Media Monday

movie to watch:
The Butler. It's been in theaters for a little while now, but it's soooo good. It's based on the true story of black man who is a butler in the white house and serves seven presidents in the time that he works there. It takes place through all the civil rights events and is just an awesome story. It has some big names like Oprah Winfrey playing the butler's wife, and people like Robin William and James Marsden playing some of the presidents, and I have to say that they all did a great job.This was definitely one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

movie to look forward to this week:
Enders Game, coming out this Friday, November 1st! I just reread the book this week and am way excited for this movie. I hope they do it justice, because the book is awesome. We shall see....

current favorite thing to watch on youtube:

Studio C! (especially this video)

book I just finished:

My Story, by Elizabeth Smart. It's basically about her whole kidnapping and captivity. Crazy story, really sad when you see how she was treated and think of how hard it must have been, and also very inspiring. She is really strong and she always kept surviving. I thought it was coolest how she always saw God's hand in her life and never blamed Him for what was happening to her. Instead she tried to find things to be grateful for. She's now on my list of inspiring people I admire and want to meet someday.

book I'm about to start reading:

Allegiant, by Veronica Roth (the third and final book in the Divergent trilogy)
I just bought the ebook today and man, oh man am I excited for this! I just reread Divergent and Insurgent two weeks ago, which was a good refresher since I had forgotten a lot, and they made really excited for this book and also for the movie coming out in March. These books are good, people. Read them, if you haven't already.

song I am loving right now:
"New York City," by Among Savages, partially because I really want to go to New York lately.

TV show I'm currently loving the most:

"How I Met Your Mother" (although lately it's been a little bit slow). If you are looking for a new show to see, this is it. It is hilarious and filled with funny twists. I love it and the sense of humor on this show. The 9th and final season is airing now, and all the other seasons are on Netflix. Here's a taste of how funny and great it is:

Thoughts About the Media and the World

A topic that's really been on my mind lately is the influence of the media on our society. It seems to be a trending topic lately. I mean, it's everywhere--magazines, radio, tv, movies, newspapers, etc. And the media seems to portray everything. Nothing is hidden anymore. They talk about sucides, bullying, divorce, sex, homosexuality, drugs and alcohol, and other such stuff. It's all there. And then we get people trying to blame the media for everything that's happening in the world, or at least blame it for a large portion of what's happening. I found this video (not the best made, but still informative) made by some BYU students:

I was also able to watch Killing Us Softly 3, a documentary about ads and how women and children are portrayed (if you have time I'd definitely recommend watching it, it's very interesting and informative).

But honestly, I don't think that blaming the media is completely fair. I'm not siding with the media, saying that all of these things should be portrayed and shown as normal and even good. But the sad and inevitable part of this is that it's not going to stop. There are so many media influences out there that's it's virtually impossible for this to be stopped. I admire when people tell companies that they are mad about certain things (like Abercrombie's push-up bra) but telling one company isn't going to make a huge difference. Yes, we've all heard the starfish story, but think about it. In the whole scheme of things, one company compared to millions more isn't going to change anything.

The sad thing about all of this is that I don't really have a solution. I'm sorry. But one point I really wanted to make clear was that we don't know if it's the media influencing the world. How do we know it's not the world influencing the media? And to be fair, I am a Mormon, so I have higher standards than the rest of the world, and I believe in them and in my religion. But the people who aren't Mormons? Well, maybe they don't all realize this is bad. Even though it's getting worse and worse, like how magazines portray girls that get thinner and thinner and they just airbrush every single face they publish, people might not realize it. We can say all we want about how the media is bad or the world is bad, and it's true. But other people don't know that and they don't see it, and their minds aren't going to suddenly be changed just because someone tells them it's so.

When you think about it, you can't really find a source for all the evil in the world. We don't know who's doing what or who published what first. We don't know. All we do know is that it's there. And the numbers are increasing. Suicide rates are higher, eating disorder rates are higher, divorce rates--everything is getting higher. The only source we can pinpoint for all of this is Satan. Read this and then tell me what you think:

If I Were Satan…

I would gain control of gifted, creative, compassionate women in the world. I would attack the women because then I could destroy the future children and the family, the backbone of any nation. I would delude female minds into thinking their worth was their body, their appearance and achievements. I would promote an attitude of loving material things and using people, instead of the other way around. I would dupe entire generations of women into comparing themselves to the illusions portrayed in the media. I would have complete control of the media so that every day I would pollute the thoughts of women for my agenda. I would promote pornography and violence as art and entertainment. I would make the female body a sex object and promote fashions which make that statement. I would confuse women into thinking that glamour is beauty. I would get women to worship movie stars and models. I would set a standard of thinness as beauty in order to make women weak. I would make it socially acceptable for a woman to dishonor her body through starvation in order to attain society’s ideal for the female form. I would convince women that their hunger is a sin. I would make life so fast-paced and noisy that there is no time to nourish each other, to play together or listen. I would degrade the sacredness of marital intimacy and fidelity. I would make divorce easy and attractive, even fashionable. I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies; I would make it socially acceptable to mutilate one’s body or take one’s own life. I would cheapen human life as much as possible, so that the lives of animals are valued more than human beings. I would promote a culture of perfectionism and competition where women are taught to feel inferior, guilty and not good enough. I would teach women to compete with each other and to compete with men. I would persuade women to focus on the God of self instead of their Creator. I would take spirituality out of the schools and out of the homes and out of the hearts of gifted, creative, compassionate women. I would leave things pretty much the way they are.

Written by Kathleen Slade Hofer, adapted from Paul Harvey

Powerful stuff, huh? When I first read that it made me so mad. So incredibly mad, because I have been tricked by Satan in so many ways and it really finally came to me that all of these things were lies.

But now? I feel empowered. I want to fight Satan and his lies and I want to win. I'm realizing that we cannot change the media, and we can't change all these facts. We can't, because Satan is very strong and he seems to have control over a large portion of the world. But we can choose to not believe it. All these lies will always be there and always be prevalent. And they're only going to get worse. But we don't have to believe any of it. And we can help others not to believe it too. In that way, we can make a difference. We can help one starfish at a time.

There are only two sides in this whole thing, God and Satan. And I'm pretty sure I know who's side I want to be on. It's simple. What do you think about this? Opinions? (I didn't mean to offend anyone while writing this, they're just my opinions and thoughts).

(Also, I hope this made sense! thanks!)

Recapturing Beauty Day 7: Tune Out the Media

Day 7:

Tune out media – no TV, movies, magazines and internet surfing. Instead tune in to nature. Notice a sunset, gaze at the stars, sit by a stream and listen to the water. What did you tune into when you tuned out the media?

WHY: The media constantly barrages us with unrealistic and unhealthy ideals of beauty. Because we are incessantly bombarded, it is impossible to remain unaffected. Get in touch with who you are independent of these messages and find your center in things that are real and lasting--your personality, nature, and your relationships.

Tuning out the media was something I needed to do and something that was perfect for today. Instead of bringing my laptop on campus with me, I left it at home. I didn't get on facebook or internet surf and it was really good. Instead I wrote in my journal which was much needed since I hadn't written since last Tuesday. I ended up writing 14 pages of my thoughts for an hour and a half! And now, I have actually had more time to work on my homework because I didn't spend forever wasting time on the internet. I was productive! It makes me wonder what the world would be like without the internet and all the stuff on there to distract us. It can be good, but yes, it can also be bad. I can guess that people like the pioneers did a lot more productive stuff because they didn't have TV to watch or computers to go play on. They probably spent more time outside, hung out with their friends (instead of chatting online or stalking them :P), read books, or wrote in their journals. Doing this made me decide I really need to spend less time with the media and more time with myself and God. :)

I AM BEAUTIFUL.