Hannah's Media Blog

Big Mouth is an animated show that came out in 2017 commenting on adolescence and the struggles of growing up in this modern day and age. I think this show is extremely clever in the way that it takes normal, often very un-amusing situations and turns them into comical experiences that seem absolutely ridiculous. The main example of this is the manifestation of "puberty" as furry monsters that accompany their assigned teen or preteen on their journey to adulthood. They can only be seen by other teens who have hit puberty, which is a joke in itself, and try to influence the kids to act like the stereotypical hormonal girl or boy. For example, the female hormone monster, Connie, eggs Jessie (the main girl character) to steal from a store to deal with her feelings about her parents getting divorced. The way the writers made the hormone monsters the bad guys while making them lovable and the comic relief simultaneously was a stroke of genius. Taking real experiences, real l

Mac Miller's 2018 album "Swimming" was beautiful. This was his final album before he died of an overdose in September of last year. I know most of the posts I've written on this blog have been about certain albums or artists, and that's only because I feel that the media that truly influences youth and relates to teenagers most is music. This album especially has a tone and mood throughout it that appeals to newer techniques and feelings while also capturing a timeless emotion that many can relate to. Mac being only twenty-six when he died, he still had the youthfulness that teens have, and the angst of our generation and time period. First, I wanted to point out the cover art. Malcolm is sitting in a upright coffin in a pink suit barefoot. at first thought, I wanted to believe that it was a representation of his escape from the suicidal thoughts and mental health issues he had struggled with throughout his life. His actions in September said otherwise. I be

I did not have any particular objections to this film, other than that the narrator's voice sounded like one of the tethered from the movie "Us", but it left me feeling like I should. I feel like I should have. I feel like there should be an objection, to a fact they said, or something they left out. Because the thing is, while I don't think that documentary was inaccurate, I feel like there are parts of women's stories that were  minimized to make the hardships seem even more harrowing than reality. For example, the film spent very little time talking about what the media got right, and was much more keen to point out the shortcomings of television vs. the strengths. They mention successful women and have them comment and narrate, but don't go into depth on the specific accomplishments of "the 1st woman anchor" or "1st African American host", etc. They just state the title, the name- here, look, it's the person who broke the gla

Mooks- incompetent, stupid, crude- the ideal male figure according to the media. Midriff- the ideal woman. Sexy, objectified, simple, and dumb. I have seen both these stereotypes in the media, but displayed in more tasteful ways than when this documentary was filmed. I feel like the media hasn't cleaned up these characters really, just given them more depth and personality vs. the surface level characters portrayed before. The first example of a midriff that comes to mind is not a traditional one. In a previous post I talked about Burn Notice. The female lead, Gabrielle Anwar playing Fiona Glenanne, uses her sex appeal to help her with her job. She is trained in guerrilla warfare and works in Miami with her boyfriend as "people who solve problems". This often involves being held at gunpoint or holding someone at gunpoint, blowing things up, or engaging in hand to hand combat. She has a strong work ethic and personality. To approach a male target, she uses her fe

Something I have been somewhat forced to watch since I was old enough to understand English has been political satire. It started with Jon Stewart and Colbert, then evolved to Saturday Night Live, and now my YouTube just feeds me Stand-Up comedy commenting on political issues, clips from late night shows, and Randy Rainbow videos. I was thinking about how people often vote as their parents do. Growing up in a liberal household watching these democrats rail on the republicans, I tend to have a more liberal view on the world. Makes sense, as we are a product of our experiences. I think political commentary in a humorous context is an effective way for people to be aware of what's going on around them. It also influences people's views on the current political climate. As a student, I don't often have time to read all the political articles in the New York Times or catch up on whatever dumb thing trump tweeted Saturday Night Live is a great way for me to stay aware of t

In at least one class every day, some video or documentary is shown. Did students ever stop to think what messages are present in the shows that the teachers provide for us? Under the pretext of educational context, underlying messages that are unintentional could be influencing student's thinking long term. Media can also be having an effect on the school system in general that people are not noticing. Starting with zero period, both creative writing and critical thinking, numerous videos have been played for our class this year. Last semester, Mr. Perry made us watch "Sleepless in Seattle" and analyze it for examples of modern day love as it was shown in the movie. That exposed us to all the ad placements in the movie and added to preconceived expectations and anxiety students could have about love. It only showed straight couples and white people, which limits the perspective of the world our teachers are showing us. In Critical Thinking, we watch documentaries tha