Media Text that changed my life:

Remember The Titans

This Disney favourite tells the story of two separate race schools uniting together in the sixties despite all conflict and defeating the racists in Virginia.

Based on the life of the late Gary Burtier, it portrays the racist struggle African Americans faced in America in mid 20th century. 

The film changed my life in many ways. Firstly, it still remains my favourite film ever because the story meant that much to me. 

Secondly, as everyone should be, I am completely against racism and this being released in 2001 meant that from a young age this taught me how disgusting and inhumane racism is as the story shows how vile Coach Boone was treated with bricks being thrown into his home and the N-word being sworn at his 9 year old daughter. 

Thirdly, the theme of friendship in this story is essential. The black team would never have united with the white team unless Gary,the white captain and Julius,the black captain did. Their life long friendship is the reason the team became mixed race, a milestone significance in America's civil conflict in the race of the races. 

In addition, the importance of perseverance is highlighted immensely in this film. Coach Boone is a top NFL coach, the best in the industry, however just for the sheer fact that he isn't white he is categorised as unfit for the job. However, Boone does not quit even when a head coach calls him a monkey on national television, the humiliation only makes him work harder and this benefits the team completely. 

The will to do what is right even if it doesn't benefit you is also highlighted in this film. Bill Yoast the favoured white coach is asked by senior management to allow his team who has trained excruciatingly hard to get to national championship finals to forfeit their place in order for him to get onto the Hall Of Fame. Though this would make him a household name in American football, he declines and loses his chance to get onto the Hall Of Fame because he knows it is what should be done and cannot cause such disappointment to his team after everything they have faced.

The message the film conveys is to never give up no matter what. The titans were the underdogs in every match faced. Everybody doubted them, even themselves. They didn't allow any negatives to affect them or their performance which speaks loud volumes to me.

Another reason why this film is so important to me because it shows Coach Yoast's young daughter Sheryl portrayed by young Hayden Panettiere be such an avid die hard supporter of American football, not Barbies like Coach Boone's similar aged daughter. This is important to me because growing up watching this proved to me that girls can like sports not just boys. Being such a big supporter of football now, I have followed the character of Sheryl to show that a sport isn't gender limited and that my likes and dislikes shouldn't be restricted due to my gender and gender stereotypes. The contrast of Coach Boone's daughter and Coach Yoast's daughter accurately represents the stereotypes female face.

Media Diary Week 5

The Media text that I have consumed this week is The Walking Dead.
I initially started watching the TV series as I was bored one night and a lot of Online blogs that I read had reviewed it and described it as 'terrifyingly amazing'. I watch this TV series every Monday night on the channel Fox.

This show fulfils my entertainment need with not just the story line but the characters that develop along the way. Right from the first episode the show grips us into a mighty hold and defiantly does not let us go. The gore may not be a pleasant aspect of the show however for the horror fanatics (like me)  I thrill to see those Walkers killed and blood platters everywhere. However its not just the gore that invites me in to watch, it's the story line as well as the characters. The idea of a man falling into a coma to wake to a zombie apocalypse is exciting to watch and observe as his personality deteriorate
from a family sheriff to a man who has lost the will to live after the death of his wife and the family that has been built along the road to survival. The show never has a dull moment and every scene has me on the edge of my seat.

The Walking Dead has a variety of point of view shots. This engages us into the show even further and allows us to personally identify with the characters. Though we don't identify with the story, we do identify with the loss of loved ones and the will to survive.

The show provides us with information of survival. It teaches us the skills and the power we need to survive in a world with no government or empowerment. This is shown through the characters development in the show, the deep decent of their personality's are presented to us and we understand that we mustn't follow the same path.

Media Diary Week 5

I recently watched a show called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, a Japanese Cartoon about a man named Jonathan Joestar in 18^th England as he fights against his step-brother Dio Brando. I mainly watch the show to serve as entertainment and social interaction, the show lives up to its name as the adventure that the main protagonist goes on is far too ‘bizarre’ for anyone to really relate to apart from dealing with siblings. Since I do not have any siblings I am unable to relate to that aspect of the character, though I can see others empathizing with JoJo because of this fact. Others could relate to it as JoJo’s pet dog tragically dies, some could relate to the feeling of losing a pet and would be able to empathize with his lose.

JoJo’s main use is for entertainment and escapism, from the ludicrous and overly dramatic plot to the rather flamboyant characters who take the absurdity of the situation one hundred percent seriously. Something that could be considered simple as stealing a kiss is highly over exaggerated, from the strange and out of place sound of the guitar in the scene to the stylized Japanese text. The colour pallet also further reinforces the surreal nature of the show as it is never fully consistent, depending on the environment a blonde haired character will instantly turn green and in another environment it will be purple. The colours used is by far the shows strong point as it is always changing and never stays the same for long, especially in frantic situations such as a fight between the two brothers JoJo and Dio. The use of supernatural monsters such as vampires and zombies reinforces the unrealistic nature of the show, helping the audience to with the goal of escapism.

The show gives plenty of opportunities for social interaction, for example I first starting watching the show due to a recommendation from an opinion leader in my life and I discuss the show regularly with them. I communicate to this person through the social media website Google Plus; this is due to the distance between us.

The other media text that I have consumed recently is a game known as Payday 2, in this game you play as a robber apart of a team known as The Payday Gang who go to various locations and steal items from them. This can be as simple as money, gold and weapons to more unusual items such as artifacts, samurai armour, cocaine and meth. The entertainment from this game comes from the adrenaline rush of robbing a wide variety of good’s, it taps into a person’s rebellious side and being able to coordinate a robbery without any real life consequences. The humour the game presents is mainly from the characters dialogue and their overall desensitized nature to violence, fighting the police and general criminal activity. For example in one mission, while defending an armoured vehicle with an old heister inside it he is still willing to make jokes even with the heavy police presence and gun fire “not going to miss that prison food I’ll tell ya that much, shit on a fucking shingle” , “fucking  hell lads, think about going straight. You don’t want to be around Hazelton on Thursdays. Two words, fucking kinky night” and “admit it, you tossers missed my beautiful English accent didn’t you? Did you? Wankers!” This display of vulgar language and use of stereotypical English slang is just one of the many ways that Payday 2 uses humour, there are many other stereotypes used as well for humour from a Scottish woman to a Japanese man.  

The game thrives on social interaction, as Heists cannot be successfully completed without members of the group working together as a team. In terms of social interaction outside of the game there are several community forums and posts dedicated to the game which allows users to discuss about Payday 2, whether it is a new update or something related to the characters there is always a place to discuss about the game with others. Because I mostly play the game with friends I am able to talk to them about it, this also means that we have better communication while playing and thus we have a better experience because we are able to communicate more efficiently.

While many would not be able to personally identify with the experiences that The Payday Gang have to go through, the use of Stereotypes for the characters helps to give the user a way to identify with the characters in one form or another. This can be something as simple as the characters race and gender to where they are from and things that the characters say. There is one character who the audience could potentially personally identify with and that character is Bonnie, Bonnie grew up in Glasgow during the 1980’s, during this time those who were in the working class struggled for work and were highly effected by the conservative government. Those who grew up during that time or those who are in the working class could identify with Bonnie as she has experienced the same troubles and hardships they have.

Media Diary Week 5

Ghost busters: 3/4 uses and gratifications

Personal Identity: I have grown up with this movie.I first saw it when i was 6 years old and my brothers associate with it alot. all three of us make movie quotes referring to it,when they are necessary of course. I associate with the character Peter Venkman, as he is like me in many ways.I also like the soundtrack to the movie as well, as the movie is set in the 80's and most of the music i like is from the 80's.

Entertainment/escapism: Movies are escape for me personally, and the film is very entertaining through the use of humor, the acting and more importantly the plot; because you can't have a good movie without a good plot.

Social Interaction: I am able to tell people who have not seen the film, about the film. This is very fun for me as i get to show off my knowledge of the film to others. However, if i am talking to people who have seen the film also we get to have a great conversation, and sometimes it is a very good conversation starter.

The Evil Within: 3/4 uses and gratifications

Personal Identity: I have been playing this game with my eldest brother, and it is a very good bonding experience as there are some puzzles in the game that we can both help each other with, and there are alot of jump scares throughout the game, that we both get scared by, but we both laugh it off in the end.

Entertainment/escapism: You can really get lost in the story of this game, which is good for the jump scares as you can never tell when there coming and as you forget and get immersed in the game, they get you even worse. Video games are another escape for me 

Social Interaction: like I've said, i play this game with my brother which in itself is a social interaction, but i can also tell people who have not played the game about the game, and can talk to people who have played the game about it, like if i am stuck on a level i can ask someone who knows how to get past it i can ask the for help.

Media Diary Week 5

Uses and Gratifications

Splinter Cell Blacklist

I recently bought this game because I really wanted a little bit of escapism from everyday troubles and this game achieves this by putting you in the hot seat and making you the Americas last hope like usual and making you Sam Fisher.This makes you forget about everyday troubles because you are a secret agent who is trying to save America which is not something you can do everyday so this media text give you the responsibility and makes the game feel personal to player meaning everything in the media text is being absorbed by the player. This game can also be used for social interaction as this game is part of a very popular franchise so I you ask someone about the game they will at least say they know it plus this can start conversations for other games in the franchise making sure no one ever feels left out and that the conversation may hopefully never get awkward.

Breaking Bad

 I have been watching Breaking Bad this week and the reason I have been watching this amazing program is that I have been quite bored of real life so I thought lets watch something that at the same time is realistic in a way but will never happen. So for me it has been a form of Escapism as it gives me a lot of laughs but also makes me care for people that I have no pressure to help out as am able to trust them to stay safe at all times. Also I have been using it for social interaction as I am quite late to the party of the discovery of Breaking Bad I have been able to use my experience of watching this program to catch up on all of the latest conversations so I can always now have conversations with all of my friends and not miss out on anything it might even help me make new friends.