"Music is my Imaginary Friend"

Yeah I know I already did this whole rant about the iPod thing, but now let’s talk about the one thing the iPod was actually meant for before it got taken over by every medium possible. Let’s talk about its main medium the music. Since I was a kid I have always had music in my life, growing up with a DJ as a father was probably the main reason. What my parents had found interesting was the fact that no matter how mad I would get. Once they played me something I enjoyed listening to, it seemed as if all my troubles had just vanished.

Now going back to the question of what technology and/or media dominate my life, I would have to go with the iPod. But I only say this because of the timing of the question. If you were to ask me the same question in the 8th grade, I would say my CD player. The point I am trying to make is, my most dominant technology is whatever holds my most domineering media which is music. Since I have the latest iPod, it basically has everything I need on it like internet or the stock market, basically anything. But the most important thing here is the music. What’s the point of getting an overly expensive iPod if the main concept of it it to play music, wasn’t even available? But you can watch television on it so it’s okay right?

If we look at this using the concept of Hegemony, music is basically forced upon the public. The public is the one who chooses to continue to let it dominant them. So I am one of those many people, who choose to continue to let it become a part of my complex world. How is it so dominant? Well whenever I am working on something or trying to concentrate, I can never seem to focus on what I am doing unless I have some sort of music to stimulate me. It also works as a really good defensive system. I mean how many times on the bus has some random person just started talking to you, and you just stick your ear buds in, so you don't have to talk to them. Yeah I know it's wrong but who wants to talk to anyway after a long day at school? Once I place those ear buds in my ears, I enter my own little world where no one can bug me. Even when I was a kid, I knew that music could take me to a better place. Most of us use it to cope with lose, or to escape after having a really bad day. All the things we learned about media as extensions of ourselves, actually makes sense when you put it into context of your everyday life. I mean I have done the whole writing an assignment, long bus ride without music thing and it's kind of difficult for me to make it through the day.

"What do you mean it's demeaning to woman? I just thought it was funny"

Media literacy was a concept that really opens your eyes to the hidden messages in the media. The form of media that leaves me asking the most questions is advertisements.

Probably the earliest form of advertisement was the posters they used during the war. The everyday person was bombarded with these ads all the time by the American government. These forms of propaganda told people to do things from joining the army to car pooling. I mean if an ad told you that if you drive alone it is like driving with Hitler, would you believe it? Well back then they basically believed anything an ad told them. They were clueless about what was going on during the war, so they did what the government said. The government censored much of what was actually going on in the war, so when the men enlisted they had no clue what they were getting into.

It is pretty much the same today, but more with product advertisement. Think of all of those beer ads that are out there, what are usually in them? Well usually a good looking girl holding a beer, or a group of guys having a good time. But there is only one aim which is towards man. There are not many ads out there that are aimed towards women. It's actually showing bias towards women because they are seen as the lowest demographic that drink beer, so they just forget about them.

Dreams do come true when you add vodka.

Imagine that everything you have ever dreamed about came true. You get the guy or girl you always wanted, win the lottery, or get that nice shiny red sports car. Wouldn't it be nice? Well according to this ad all you need to make these dreams come true, is a nice cold Vive Cuervo vodka and it can happen. Let’s look at this logically can a alcoholic beverage really do this, or are we letting our selves think that it can?

Let’s look at what makes up this advertisement. There is an attractive young man and women, who seem like very happy people. In big block letters on top of them are the words "Pursue Your Daydreams" with the brand of vodka beside it. So if you think about this layout of the ad, it is trying to trick the consumer into buying the product. When anyone sees this ad the first thing they see is the happy, attractive people with a somewhat heavenly glow to them. When the consumer sees this, they want what is conveyed in the picture.

If we look at the symbolism in this ad, the main symbol seems to be the bottle of vodka itself. Thinking about what the product actually is, it's really just a bottle of vodka. If you think of the characteristics of the beer we could say it is maybe cold, and refreshing but nothing extra ordinary. But what the company did with this ad was make it look extra ordinary. The product out of the context of the ad is just by itself a sign, but what the company created was a sort of myth. The myth being that the vodka with all of its original characteristics now has these extra characteristic of being able to grant your daydreams. This is a very good strategy to appeal to the common public.

The ad can be found at http://www.frankwbaker.com/alcoho5.jpg and is a product of Jose Cuervo Expecial.