The Media

[April]

A lot of people call me stupid and such for feeling this way and tell me if I don't like it not to watch or listen to it.

 

But I am sick of the media and how it affects our society. Someone actually told me that Miley Cyrus (this is not about whether you hate her or not) was fat.

I was appalled that our society can consider her fat. I am not her biggest fan but I do not think she is fat. And this is what is portrayed, partially by the media.

 

I saw an interview earlier today on a mother with a 6 year old girl who was refusing to eat because she was "ugly." At 6? Obviously there's something wrong with how things are portrayed today.

 

And I know many will argue the parenting and such. But the bottom line is, this information is out there for anyone to access.

 

And on that note, Celebrities . Why are their lives so much more important than everyone elses? Because they can sing, act? Yet the people who do good don't get NEAR as much attention. What about people in need? Poverty, abuse, all that crap. Once again, I'm being sensitive. But I honestly care more about people in need, people helping out than whether or not Jennifer Aniston or Brad Pitt are "Texting" And our society is so interested in their lives. The people that deserve attention don't get it.

I would rather hear about people making a difference. I really, really don't care who's getting married. They are just "normal" people. They eat, have feelings, have hobbies and all that stuff.

 

Why do we care about their lives?

 

I turned out the News yesterday, hoping to hear the update of a kid that went missing around here. All I heard about was crap that was in gossip magazines. Then the amber alert was mentioned at the very end in 10 seconds.

:angry:

 

I know many people think I am wrong or just being over sensitive and a cranky old lady.

 

But what are your thoughts?

[Welcome Back Apathy]

The reason why the media shows stories about celebrities is because it captures people's attention. Sadly. This is why even if an article about a celebrity genuinely piques my curiosity, I won't click. I don't want to give them traffic that convinces them that people want more celebrity stories.

 

Who the freaking gosh darned expletive are the Kardashians? Don't care. Never will google to find out.

 

The bit about fatness, though? I've been saying this for years: Putting emaciated models on the runway is NOT what drives girls to eating disorders. Putting beautiful fairly thin models on the runway and CALLING THEM PLUS-SIZE drives girls to eating disorders. It genuinely ticks me off when the media is so concerned with women's looks, anyway--you don't get this stupid crap about male celebrities.

 

Michelle Obama, for example...whether you like her or not, she is a highly educated woman. She was descended from slaves and the daughter of not particularly rich people, and yet she climbed to a high rank on intellect alone. She went to Princeton and Harvard and got high honors. But the night her husband was elected President, all the articles were about her clothing.

 

And Hillary Clinton--another highly educated woman, whether you like her or not. If you're going to insult her, do it based on her POLITICS, because every male president in the history of the country was uglier than she is. So shut the heck up about her looks! She's not even ugly! And all the crap Chelsea had to face as a teenager based on her looks, again...horrible to do that to a child.

 

I could go on and on about how the media is anti-feminist. But I won't, because it won't do us any good. When one of you disagrees and says you love it that the media objectifies women like this, THEN I'll go on and on. However, you all are intelligent people--most of you are intelligent women who I assume don't appreciate women's intelligence being overshadowed by their looks, and the rest of you are intelligent men who are on a site dominated by women, so I can pretty much assume that you're not misogynists.

 

EDIT:

By the way, I did actually google "Miley Cyrus fat" and I hope that nobody tracks that and thinks I'm actually interested. But I found a blog post or whatever the heck saying she got fat. And yes, they took quite an unflattering picture of her, and yes, she's put on weight. They post more than one picture, though, and seriously, as soon as she smiles, she looks great again.

 

I'm not posting the link, though, because I don't want that site to get hits.

[Emily]

The reason why the media shows stories about celebrities is because it captures people's attention. Sadly. This is why even if an article about a celebrity genuinely piques my curiosity, I won't click. I don't want to give them traffic that convinces them that people want more celebrity stories.

 

Who the freaking gosh darned expletive are the Kardashians? Don't care. Never will google to find out.

 

The bit about fatness, though? I've been saying this for years: Putting emaciated models on the runway is NOT what drives girls to eating disorders. Putting beautiful fairly thin models on the runway and CALLING THEM PLUS-SIZE drives girls to eating disorders. It genuinely ticks me off when the media is so concerned with women's looks, anyway--you don't get this stupid crap about male celebrities.

 

Michelle Obama, for example...whether you like her or not, she is a highly educated woman. She was descended from slaves and the daughter of not particularly rich people, and yet she climbed to a high rank on intellect alone. She went to Princeton and Harvard and got high honors. But the night her husband was elected President, all the articles were about her clothing.

 

And Hillary Clinton--another highly educated woman, whether you like her or not. If you're going to insult her, do it based on her POLITICS, because every male president in the history of the country was uglier than she is. So shut the heck up about her looks! She's not even ugly! And all the crap Chelsea had to face as a teenager based on her looks, again...horrible to do that to a child.

 

 

 

Totally agree with this. Society is supposed to be supporting the idea that looks don't matter and that it's what's inside that counts. But where does all this focus on outer beauty come from? The very society that insists it's trying to prevent it. For the record, if I could spend an hour of my life with anyone on the planet, Michelle would be one of my top 3. I admire her so much.

 

As far as the media being anti-feminist, I think you have to take this with a grain of salt. It's kind of like a girl saying "I dress sexy because it's my right as a woman" and then complaining about negative attention from other girls or men. Hate to say it, but if you wear a paper hat to McDonalds, you're gonna get orders, so the old adage goes. I can understand dressing up for a night out once in while (it's fun to look cute), but not wearing stilletos and mini skirts to class. I think this can translate to celebrities. If they're always out in public looking perfect and then one day they're wearing old jeans and a ratty shirt, or a sundress but no makeup, people are going to be more aware of it. They project the image they want to project. They chose to be in the public light and have to take what comes with that. I'm not saying that it's acceptable to go and say things like Miley is fat (I couldn't help it. I googled), that's just not cool (look at those legs. gorgeous). But if you constantly look perfect ALL THE TIME, people are going to think that's the norm for you. If you dress like a normal person on a daily basis or go out non-made-up frequently, people will be less (or not) shocked and it won't draw attention.

 

There are plenty of successful actors, actresses and singers who have amazing careers that you NEVER see in the news or tabloids. Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, Jodie Foster, etc All have and continue to have stellar careers in A-list movies. When was the last time any of them was in a tabloid? If you don't want the attention, don't engage in the behaviour that draws the attention. If you shave your head and start fighting off people with umbrellas, even if you're not famous, I'm pretty sure people are going to take notice. Behave like you want to be portrayed.

 

That being said, it's also people that buy into the image that's part of the problem. I'm going to use Jersey Shore as an example. These people have contributed nothing to society. They do nothing other than get drunk and act stupid. There is no talent there. Yet they have modelling contracts, clothing lines, the list is endless. If you don't like it, don't buy into it. I refuse to buy anything or watch anything they are affiliated with because, as human beings, they're disgusting. They make have nice abs or fake you-know-whats, but in the end if you're miserable to be around and can't formulate an intelligent sentence, how on earth can you be worth the attention they get.

 

I think I'm done. I don't know if this was an answer to your question, or just to vent everything in my brain that came up when I read this topic. lol.

[April]

Totally agree with this. Society is supposed to be supporting the idea that looks don't matter and that it's what's inside that counts. But where does all this focus on outer beauty come from? The very society that insists it's trying to prevent it. For the record, if I could spend an hour of my life with anyone on the planet, Michelle would be one of my top 3. I admire her so much.

 

As far as the media being anti-feminist, I think you have to take this with a grain of salt. It's kind of like a girl saying "I dress sexy because it's my right as a woman" and then complaining about negative attention from other girls or men. Hate to say it, but if you wear a paper hat to McDonalds, you're gonna get orders, so the old adage goes. I can understand dressing up for a night out once in while (it's fun to look cute), but not wearing stilletos and mini skirts to class. I think this can translate to celebrities. If they're always out in public looking perfect and then one day they're wearing old jeans and a ratty shirt, or a sundress but no makeup, people are going to be more aware of it. They project the image they want to project. They chose to be in the public light and have to take what comes with that. I'm not saying that it's acceptable to go and say things like Miley is fat (I couldn't help it. I googled), that's just not cool (look at those legs. gorgeous). But if you constantly look perfect ALL THE TIME, people are going to think that's the norm for you. If you dress like a normal person on a daily basis or go out non-made-up frequently, people will be less (or not) shocked and it won't draw attention.

 

There are plenty of successful actors, actresses and singers who have amazing careers that you NEVER see in the news or tabloids. Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, Jodie Foster, etc All have and continue to have stellar careers in A-list movies. When was the last time any of them was in a tabloid? If you don't want the attention, don't engage in the behaviour that draws the attention. If you shave your head and start fighting off people with umbrellas, even if you're not famous, I'm pretty sure people are going to take notice. Behave like you want to be portrayed.

 

That being said, it's also people that buy into the image that's part of the problem. I'm going to use Jersey Shore as an example. These people have contributed nothing to society. They do nothing other than get drunk and act stupid. There is no talent there. Yet they have modelling contracts, clothing lines, the list is endless. If you don't like it, don't buy into it. I refuse to buy anything or watch anything they are affiliated with because, as human beings, they're disgusting. They make have nice abs or fake you-know-whats, but in the end if you're miserable to be around and can't formulate an intelligent sentence, how on earth can you be worth the attention they get.

 

I think I'm done. I don't know if this was an answer to your question, or just to vent everything in my brain that came up when I read this topic. lol.

 

I agree with pretty much everything you said. I feel another name to add is Hilary Duff. I have never seen anything negative about her in the press nor have I see her wear clothes that others may find offensive.

The Jersey Shore really does make me angry. A couple of them even took some university courses yet they act completely dumb and clueless.

[Welcome Back Apathy]

I wish the media would focus on what people (yes, even celebrities!) do that's good. I don't want to completely shove bad things under the carpet--I'm glad we know WHY Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan kind of lack careers right now, because ignoring it completely would send a message that their actions are not a big deal. But giving celebrities attention for all the crap they do? Not cool.

 

Whereas if they focused more on things that celebrities are doing for fundraising, or to defend rights, etc., that would be much better. Can we get more "Matt Damon totally owns a reporter who was trying to suggest that teachers suck" please?"

 

But beyond that...in recent months, there have been huge breakthroughs on cancer research and ALS research. I read the articles. (Then I made the mistake of reading the comments--HOW do these articles lead to comments about Obama being a Muslim Kenyan?) These should have been better publicized. We have multiple articles on other tiny things--"Charlie Sheen did this." "What so-and-so said about Charlie Sheen doing this." "What Charlie Sheen's actions mean for the rest of the cast of Two and a Half Men." Why not have "This link was found and may cure cancer in future years" and then add "What this actually means to current cancer patients" and "How long will it take for an FDA approved cure"? These ACTUAL PIECES OF NEWS have actual spinoff possibilities. Why not more of that?

[April]

I wish the media would focus on what people (yes, even celebrities!) do that's good. I don't want to completely shove bad things under the carpet--I'm glad we know WHY Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan kind of lack careers right now, because ignoring it completely would send a message that their actions are not a big deal. But giving celebrities attention for all the crap they do? Not cool.

 

Whereas if they focused more on things that celebrities are doing for fundraising, or to defend rights, etc., that would be much better. Can we get more "Matt Damon totally owns a reporter who was trying to suggest that teachers suck" please?"

 

But beyond that...in recent months, there have been huge breakthroughs on cancer research and ALS research. I read the articles. (Then I made the mistake of reading the comments--HOW do these articles lead to comments about Obama being a Muslim Kenyan?) These should have been better publicized. We have multiple articles on other tiny things--"Charlie Sheen did this." "What so-and-so said about Charlie Sheen doing this." "What Charlie Sheen's actions mean for the rest of the cast of Two and a Half Men." Why not have "This link was found and may cure cancer in future years" and then add "What this actually means to current cancer patients" and "How long will it take for an FDA approved cure"? These ACTUAL PIECES OF NEWS have actual spinoff possibilities. Why not more of that?

 

I completely agree with you.

Similar points to what I meant as well.

I want people to get attention for good things. Celebrities, or just "normal" people. Whatever that definition is.

[AKALeenaLean]

People do focus on the negative a lot more than the positive. Stating the obvious there but yes.

 

If MLK did something bad, we'd probably know about it. George Washington was a slave owner, Christopher Columbus treated the Natives horribly. Society finds fault and uses it for entertainment from celebrities like Miley Cyrus and other Disney Stars. Kids look up to these stars and find fault within themselves. It's just so easy so focus on the bad than the good with yourself and celebrities can really evoke some emotions that kids shouldn't be exposed to yet.

[Aalnius]

i don't like the media for the siomple fact that they are one of the causes for countries being in such a state as they are now their relentless scaremongering and political bias damage the country too much to be allowed

 

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