Ignorance is NOT Bliss

The other day in class, we watched Chimamanda Adichie’s TED Talk over the danger of a single story. In this video, Adichie gives her personal stories on the “single stories” that she heard and read growing up. This resulted in her having a generalized skewed view of children’s books based on her experiences. This made me think a lot about how much I didn’t know growing up and still don’t know about other people and other cultures.

The town I grew up in was not completely without diversity, but the cultural and racial diversities were lacking. This skewed my view of other cultures and other people in general. My experiences with other countries, big cities in the United States, and different cultures around the world were limited to the few places I had visited as a child, the books I read, and the movies and TV I watched growing up. Coming to college was a fantastic part of my education of the world, as it allowed me to venture from my limited, ignorant views of people. I have been able to meet all different people with all different backgrounds. My college experiences have allowed me to go beyond my “single story” about many different cultures and come to a better understanding about life.

Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

Books into Movies

I have been reading a great deal of Young Adult books for a class I am taking this semester. The other day, our class was discussing what it was about books like Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and other such books that are so interesting. The emotional connection with the characters was mentioned as a possible reason for this attachment over the movie versions of these books. I completely agree with this assessment. I really enjoyed reading the Twilight series, but found the second book my absolute least favorite (Bella’s whining about missing Edward made me so angry!).

However, I did not find the second movie my least favorite thus far. I liked the movie much more than the book! I think this had to do with the level of emotion that can be packed into a 2-hour movie versus a lengthy, descriptive book. This may be the first time that I have had the preference for the movie over the book version!

This discussion of books also reminded me of The Hunger Games trilogy that I have read the first two of (and can’t wait to read the third).

As a reader, I became emotionally connected with the characters, incredibly invested in relationships among the characters, and the action packed scenes (which they all seem to be) keep me on the edge of my seat, absolutely devouring the books! I am a little nervous about these books coming out as movies, however. My mental visuals based on my readings might come out perfectly on the screen... or it might ruin the whole experience for me! How much risk producers and authors take on when they’re trying to put such an influential book into film!

Videos from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TnxXoMpF3c&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q58iQSHhZGg&feature=related

Phantom of the Opera

A while back, we were asked during class to think about our favorite movies and what made them our favorite. One of my favorites is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera (2004).

While I’m a big fan of musicals in general, this one seems to stick out to me more than the others. I believe part of the reason for this is the great visuals that accompany the wonderful music.

In The Phantom of the Opera, one of my favorite visual scenes (although not my favorite song) is coupled with the song “Masquerade.” The transition from the black-and-white picture of the jewelry shop window to the color picture of fireworks going off before the song performance is fantastic. I am also amazed at the exquisite detail in this particular scene.

The number of people, the detail of each and every costume, and the precision of the dancers and each action are other elements of this scene that I find amazing. The music and visuals are coupled perfectly. I especially enjoy the point of this song that the masquerade guests are all going down the main staircase, absolutely in sync with everyone else.

My appreciation of this musical for it’s visual aspects makes me look at other works that I view in a different light.

Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxKjDUrmecA

Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign

Writing my midterm for Visual Literacy class this past week got me thinking about signs that we see all the time. Stop signs, bathroom signs, warning signs ~ all posted to let us know what we need to or should do.

This idea made me think back to a sign I saw while traveling with my family to Niagara Falls. We had made the hike across a bridge over to Canada to see the falls better. Suddenly we were in a completely different country, although it didn’t feel like it given that the area was filled with tourists.

While strolling down the sidewalk with clear view of both the United States and Canadian sides of the falls, there was a sign posted every so often on the rail that kept us all from falling off the cliff. All that was written on the sign was “danger,” and yet the message was so much stronger than that. It screamed “Don’t climb on the rail!” to me – a very important message at that point. It was the sign that prompted me to look down... and then back away from the cliff’s straight shot down to the water below despite the fact that there was no danger to me because the rail was very sturdy.

Important signs that would mean nothing without our visual literacy skills surround us constantly. When we pay attention, we can learn a lot.

Photos from my private collection.

The Message We're Sending Our Youth

I was out bowling with some of my friends the other night and happened to be at a bowling alley that had a screen to display music videos for the music playing. Pop music was playing, and many of songs I knew the majority of the words to (and was singing along with). Not being one to watch music videos, I had not viewed a single one of them before. All was okay, until Maroon 5’s song “Misery” came on. I know the majority of the words to that song too, but was appalled by the music video! Sexual references and images everywhere, coupled with violence. The girl in the video is going between kissing the singer to throwing him off a building!

This made me wonder about how many of our youth are watching these kinds of videos and what messages are they sending? This particular video is not promoting men to be violent to women, but it seems to say, “If your girlfriend/wife beats you up, that’s okay!” It is still promoting violence! While there are a number of tastefully done music videos, there are so many that can be categorized with the ads that we have been discussing in class, like this one! Ugh – frustrates me beyond belief!

Video from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g6g2mvItp4

Reexamining Visual Symbols in My Life

In reexamining the visual symbols in my life after seeing a presentation in class over the subject, my awareness of the extensive amount of visual symbols that I experience on a daily basis has been heightened. A more specific attempt at a list of visual symbols that I see every day can now be constructed, although it will never seem finished, since I’m exposed to so many visual symbols constantly that it would be impossible to try to write them all down!

Many of the symbols I see are trying to communicate a message, from the road signs that I see while driving to the McDonalds arches, symbolizing that I can go there for the amazing French fries they have without even needing to see their entire name posted anywhere. The American flag flying outside so many buildings I see every day shows patriotism, without a big “I’m a patriot! I love the United States!” banner waving in the background.

Bathroom signs, Facebook’s logo, music notes on a page, the “Apple” logo on my computer. These all tell me what products I use, what I enjoy, what I understand. And these are only the things that immediately come to mind when I stop and think about the visual symbols that I see. They are how I learn, communicate, and express myself. Without visual symbols, my life would be very different.

Picture from: http://cha.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=331&Itemid=368

Violence in Advertising

After watching the video on advertisements last week, I have noticed the advertisements and their messages so much more! It appalls me what is acceptable today. In a world where movie ratings decide whether young children can view a movie, these types of images are splashed in their faces! It seems that there is always an underlying message to so many ads I am bombarded with on a daily basis.

Even watching the Super Bowl, the advertisements seemed centered around someone getting hurt or made fun of. This isn’t the message our youth, who is already surrounded by images of violence, needs to be exposed to. People getting hit in the face with cans of pop or a cane isn’t something anyone wants happening to them, but I just know there is some kid out there that is going to try it. What example are we setting for today’s youth?

Videos from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCB4YWPhNeI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX7oYAygWOQ