The documentary "The Corporation" was chillingly brilliant. I have been referencing for the past couple of day. Although not at all a light film it was necessary to watch. For me I was most surprised by the fact that a corporation could buy a countries water supply. I guess this portion of the movie both surprised and agitated me. But what was so uplifting, which there as very little of in this movie, was that the people of Bolivia stood up against their government and this giant corporation. They worked against all odds to end the monopoly over their water. How in the hell can water that comes from the sky be commodified? This scares the crap out of me. Now what I never new before watching this film was that a corporation has the same rights under law as an individual. So why aren't they also held to the same standards if they break these laws?
Now what really surprised me was that reporters for FOX news were legally hushed when they wanted to report on Monsanto's BGH dealings in Florida. First of all I was surprised that anyone working for FOX actually wanted to report real news. What really got me was how much media and corporations are in bed with each other. The press seems to be living with a constant gag order imposed. That doesn't make me feel very secure.
Overall this film did offer somewhat of a positive outlook. I for one am feel even more empowered to not consume. It can be my own little protest.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Letter
Dear President Obama,
I write you this letter on the pretext of what you said during your presidential campaign wasn't a lie. The passionate pleas to the American people that you so eloquently delivered during your campaign provided me, and many others across the country, with this sense of "Hope." You gave off the swagger of a man who blazes his own trail, not lead by corporate incentives and media driven politicking, and that is the President that I voted for.
We have come across a big problem though, Mr. President, and that is media conglomeration and gigantic corporations seem to undermine your very power as a national leader. How can Monsanto or Rupert Murdoch control so much in our day to day life? Not only are corporations filtering and controlling news, food, and our mental clarity but their powers reach far beyond our borders. The very fabric of our society rests in the palm of these people's hands. And yet, we didn't elect them. We elected you.
Author and activist Kalle Lasn in his book Culture Jam, calls these organizations a "global communications cartel," which is to say that they are a producing a negative influence over our people. Young girls, and boys are growing up with convoluted images of what a human body should look. They are being desensitized to violence and murder. This all in the name of commerce. Mr. President these corporations aren't even abiding by our first amendment rights. They are manufacturing the news and disregarding the rights of man to voice decent. You as a community organizing and believer of the inherent rights of man must understand that what is transpiring here must be stopped.
It has come to my attention that corporations are held held by law under the same standards as individuals. Since this is the case then it they too should be punished like individuals. To pull from Lasn's book again he argues that each shareholder of a corporation should be made accountable for any environmental, economic, or human losses. However as things stand now these corporations lose next to nothing when they do something that for an average individual would be breaking the law. Lasn's solution, and one that you should agree with, is to hold slap these shareholders with corporate liability laws that stop repeat offenders, and prevent law breakers from having anything to do with the government.
The last thing we should be worried about in this new era of "hope," and "change,"are corporations trying to undermine our government. It is imperative for us as a country to begin to practice consumption restraint, or "voluntary simplicity." This could both protect us from harmful corporate venture capitalists and bring our country into the Green Revolution. Mr. President we need your help in defending these corporate monsters and help positively influence our future as a nation.
I write you this letter on the pretext of what you said during your presidential campaign wasn't a lie. The passionate pleas to the American people that you so eloquently delivered during your campaign provided me, and many others across the country, with this sense of "Hope." You gave off the swagger of a man who blazes his own trail, not lead by corporate incentives and media driven politicking, and that is the President that I voted for.
We have come across a big problem though, Mr. President, and that is media conglomeration and gigantic corporations seem to undermine your very power as a national leader. How can Monsanto or Rupert Murdoch control so much in our day to day life? Not only are corporations filtering and controlling news, food, and our mental clarity but their powers reach far beyond our borders. The very fabric of our society rests in the palm of these people's hands. And yet, we didn't elect them. We elected you.
Author and activist Kalle Lasn in his book Culture Jam, calls these organizations a "global communications cartel," which is to say that they are a producing a negative influence over our people. Young girls, and boys are growing up with convoluted images of what a human body should look. They are being desensitized to violence and murder. This all in the name of commerce. Mr. President these corporations aren't even abiding by our first amendment rights. They are manufacturing the news and disregarding the rights of man to voice decent. You as a community organizing and believer of the inherent rights of man must understand that what is transpiring here must be stopped.
It has come to my attention that corporations are held held by law under the same standards as individuals. Since this is the case then it they too should be punished like individuals. To pull from Lasn's book again he argues that each shareholder of a corporation should be made accountable for any environmental, economic, or human losses. However as things stand now these corporations lose next to nothing when they do something that for an average individual would be breaking the law. Lasn's solution, and one that you should agree with, is to hold slap these shareholders with corporate liability laws that stop repeat offenders, and prevent law breakers from having anything to do with the government.
The last thing we should be worried about in this new era of "hope," and "change,"are corporations trying to undermine our government. It is imperative for us as a country to begin to practice consumption restraint, or "voluntary simplicity." This could both protect us from harmful corporate venture capitalists and bring our country into the Green Revolution. Mr. President we need your help in defending these corporate monsters and help positively influence our future as a nation.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Those Damn Corporations.
I have to be honest and say that I myself new very little about corporations. Well, except that they are controlling our lives.
Now I see that they hold the same rights a individuals? I don't understand how that ever flew in a court of law, but I guess it did. It's kind of like calling the Washington Mutual building in New York a human being. What these laws really seem to be doing is protecting these giant companies from holding anyone person accountable for wrongful actions.
In the movie stock traders were portrayed as being completely detached from the realities outside of the stock floor. This is troubling too me, and further reiterates my belief that if your making tons of money you gotta be selling your soul to the devil. I have friends who work in finances in NYC and I have always found that they are in fact truly detachment from what they do at work verses what they believe during the weekends. Kind of like that CEO of Shell who believed in doing good things for the world, but once in his work place he became blinded by dollar signs.
People don't want to know what they are doing or supporting is bad. That is probably why most people wouldn't choose to watch this movie, because they don't want to be burdened with the guilt. Reality is a hard pill to swallow.
Now I see that they hold the same rights a individuals? I don't understand how that ever flew in a court of law, but I guess it did. It's kind of like calling the Washington Mutual building in New York a human being. What these laws really seem to be doing is protecting these giant companies from holding anyone person accountable for wrongful actions.
In the movie stock traders were portrayed as being completely detached from the realities outside of the stock floor. This is troubling too me, and further reiterates my belief that if your making tons of money you gotta be selling your soul to the devil. I have friends who work in finances in NYC and I have always found that they are in fact truly detachment from what they do at work verses what they believe during the weekends. Kind of like that CEO of Shell who believed in doing good things for the world, but once in his work place he became blinded by dollar signs.
People don't want to know what they are doing or supporting is bad. That is probably why most people wouldn't choose to watch this movie, because they don't want to be burdened with the guilt. Reality is a hard pill to swallow.
Still Culture Jamming
Culture Jams
1)"When a girl starts feeling like a pig it's very easy to convince herself that she is."(pg.78) The issue of body image is frighteningly truthful. I myself was someone who used media as a mirror for what I should look like. I remember, like the characters that Lasn describes, looking through the pages of People magazine and Seventeen comparing myself to all of the models and celebrities. I was always too fat and my hair too bland that I tried diet pills and dyed my hair starting at a very young age. Even now as an adult and in a loving relationship I find my old body complex coming back to haunt me. At least I didn't develop a true eating disorder like many of my friends did.
2) Lasn complains of the loss of food sensuality. Packaged, branded, and processed foods have replaced real foods. Butter, and I mean real butter is something that our society has been conditioned to scorn. However, this was a food item that was considered a luxury for many of our ancestors. Butter, dare I say it IS sexy, and we as media manipulated Americans instead see it as artery hardening, waistline plumping gobs of evil. While we are convinced that devouring synthetic alternatives like margarine is just fine. We have our heads on backwards.
3) I just really loved all that Lasn had to say in the chapter entitled,"Your Corporate Connection." The whole portion in which he mourned the loss of community at the hands of the auto industry. Can't agree more. He says that our love for cars has made, "the beating heart of community hard to find." I was just thinking about this today as I road my bike all over the Champlain Islands. Why aren't things closer together so we could walk or ride our bikes to get things? Well because the auto industry wouldn't make money off of us.
4)In the section called, "Ecological Economics," Lasn further backs up my previously mentioned sentiment regarding cars. Walking and riding a bike doesn't contribute to our GDP so expansionists don't have any interest in it. These expansionists/economists believe that we should create as much wealth as possible which will then allow people to endeavor into a life of ecological awareness. Really out of touch.
5)The Situationists are a group that I had never heard about prior to reading this book. Although their mission is a bit too radical for my taste I do like that they promote non-conformity to consumer culture. They also, and I really like this, believe that culture should spread in a lateral direction as apposed to a vertical direction.
My question is without being categorized as "radical" or an "extremist," how do we remove ourselves from medias grasp? Especially in a world that is run by technology?
1)"When a girl starts feeling like a pig it's very easy to convince herself that she is."(pg.78) The issue of body image is frighteningly truthful. I myself was someone who used media as a mirror for what I should look like. I remember, like the characters that Lasn describes, looking through the pages of People magazine and Seventeen comparing myself to all of the models and celebrities. I was always too fat and my hair too bland that I tried diet pills and dyed my hair starting at a very young age. Even now as an adult and in a loving relationship I find my old body complex coming back to haunt me. At least I didn't develop a true eating disorder like many of my friends did.
2) Lasn complains of the loss of food sensuality. Packaged, branded, and processed foods have replaced real foods. Butter, and I mean real butter is something that our society has been conditioned to scorn. However, this was a food item that was considered a luxury for many of our ancestors. Butter, dare I say it IS sexy, and we as media manipulated Americans instead see it as artery hardening, waistline plumping gobs of evil. While we are convinced that devouring synthetic alternatives like margarine is just fine. We have our heads on backwards.
3) I just really loved all that Lasn had to say in the chapter entitled,"Your Corporate Connection." The whole portion in which he mourned the loss of community at the hands of the auto industry. Can't agree more. He says that our love for cars has made, "the beating heart of community hard to find." I was just thinking about this today as I road my bike all over the Champlain Islands. Why aren't things closer together so we could walk or ride our bikes to get things? Well because the auto industry wouldn't make money off of us.
4)In the section called, "Ecological Economics," Lasn further backs up my previously mentioned sentiment regarding cars. Walking and riding a bike doesn't contribute to our GDP so expansionists don't have any interest in it. These expansionists/economists believe that we should create as much wealth as possible which will then allow people to endeavor into a life of ecological awareness. Really out of touch.
5)The Situationists are a group that I had never heard about prior to reading this book. Although their mission is a bit too radical for my taste I do like that they promote non-conformity to consumer culture. They also, and I really like this, believe that culture should spread in a lateral direction as apposed to a vertical direction.
My question is without being categorized as "radical" or an "extremist," how do we remove ourselves from medias grasp? Especially in a world that is run by technology?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Culture Jam
After reading this first installment of Culture Jam I find myself begrudgingly writing this blog entry. It is just one more way for me to be attached to this dreaded computer. My problem becomes that once I am on-line writing I hop around to all sorts of other sites and by the time I am done I have wasted hours. The internet is a cruel addiction, and one that I am ill equipped to fight.
With that mini rant aside I will talk about my impressions of this book. Regrettably I agree with most all that Kalle Lasn has to say about media being the equivalent to the darkside. It's scary and I feel lucky that I am only addicted to the internet and not T.V. as well. I thought about my mom, my sister, and my boyfriends entire family when I read about the turn off your T.V. week. These people in my life come to a stand still after work when they tune into primetime television.
My mother could do so much more with herself if only she could skip a couple episodes of 24. Maybe read a book, learn to knit, or just have some silence. It really drives me crazy when I go home to visit and that television is blasting. It's all just crap.
In the book he brings up the obsession and problems linked with constant white noise. I used to only be able to sleep and/or study when the radio was playing or a sleep machine was on. I always linked this to my being ADD, but maybe all this media stimulation created a learning disability in me? My mind always needs some sort of input overload to be jump started and noise was always my go to.
Lasn's observations on noise made me really consider whether or not I have ever really experienced silence. Maybe at night in the woods I have experience some form of silence? The whole thing just makes me want move somewhere off the grid.
With that mini rant aside I will talk about my impressions of this book. Regrettably I agree with most all that Kalle Lasn has to say about media being the equivalent to the darkside. It's scary and I feel lucky that I am only addicted to the internet and not T.V. as well. I thought about my mom, my sister, and my boyfriends entire family when I read about the turn off your T.V. week. These people in my life come to a stand still after work when they tune into primetime television.
My mother could do so much more with herself if only she could skip a couple episodes of 24. Maybe read a book, learn to knit, or just have some silence. It really drives me crazy when I go home to visit and that television is blasting. It's all just crap.
In the book he brings up the obsession and problems linked with constant white noise. I used to only be able to sleep and/or study when the radio was playing or a sleep machine was on. I always linked this to my being ADD, but maybe all this media stimulation created a learning disability in me? My mind always needs some sort of input overload to be jump started and noise was always my go to.
Lasn's observations on noise made me really consider whether or not I have ever really experienced silence. Maybe at night in the woods I have experience some form of silence? The whole thing just makes me want move somewhere off the grid.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Homework #6
1)
a)Facebook is destroying the human experience.
b)There are many things that I can agree with Tom Hodgkinson on and one of them is when he compares Facebook to 1984's "Big Brother." I mean nothing can be truly deleted. Or, the fact that now Facebook has made it so all of your friends information is no longer private. Yikes. Then he goes on to explain Facebook's uber advertising abilities. We all know that what you put on your Facebook page will end up being sold back to you. It really is brilliant.
What I don't agree with however is Hodgkinson's armageddon like beliefs in the power of Facebook. I think it too is a fad that will extinguish with time. Maybe new and faster sites will emerge to replace it, but Facebook will not be the downfall of mankind. Then he goes on to ostracize the founders of Facebook which I don't really agree with. These guys maybe a little greedy and taking part in something I care very little about, but they are entitled to their successes. It's the American Dream.
2)
a) "Little to tell and everything to sell."Is one of the most poignant remarks of Rob Willaims's article. He dove into much of the stuff that we have already discussed in class about creating a consumer with brand loyalty. However it is interesting to be able to look at advertisements now, which can fall under all sorts of categories, and trace them back to their point of origin. I really due believe that people must be made media literate in order for them to have the ability to dissect ads in this healthy way.
It's funny that after about a quarter of the way through this semester my viewpoint of media has so changed. I used to think that religion was the worlds largest brain washing evil doer, but it turns out that consumer advertisers are far worse.
3)
a) Five observations:
1- Marketers only focus on specific parts of the female body. Example being women's butts and our obsession with breasts.
2- Women are presented as docile and submissive creatures. Men on the other hand are rowdy and virile.
3- Women must always fight to become the most beautiful they can. Really if you market anything to women that promises them they'll lose weight or look younger they probably will buy it.
4- Men are not manipulated like women are in the world of advertising. Kilbourne uses the example of male underwear models and women underwear models. What is missing for the men are the suggestive words.
5- Advertisements really only cater to the heterosexual couple. This has probably changed dramatically since 1999 since homosexuality has begun to be more excepted in day to day life.
This film was quite eye opening. My boyfriend actually watched it with me and found it very jarring as well. There is a part of me that felt like some of her accusations (or persuasive techniques) were a little hyper sensitive, however I totally got her point. She did overemphasize certain text to help her argument.
I could easily see myself as a young girl looking at these advertisements and critically comparing myself to them.
a)Facebook is destroying the human experience.
b)There are many things that I can agree with Tom Hodgkinson on and one of them is when he compares Facebook to 1984's "Big Brother." I mean nothing can be truly deleted. Or, the fact that now Facebook has made it so all of your friends information is no longer private. Yikes. Then he goes on to explain Facebook's uber advertising abilities. We all know that what you put on your Facebook page will end up being sold back to you. It really is brilliant.
What I don't agree with however is Hodgkinson's armageddon like beliefs in the power of Facebook. I think it too is a fad that will extinguish with time. Maybe new and faster sites will emerge to replace it, but Facebook will not be the downfall of mankind. Then he goes on to ostracize the founders of Facebook which I don't really agree with. These guys maybe a little greedy and taking part in something I care very little about, but they are entitled to their successes. It's the American Dream.
2)
a) "Little to tell and everything to sell."Is one of the most poignant remarks of Rob Willaims's article. He dove into much of the stuff that we have already discussed in class about creating a consumer with brand loyalty. However it is interesting to be able to look at advertisements now, which can fall under all sorts of categories, and trace them back to their point of origin. I really due believe that people must be made media literate in order for them to have the ability to dissect ads in this healthy way.
It's funny that after about a quarter of the way through this semester my viewpoint of media has so changed. I used to think that religion was the worlds largest brain washing evil doer, but it turns out that consumer advertisers are far worse.
3)
a) Five observations:
1- Marketers only focus on specific parts of the female body. Example being women's butts and our obsession with breasts.
2- Women are presented as docile and submissive creatures. Men on the other hand are rowdy and virile.
3- Women must always fight to become the most beautiful they can. Really if you market anything to women that promises them they'll lose weight or look younger they probably will buy it.
4- Men are not manipulated like women are in the world of advertising. Kilbourne uses the example of male underwear models and women underwear models. What is missing for the men are the suggestive words.
5- Advertisements really only cater to the heterosexual couple. This has probably changed dramatically since 1999 since homosexuality has begun to be more excepted in day to day life.
This film was quite eye opening. My boyfriend actually watched it with me and found it very jarring as well. There is a part of me that felt like some of her accusations (or persuasive techniques) were a little hyper sensitive, however I totally got her point. She did overemphasize certain text to help her argument.
I could easily see myself as a young girl looking at these advertisements and critically comparing myself to them.