, group synergy can be optimized with the presence of in-groups. These in-groups are known as partners. This is especially important between certain groups of Links and Flyers. Within this in-group, codes are established and a certain rapport is established so that they know what the other member wants to do at a particular time. Their minds, body and actions are in sync to support each other. Usually I’m partnered with M because we know what the other is doing and the moves to anticipate. We were classmates and spent a great deal of time together. Probably due to the high quantity of time we spend together, we have gotten onto the same frequency and this has helped in allowing better communication, verbal and non verbal, when we play the game.

Group communication is vital in the play and has to be effective or the "try" (aka goal) cannot be made. Just the simple action of passing the ball requires group communication. where the pass the ball, when to pass the ball, which gap to hit, which player to go next, all requires group communication. This is a game, like many others, which cannot be played on your own, no matter how skilled you are.

Each and every one of us is uniquely different, and we can achieve amazing things on our own. But when we put our heads together, miracles can occur.

Don't you agree?

Interpersonal Communication

This week i caught a movie:

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

This movie is centered on an aspiring inventor who wants to make something to help mankind. His many past inventions, like his first invention: crayon shoes, have been looked down upon and his most recent one is none the different. It is a machine he created which can change water into food, and it is going to help his hometown Swallow Falls, a fishing village get recognized globally. By accident, the machine is sent up into the skies. And that is where the magic and disaster starts. The abundant amount of water in the atmosphere allows Swallow Falls to enjoy different types of food every day without a limit and without a cost, or so they thought. Through a newscaster Sam Sparks, this weird food weather got broadcast to the entire world.






Initially, Flint felt that he was an outcast and did not think that anyone would understand him, especially since his father didn't. However through experimenting (which is second stage in the Knapp Model of Relational Development) and self-disclosure, he found out that Sam and him had a lot of common interests, such as science. They both enjoyed it and were good in it. Furthermore, through greater interaction, they were both able to understand how come they are the way they are presently. And that was due to past experiences which created templates in their mindset about what and how they should act to be accepted by society.



Sam was a nerd in school and was always outcast by her classmates because she was deemed "uncool", so she changed her outlook. She took to wearing contact lenses instead of spectacles and the way she dressed. She no longer tied her hair in a pony tail but let it down. However, Flint appreciated her as who she was, character wise. He knew she liked Jell-O and made a Jell-O castle for her where they disclosed more about themselves. He then expressed that he felt she looked pretty no matter if she was bespectacled or not, and that she was a beautiful person. At this stage, both of them moves in, moving from social space to intimate space according to the proxemic theory by Edward Hall. They try to show their interest in each other, pushing them to the intensifying and integrating stage where their intimacy reaches a new level.




Click here for the Jell-O clip.

Flint and the Mayor went through the differentiating stage (stage 6, Coming Apart) when both of them stood on opposing sides of the fence when they argued on pushing the button to command the machine to create "an all you can eat Las Vegas Buffet". The machine was already making over-sized mutated food and overheating. This action caused it to overload, go berserk and out of control. One disaster it brought about was the spaghetti hurricane which swept countless houses in Swallow Fall away.



Flint and Sam faced the problem caused by the mutating machine together and bonded as a unit, as partners. This crisis helped them bond faster together and allowed bonding (stage 5) to occur.



Although this movie did not show all stages of the Knapp model of relational development, it allowed me to understand it better, especially since it was the first movie i watched after the interpersonal communication lecture.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?

Silence surrounded them as they stare into each other in the eyes. he shrugs, her hand rises but never quite managed to touch him. he turns to leave, and just when his back faces her, she goes forward to hug him tightly; without a word she's begging him not to go. But he can't stay, he needs to go. he loves her so much, but does she knows that? he doesn't know. he pushes himself out of her arms and backs away, putting distance between them. he picks up his briefcase, she kicks it away defiantly and turns her back to him, pulsing to the beat, beat of the love dance between them.

This is a dance performance by Chelsie and Mark in So You Think You Can Dance to the song Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis.

The body gestures in this scene depict the pain of separation more than words can say. The non verbal communications are such an important part of the interaction people have with one another that it outweighs the diction people use to communicate what they mean. Although Chelsie knows that she has to let go of Mark, there is a great internal struggle when she reaches out and hugs him (haptics), which shows her longing and desire for him to stay. Through his shrug and him leaving without a last look back, his disappointment in not being able to change his decision because he believes that what he is going to do will be for the best and is hurt at the sadness of his lover is illustrated.

Gradual increment in the distance between them shows that Mark is moving form a personal space to a public space (Edward Hall, proxemics theory), alluding to how he wants to have a less intimate relationship with Chelsie through the distance he puts between them.

The pain of separation experienced (by Chelsie especially) is portrayed in her facial expressions and the vigorous dance movements as you can see in the pictures and clip below. The frown and the many instances of oculesics involving deep and intense eye contact portrays this. Additionally, the song Bleeding Love communicates the emotional struggle and sufferings Chelsie experiences through paralinguistics as the song becomes louder and the phrase "Keep bleeding/ Keep, keep bleeding love" repeats multiple times.

Furthermore, the attires they wear also convey to the audience that they are from different classes of society, they have different lifestyles or that they are of a different age group all together. This could be telling the audience of the difficulties couples with a wide age gap are experiencing. despite the love they have for each other, the adversities they face are too much for either party and the relationship cannot continue.

In my opinion, dance and music are extremely important aspects of every culture and society, and are great examples of non verbal communication. Through it, people can express what they want to say more subtly and discreetly, yet still effectively.

As they say, "Action speaks louder than words". Do you agree?

"GAMER" IS AN AWESOME SHOW NOT TO BE MISSED THIS YEAR!

Initially the plot can be quite confusing to someone who doesn't know the synopsis or the gist of the story. I got quite mixed up myself too as i didn't know if the characters in the "games" were real humans or just mere virtual characters. Limited and undisclosed information in the front part of the movie, such as the relationship between Butler and Angie, caused the audience to create a closure by making sense of a particular set of stimuli by visual or abstract means. In this case it is through puzzle, mood and our expectations of the hero's past.

It is about a future world where in the mass multi-player gaming world of "Society" and "Slayers" “People pay to control, and they pay to be controlled." The controlled being players and the ones controlling being the gamers. Butler (the star player of "Slayers") tries to regain his freedom and independence whilst bringing down the games' creator: Ken Castle.

This movie is intriguing in the sense that it pushes us to think of how much games can control us in a way that we get so intertwined with technology and gaming that we will get involved in it someway or other to the extent that our lives may get jeopardized.

The context of this story further pushes our perception of gamers as addicts and its creators as money-suckers. The impression of the controller (gamer) being anonymous in the virtual world is strengthened as they are unknown to their players and it categorizes people with similar physical attributes behind the screens. Their behaviors are also very similar in the way that they are twisted in the mind as they enjoy scenes of torture and sadism.

For example the gamer who controlled Butlers' wife: Angie (played by Amber Valletta) is portrayed as an extremely obese, oily and disturbed person, whilst another gamer is played by a bald wrinkly old man controlling a cute, young virile man. The stereotype of the gamer behind the screen is what causes us to be increasingly disgusted, especially when he is set in a dark, gloomy room where his only connection to the outer world is his computers.

The hero is another prototype. Butler is a muscular, testosterone throbbing fighter who battles his way through to freedom and to his family who are all trapped as game slaves in Ken Castles' empire. Like other heroes in other movies: Terminator and 300, his goal is the figure and propeller of the movie.

This is the emotional stimuli in the movie where the audience is drawn towards Butler's motive and thus put themselves in his shoes and feel for him and his cause. Are you?

Gore is a genre i enjoy watching because it sends thrills down my spine and me shrilling.

The anticipation for the next climax and the catharsis it promises keep people going back for more. Since the Silence of the Lambs, the series of Saw I to V, and the current hype over the last sequel of the Final Destination, many including myself have been following these series dutifully. The statistics have proven that these movies draw the crowds and have been successful in bringing in the dough for the movie-makers. For example, Saw (2004) managed to bring in a gross worldwide revenue of $103,096,345 when their production budget was only $1.2 million, and Final Destination 3 garnered $113,270,608. For most of them, their revenue is many times their production costs hence encouraging the producers to keep making similar gore movies.

In this last episode of The Final Destination, the movie was more interactive than the others in the sense that the audience was more involved in the movie by integrating the 3-D effect into it. This allowed the movie to progress from a linear communication approach to an interactive one, where the audience feel involved in the movie as well. It invoked more screams and shocks (which act as feedback) when the 3-D effects brought the scenes "up close", sending them right into the faces of the audience. This is such in the scene portrayed below when pieces of debris were sent spewing "out of the screen" due to an explosion.

This has pushed the expectations of watching gore movies to another level as the audience are not only able to experience the fear when encountering the situations depicted in the movie, but they are also able to immerse themselves further into the characters' emotions and thoughts. This is especially so when the the director crafts the movie with the use of angles, lighting and music to set the mood.

For this sequel, i watched both the 2-D and 3-D versions, and sad to say, the 2-D version was a real disappointment. The scenes were so fake! Especially where there were supposed to be 3-D effects. Due to this, instead of paying attention to the gruesome deaths the characters suffered, I was more focused on how badly the 2-D version was put out to the public. It fell short of any other 2-D movie i have watched.

The 3-D version stood out though. Out of the many 3-D movies out this year ( Ice Age 3 and UP!), the special 3-D effects were better experienced. Yet, the movie depended more on the special effects than the plot of the story to amaze its audience. Although it worked, there was a sense of emptiness as i left the cinema theatre, probably because the plot did not develop from the previous final destination sequel.