Urban Legends

There is no specific definition for the term Urban Legend, but they are commonly known as secondhand stories, beliefs, songs, or customs of ordinary folks. Some are believable; some are not. The choice to accept the information as true or not is left to the listener or the reader of the tale. Urban legends will tend to appear spontaneously. They are often presented to convince the listener that the story comes from a reliable source. For instance, “You won’t believe what my sister told me…” or “My Grandfather had the most unusual experience…” Characteristics of an urban legend are that it is presented as a narrative; it is alleged to be true; it is believable; it is delivered from person to person orally or in the written form, and the storyline will almost always vary each time it is presented.

Did you hear about the amazing story of the Mother Duck and her ducklings in Spokane, Washington? The story is told by a lady whose brother worked for the Sterling Savings Bank in Spokane. The duck made her nest in a planter at the bank nearly 10 feet in the air. After the ducklings had hatched and they were ready to fly, Mother Duck flew down to the sidewalk below, summoned the ducklings to join her, and one-by-one they began to jump. The first one hit the ground with a splat; it lay stunned for several seconds before it began to move. Then came duckling number two. Finally, this lady’s brother couldn’t stand watching this, so he began to catch the additional seven ducklings as they jumped to the cement to meet their mother. Brother Joel gathered the little family, put it into a cardboard box, and walked it to a nearby river a little over two blocks away. This is a believable story that was validated with pictures.

Not all urban legends are true, however. For example…, a man I work with claims that his dad was driving down I-75 right here in Michigan when he noticed a limousine parked at the side of the rode. He stopped to see if he could help the folks in any way. Apparently, the driver needed to borrow the gentleman’s cell phone to call for assistance. After the call, the driver asked the gentleman if he would like to meet the celebrities in the limo. He said sure and was introduced to Donald Trump and his wife. Mr. Trump asked the gentleman if he could do anything to repay his kindness. The gentleman said it would be great if he could send his wife a bouquet of flowers. Time passes and the gentleman and his wife are at the breakfast table when the doorbell rings. When the wife answered the door, there was a gigantic bouquet of flowers and a note which said, “Thank you very much for the help. We have paid off your mortgage.” Signed… Donald Trump. It would be a wonderful gesture if it was true. Unfortunately, it was not, but it is something many people dream might happen to them.

My cousin told me about this couple who drove their car to a local park to make out. They were a little nervous because they heard that others had gone there and were attacked by a man with a hook. Some of those people actually died. They were determined to be together, so they started to kiss, but they heard noises in the park. Thinking it might be a dangerous animal, they decided to leave. Unfortunately, the car would not start. After a few minutes, the boy decided to go for help and told his girlfriend she would be okay until he got back. She was left all alone for what seemed to be the longest time. All of a sudden she began to hear an intermittent tapping on the car. It was driving her crazy, so she slid over to the driver’s seat and attempted to start the car. After several tense moments, the car finally started and she raced away. She raced to the police station and brought them back to the park to look for her boyfriend. As the police approached the place where they were parked, they told the girl to stay in the backseat of the police car. As they walked toward the location of the car, they looked up in the trees to observe the dead body of a boy hanging over a branch in a tree. He was just above where the car was parked. Blood was still dripping into a puddle that had formed on the ground with the same familiar sound of intermittent tapping.

All three tales accomplished their objective. They captured the listener, told an intriguing story, and made the listener wonder. It does not matter if the tale was true or false. All that really matters is that the story was interesting and believable because if it captivated the listener, the listener will be anxious to share the story with someone else. Hence, the Urban Legend continues…

Blog #6 media violence

Example 1: Violent video games. These games are very addictive. Once you start playing you can't stop. Kids that are 9 to 15 play games that involve the decapitation of another person or someone ripping out there appoints spinal cord. These games should not be suitable for children. When games like that get addicting you play them over and over again. This means its part of your brain. You’re always thinking about it, you’re always talking about it. Soon it becomes reality. For a child that is about 9 who don’t really know right from wrong to being with they will soon start to think of their video as real life. They will use violence in their lives and not think anything is wrong.


Example 2: Movies. Movies have rating. Such as pg-13, R, G. There are ratings for age groups. Yes, you have to be a cretin age to rent those movies but that doesn’t mean kids still can't get to them. A lot of kids today watch saw and Freddy vs. Jason. Those are extremely gory movies. When young kids go in and watch this movie they come out no different than before. The movie didn't even faze them. They are so use to this kind of violence from walking down the street or playing their video games that watching someone get tortured to death means nothing to them.


Example 3: News. In the news we hear a lot about shootings, stabbings ECT. We hear this so often we don't even recognize it as a bad thing. People could be walking down the street and I could be bleeding and screaming bloody murder and no one would stop to help me. They either don't want to get involved or they just look right past me. People are too afraid to stand up and help others because they don't want to become a victim.

Pictures that lie

The five pictures that really stood out to me would be:
1) the Katie picture
2) O.J's time picture
3) Trotsky's elimination
4)Helicopter
5)Fire on ice

I would say that out of all 24 pictures number one stood out the most. Its not like it was the most drastic change but it really just shows how much sterotyping is in our world. When you look at the women who are in the public eye all the time you expect them to be skinny and pretty and perfect really. Thats not human. People arn't always pretty or have the perfect shape all the time. This picture just shows that they will go to any extream to keep it perfect. If your fat or you have a blhemish or one eye is darker than another it always have to be fixed so it looks like there perfect. Seeing these pictures shows that stars are not always perfect. They have flaws, the media just covers it up to make it look like they don't.

Two Movies

In these two movies I learned about how the media uses women as objects instead of people. The media also shows advertisements that give off the vibe that abusing women is ok. For example they show a naked women's body as an alcoholic beverage. In another ad they show is with a woman up against the wall with a man pulling her hair, this symbolizes that the man is in control and it gives off the impression that women like to be controlled and not handled with care. Because of the appealing nature of women’s body's the media feels the need to use our bodies as objects to sell their products. In the end the only thing that is going to matter is that sex sells. The media will stop at nothing if it involves their company and or the product they are trying to sell. The first movie was about how the media will use women’s bodies as objects. In the second movie it tells you how the advertisements are very sexual and can sometimes promote sexual and physical abuse toward women. In the second movie it shows you an ad with a man smoking a cigar and a women in the background, next to the man is writing that states something like "it has no opinion and no say in anything that’s why it makes the perfect companion". That’s the kind of advertisements that little boys can see and read and start to think that this is how women should be treaded. It shows that men should not give women the respect they want and should get. The first movie shows you how sex sells and how women are used as objects instead of people. When you watch a chimerical on TV say it’s with bud light and you’re at a NASCAR race. It shows a woman with the beer walking in between the rows of cars. What you tend to not notice is the camera always focuses on one part of her body and it’s never the face. When I finished watching the movies I realized that women should be seen as people not as a toy or an object.

Superbowl

What I have learned from the super bowl commercials are, that a lot of the commercials had the same idea. For example there had to be a least four commercials about beer. There have been a lot of commercials about snack food. They try to make it funny so they get your attention. Evey time you watch a commercial you should know that everything is on purpose. Everything they do to the music the colors what their going to say, they do all of that on purpose.

Key Concept

The key concept that I understand the most would be concept number 5. Key concept number 5 is most media messages are organized to gain profit or power. The reason this one makes the most sense is because everyone likes money and everyone needs money. The add companies will do anything to sell you their product so they can make a profit. For example if I was trying to sell someone some diet pills I would tell them that it would make them feel so much better about themselves and you will look and feel 10 times better about yourself if you use this product. The person I'm selling to would most likely start to feel very self consciouses. That person will most likely buy that product from me.