Super size me

I think that fast food is not to blame for obesity, it definitly affects the amount of obesity but in all honestly people need to learn self control and learn not to eat bad foods. In super size me he went on a 1 month mcdonalds spree. i personally could not do this because it would destroy me on the inside and i would gain a lot of noticable weight which is not something i want. I enjoy fast food on occasion but i rarely eat it because i know its bad for me and i want to be healthy and live a long, good life, that cannot be achieved if i eat fast food all the time so i choose not to.

I think that what Morgan Spurlock did in exposing the horrible truth of fast food was an eye opener to the American public but to truly hammer down on stopping obesity starts at the schools. A few years ago I watched a tv series called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Jamie went to Huntington,WV (Most obese city in America) to try and institute healthy eating across town. One place he visited was the schools. One of the schools in the area wouldn't allow him in while the other was very open minded. While he was there, he made healthy eating enjoyable for the plump kids there. As a result they preformed better in the classroom but overtime, parents became outraged with Jamie and forced him out. If this trend of unhealthy eating habits continues at a young age, we're really going to be facing a major problem.

Props to the man in "Supersize Me" for trying this obscene diet.  I wouldn't last a day on Mcdonald's alone.  I am not surprised that he is at a very unhealthy date by the 21 day mark.  He went from eating very healthy to eating fried foods each meal.  In my opinion Mcdonald's does try to manipulate their customers.  Yesterday I saw a McDonald's commercial and I just about wanted to throw up.  I watched and thought to myself "That is not a good representation of what McDonald's does to their customers!"  it is strange what a different perspective can do to you.

Below is an example of how companies can manipulate the way in which we look at their product:

McDonald's is trying to portray their product as healthy whereas it was proved to not be a healthy diet in the film "Supersize Me".

I think that Mr. Spurlock presented his opinion in a very strong way. He can really hurt himself more than he thought before starting this whole thing. He is still messed up to this day today. I think that he really went a little more over board than he needed to. Not a lot of people eat McDonalds everyday. But I think that the stuff and problems he has is good to see because they do happen to people. Of course not everyone is going to see this documentary and change the way they live. I think that he talks to a lot of people and gets a lot of helpful information to back him up. I think that his documentary effectively identifies the problem. I that that he really shows the major downfalls of eating fast food. I think he uses music a lot to manipulate the moment. He cuts out things that people say when he is talking to them like Michael Moore does.  I think that people like him changed the way that McDonalds does things. For example, they have to put calories on the menu. I once asked for a nutrition booklet and it took them 30 minutes. I wanted to see if it was really like he said. I think that he has guts for putting himself in danger.

I believe that it is an insane idea to eat McDonald's for a month straight, 3x a day. All of the health problems that were developed by Morgan shows the severity of the obesity problem in this country. People should not eat fast food for more and 2x a week, and doing it more than that puts you at risk to develop weight gain and bodily problems. I believe that this video was needed to show how severe fast food consumption is in our society, and to expose the flaws of the "bigger is better" mantra adopted by America.

The key to a good advertisement inside everyday media is to have the consumer think subconsciously about buying the product. When obviously stating the product such as in shark tank, the humans mind almost bypasses that product and looks at the attempted advertisement as almost a joke. In American Idol, all of the judges drink out of Coca-Cola glasses to symbolize that they all enjoy coke. To the normal fan of American Idol, if you see the judges drinking coke, you too would want to drink coke because the people you look up to drink coke too.

Regardless for the advertisement to be a big hit, it just needs to be talked about by the everyday person. Even if that means the pr is good or bad.

A policy that I disagree with at this school is one regarding swimming in gym class.  Girls are required to either wear a one-piece or wear a shirt over their bikini.  I think that this is unfair considering the boys are allowed to be shirtless at almost any point in time during this class.  I don't see how it is much different.  My freshman year I had to wear a one-piece during swimming and it made me more self-conscious than a two piece would've.  I did not like the lack of support that a one-piece provides in the breast region.  I feel that developing teens should be able to wear whatever they would like during their swimming portion of gym class as long as what they are wearing does not show an immense amount of cleavage. 

I believe that students should be able to use technology in classrooms. If a student is going on their phone to check their grades on power school, then they should not be penalized by getting a Saturday detention, or having their phone taken by their teacher. Likewise, if a student is charging their phone and not using it, a teacher should not be able to take it simply because the phone is out.

I believe that the call on second and goal during the Superbowl was one of the dumbest things that i have ever been witness to. When you have a guy with the nickname "beast mode" in the backfield with 20 seconds left you run the football. Its as simple as that. The offensive coordinator lost the Seahawks the football game, and i feel as though he should be fired. Not only because of the play call, but because the offense has been mediocre all season.

Movies can make a lot of money off of advertisements.  A great example of this was in the hit movie "Man of Steel".  Many companies saw this movie as a great advertising opportunity and acted upon it.  Although viewers may not have consciously noticed the products advertised, it was an image in their unconscious mind.  This, in turn, helped a lot of the companies that paid to be shown in the film.

Advertisement is actually a very complicated and interesting technique. I always knew advertisement was complicated and deep but i never thought it was quite like what this video portrays it as. personally i think it has gone too far, I mean advertisement is literally everywhere. I think to a certain extent it is ok and somewhat necessary but when it gets too far its just a nuisance. I also don't like how they mostly lie a lot, i can be fine with a little bit of lying but I don't like all that, overall i could never go into advertising. 

In the Swagger Wagon Toyota commercial, its trying to make mini vans cooler for people to drive. Its to make parenting seem cool. The joke is that when you start a family the man has to sell his cool car so that they can have a mini van for the kids to fit in. This ad plays on that joke. It targets all those parents buying a new mini van. They made a song for it to stick with people more. I think they didn't do the greatest job completely connecting it to Toyota. I would remember the video and that its about a van but not that the van was Toyota. They are trying to make mini vans for everyone and not dorky people by making it a rap.

I think that advertising is a very cool topic. It's incredible how humans see something and that changes their mind set and how people can manipulate what they see to want what they are selling. I never really thought about how we wouldn't have ads in a few years from now because even some of the ways to watch things online have ads like Youtube. When I personally see certain brands in movies it doesn't do much for me. It doesn't have very much of an impact that I want to go and buy it. The only thing that impacts me is food ads. I can't watch food ads at night because it always ends with a snack. I think ads will always be around and advance with the technology of the generation. Companies show ads to make money and websites let ads on their videos or homepage to make money. They wouldn't let that go easily.

Another important aspect of advertising is placement.  It you put your advertisement in the wrong place it can hurt your company rather than help it.  For example, if you have a car company and that car is blown up in a movie, it may not make the brand seem pleasing.  This is why people need to be careful how/where they advertise their products.

Above is an example of bad placement of an advertisement by Mcdonalds

This movie that we are watching about advertisements is very enlightening.  It is interesting to see all of the different ways in which different products can be presented to the world.  Having taken an advertising class last year I am already quite aware of all the different ways in which products are advertised.  One film that contains a particularly high amount of advertising is called "The Truman Show".  Here is the trailer to the movie: Movie Trailer ... This movie is very obvious with their advertisements.  If you watch a movie in search of advertisements I think that you will be surprised in how apparent they actually are.

With all of the problems that occur in Detroit, the root to solving the problem begins with the kids growing up. More money needs to be turned away from prisons and reallocate it to the public school system. By having the attention towards the younger age crowd, changes can be made for the future as overtime, the drugs and violence can start to deteriorate. One way in doing so is having kids become better educated. One thing President Obama is trying to pass is free community college. By having kids who have finished high school move onto higher education, they are more likely to find better jobs and move away from the drug business.

Deforce was a very informational film; click this hyperlink for reviews on the movie

Only about 50% of the legislative requests made by President Obama become fully enacted by congress, although roughly 60% are partially enacted.

I think that America still has a racial issue. We just watched the Dforce movie that explained what a racial issue we have just in Detroit and how blacks have a much harder time then other races and how they get punished more and differently compared to other races for the same reasons. Thats just one city. Even wealthy cities that act all perfect have racial problems too maybe even more so. I think that people are angry about the racial issues and are waiting for things to happen to show their opinions. I think that Groves is diverse but kinda not really. People tend to stick with people they look like and feel more comfortable with only certain people. If you look around the halls or the lunch room you still see all the whites with whites and so on. I think that it's harmless to a certain point. But people should try and mix with people different then themselves.

When people hear Detroit that dont really know what goes on they think that its a terrible and dangerous place. People shouldn't be quick to judge and should actually look into places or things before they make these judgements. 

I think all of it will always exist as long as people see the color of their skin or what is different about them instead of thinking as all people as people. 

In Deforce it shows what led to what many refer to as the "fall" of Detroit.  It amazes me that so many bad things can happen.  I wish we lived in a world where we could all get along but that is not the case.  We are all people; it was upsetting to see the brutality that occurred in the past.  Yes, it is still going on now but that doesn't mean that everyone is racist.  I have read articles about unarmed white people being killed by black people yet it does not become national news.  There are no riots over this.  This unit along with Martin Luther King Jr. day has brought forth opinions from my peers that in some cases I find insulting.  In one of the examples for racism on a worksheet we did someone said "white people don't know when they are racist".  I did not appreciate that because I am not a racist and when I sit there after the Ferguson case and listen to classmates of mine talk about how they want to kill random white people I become almost angry that they don't understand that they are being racist.  Not all white people are racist and there are other races that are racist as well. I don't understand how it is socially acceptable for a black person to tell me that I am "such a white girl" but if a white person told a black person they are "such a black girl" it wouldn't be okay... Neither is okay.  They are both racist comments.  This is a very controversial topic that I am almost afraid to talk about  but I feel like it needs to be spoken of.  How can someone just hate a person because of the color of their skin?  Issues like this make me lose hope for humanity.  I wish that the news focused on the good of America at least more than the small amount that they do.  Then maybe people wouldn't be so hateful.  

The movie Deforce highlighted the past success of the city of Detroit, but also the political struggles that has the city in the state that it is currently in. The people in the city are trying to have their voices heard, bu at the end of the day they feel as though nothing will change. The prison rates are at obscene levels, as African Americans populate only 14% of Michigan, But take up over 50% of the prison population. Also, the State of Michigan spends more on Prisons than they do on education.

I really do think that Barbie dolls have a big influence on kids and how they see themselves. I thought that the video we watched about the Bratz dolls was funny and showed the problem in an exaggerated way. I think that the Simpsons episode did portray the problem nicely and how dolls influence kid's self-esteem about how they should act and feel. Maybe girly barbie does the best sales but why can't they have a barbie thats not as girly. Maybe they will make even more money that way. I think on the other hand, I know little girls can't help but feel a certain way but maybe the parents can help make them not have to feel like they have to be like their barbies. Everyone is different so its not super easy to find out what the best way is.

I recently watched the movie American Sniper, I personally loved the movie because I have read Chris Kyles book and researched his military service and the movie (with the time they were given) told the story well. Knowing how some people in this country are i knew there was going to be some recoil and such on this heroic, touching story and of course Michael Moore comes out and has to state his ridiculous and frankly annoying opinion on this movie, he stated on twitter "snipers aren't heroes" as well as implying Chris kyle was a coward and invader. Tragically Chief petty officer Kyle is not here anymore to defend himself so many other veterans, friends and brothers in arms have stood up for him including Dakota Meyer, the second living marine to serve in Iraq/Afghanistan wars to receive the congressional medal of honor. much respect to Sergeant Meyer like always and much pity towards Mr. Moore.

http://freebeacon.com/culture/medal-of-honor-recipient-dakota-meyer-blasts-michael-moores-comments/

 above is a link to more specifics on what Dakota Meyer's response was

Mean Girls

In Mean Girls, the main "popular" group known as the plastics are notoriously know for being the mean and exclusive group. In today's school, most people live as the plastics. You might not be as mean as them but the groups you hang out with are the same. Many people have exclusive groups they hang out in. Most of the time every group is nice in including a new person; but that's only if they look or act like the current people in the group. Cliques can be a major problem especially in middle school and many of the effects carry over to high school. The only way to end all of this is to start at a young age. As in Mean Girls, once one plastic group was abolished, another forms.

After the Lions-Cowboys playoff game, The head of the NFL officials issued a statement saying that there was minimal contact to warrant the flag that was thrown and then picked up, but also that the referees missed a holding call on a critical 4th and 6 in the 4th quarter that the Dallas Cowboys converted on. I believe that there should be some sort of system in place to compensate teams who face missed calls. I'm not sure what should be implemented, just that something needs to change.

Mean girls displays many different stereotypes that I didn't notice until re-watching this movie.  As humans we tend to gravitate towards people who are similar to us.  In turn, we create stereotypes for ourselves.  There are stereotypes against everyone; my friends and I like lulu lemon, we also like Starbucks.  Suddenly we fall under the "basic white girl" category.  It is sad but true that there are so many stereotypes that exist and they really cannot be eliminated.  The other day I wanted to buy Kool-aid and a girl in one of my classes told me I was racist for wanting kool-aid.  This is because people have created so many stereotypes that white people cannot eat watermelon or drink kool-aid without being racist.  We divide ourselves and create issues that do not have to be there.  Mean girls is a comedy that may not express all of the segregation issues and stereotypes in this world but it shines a light on the "small" things that lead to bigger, worse things.

In Mean Girls I think they use a lot of different gender stereotypes. They use cliques, which are stereotypical, the popular, the nerds, the jocks, and so on. Then they made them all look very stereotypical for those certain cliques, nerds ugly/dorky, jocks have varsity jackets and date popular girls. I think that part of the point of the movie was to be stereotypical almost. I feel that everything is very dramatic and they make sure its what the viewer wants to see. It's easy for them to make a stereotypical movie than not for obvious reasons. I think that overall its a very stereotypical movie.

Mean Girls

The movie Mean Girls was pretty funny. It gave a comedic insight into the life of a girl who lived in Africa and was home schooled since birth until moving to the United States. She meets a group of friends who convince her to infiltrate a clique of girls in the school know as the plastics. the plan worked at first, and then backfired as everyone found out the secrets written in the burn book

As you can see the more population/big the city is than the more police officers there will be. in bigger cities more police officers are needed because more people equals more problems and situations that need to be handled by police officers. Also when there is a higher population the better chance more people will want to join the police force and represent their city.

I read an article about the secondary market for shoes. I knew about it already but it gave me more information that I didn't know before. It talks about the question of how is nike even making money? because people stand in line for days to buy a $300 dollar pair of shoes and then they sell it for $3000 so why wouldn't Nike just sell them for the $3000 instead of $300. People make a living buying and selling shoes on that secondary market. Yes people buy special shoes to wear but they also sell them. They talk about how once you take a car off the lot and drive it the value usually decreases, but with special and certain Nikes someone can wear them and the value still can be way more then the retail price. Of course the market goes up and down but I dont think it will ever disappear as long as new shoes get released.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/you-see-sneakers-these-guys-see-hundreds-of-millions-in-resale-profit/

In an article that I read from the website called fortythirtyeight.com it spoke of the debate on whether or not cell phones give people brain cancer.  The title of the article was "Cellphones Do Not Give You Brain Cancer" ,well, this shows where their views stand.  I have, in the past, worried about cell phones giving brain cancer.  I still refuse to sleep with my phone next to my head, just incase it actually does give cancer.  This article put my mind at ease a little bit when it said that this statement is too hard to prove.  Too many people use cellphones for a perfect study to be made of it.  An individual would have to be followed around for years without using a cellphone; there are also many different factors that could influence the result.  Attached is a graph showing the amount of brain cancer increase over the years.  The article states "It found that brain tumor rates are pretty much unchanged since mobile phones arrived. If the Swedish team is right about the size of the cellphone effect, tumor rates would be 40 percent higher than they are. There is virtually no way its results are correct.".  This is a very logical explanation; this article was very informative and I recommend reading it!  

Link to article: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/cellphones-do-not-give-you-brain-cancer/

PS: I can't figure out hour to make this not highlighted... my deepest apologies

Tennis Income Inequality

Tennis is one of the most popular sports worldwide and many of the players are starting to struggle to make an honest living. According to fivethirtyeight, fewer than 1,000 players actually break even throughout the season. From those 1,000, 589 actually made money from their prizes. Now just because not all of the players are making money from tournaments, they do make money in sponsorships. Regardless of the the sponsorships, many of the smaller, ITF or Challenger tournaments are not keeping up with todays rate of inflation. On the other hand, you have the ATP and WTA tournaments far exceeding the rate of inflation. With this, a large gap in income between players is becoming outrageous and if things don't change soon, fewer players will join the tour and many of these smaller tournaments will disband.

The debate on the "Barbie" doll has always frustrated me.  I don't see how some people can look at a Barbie and say that it gives children false expectations and insecurities.  I, myself, had never looked at a Barbie as a child and thought that I wished I looked like her.  No, I played Barbies with my friends because they are DOLLS and nothing more.  There are many arguments out there about how if the Barbie doll were an actual person she would not be proportionally correct.  Well of course not; she is a childs toy.  You don't see anyone criticizing bobble heads saying that they are a false representation of an actual human body!  Just because the Barbie doll is a popular toy amongst little girls does not mean there needs to be so much controversy over it.  If girls are going anorexic like some articles that I have read say, it is not to be like their Barbie doll... and if it is then there is a parenting flaw and/or an issue with the child, not the Barbie.

Since we've been watching this film on gender I have been thinking a lot more on gender stereotypes and what makes those stereotypes. I hadn't really thought much about this topic before this video. What a personally believe is everyone no matter male or female should act how they want to act and feel the way they want to feel. (as long as no laws are being broken) but I also think that everyone should be aware that there are people who truly believe in the gender stereotypes and if that's how they feel and how they act then everyone should respect that too.