Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The People of Walmart

http://media.peopleofwalmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2504.jpg
During my little spare time, I usually like to explore new sites and pictures and videos from around the globe.Lately, my main focus has been politics and international relations, such as the situation in Egypt, Tunisia and now Libya. This past long weekend though, I came across this site called "The People of Walmart." My first thought was "THIS IS COMPLETELY FREAKY!" When we go shopping, usually around Black Friday- when people stay up late or wake up very early in the morning to get the best deals on electronic devices, clothing, etc- we see many customers wearing their pajamas or as if they just crawled out of bed, grabbed their wallets and hit the stores! But this! this is scary!, what it is portrayed in this site are DAILY PICTURES of Walmart customers doing shopping. Some of them are funny, some of them are so gross that some people might even feel nauseous if they take a look at them. But I found one in particular in which a young-looking mom is buying plastic bins, laundry basket and piling everything on her cart, where her small son (around 3 years old) is sitting, being smashed by these items. Is this possible? Did anybody say anything to this woman?, like a "Hey! You are smashing your child with all your containers and cleaning products."
Here is a link to the site and the picture ( see above) I am talking about.
www.peopleofwalmart.com
This site as you can see, really caught my attention. It's interesting to see what mid America looks like, right? :S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1rTSazpCJs

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Tortoise and The Hare: Who Wins This Race?

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_19994.jpg
 The Tortoise and the Hare is an Aesop's fable that is number 226 in the Perry Index. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare
According to theHerodotus (Greek historian), the fables were written by a slave named Aesop, who lived in Ancient Greece during the 5th century BC. Aesop is also mentioned in several other Ancient Greek works including works by Socrates, Plato and other philosophers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables

            This story is about a hare who is very full of himself and underestimates a tortoise (for being as slow as they are) when they are going to race. During the race, the hare runs as fast as he can and makes fun of the slow-moving tortoise whose shell is so heavy that makes him move much slower than him. The Hare, thinking that he was "way ahead" of the tortoise decides to stop and take a nap under a tree. Meanwhile, the tortoise keep on going without stopping and starts to get very close to the finish line, the hare then hears the crowd cheering and shouting at the tortoise and realizes that he has fallen asleep and has to catch up. The hare runs as fast as he can, however the tortoise has already arrived to the finish line and wins the race. Slowly but surely, the well-determined tortoise wins the race! Several experts believe that this fable has many meaning and morales.In my opinion, the morale that I got from reading this fable as a child and watching the 1934 Disney cartoon film was a saying that we use in Spanish: "A camaron que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente." The literal meaning of this saying is : If a shrimp falls asleep, the stream will drag him..." Now the real meaning of this saying will be that a person must be aware and cautious of situations, not underestimate others for their speed, height, age, etc. We see this happening over and over on a daily basis, at work, in sports, wars, and more. For example, three years ago my favorite Peruvian soccer team was going to play against a not-so popular (not good) soccer team. My favorite team decides they will go partying all week and train only 1hour a-day while the other team decided not to go out anytime during the week and practice throughout the whole time. At the end, the "not-so popular team" beats my team 4-1. Why? my team underestimate the other team and just believed they did not have to make any effort to win the National Champion League.

My Personalized Script

                                     VIDEO                                                                AUDIO                   
FADE IN:                                                                                    FADE IN MUSIC:
"Big Race Tortoise VS. Hare" sign shows up.                         Fast-pace classical melody and animals 
Animals lining up and clearing up the way.                              cheering and talking.

Hurry Hare appears as a winner                                            Animals cheering at Hurry Hare.

Tardy Tortoise appears cheering and excited                         Animals and Hurry Hare mocking him.

Hurry Hare gives his hand to Tardy Tortoise                          Hurry Hare and audience laughing at Tardy 
and takes it away before Tardy Tortoise shakes                     Tortoise.
his hand.

Rancid Raccoon starts the race by shooting                          Sound of the pistol shooting...
his pistol up in the air.

Hurry Hare rushes and starts running as fast                         fast-pace music playing...
as he can, while tardy Tortoise is moving 
very slowly.

Tardy Tortoise runs at his "own pace" while                       Slow-pace music playing...
singing a song.

Hurry Hare keeps on running until he spots                        Fast-pace music and slow-pace music playing
Tardy Tortoise from far away in the back and                    when Hurry Hare decides to rest...
decides to take a nap under a shady tree.

Tardy Tortoise keeps on moving ... he's                            Slow music quickly turns into a faster pace tune.
determined to win this race... 
He passes by Hurry Hare without stopping.

Hurry Hare keeps sleeping peacefully.                               Dreaming music playing...

Tardy Tortoise keeps on running and is                              Animals cheering and shouting at Tardy Tortoise
almost to the finish line...                                                    happy music on the background...

Hurry Hare suddenly wakes up and notices                       Surprise music and fast-pace music playing also.
Tardy Tortoise almost to the finish line... 
He runs as fast as he can...

Hurry Hare is almost catching up with Tardy                      Winning music on the background while animals
Tortoise but Tardy Tortoise, stretches his neck                   cheer at Tardy Tortoise and boo at Hurry Hare.
and legs and makes it to the finish line.

Tardy Tortoise is picked up by bigger animals                    Winning music and finale...
as the only winner and throws a big smile with 
his arms up in the air.Hurry Hare is left behind...

FADE OUT                                                                   MUSIC FADES OUT.


Here is a link to the 1934-Disney cartoon film on "The Tortoise and The Hare."

 Hope you enjoy it as much as I did now and when I was little...




Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Stereotypes, Metaphors, Signs and Symbols

On this posting, I will talk about stereotypes, metaphors, signs and symbols. I believe these four media concepts are very important and might define what we think as human beings, media producers and viewers.
According to Wordnet, a stereotype is "a conventional or formulaic conception or image) "regional stereotypes have been part of America since its founding"  http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=stereotype
There are several examples of  stereotypes, for example that most people from India are doctors, engineers or information technology specialists, some of them working at International Call Centers.
http://globalvillagetoday.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/india-inc-cover1.jpg
http://globalvillagetoday.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/india-inc-cover1.jpg



http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/68543/68543,1172963854,5/stock-photo-hispanic-male-gang-stereotype-2799963.jpg


Or for instance, Hispanics (also called Latinos) living in the United States are either from Mexico (crossed the border illegally) or from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
The media stereotypes women as well. For example, in the music industry in which young girls who want to become famous have to be skinny, blond so that they can become successful singers who will be exhaustively admired by other young girls, attracted to men and followed by paparazzies.I can use the example of Colombian-born singer Shakira, who in her early years as a Spanish-Pop singer had black hair, and voluptuous body. A few years later, in order to captivate the American audience, she died her hair blond, had to go through multiple surgeries and training to appear skinny and conquer the American/commercial world, like Britney Spears and the newest, Lady Gaga. Now, when you do a  Google image search on Shakira you will only see pictures of her as blond and skinny.I literally had to dig in to find an image of her as a brunette and chubby singer. Check this out!
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/31503669/Shakira+9st8.jpg
http://www.terra.com/addon/img/musica/113c1c6shakira_1996_01_mzcp.jpg









AFTER





 



                  BEFORE
I truly believe that this latter stereotype about women is wrong. It induces girls and young women to do whatever it takes to copy their favorite 'perfect body' celebrities. The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control—including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting. (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm)


Now moving onto another concept, according to Sartar a metaphor is "a fundamental mode of communicating meaning in which a relationship between two things is suggested through analogy or a simile. (Methaphors) they communicate the meaning of an unknown by transposing it into the terms of the known.
Most of us use metaphors to describe or explain something underneath an idea. Here is a great video that explains some common metaphors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFgRj-5d5Ac&feature=related

Many world leaders used and currently use metaphors to explain socioeconomic and political issues and make concepts a bit easier for all people to understand. For example here is a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson using a metaphor: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Jefferson.Quote.EFEC
In conclusion, metaphors are a great way of explaining and understanding certain abstract topics that can be confusing or just need more clarification. It is vital to use them on a daily basis.

And last but not least, we have symbols and signs. A sign is something that stands for something else, while a symbol is something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. Something visible representing something invisible. A symbol can be embued with rich layers of meanings.http://www.symbols.net/signsymbols/
 A great example of a symbol is the Ying yang that symbolizes the abstract concept of perfect balance in the Chinese culture. "This symbol represents the primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things in the universe. Depicted as it is, it also outlines the necessity of balance in all things." http://www.whats-your-sign.com/yin-yang-symbols.html 
http://z.about.com/d/taoism/1/0/0/-/-/-/yinYang.gif
http://z.about.com/d/taoism/1/0/0/-/-/-/yinYang.gif
Another one is the symbol for "going green" or recycling. he universal recycling symbol ( or in Unicode)  It is an internationally recognized symbol used to designate recyclable materials. It is composed of three chasing arrows that form a Möbius strip or unending loop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_symbol
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4361345/2/istockphoto_4361345-recycle-symbol.jpg

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4361345/2/istockphoto_4361345-recycle-symbol.jpg













http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/UNC/UNC214/stop-sign-mark_~u14629813.jpg
 A good sign example is the universal STOP sign http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/UNC/UNC214/stop-sign-mark_~u14629813.jpg