Reflection

Starting this semester off, I was so excited to get a better understanding of media and its effects. To be honest, I was not the most excited however, to start this blog. I'm not someone who likes to share personal feelings on the internet and in reality, I haven't posted anything on social media in years, so this assignment was definitely a challenge for me. As I reflect back now, I'm so happy that Dr. Coyne made us keep a blog. I love being able to look back at some of my experiences of media and be able to remember them and remember some of the things that we learned this semester. I have learned so much this semester and I feel that the most important thing that I learned is that media is both good and bad. I feel that sometimes people feel that we have to categorize it as one or the other but I believe it really is both. Media is amazing and has so many good qualities that we can use and cherish it for but we need to be more active in this consumption. We need to be in charge of our media not let it be in charge of us. I have learned how to be more literate in my media intake and be a more active and aware user of it. I have simply loved this class, the way that I not only grew intellectually but also spiritually. I'm grateful for the time, dedication and love that Dr. Coyne has for each of us. This was one of my favorite classes here at BYU and I can’t believe it is already over. Here's to another semester being done!

My Letter for Change

Dear Chloe Chase,

Seventeen Magazine is a valuable resource for teenage girls but there is a way for it to provide even more value; provide certain disclaimers. When I was a teenager growing up, it was not uncommon for me to grab an issue of Seventeen Magazine off the shelf in the super market and beg my mom to buy it for me. It was valuable as it provided all my news updates on celebrities, hair styles, makeup techniques, and all the new fashion aka what to wear. However, even though I enjoyed reading Seventeen Magazine for these reasons, it was also something that made me doubt myself and took a lot of value from me.

As I looked at all these beautiful and perfect faces, I compared them to myself and noticed all my flaws within seconds. As I have grown up, become married, and reflected on deep personal self love issues, I have realized how teenage girls can have so many body issues. The thin and ideal body with perfect skin and faces of these models and celebrities in this magazine are simply not ideal and often false, which can cause some self-esteem issues for people.  I feel that Seventeen Magazine’s mission statement: “to inform, entertain, and give teenage girls all the information they need to make sound choices in their lives” (editor of Seventeen) is not being met.

By providing perfectly edited and photoshopped pictures we are not giving the readers all the information to make sound choices. Girls may starve themselves to become that thin, when in reality, these models only look that way due to editing. We are neglecting the fact that these ideals and comparisons being made are lies. A way that I feel that we can change this is providing fine print by telling your readers, especially teenage girls, that these photos are photoshopped and what has been edited. Providing fine print at the bottom of each picture is giving readers all the information. Some people simply believe that these people are perfect when in fact so many touch ups have been made. This unrealistic view can do such harm when it comes to body issues. Girls striving to look like their favorite celebrities may end up making bad or unhealthy choices in order to obtain the thin ideal or perfection that has been edited in this magazine which is something that none of us should support. 

I am pushing so strongly for this fine print change because I think it will not only help Seventeen to live up to your mission statement but it will also provide honesty with readers. By putting Photoshop in the open, we can help struggling teenager girls see that they are valuable and just because they don’t look perfect doesn’t mean that they are not beautiful and perfect in their own way. Let us provide an honest world where we can tell people the truth and help others see falsehood from reality. Although this will not solve all body issue problems, it is a start that will help so many teenage girls. Let us help the world and unite together to help others overcome difficulties instead of making it harder. Let us add value to readers by not just providing information but also by strengthening their self-esteem through honesty. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely and hoping for change,

Summer Coons

Christmas Time is Here!

I have a rule that may be controversial to others. I don't listen to or discuss anything Christmas related until the day after Thanksgiving. It is very important to me that I focus on being thankful with my family before getting in to the Christmas spirit. But the day after Thanksgiving, my Christmas music starts playing and I'm ready to start watching cliche Christmas movies on Netflix and of course, Hallmark. This week my life has been consumed with both of these things along with decorating my apartment and having the reality of Christmas set in. This week I've watched multiple Christmas movies such as The Christmas Prince and The Princess Switch- both that I highly recommend. As I'm listening to Christmas music and watching these movies- I can't help but reflect how much these things impact me. These forms of media really help me get into the Christmas feel and bring me a form of happiness. It proves to me how impactful media can be in our lives and preparing or getting in the mood for something. This reminds me how much media can affect our moods, feelings and actions. It has such a power that I have to remember which can be for good or for bad. Media helps me get in the Christmas spirit and helps contribute to why I believe it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Putting the phone aside

There is nothing I love more than spending time with my family. After being apart for months, it is so nice to get together and be face to face with those that mean the most to me.  As I was with my family and being in this class, I noticed more than usual the media intake of myself and the people around me. As I've expressed in previous posts about my love for music, I got a better understanding of my undying love for it as I spent time with my family. There is almost always music going on in the background when we are all together. The noise is sometimes forgotten about and at other times we are all singing along to songs that we all love. I realized how much music has been apart of my life and this type of media has such an important part in my life that it was cool to gain an insight into another reason why it is so important to me. Another thing I noticed was cell phone use around my family. Of course there were times when people were swept away onto the online world but for the most part, people put down their phones and really engaged with the people around them. It was enlightening to see how important it is to put phones aside and have face to face interactions. I realized that while phones are amazing in so many ways, it is also amazing to put them down and be involved with what is around us in the moment. I'm grateful for the media that I have but I'm even more grateful for the personal, real, and face to face interactions, conversations and experiences that I have when I put my phone aside.

Rough Week

This past week has been incredibly hard. I woke up Thursday morning to hear tragic news from my hometown Thousand Oaks, California. At first I just received a text from my aunt telling me our family friend was safe and immediately I took to the internet to find out the terrible news. I couldn't believe that a shooting had happened in the safest place or a place I call home. It was devastating and so scary and simply hard to comprehend. Not even 24 hours later, there were fires that were threatening our area. Growing up in California we are known for fires but nothing like this had ever happened. I woke up early Friday morning to the news that my family had to be evacuated in the middle of the night because of the fires. All of Friday I was able to see familiar places completely destroyed. I was able to hear from my mom updates on not only my family and their safety but I also heard about families and friends houses who had burned down. It has been so hard to see photos of the place I call home facing destruction and sometimes, it has been too much to take. However, I want to point out how grateful I am for media during this hard time. I'm grateful that I was able to quickly find out the things on the shooting, or how I'm able to keep updated on the fires. Im grateful for text messages that allow us to quickly communicate messages of safety and updates and be able to stay in contact that way. I'm grateful for the messages of hope and pictures that were able to lift my spirits. While this has been a hard time, it has never been more clear to me how much media can be a tool and a helpful way to receive information and for that I'm grateful. 

Queen

This past Friday night was date night with my husband and part of that date night was going to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. As lovers of Queen, we were more than excited to go and spend some time learning more about this iconic band and some of the highlights and low points in their life. As we went sat in the theater, we had the unfortunate experience of sitting in front of people with poor theater etiquette. They talked non-stop, rather loudly I may add, sang along to songs that, no offense, I didn't come to hear them sing, so I could of gone on without, and crazy loud laughing that didn't allow me to hear some of the following lines after a funny one. This really made me think how grateful I am for people who have proper theater etiquette because sometimes it can make or break a movie. However, nothing could break the fun and greatness of this movie. As the movie went on and more songs came on, I was hit with awe with how many hits Queen has released and how awesome and classic their music is. As my husband and I talked after the movie, I thought about how I learned these songs and how I feel important it is to know classic music. It then allowed us to discuss how it is important to us and how great a responsibility it is for us to teach our kids the classic songs and make sure they know what good music is. I have so many memories of blasting Queen songs with my friends on long drives and listening to it with my family, and even choreographing a dance to Don't Stop Me Now. Music stays with us for most of our life and I'm grateful for the reminder of how impactful this type of media is and how much I love it.

In the Movie

This weekend I was able to go back home for my family's annual Halloween weekend. Every year around Halloween time, my siblings and I all travel home to have a family fun filled weekend. Every year we go to Universal Studios Hollywood Horror Nights. Now, this is in California and if you don't know what it is, basically you pay to go to a theme park at night to walk through themed mazes to have people scare you. It is truly the scariest thing ever because it feels like you are actually in a scary movie and things jump out at you. Every year I ask myself why I do it and every year, I have the most fun because there is not only a thrill about getting scared but there is so much fun in watching people get scared. As I was walking around getting scared, I realized the tremendous effect that movies have had. I mean, here I am walking through this "Stranger Things" maze where it looks exactly like the house and I'm getting scared by the actual scary creatures from the show. I mean there is a whole night dedicated to scaring people from people in movies or TV shows. This made me realize how much  movies can effect us and people. Movies have a power to make us feel things or see things differently and I think that it is important to notice these influences and try to be more observant and involved consumers of media and think about how movies influence us in good or bad ways because there are always both types of influences. I think there is such a power in media and we have to acknowledge it.