04th Jan 2010
EDEC 262- Blog 1
Blog 1- Media Memory
Because this is the first blog of the semester, consider this a chance to stretch your proverbial legs and get used to the idea of having a publically-mediated discussion. Engage. Consider. Enjoy.
Dr. Steinberg raised a number of interesting issues in class this week, notably the impact media has on youth and the development of stereotypes. For example, her discussion of the portrayal of African-American women in hip hop and the depiction of their bodies leads us to think about how these images drive our thinking about race, sexuality, and the role of women in an industry dominated by men. In short, media helps pattern what we think.
Think back to your earliest media memory again. What was the impact of that media on you as a child? Discuss here how you think that media may have impacted you as a child or may indeed still be impacting you today.
Finally, if you’d like, feel free to include any other thoughts you may have had on the first class or any of the items we discussed this week. What struck you about any of the ideas raised in this week’s lecture?
PS. Be sure to read what your classmates have written here too. Engage the prompt but feel free to comment on other people’s commentary.
I remember watching many family shows growing up. I was an avid viewer of Full House, like many of my classmates. I am now able to differentiate between fact and fiction but this was not the case as a child. Firstly, I had a complex about my looks. I didn’t necessarily feel ugly but I did notice a trend of fair haired girls on the show. I had dark hair and felt that I must be different. I know now that differences are good but I felt alienated back then. Luckily, the other girls around were brunettes as well so I felt less different.
I also noticed that all the problems encountered by the characters were easily solved within a half-hour time frame. These problems were usually never mentioned again making the plot unrealistic. I was quite confused when things were not settled quickly. When I disagreed with classmates, for example, we didn’t get over it in five minutes and forget that it ever happened. I also didn’t always get along with my sister and forgiving each other was more difficult than it seemed to be on the television shows.
I must say that my personal experiences taught me that TV shows are sugar-coated and real life proves to be more difficult than it is portrayed. I am thankful that I was perceptive enough to notice this at a young age and that I did not become deluded into thinking that life was accurately portrayed on TV.
My earliest media memory must have been watching Mr. Dress-up with my sisters, cousins and grandfather. Everyday, at the same hour, my grandfather would gather us around and point towards the television. “Look,” he would say, “Mr. Dress-up.” My grandparents always had a house full of children when we were preschool age. Keeping us occupied was my grandfather’s job, and what a feat that must have been! Watching Mr. Dress-up with us was a way, I think, of getting the grandchildren settled in the same place, at the same time. We would get kick out of watching it with him because he would always point out the way that he looked like Mr. Dress-up. To this day, I agree that he did.
Watching this show was a social endeavour for us: I watched it with my two sisters, my two cousins, and my grandpa. My grandfather seemed to enjoy it so much that I wonder if we watched it more for him than we did for ourselves. He probably enjoyed the peace that watching the show together brought him.
Perhaps this way that I watched television with my family had an impact on my television watching habits today. I seldom sit in front of the television on my own and enjoy watching it most when surrounded by others who enjoy watching TV with me. I am unsure of the impact the actual show had on me, but am quite sure that the way I watched television as a child impacted the way I watch it today. For me, television is less a form of solo entertainment and more something to do with others.
My earliest media memory would have to be watching the Young and the Restless and the Bold and the Beautiful soap operas with my mom. While my mom used to put on other shows for me to watch, like Passe-Partout or Molly’s Big Comfy Couch, I only have vivid memories of the soap operas. I remember the makeup, the drama, the suspense…most of all I remember my mom talking back to the characters, telling them what to do and what not to do- it was all very exciting! The characters on the show always had something exciting going on and they always looked good doing it. I wanted to be just like them. At one point, I even practiced sitting down and crossing my legs, just like the women on the show did.
I suppose the show was just one of the many media sources to contribute to my identity as a girl. I wanted to be pretty, delicate and composed just like what I saw on the television. While I now realize how idealized and unreal the image of women in the media is, I have to admit it still influenced me greatly in my childhood.
My first media memory would have to be watching Barney. Although it did not impact me permanently, I do believe that it had an impact on my pre-school years. I remember seeing the children go to Barney’s daycare. As a child, my mother stayed home with my brother and me, so I had the luxury of staying home and be pampered; although I did not fully understand that as a four year old. I would see the kids get together and sing with Barney, and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be there, let alone just go to daycare. My perception of daycare was what the producers of Barney portrayed it to be like.
During my school years, I was greatly influenced by the Spice Girls. My friends and I would sing along to their album, and we would have pretend concerts. I only realized what the lyrics meant as a teenager though. Nonetheless, we still tried dressing like them, despite the fact that we were eight years old. I am glad I finally realize that most media is ran by a few conglomerates, however I do believe that we need to teach children how to be critical of what they see in the media. Watch Mickey Mouse Monopoly (link) for a good justification…
My earliest media memory would have to be watching Dirty Dancing in Italian in Italy when I was 5 yrs old. I was there on vacation visiting some family and literally every day (because there was not much to do for a 5 and 9 yr old in the farms in Italy), my sister and I would go to our cousin’s house and watch it at least once and rehearse the dances together. Because of this movie I just enjoyed watching movies that involved singing and dancing. I guess you could say that this movie is the reason why I enjoy musicals. I even took dance lessons because of that movie. I don’t quite know what it was about that movie but it just stuck with me and to this day when I watch it, I sing and dance along to the movie. I think it’s clear to say that the movie is not intended for 5yr olds but honestly the only things that stuck with me from that movie is the music and the dancing. It also brought my sister and me closer because she enjoys the movie as much as I do, and we don’t have the strongest relationship but when I’m watching the movie she’ll come and watch it with me and sing along as well…I know, it sounds pathetic but I enjoy it, it brings me back to my vacation back in 1994 when life was much simpler.
My earliest media memory would have to be watching Sailor Moon. Looking back, I think the reason Sailor Moon had such an impact on me was because of magical aspect to it. I loved that they could all transform into completely different personalities and they all had interesting powers to fight against evil.
This show brought a whole new world to children: anime television and an introduction to the Japanese culture. I think its essential for children to learn about different cultures in the world.
I think the reason this show was such a hit was because of the beautiful love story and the “girl power” aspect to it. It even got boys to watch it because of the cool fighting and action scenes in it. This show will always have a special place in my heart as the show that opened me up to a world of possibilities.
Considering my siblings and I were restricted to an hour of Television a day, I would usually wait till the weekend to watch television. Being eight years old Saturday mornings where the best. The whole morning and afternoon was dedicated to cartoons. That is when I became hooked on the Smurfs, Romper romm and polka dot door. I definetly wanted to be a part of the show and was hoping that one day I would get that phone call inviting me to be on Romper Room. Of,course, the Smurfs were just cute to look at and you always felt bad for them when the wicked Gargermel would try to make stew out of them. As I got older Firday night TV or should I say TGIF was a time where I would sit down and watch the family shows such at Full house, A Different World and that famious sitcom with Steve Erkal. Of course I also enjoyed Growing pains and the Cosby Show. I guess coming from a large family I really could relate to the family sitcomes and the issues the families had to deal with. It was in my early teens when I began to enjoy the series Little House on the Parire” I just loved the simplicity of the show and how the sitcom portrayed the importance of family. It was when I got in my mid teens when I began to love and appreciate moives and musicals. My all time favorite musicals are Greece, West Side Story and Hairspray. I always love to sing along with them. I guess my apreciation for music and Dance stems from when I was a little girl taking dance lessons for nine years. I also love a good horror movie. Some of my favorites would be The Exorsist, Psycho and The Sixth Sense. I guess the reason behind enjoying horror movies would have to be with my interest in the unknown, supernatural and of course the suspence of it all. The best movies are those that keep you wanting more and those that keep you sitting on the edge of your seat. For me that was the difference between a good move and one that lack substance. Today I would have to say I truly enjoy watching movies and have a diverse taste in what I enjoy. Some of my favorite TV series today would have to be 24, Grey’s anotomy, and Coronation street. I guess these three series fulfill all my sences. 24 being the suspense, Grey’s Anotmy the Drama and Cornations street the guilty pleasure of a more realistic soap opera inwhich the characters look like average everyday people. Of course when nothing else is on I always enjoy wactching the old classic sitcoms, that can be found on Deja Vu, the funny and outrageous Jack Tripper on Three’s Company. can be sure to put a smile on your face and give you a good laugh. What can I say I;m a sucker for cheesy sitcoms.
Like Catherine, my brother and I were big fans of the Saturday morning cartoon scene. If anything media-related shaped me, it was probably the Pink Ranger on the program “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.” I tried to get my mom to change my name to Kimberley, which was the Pink Ranger’s name. My brother wanted to be the Blue Ranger and together we went as Power Rangers one Halloween. I took gymnastics like the Pink Ranger did in her regular life. It got to the point my brother and I were always fighting and my mom attributed it to too much violent TV and we were cut off from the Power Rangers.
I’m not really convinced media is the major shaper of identity–I think that’s the role of family. Like Suzanne’s example in the first post, her mother’s interest was seminal to Suzanne’s. Even before Power Rangers, my brother and I watched a lot of “Barney and Friends.” There’s a character on that show called Baby Bop who is a forest green girl dinosaur. One time when my brother and I were with my uncle (who is a tractor aficionado) and my uncle was quizzing my brother about colors. He pointed to a dark shade of green and my brother said it was “Baby Bop green.” My uncle then proceeded (jokingly I hope) to drill him into saying “John Deere green” about the same shade of green. He had him shouting it the rest of the visit.
Media isn’t more powerful than family approval at very young, formative ages.
Some of my earliest media memories are correlated to the popular Saturday cartoon block. I remember growing up watching the “Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger” in my early years as a youth. Every Saturday morning would not be complete without watching it. What I remember most about the particular time in my life was the influence the show had on me. Like Rachel explained above, I too began to take on similar roles to that of some of the male characters/Power Rangers. Given the violent nature that was displayed each week, my brother and I would usually end up re-enacting particular scenes in the backyard as if we rangers. Even though we looked at what we were doing as ‘play fighting’, my parents viewed it as a negative side effect to what we were watching, and thus we were not allowed to watch the show anymore.
Given the various types of media that I was exposed to at that time, I didn’t take on violent behaviors with others. The ‘play fighting’ that my brother and I were involved in was more rooted in acting how our “heroes” at that time did. In similar fashion to that of the Power Ranger, the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” had a similar affect on my brother and I. After watching the films, we would take on the roles of the turtles and began fighting of evil doers just like the films demonstrated. Looking back, I don’t believe these shows/films shaped me, but rather they have provided me with an understanding of how powerful media can actually be.
When Prof. Steinberg had asked us to think of our earliest childhood memory on media, I had quite a hard time to formulate one. Growing up in the Bahamas, there was very little television or movies for young children to watch. It was expected that we would be outside or doing homework, not sitting and watching television. As I look back, I can think of only two cartoon shows (Fraggle Rock, Under the Umbrella Tree) and two sitcoms (Fresh Prince of Bell Air, Family Matters). These shows were either performed by the Muppets of Jim Henson or African-American actors. I remember watching the shows, as one of the only white children on the island, trying to portray myself as an African-American girl to fit in. Ashley Banks from Fresh Prince was around my age and all I wanted to do was be like her, someone who was African-American but proper and poised. The private school that I was attending trying this as well, so I thought, that this is how I should be.
When I returned to Canada, at 9 years old, I was quite taken aback because, though I had achieved the feeling of being accepted amongst the Black community of the Caribbean, I found myself not fitting in once again. I had to try to become White again. Cartoons here were different, sitcoms were different and portrayals of young adults were different.
Even to this day, I still find I have quite a strong liking with the African-American media culture. Reggae, Rap, Hiphop music, African-American sitcoms, and portrayals of African-American women still have a strong hold on me, despite the fact that I am a White woman.
My earliest media memories would have to be shows like Seaseme Street, Mr. Dressup, Fred Penner and Mr. Roggers. I learnt a lot by watching Seaseme Street. The only Spanish I know, I learnt from watching Seaseme Street (x-mas vacation in Mexico was interesting). I learnt a lot about words, numbers and friend ship. I always wanted to live in a friendly neighborhood like that one. I still don’t have big bird and Osker the Grouch as neighbors…maybe one day.
I loved to watch Mr. Dressup I loved his tickle trunk of costumes and the visits that he would get from Finnegan and the other tree house friends. Because of my work with children during the summer, I have acquired my own tickle trunk of costumes and think of Mr. Dressup every time I go into it, many of the staff are to young to even know where the name for my box came from.
I remember singing along with Fred Penner. He would make is was into the hole in the tree and bring his gaiter with him.
I can still remember the sound of the trolley on Mr. Roggers that would bring us to another world and the mail man that would bring us videos to put into the picture frame that would teach us how things were make.
Over the years T.G.I.F. was something I remember always having to be home for. I never missed an episode of Friends I know own the full series and have always wanted life long friends like the 6 of them. Today, I have become a sucker for the Hollywood love stories that we all know from the beginning of the movie, he girl is going to end up with he boy. I somewhat live vicariously through them hoping that one day I will find my prince charming … Hollywood / Disney / Cinderella has ruined me.
Just as Samantha mentioned above, I too had a hard time coming up with my earliest media memory. Although I am aware that I watched young children shows such as “Sesame Street” and “Barney,” I don’t have a vivid memory of doing so. After much thought and some discussion with peers, I realized that the memories I have surrounding this issue were ones from when I was about 10 and up. I can list a whole slew of T.V. sitcoms that I loved to watch such as “The Nanny,” “Full House,” “Family Matters,” “Boy Meets World” and “Saved by the Bell.” After some thought I have realized that I am attached to these shows to this very day. I will often watch old reruns online and have purchased several of the seasons on DVD. I still cry every time Miss Fine almost walks out on Mr. Sheffield in the fourth season knowing very well that they end up married in season five. When I questioned the impact this media had on me, I had trouble coming up with the answer. I am now beginning to understand that these shows were an escape for me. Almost all the children in these shows were living happy and interesting lives. The sitcoms reflected my idea of “normalcy” and “consistency” which was lacking in my life at the time.
. Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Disney Princesses. I knew every character and wished that I too led a life like theirs, filled with drama, friendship and love. The princess Ariel, from The Little Mermaid, was my favourite princess (and still is). Seeing her struggle to find her prince charming made me wonder if one day it would be very hard to find love and that I too would have to change myself in order to be happy. I see now that that is certainly not the case, however looking back I realize that these Disney movies are making little girls everywhere think about these situations at a much younger age than they should. Children should just enjoy their childhood and deal with adult situation when the time comes. Despite my love for the Disney movies, as well as many other movies and shows, it is often the case that media changes the views of young children.
Another early memory I have is watching Barney. I adored Barney as a child and would watch it religiously. I remember being eager to start school so I too would make friends and have adventures. Watching Barney had an extremely positive effect on me. I was very shy as a child, and was worried that I would not make many friends once I started Kindergarten. However, once I actually started school, I thought back to the show I loved so much and just took their advice. Being friendly and sharing, I was able to make friends very fast and enjoyed my elementary school years. Despite the many negative aspects the media has on children, I loved watching television and continue to love it to this very day!
I, like many of the other people in class, remember watching a lot of Full House when I was younger. I absolutely loved this show and remember rushing home from school and eating my after school snack in front of the TV while laughing at Uncle Joey, or neighbor Gibbler. I was always jealous of all of the sisters on the show, and wished that my family life was similar to theirs. I am an only child, and the fact that there were boyfriends, neighbors, and older sisters around all of the time made me extremely envious of the Tanner family.
My childhood friend had two sisters and I can remember fondly going over there and feeling so excited about all of the commotion and chaos that was going on in their house; I felt as though my family was unusual or boring.
Thinking back on all of the after school sitcoms that I watched when I was young, I can see that Full House is certainly not the only show that portrayed these larger family ideals. Step-by-step, Family Matters, and Growing Pains are a few others that showed large families as being normal and fun, and which would often fill my after school programming schedule.
While I certainly don’t blame these shows for only portraying multi-child families; I mean there were lots of possible stories and character plots. I think that it may have been interesting to showcase a family with only 1 child.
Hi,
My oldest media memory was watching Passe-Partout at home and then Barney at my babysitter’s place. I really liked those shows and even thought I was (and still am) a terrible singer, I loved to sing the theme songs and dance to them. When I turned 3 or 4, my parents took off the cable plug so there were only 5 to 7 channels which we could watch. When I got into elementary school, the fact that I could not watch all the same shows as everyone else bothered me little. It’s when I arrived to high school that I realized I could not watch MusiquePlus or Fox or YTV or Vrak TV and all the other popular channels there were at that time! It did bother me sometimes but now that I look back, I found other (and in my view better) ways to spend my time. I practiced many sports and played outside a lot more than most friends. Now, I barely watch TV anymore, even thought I sometimes like to watch some Greys Anatomy episodes or that 70’s show reruns on the net.
Just like Christina, I grew up watching Disney movies and visited Walt Disney World for the first time when I was four. I always remember that my brothers use to make fun of me and found it strange that I loved Disney so much that I could just sit there and watch it over and over again. I agree very much with her point of view, looking back now, we can realize just how much media has changed the course of our thoughts and memories without even really consciously knowing it.
One thing that caught my attention during lecture yesterday was when Professor Steinberg mentioned the fact that in Disney there is a lack of mothers or they are often killed off. It made me realize just how powerful media can be, because often time we remain captured in the magic of it all and often forget the subliminal messages that they put forth.
When Dr. Steinberg first asked us about our earliest media memory in class I too had a hard time coming up with and answer. Then I remembered watching Sesame Street and learning how to count and like Leanne remember Christmas in Mexico. While reading the posts I’m beginning to feel nostalgic and the memories have begun to come flooding back: Mr. Rogers, Mr. Dressup, The Bill Cosby show, Family Matters with Steve Urkel asking “Got any Cheese?, Fresh Prince of Belair, Home Improvement and the list goes on and on….
I can remember every afternoon sitting on the couch with my sister and grandmother watching Road to Avonlea and loving the costumes and seeing what it was like to live in the ‘olden days. Every Saturday night my sister and I would sit on the couch to watch the British Comedies on PBS. We’d soon be rolling on the floor laughing at Basil in Faulty Towers or Hyacinth in Keeping up Appearances. Over the years there have been many TV shows I have loved to watch almost religiously like Third Watch or ER and wasn’t it a sad, sad day when I heard that they it would be their last season! Then there are the other shows that play for a season or even a few seasons like Veronica Mars and then get cancelled because the ratings weren’t great.
Growing up we did not have cable but the list of television shows available seemed endless. But when I started high school there were many shows that my friends watched that I couldn’t get the channel and I felt left out. Now of course an endless number of shows are available with the simple click of a mouse and of course many shows are available on DVD to watch over and over again.
One of my earliest media memories is watching Full House, just like many others here. I loved watching the way the family interacted with each other and I felt that I could relate to the family. I found that many of the things that happened between the sisters in the show happened between my own sister and me. One episode that really sticks out for me is when DJ gets her own room and Stephanie moves into Michelle’s room. At the time, I had been sharing a room with my sister and I had been complaining that I wanted to have my own room. I remember that when this episode came on, I told my mom that DJ gets her own room, so why couldn’t I? We weren’t able to have our own rooms in our house here, but we did have a cottage. So one time when we were there, my mom let my sister and I sleep in separate rooms to see how it would feel like. I found that I did not like it. I didn’t even last one night in my own room. I was too scared. These are some of the same things that happened with DJ and Stephanie. It was just interesting to me that the problem I was having about my own room was something DJ and Stephanie were going through too. I felt like I was not alone in the problem I was having. I was able to relate my life to the Tanners in many ways and it made the show more real to me.
As a young child I remember watching a lot of Sesame Street, Mr. Dress Up, Barney and Mr. Rogers. I would watch them everyday with my brother. Growing older I watched more cartoons and couldn’t wait for Saturday morning to arrive when all the good shows were on! My brother and I would wake up really early, eat cereal and start watching Ninja Turtles, Dragon Ball, Kimpossible etc. Though these cartoons were much more exciting than watching Barney, I think that the first shows I watched made a bigger impact on me as a child. They were educational and taught me about respect with peers and parents, helped me learn different aspects of English through games and singing, and much more. Mr. Dress Up would show me the creative side of life whereas Barney taught me more about loving friends and family. Sesame Street helped with the alphabet, counting, colors, etc. So as a matter of fact I can probably say that these shows didn’t just have an impact on me as a child, but they also play a part in how I act today.
I find it interesting that several people mentioned how they were affected by the shows they watched as kids, such as the example about beauty and feeling it was necessary to look like the individuals they saw. I do not seem to remember the same thing happening to me. I noticed how characters looked but I do not remember believing that I needed to look like them in order to be pretty, that came much later in life. I remember watching Disney’s Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast and thinking the women were beautiful but never related it back to me. Maybe my parents were good at explaining that the characters were not real or maybe I just figured that since they were cartoons. Or maybe I was taught at a young age that beauty is skin deep. I don’t really know for sure.
All I can say is that I am surprised the beauty portrayals of the media affected such a young age group. I thought most young children were too naive to see into it all. I figured it wasn’t until grade 5+ that girls started to obsess about appearances. It is scary really. When you hear about all the subliminal messages in the media nowadays, it actually makes you wonder how much of it is getting through to our kids.
My first media memory would be watching Little House on the prairie, the show about Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was so inspired by the show that for the first few years of my life I decided that I needed, not wanted but needed, to be a farmer. She was a girl, but she got to run on the farm and travel which to me was far more exciting than sitting at home playing dress up or with Barbies. I was a tomboy at the time and nothing seemed better than a little girl living a life of adventure (something more likely to happen to a boy). Clearly gender roles had already been shown to me.
The show, however, had a far better consequence for me because it showed me a different type of learning, through reading. The show was based on her diaries and the books about Laura and so as soon as I was able to comprehend the books I began reading them. I still catch reruns of the show on certain channels, and i have to admit I still know the theme song the moment i hear it.
As Christina and Rebekah have mentioned, some of my earliest memories of media also have to do with Disney movies. Although unaware of the impact back then, I now realize how women are negatively portrayed in those fairy tale movies (especially the earlier ones). As I look back on characters such as Cinderella (I was actually named after her because apparently my delicate features as a baby resembled those of Cinderella), Sleeping Beauty and Belle, I believe these young women to be vulnerable and dependent on a man’s status of power in society. For example, without Prince Charming, Cinderella would still be living in poverty, and remain a slave to her evil stepmother and jealous stepsisters. She needed a savior – a man.
I can’t say that I today believe in women being inferior to men because I viewed these movies, however I do see a trend in society where men seem to always rule over women in many aspects – money, liberty, power.
Like Camille and Leanne, Sesame Street is my first media memory. However, like Diana, this was a show that allowed me to spend time with my grandfather. As a child, my mother didn’t want me to go to daycare and my grandparents always wanted to have me around; and so they were my “babysitters.” When I’d get to their house, I would get my breakfast, sing, “il mouillra plus pentoute,” or “frou-frou” in my grandfathers’ arms, and then it was time to watch some good Sesame Street! The show itself didn’t impact my view on shows later on, however it did help me with my counting, colors and the alphabet (which is the goal of the show!) Not only did it teach me an educational aspect, Sesame Street also taught me about respect and friendship. Even when the show was off, I would ask my grandfather questions about the characters, or asked him to ask me questions about the show. To this day, we still talk about our friend Big Bird and how I resemble Cookie Monster.
When I think about my earliest media memory, two things come to mind. First, similar to many of the blogs that I had read, Disney has greatly impacted my views on media literacy. Disney introduced me to the world of prince’s and princess’s filled with love and happy endings. As a child, I was given the impression that my reason for living was to find my prince and live happily ever after. So you can say that my first media memory was a false perception of life. This false perception reveals that Disney communicates the dominant role of men and how we as women are inferior to them, as Cindy had said. On a brighter note, another media memory that I believe is worth mentioning deals with the first boy band, New Kids on the Block. I remember putting my first cassette in my first Walkman and dancing to “Step by Step” in my room. I consider this to be an important memory because it brought out my love for music. Ironically enough, this again communicates to power that men have over women. As I delve deeper into this memory, it becomes clear that boy bands sexually appeal to pre-teens allowing for their success to flourish. When I think of New Kids on the Block today, I think of a young audience, predominantly girls, witnessing the aesthetically appealing band and reacting with intense near-hysteria.
When I think back to my childhood, television shows such as “Mr. Dress-Up”, “Under the Umbrella Tree” and the famous line-up of “TGIF”, immediately brings a smile to my face. These are the television shows that have shaped my childhood and they have certainly inspired me. Sounds cliché, but it’s true. As a child, Mr. Dress-Up showed me how to be creative with arts and crafts and how to enter a world of imagination by dressing up. As I grew up, his arts and craft ideas became resourceful for my daycare class and his “tickle truck” filled with bright, colourful costumes became apart of my own daycare classroom.
As a part of the “TGIF” line-up, “Boy Meets World” was always a favourite. This show allowed the audience to watch three friends grow and change together through out high school, college and even marriage. “Boy Meets World” presented a variety of real-life situations that allowed audiences to easily relate to the characters. This show provided me with an understanding of what true friendship really is. This enabled me to relate, compare and identify situations presented in the show with my own life.
These television shows have shaped my childhood in more ways than one and they still have a visible impact in my life today.
As many have mentioned already, Sesame Street is my first media memory. As the youngest of 3 girls (younger by many years), I remember watching Sesame Street and having my sisters come in and recall when they watched Sesame Street and all their favorite characters and skits. I thought this was awesome because I really looked up to my sisters and to know that they watched the same show as me when they were my age allowed me to connect with them and feel proud about my choice of tv shows (even though my mom pretty much chose for me). Furthermore, my mom would watch Sesame Street with me sometimes and she would tell me that she remembered watching it with my sisters and how much the show had changed.
While Sesame Street did teach me about numbers, letters, colours, manners and so much more, the part that stuck to me the most was family and friendship. Not only was friendship and family an important part of the show, Sesame Street also gave me the opportunity to connect with my family. Often my mom or my sisters would sit and watch it with me, giving us family time that was often hard to come by.
Similar to what Sarah had mentioned, I too was not affected by beauty at such a young age. My first media memory is The Muppet Show or Muppet Movies. Even though they were before my time I have an older sister and father that were obsessed with the amazing show so i too fell in love with it. I was mezmorized how at any moment you could break out into song about anything and soon enough i was the owner of every muppet CD ever made. Watching these characters was a time I got to spend with my whole family sharing laughs as well as lots of dancing. The muppets and even sesame street and barney are shows that have taught me many lessons and have shaped a part of who I am today and have left me with many memories.
My earliest media memory would probably be watching Sesame Street like Chantalle and many others above. Like Daryl mentions, these types of children shows have an educational component (in addition to being entertaining) and their impact on me was probably to introduce or reinforce certain concepts, situations, or ideas. Sesame street for example reinforced vocabulary, counting, and also introduced me to traditions like the cabane a sucre in Quebec.
What strikes me as interesting from the above comments is how pervasive television is as a medium for forming early childhood memories. A few people mentioned movies as shaping their memories, but the vast majority remember tv shows first. I wonder how this has changed with todays kids and the internet and other new media technologies. Will many of their first memories be of playing with the computer?
I pretty much have to agree what everyone here about Sesame Street. Same here, it’s one of my earliest media of memory. I used to love that show even to this day. Nothing more than seeing a giant sized Bird yellow out the alphabet saying F is for fun, and count counting numbers from 1 to 10 LOL. Like Daryl says, it also taught the meaning of friendship and without watching that show, I probably wouldn’t have been a huge success in school. I mean hey, I got this far from Elementary
The media interest for me nowadays has slowly declined, partly because there’s nothing anything good watching on TV anymore. I love watching reality shows like Canada’s Worst Driver or Handyman and Hell’s Kitchen, nothing like a good reality to set my mood. Hopefully this course can lead me to think otherwise.
I think this will be a interest course. I’m kinda bummed about using macs tho, all editing software is the same. I make videos on youtube a heck of a lot using movie maker, so its gonna take some getting used to it. Oh well, I’m up for a challenge
I had no difficulty thinking about my first media memories although when it came to reflecting on how these memories have influenced and shaped me as a person, I paused for quite a while. Going back to my earliest memories, “Passe-Partout and Watatatow” were the French shows that helped me learn the language at such a young age. Immediately after starting school, I began watching English shows like “Arthur, The Big Comfy Couch, Mister Dress-up” and many more, which helped me learn the English language as well.
When I was younger, I was portrayed as the tomboy. Everything that I wore, said and did was much more masculine. As David mentioned above, I too was an enormous fan of the Power Rangers although I enjoyed the movies more than the shows. My dream was to become the yellow power ranger whose name is Trini Kwan. I joined my siblings and cousins in a sort of reenactment of certain movie scenes. We each chose our own characters; my brother was always the leader (red ranger), my other boy cousins were the other rangers (blue, black and green) and my delicate sister was the pink ranger. There was always such a contrast between my sister and me since she was known as the feminine girl and I was just the tomboy. I enjoyed other masculine movies like the air bud series; I loved sports. I believe that I began to change my identity when I started watching the show “Sailor Moon”. I was obsessed with this television series more than any other one and I was convinced that I would become Sailor Jupiter one day. This was also the first time that I was exposed in a significant manner to feminine traits such as makeup, dresses and looking a certain attractive way. Immediately after watching “Sailor Moon” episodes, I was influenced in becoming more girly. My new favourite television shows became “Lizzie McGuire and Two of a Kind” and my new role models were now the Olsen twins. The Olsen twin movies were probably the most influential in my life since they made me believe that anywhere you choose to travel, you will always find your prince charming there. Movies like “Winning London” and “Passport to Paris” help bring these ideas to my mind.
I think Alan made a very interesting point when he noticed that most described TV shows as one of their first media memories. Why was it that most remembered Barney, Sesame Street and full house before Movies?
My response is: frequency. Household television sets for our generation are considered the norm. Indeed, during our first lecture when I whispered to my neighbor that I did not have a TV in response to the Professor’s assertion that students would need one, left her scandalized. We were and are exposed to television as an easy, cheap and relatively entertaining break from reality.
I will speculate further by claiming that in addition to frequency, our immediate context also plays a significant role in forming our earliest memories. By this I mean, many of us can not only remember the what the TV show was about but more importantly who we were watching it with.
For me having just moved to the United States, my first memory is watching British Children’s television shows with my brother that had been carefully taped by my great aunt back in old Blighty. Perhaps out of cultural preservation, my brother and I clung to our 2 hour weekly viewing sessions of Rosie and Jim, PlayBus and Art Attack where accents and faces were comfortingly familiar.
Some of the earliest childhood media memories that I have are watching Sesame Street, Mr. Dress-up and Barney, just like many other students. However, I was also raised on Disney movies, and I must say that this is what has had the most impact on me. I absolutely adored Disney movies. My favorites were The Lion King and Aladdin. I enjoyed signing the songs in The Lion King – and I knew all of them by heart! – and I fell in love with Aladdin, as I am sure many others have. Growing up, I dreamt of finding my very own prince charming so many times. I wished that one day I would be swept off my feet just like Jasmine. Now that I am older and wiser, I no longer have such a romanticize view of relationships. However, I still believe in finding love and happiness of course. Now, I simply see things more realistically and less as a fairy tale.
I must say also, going through the post from other students, I started smiling when I read Leann’s post. I absolutely loved T.G.I.F. also! I never missed a Friday night. My sister and I watched the two-hour line-up religiously every week. Good times! Thank you for reminding me Leann
Like my peers above, I too grew up watching TGIF. Every Friday night, I would anticipate “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Step by Step.” The one show that still sticks with me to this day has to be “Boy Meets World.” I remember Corey and Topanga’s committed relationship and the Matthews family. Mr Feeny was the strict teacher always there to guide Corey and Shawn out of their rough situations. These characters all set high expectations to who I wanted as my role models. Growing up, I wondered why my teachers didn’t help me like Mr. Feeny; I too had my principal that lived down the street that was not as supportive as Mr. Feeny would have been. Corey and Topanga fell in love and got married at an early age. After watching this relationship, I too wanted to find a boyfriend who would be my best friend and get married right out of high school. Now that I am older, I realized that those dreams were unsuitable to what I now want in life. I understand the importance of setting goals and priorities in life and that I want to finish school and find a successful career before marriage.
When the series finale aired I was very sad and gathered all my friends who also liked the show to watch it altogether. This also brings another memory; “Boy Meets World” brought me closer to my friends and family because of the values the show upheld. I still catch reruns when I can and laugh along with the characters of my childhood.
My earliest childhood media memory would definitely be watching Disney princess movies, just like many have already mentionned. I think I had every single one of them on tape, and I would never get tired of rewatching them over and over again. Being exposed to these movies, where there was always a very beautiful princess who looked flawless, usually had long hair, wore pretty dresses, made me want to dress the same way! I remember asking my mom to buy me the little cinderella glass slippers which were sold at toys’r'us. When I put them on, they actually made me feel as if I was a part of the movie! I definitely saw things in a “fairy tale” way, just like Nathalie mentionned. I wanted to find my prince charming as well. However, as I grew up, I learned that a person can be beautiful by many different things, and not just by her clothes choice or how her hair is.
I still love Disney princess movies, but I definitely watch them in a different light now. I watch them as a made-up story, and not a realistic story which little girls would dream their lives would be like!
The media that had most of an impact on me was when I was in elementary school from grade 3 to 6. Every day after school I would watch The Magic School Bus and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Because I watched these educational TV shows regularly, I can still recall what each one was about.These 2 shows taught me things that was not taught in school. I could consider myself more of a visual learner, therefore each episode was always stimulating. I always enjoyed science and I believe that Mrs. Frizzle inspired me to become somewhat the kind of elementary school teacher I want to be today. She always told her students not to be afraid to take chances and that learning was fun, especially when you have field trips. Thank-you Alice for reminding me about Art Attack. I found it interesting watching these episodes when I was young because I did not understand why the man speaking had an accent. Being used to watching French and English TV shows, I learned that people from different parts of the world also did their own TV shows.
Those of you who watch/ed French television episodes, I recommend that you go check out this FANTASTIC website that lists and describes all the series possible. Remember: Calimero? Babar? Boumbo? Les Moumins? Enjoy!
http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/sources/series.php3?cle=1421&sec=4
My earliest media memory would probably be watching television shows such as Sesame Street, Barney and the Flintstones. I would come home from half a day of pre-kindergarten (back in the day they were only half days), sit down in front of the TV and watch the Flintstones with my Lipton soup. These shows had a positive impact on my childhood because they taught many of the basic knowledge’s of being a kid and learning about new things. As I grew older I also would watch Arthur and The Magic School Bus. These shows were educational and each episode seemed to be stimulating in its own way; from Muffy always bossing everyone around, to Mrs. Frizzle driving the bus to a new adventure. These shows helped us learn and helped us deal with life lessons along the way. These wonderful TV shows we had as youngins were all, in their own way interesting, useful and educational. Nowadays, many of these shows do not play anymore and many have been replaced by, in my opinion, they’re not so great counterparts.
Not unlike most people that have already written, my earliest memories are definitely from children’s shows…namely Sesame Street, Babar, Magic School Bus and The Umbrella Tree. I always remember, if I was home sick from school, I would get up and lie on my couch with lots of blankets and watch cartoons. It was just the best feeling ever! These shows were educational, entertaining and comforting to me. I remember feeling like I could escape the boring school day by watching countless hours of furry animals making crafts and teaching me about shapes. To this day I can remember a song that I heard on Sesame Street called “Don’t Waste Water” and I recall it really affecting me as a child! I’m pretty sure I ran to my parents, telling them to turn off all the taps and to cut down their shower time…
As much as people debate the value of TV for children, I know I benefited in a couple of small ways. Like Vanessa, I see the shows that are on today (ie. Hannah Montana, Doodlebops (or whatever it is called), Teletubbies) and I just think to myself “What are kids learning from this?”. Mindless entertainment is fine once in a while, but if kids are watching these on a daily basis I begin to wonder if I was much better off with Barney!
My first real media memory must have been watching the show Bewitched with my mom after school. Of course we were watching reruns of the show at the time, but my mom remembered watching the first episodes of Bewitched with her mom when she was young. This is probably what made it so special for both of us. My mom was rediscovering her first media memory with me and telling me all about how she had remembered it. I actually loved the show too, I was really impressed with Samantha’s powers and how she used them very discreetly on others. I secretly imaged how my life would be if I had magical powers too. I remember thinking about how I would use them on my sister or my classmates to obtain certain privileges. I think I actually tried wiggling my nose a few times at boys in school to try to make them disappear….unsuccessfully of course. Neverthless, I keep a vivid memory of regarding this character with envy. I guess this is the impact the show had on me as a child. I was discovering how the images portrayed in the various media create an embellished picture of reality and cause you to feel envious of something that is not quite real nor attainable. I still feel the impact of media on the perception I have of myself even though I have grown more conscious of the way it operates on me. I think I have developed the reflex of ignoring media that has a negative impact on me instead of being critical about it.
In line with this thought, I found the video we watched in class last week very interesting because I often think about the way women are presented in the media. The thing I can’t get myself to understand is why women adhere so vigorously to the image that is presented of them even though it can sometimes be quite degrading?
My earliest media memory was largely spent during the years between 5 and 9, where my twin sister and I would spend countless hours watching TGIF (Thank God It`s Friday) every Friday evening. It was a collection of Television Series i.e. Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Full House, Clueless, Sister Sister, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Wonder Years, and so on. These were television sitcoms that all displayed some sort of ‘togetherness’ within the family, as well as dealing with issues or dilemmas that one may encounter. Now, the media has exploded with Reality TV being the number one best seller. MTV is now the number one program that is dominating young adult’s media representation. Sadly to say, including myself! The pointless drama, the constant cussing, the over emphasized conflicts with one another draws AMAZING attention to all viewers. However, I can say that as a child, the programs I was watching were not anywhere near what we see on television and the internet nowadays.
TGIF was educational in a way, because it represented families and how they cope and deal with daily issues. It taught me a lot, believe it or not. I don`t believe that the media is all bad representation; I think it can be very useful to teach lessons as well as entertain. However, much of what we discussed in lecture is something that needs to see a change. When the video was being presented in lecture, I could just hear my mothers words saying “Oh my Gosh, look at what women are doing to themselves. You know not too long ago we were fighting for our rights as women…”. You know to be honest, before looking at the video in class I didn’t think it was such a big deal, as if it was normal because that’s what rappers do in their videos, but now that I see it from another perspective. I see why I react that way. IT’S BECOMING A NORM! Look at Miley Cirus or the new Justin Bieber now! I mean these are kids who are trying to be represented like adults in their music videos. It’s actually creepy!
Needlessly to say, “sex sells” and that’s the bottom line in the industry at this moment. The question then becomes, how and when are we going to change this ongoing process in order to allow the future generation of children to see media as something positive and educational? I don’t know if there is an answer to that question, but I know that if it has been done before, having all those sitcoms which represented something valuable to my life as a child, why can’t it not be done again in this day and age?
One of my earliest and most vivid childhood media memories is watching The Big Comfy Couch. I know that I also watched Sesame Street, Mr. Dressup and Saturday morning cartoons (like most of my peers) when I was younger, however, my most vivid memories are connected with The Big Comfy Couch. I was very interested by Loonette and Molly (a clown and her dolly), and the fact that practically anything could be pulled out of the “big comfy couch”. One of my favourite parts of the show was the 10 second tidy. As a child, I was an obsessive neat freak and everything in my room had to be in its proper place. In retrospect, I wonder if the show encouraged this, or if I was attracted to this part of the show because of my innate neat mentality. Either way, I’m sure this part of the show surely encouraged children to clean up after themselves. I can remember one afternoon, this show unexpectedly came on and I was so excited to watch it. At the same time though, my Dad invited me to go on a car ride with him to pick my sister up. I remember initially wanting to stay home and watch the show instead of spending time with my family. Now that I think back to this, I find my initial reaction really sad and embarrassing. I think that unfortunately, this can be one of the major consequences of television; it can become consuming to the point that it’s all children want to do. In the end, I did go with my Dad to pick my sister up.
I was watching Monday night Raw (wrestling) for the first time in years and something amazing happened. My favorite wrestler of all time returned Bret “The Hitman” Hart returned. This may not seem like an important event but it had been twelve years since he had his last match in the WWF ( now called WWE). He did not wrestle but he did have a little talk in the ring with Shawn Micheals (arch-nemesis).
This sparked memories of how much I use to enjoy watching wrestling. I remember seeing epic battles between Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals. Everyone told me that the matches were fixed but I use to love the story. As I got older I appreciate different types of wrestlers. I like wrestler who put on good wrestling matches and appreciated when they went to the extreme. I began to watch ECW and going to see independent shows around Montreal and realized what wrestling was all about. In theory its always the same thing over and over again good vs evil.
I thought about the role of women in wrestling and it has changed slightly over the years but in general women are just there to look pretty and help provide drama for the story lines. they do now wrestle more frequently than in the past but they are often part of bikini contests and bra and panties matches (the winner is the women with the most clothes on at the end of the match). It is clear that this is sports entertainment aimed at men. The women used as sexual objects in order to get the attention of male viewers. Often a pretty women will be used in a story line as a manger for a wrestler and will either help him to win matches or sometimes get in the way and cause him to lose matches. Women play a secondary role in the wrestling role and even thought there is a women’s title in the WWE. It is highly unlikely that you will ever see a women’s match as the main event of a pay perview in the near future. I am not saying there are no talented women wrestlers but unfortunately they chose to use women in this way because they make lots of money and people keep watching. Wrestling has been successful for so long because Sex and Violence sells and that is essential all it is.
Like Kathryn, my earliest childhood memory is the Big Comfy Couch. I still remember Loonette stretching on her big clock mat in front of the couch. I would actually try to do the same as Loonette on the show in front of my own couch. I remember being so impressed by the size of the couch and by the dust bunnies (if that’s that they were called) that were hiding underneath. Sesame Street and Barney were also part of my favorite shows that I would watch with my younger brother. Both shows taught us about manners, ABC’s, shapes, and colours, but were very entertaining for educational TV shows. I remember singing to every song that I remembered with my brother- this was a great way to spend time together after school.
Since my parents wanted me to be fluent in French and English I remember watching Passe Partout- a very educational French TV show regularly. I still remember the opening song and how both main characters were dressed. I actually had the opportunity to watch a few of these shows on DVD this summer and realized how educational these shows actually were for me. Honestly, the content is very dry and the shows do not seem as exciting now as they were years ago. However, I was so interested in the characters and the songs that this I absolutely loved this show! This show gave me the opportunity to practice my French and spend time with my neighbour who only spoke French. Most likely with the help of this show, I am perfectly bilingual today
The shows that I have mentioned and many others were very educational compared to the shows children are watching these days . I remember viewing the Teletubbies when babysitting and as Shannon mentioned ” What are kids learning from this? “In my opinion, no much! I do believe that years back the shows were much more educational…
Much like Nadia, one of my earliest memories was watching Dirty Dancing as well. It wasnt my earliest memory, but it is definitely a movie that has carried its way through my adolescence and early adulthood. I think watching the movie with my Mom made it a meaningful movie to me. I always remembered that movie as being my Mom’s favourite and every now and then we will watch it together for the hundredth time. I don’t usually enjoy watching movies in French and my mom doesn’t usually enjoy them in English, but in this case that didn’t seem to matter. I was more than happy to watch this movie in any language. For me, this media has served as a way to bring two people even closer together. I have always had a great relationship with my Mom, but I must admit our schedules don’t always coincide. When I see this movie or anything that has to do with this movie, I instantly think of my Mom.
When Patrick Swayze, the main actor of the movie, recently passed away, the first person I called was my Mom (believe me, it was the end of the world for both of us). We have both always liked the same type of movies and music, but I especially appreciated this movie because it felt like we had memorized all the song lyrics and dance moves that accompany it. Neither of us cant sing or dance, but we could try !
My earliest media memory would have to be, along with many others on this blog, the Disney princess movies. I have almost all of them on VHS at home, and I remember being enchanted with the idea of finding my Prince Charming one day as well, and have him “sweep me off my feet”. I looked up to the princesses because they were beautiful, adventurous and good-hearted, and I believed that when I would grow up, I would have a life that was similar to theirs. Now that I look back, I realize how much these movies affected my outlook on life as a child and teenager. I must admit that I have very good memories watching these movies and find that many of them have positive, strong messages behind them (ex: Beauty and the Beast – Beauty is only skin deep). However, they might not be obvious enough for young children to be able to grasp and instead, the latter may only focus on the very superficial aspects of these fairy tales. That being said, I don’t believe that Disney movies are “bad” for children to watch; I just think that it is important for them to watch them with some parental guidance up until a certain age so they do not confuse real life with fairy tales too much.
One of my earliest and most memorable media memories is of Pappyland. Does anyone remember this show? I used to sit on my couch every Saturday morning ready with paper, pencils, markers, crayons, paint…you name it! I LOVED this show and always wished I could draw like Pappy as lame as that sounds now
I don’t think I really took much out of this show besides a love of drawing.. but I do have nice memories of sitting on my couch on Saturday mornings learning how to draw like Pappy…. … although his drawings always came out much nicer than mine. Today, I still love to draw when I get inspired and feel creative!
Television played a big role in my childhood. Many the memories I have actually stem from television shows I would watch weekly and even daily. Examples of these shows are, as many have already mentioned, Sesame Street, Barnie, Mister Dressup and Mister Rogers. As Amy mentioned, many of the shows we watched growing up were entertaining yet still educational. Not only did we enjoy watching them, but they also helped us learn important values such as respect and sharing.
Although these shows still hold great memories, my FAVORTIE childhood memory is rushing home on Friday evenings to watch TGIF. This line-up of shows, gathered many friends and families together for a 2 hours period of quality time as we can see from all of our responses. The shows played on TGIF were enjoyable for all ages. Perhaps it is because I do not watch as much TV today, or maybe it is because I don’t have younger siblings to watch it with, but I don’t believe there is anything similar to how TGIF reached out to its viewers. I can’t imagine such a series of shows that would have the same impact on children today.
Also, as Shannon and Vanessa have already stated, I realized a decrease in value of the entertainment in today’s TV shows for children (and games as well!). In addition, as Cristina mentioned, I have also realized that children are growing up much faster than they should be and I do think the behavior is linked to what they are watching and seeing in the media. Take a second to think, where do we look to get ideas or fashion for example? Often time, even our age groups turns to popular television shows for ideas on style, for example. As grown ups, we are still being influence by the media. Then we wonder where younger generations are getting such grown-up ideas.
My earliest and favorite media memory I have is watching the movie Matilda with my Nonna. Everytime I was sick or was just spending the day with her we would watch that movie. I remember one day we watched it 8 times! I found that Matilda was a great movie especially for children because it showed the life of a young girl and how her perseverance helped her achieve the exact life she wanted. She was portrayed as a simple intelligent young child who was not covered in designer clothing and living the high life. She just wanted to be a kid and have fun. This movie actually made me want to read because I remember telling my mom how I wanted to be just like Matilda and read all the books she read as well as have all the same magical powers she possessed. What happened to these types of movies? It seems like now the innocence in children is lost because of the messages these movies are sending out. These movies are forcing children to grow up faster instead of sending out the message that just being a kid is ok.
Like many of you I also share the same memories of watching Mr. Rogers, Mr. Dress Up and the ever so famous Sesame Street. These television shows are all time classics that have impacted most of our lives. Not only did they teach us new ideas but they were also fun to watch. In addition, I too share some of my greatest memories watching TGIF. I share the same opinion as Elisa that TGIF did in fact bring many families together and that in today’s media there are no shows that can compare to the line up TGIF had. Needless to say that television shows have taken a great turn and in most cases not for the better especially when it comes to the shows and movies that children are watching.
My earliest media memory is Barney the dinosaur. I remember waking up early in the morning and watching Barney while my sister was getting ready for school. At that time, it was either watching Barney or the Sesame Street. I don’t really remember why I loved to watched Barney compared to Sesame Street, however I LOVED Barney. I used to sing along when Barney used to sing “I love you, you love me …” and I taught my nieces this song too. Barney helped me a lot! If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to write this now. Thanks to Barney, I learnt English; I was able to learn English faster than Korean. Through Barney, I believe I was able to be creative and use my imaginations. I would think that my dolls would speak to me or that dolls could talk to each other while I’m asleep. Although, now I think Barney is very boring and childish to watch, it was a good program for me to watch and learn at that time.
My first media memory, like the majority of you, is a television show. Of course, I regularly watched programs such as Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. However my earliest memory was watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, most notably the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They were a significant part of my childhood and inspiration for many Halloween costumes over the years, starting at the age of three when I dressed up as Donatello. I can still remember my room being filled with posters and all kinds of toys and other memorabilia.
I realized a lot of the posts above mine allude to the fact that the nature of children’s television, movies and all other forms of media has drastically changed from our generation to the current one. It’s very true that wholesome, non threatening shows like Sesame Street or TGIF programs are almost non existent. Even movies are no longer aimed specifically at younger children. I was reading that Disney’s current film the “Princess and the Frog” has done surprisingly bad at the box office compared to previous Disney movies. I think that this is because it was much less appealing to adults when compared to the newer generation of animated films such as the Pixar movies to come out in recent years like “Wall-E“, “The Incredibles” or “Up.” These movies were aimed to entertain adults as much as children and from a business standpoint it makes sense. After all, it is the adults who will be paying to see the movies. I think there is much less effort put into making quality children programs and movies because there is more money in targeting a larger audience.
As a child, the first types of media that I watched were Disney movies including “The Lion King”, “The little mermaid”, “Cinderella”, and “Snow white.” From these movies I learnt a lot about friendship, love, and good vs evil. All of these movies showed good and evil characters and nobody in between. The characters are either good such as snow white, or evil such as Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.” In reality not everyone is either fully good or fully evil. It took life experience to pick up on that. As well, all protagonists in these movies such as Snow White and Cinderella were always beautiful. As I child I believed that every pretty girl had to be nice and if someone was unattractive they were probably a mean person. As it did then, the media still affects my views whether I’m aware of it or not. For example from seeing rappers on television, when I see someone in gangster clothing I assume they are into drogues.
I guess my post will start off a little differently than everyone else because my first memory of using any sort of media was not Disney or Saturday morning cartoons. Although I did watch many of the shows mentioned above, I only got introduced to them at a later age. I grew up in a French household going to french school so my likes and dislikes of media always revolved around comedians such as Francois Perusse and educational shows such as Passe-Partout. I remember my brother and I sitting in the back seat of our van trading tapes of the comedian as we drove the two hours up North to our cottage. Later, when I began making friends with people who always spoke English, I began watching and listening to English shows and music, most of it American. After having experienced this first hand, I can say that media plays a big role in the languages you speak at home. I now only see English media and it has taken a tole on my French.
Being brought up by my grandparents, my earliest media memory has got to be watching the series of the Godfather. Witnessing Sonny getting shot numerous times at the border by a gang of raging mobsters with powerful machine guns or watching Michael Corlione’s wife Appollonia getting blown up in her car after a bomb was placed inside has certainly had a major impact on my youth. Just kidding!! My earliest media memory is and will forever be the Magic School Bus. What an incredible show! It was very different compared to the newer generation of shows in the sense that the audience actually learnt scientific facts in the form of fictional stories. I remember asking my parents if I could ever go to Ms Frizzle’s school when I was in Pre K. Although the show was designed to make education fun and interesting using space ships for example to enter a person’s blood cells to show the classroom how blood cells work together to keep an organism living. This may be impossible but the principle of the matter is that teaching doesn’t have to be boring. Every single of Ms Frizzle’s classes were a different academic adventure in which the viewers regardless of age would enjoy learning a new scientific fact. I have known since I was a child that teaching was what I wanted to do. Although I might not be as creative as my mentor with curly orange hair; I would do my best to make my future students learn through having fun and humour. I guess I’m not shy about this anymore, but until about age 6 or so whenever I would blow out my birthday candles, I always wanted to be in the magic school bus even for one day!
When asked what my earliest media memory was, the first thing that came into my mind was the Disney Princesses. As a child I was somewhat obsessed with these fictional characters. I truly wanted to be a little princess as well. I basically grew up with these unrealistic beautiful women in my living room. Personally, I think little girls are subliminally affected by the messages that these movies portray. I mean, take the Little Mermaid as an example, she basically cannot go on with her mermaid life because she does not have her Prince in shining armor. Children should be taught how to be individuals, not rely on others, and be happy with whom they are. As a young child I do not think I was directly affected by what I was watching, however as I grew up and became more aware and observant I began to realize some of the messages that were being conveyed. I also can’t really remember ever feeling like I should look like the individuals I saw on television until I was probably in high school. I just saw them as beautiful princesses, what little girl doesn’t want to be a princess?! I definitely think that media affects all of us in unique ways. I also think that it is kind of inevitable that you are going to be influenced by the media because we are becoming completely surrounded by it.
My earliest media memory that had a large impact on me was watching dirty dancing, when I was a child. I always watched this movie when I was sick, and had to stay home from school. This movie captivated me because I loved the up-beat music, and the beautiful love story. I had watched this movie over-and over because it gave me a sense of hope that two people can fall in love, in very unlikely circumstances. Similarly to what somewhat else previously blogged, I found that this movie allowed my mother and I to share a bond, while watching this film. She and I both loved this movie, so whenever we have the chance, we snuggle up and watch this movie.
Being a good Canadian, my family was always brought together by Les Canadiens de Montreal. I can remember watching the Habs every night as they made their way to their 24th Stanley Cup in 1993.
I have always love letting the media influence me, most specifically through my purchases. When a product is well advertised or promoted in a unique fashion I will be much more inclined to purchase this product. This is done both consciously and subconsciously. When I was younger I would be much more hesitant to purchase a product heavily advertised. However now I have started to enjoy falling for these ridiculous consumer tricks because there is almost a rush from doing so.
It sounds ridiculous but I suggest trying something JUST because it is advertised a particular way. I had never been to Taco Bell but I saw so many ads for this new “Gordita”. I decided if they are promoting it this hard I should try it. It was delicious.
- My earliest media memories begin much like most of you with Sesame Street, Mr. Dress up and Barney. I loved Joseph’s wish and can definitely relate. I wanted to be Barney and sing songs and pull things out of the “Barney bag”. One that had the most impact on me growing up was the classic Disney movies. The first movie I remember seeing in theatres was Beauty and the Beast with my dad…poor daddy. I just loved watching the characters coming to life. My brother and I used to spend countless hours acting out the many magical scenes in the movies. I was and still am a huge Disney fan, and can’t help but feel that Disney movies have evolved or “grown up” alongside me. The older classic Disney movies used to crack me up as a child. Seeing Sebastian in The little mermaid run from the chef made me giggle uncontrollably as a child every time. Perhaps the jokes were always there, but were simply over my head at the time, However I can’t help but noticing some of the more recent Disney movies I’ve seen like Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and The Incredibles, are geared more towards adults and in a way ignore the primary audience, the kids. As an adult I still like them, but because they are now targeted towards an older audience. I agree with Niki there definitely is much less effort put into making quality children programs and movies because there is more money in targeting a larger audience. I still love Disney movies, but I certainly see them in a different light now.
As mentioned by some of the other students, I also remember watching Little House on The Prairie. In fact, this is a show that I still watch with my mom when the stations are playing re-runs on week-end afternoons. Reflecting on my childhood, the two shows that stand out in my memory, are The Jetsons and The Flinstones. I used to watch both of those shows when I would come home for lunch during my elementary school years. In fact, I remember that an episode of The Flinstones was playing at the time my mom went into labour with my younger sister. I will never forget that moment. I also remember watching a television show that depicted Bob Ross, the artist. That was one show that both my sister and I could enjoy! Like Kelly, I also remember watching TGIF shows on what was then Channel 22! My favorite show during that interval was Step by Step. I specifically remember watching those shows with my parents and my sister. Even though, in hindsight spending time watching TV is probably not the most efficient use of time, TGIF still provided a time where the whole family still could get together and just relax.
Phil mentioned that he was swayed by Taco Bell ads. It is really funny that he referred to this, because yesterday I went to Plattsburgh with my boyfriend, and I went to Taco Bell just to try this new addition to the menu. That particular restaurant did not have it on their menu, but I nonetheless ended up ordering something anyways. It is amazing to reflect on how much adverstising really does influence someone. For example, even if the stores or restaurants do not have something in stock, or on their menus, the power of their methods of advertising still maintain an initial inlfuence on customers. There have been many times when stores such as Canadian Tire advertise something on sale, and then one gets there and they don’t have anything left because they only carry “limited stock.” However, just due to that one adverstised item, several customers have come into the store. And most likely than not, they will purchase something else anyways.
Although advertisments on TV and circulars in the weekly Publi Sac do in fact influence me in ways that I have never truly reflected upon until now, I feel I am much more influenced by TV shows themselves and by banners placed along the highways. I have to admitt that everyday when I am taking the bus downtown, I just stare aimlessly at the advertisments for Bud Light Lime, travel companies, etc…that line Highway 20. I actually really like reality TV, at least for entertainment. I know that the content is not the most stimulating or even “realistic” content, however, I do enjoy watching reality TV, especially the shows on MTV. However, I believe that I have developed at least an elementary critical eye when it comes to product placement. And, these shows are bombarded with product placements. I believe that I am more influenced by seeing products being used and envied by people on these reality shows, rather than seeing the product in a magazine or in a TV ad. I think that it is really important to talk to young girls about these types of influences because there are many shows out there that are geared towards young female audiences.
I remember the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games like they were held yesterday. In reality though, the 1996 Games were held in Atlanta nearly 14 years ago!
Much like the rest of my colleagues, I laughed along and was entertained by shows such as Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Mr. Dressup, Dudley the Dragon and TGIF shows. However, th most vivid media memory I have experienced as a child–the one that has been formative for me for as long as I can remember would still have to be the 1996 Olympics. As an aspiring gymnast at that point in time, I was geatly interested–actually, obsessed–with anything that had to do with the sport. I idolized the gymnast Dominique Moceanu who was a first time Olympic competitor on team USA at merely 14 years of age. Her hard work, strength, determination, and amicable relationship with her coach Bella inspired me like no other. I practised every day in hopes that I, too, would beat the odds one day and qualify to participate in the Olympics.
It took several years before I began to realise the controversy that surrounds this world renown competition. While I remembered having brief thoughts about the petite frames of these successful and hard working gymnasts, it took years for me to even consider the pressure that all participating athletes have to live with in order to compete.
It is easy to get sidetracked with the extravagance of a competition as dignified as the Olympics, but it is important to consider–think critically–upon the glorification of the athletes on a variety of different levels and remember the immense pressure they experience on a day to day basis to perform greatly.
My earliest media memory is those instantly intriguing and ultimately addictive first beats of the theme song “Fraggle Rock”. No matter where I was in the house, when I heard that tell-tale beat start, I dropped whatever I was doing and ran (not walked) to the television set. I was not the type of child to just sit there and watch; I would dance my little heart out until the theme song was over! My dancing was not the result of anything other than the pure delight I felt that my favourite show was on.
After a while, my mother did eventually notice my enthusiasm, and the story became a favourite of hers to tell. Strangely, since she began to talk about my dancing, I actually began being quite self-conscious about it. My carefree innocence and uninhibited self-expression were now a topic of conversation, and I did not like it. My focus and energy shifted to watching the show and mimicking the scenes in my own playtime with my siblings after the show was finished. I always wanted to play the character Red, who I thought was the coolest, since she was so brave and was always doing crazy flips into the water. Red was my opposite, and I looked up to her in a way. I was so fascinated by the idea of these small little creatures living under my floorboards and at my young age this idea was much more exciting than the mice that I knew were actually running around down there. The show was a source of inspiration for my imagination and play.
Fraggle Rock was a very important part of my young life, and still has great importance for me today. The memories that I have associated with the time I spent either watching or playing games based on the show have really kept me connected to the younger me. I can’t help but smile when I think of my younger self attempting what I thought was very good dancing. I also think that it is sad that there is little left in my life that I can do with carefree innocence; but at least I can hold tight to my memories that never fail to bring a smile to my face.
Oh and now, I love hearing my mother tell the story!
Alright, I have a confession to make! I have never watched an episode of Gossip Girl, CSI, House, Jersey Shore, One Tree Hill, The OC and so on and so on. While this is partly due to the fact that I don’t have cable or satellite (leaving me with only 4 working channels), I think that even if I had 500 available channels in HD I wouldn’t bother watching anymore TV than I do now. I have the “go-play-outside-climb-trees-and-make-snowmen-for-5-hours” type of parents. When my brother and I were younger, my parents rarely allowed us to sit down and watch TV. As a result, I still find myself choosing to go hiking or snowboarding instead of staying home and watching TV.
This is not to say that I don’t have memories of watching Sesame Street and Mr. Dress Up (the true classics!) like everyone else, but because of my TV-watching limit it was definitely a special treat when I came home from school and got to watch the show Arthur. Arthur is the first show I remember wanting to watch on a regular basis. While the show promoted many important life values, such as respect, fairness and friendship, I do believe the lack of TV-media exposure during my childhood has had a much more profound effect on the person I am today. I feel my parents made the right choice in forcing me to play outside and be creative. I have learned to love the outdoors, to be constantly active, to be curious and playful and to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
As Rachel B mentioned, I feel that there are more important influences that impact children than their early media memories.
As many other students ,my siblings and I were restricted to an hour of television everyday after school and we were free to watch television on weekends.I was a big fan of Saturday mornings shows.Compared to most of my fellow classmates,my earliest media memories are mainly from French TV shows.I enjoyed watching Passe-Partout.This tv show was financially supported by the MELS ,therefore, its content was very educative .I remember watching Engligh shows as well but I could not understand a word ,since I was raised in a French speaking household.One of my favorite was Sesame Street.These shows had a really major impact on me because they were interactive and educative;lots of song singing and different activites were proposed at the end of each shows such as reading and writing activities.Televison thought me to become a visual learner and to analyze and ask questions.Overall, media did not really affect me as a child because my parents were very strict regarding what I was allowed to watch on television.My parents were very selective and they would often watch these shows with me ,in order to verify their content.Also,being christian, early awaken a sense of what is right and what is wrong, so I was able to select tv shows that were not offensive to the mind.Now,I am grateful because I can watch media from another perspective; I am able to critique what I see and what I hear.Media are full of subliminal messages aimed to trap people into a consumer world.
I want to thank you,Joanie Caron for the link you posted.I will be glad to bring back past memories of so many exciting shows !
If I try to pinpoint my earliest media memories, the images that have stayed in my mind are an odd mix of “The Little Mermaid” combing her hair with a fork, “Jurassic Park” (a film that triggered an undying love towards all the rocks in our backyard for a few weeks; my attempt at becoming a palaeontologist) and reruns of “Eerie Indiana” on the French channel “Canal Famille”, a show about a boy that moves to a strange town in Indiana, where his neighbours sleep in giant Tupperware beds and where Elvis bikes around in his iconic white suit like it’s nobody’s business.
A rather odd mix, if you ask me. Now, I’ll admit that I was a bit of tomboy. I didn’t mind playing with the boys or getting my clothes dirty, but at the end of the day I would still sneak into my mother’s makeup cabinet and attempt to apply lipstick only to end up looking like a 3rd degree burn victim. While my mother tried to teach me how to act like a lady, I kept wondering what was unlady-like in my behaviour and why I was considered a tomboy by the people around me. As an aside, I later learned that what my mom was truly trying to teach me was how to act like a civilized human being, and that throwing sand in the neighbour’s son’s eyes after he bit me was not considered a self-defense move by everyone, unfortunately…
I could not understand for the life of me why I was considered a tomboy. Yes, I liked to play with the boys, and yes, I did not mind getting my clothes dirty, but my so-called “tomboyish” behaviour was driven by a sense of adventure and wonder. I wanted to discover things, and I never truly understood why that was considered to be a masculine trait, and portrayed as something masculine on TV. It is undeniable that the shows and movies that I watched influenced and shaped who I became over the years, but I eventually started to date the boys I played with and learned how to apply makeup with less catastrophic results; however I know that deep down I am the same adventurous little girl that I was 10 years ago.
Any thoughts on the stereotypes of girls and women that were presented to us in Disney movies, TV shows or films growing up in the late nineties?
Looking back on my earliest media memories, I can’t help to think about all those hours I spent watching all of Disney movies. As a francophone and as a child watching English movies were a huge challenge for me. However, for some odd reason, when it came down to watch Disney movies in English I was at ease. I also didn’t have much choice, we would visit my cousins in the United States and my sister and I wanted to enjoy our time there we had to accommodate ourselves to their ways; we would therefore watch movies with them. At the present, I am extremely thankful to them, since in the long run it helped me tremendously. After spending an entire summer with my cousins in Boston watching only English movies, my English skills improved. I remember getting back home in Canada and wanting to speak only in English. I really got the fever! As many other mentioned before, growing up I became I huge fan of NBC’s Saturday mornings shows such as: “City Guys” “Blossom” and “Saved by the bell” . The later was and still is my all time favourite, sitcom. In fact, “Saved by the Bell”, whether you want to admit it or not, I am sure you have seen this show if you were a child of the 90’s. While it had extremely cheesy and bad acting and horrible writing, it was a fun show for the kids and the pre-teens. The show had a good influence on kids, it sounds crazy, but it did deal with a lot of issues that most kids have to deal with school. Sure the series made high school look like a piece of cake, for example being able to go to The Max whenever they wanted, taking advantage of the principal, and tricking nerds into doing anything they wanted. But Saved By the Bell was one of those shows that as corny as it may be, it will forever remain one the most entertaining shows in the history of children’s entertainment. As I get older and look back at the 90’s tweener sitcoms, I come to realize that those sitcoms gave place to an amazing pop culture phenomenon. When I arrived in high school, the show Friends became an obsession, it would air on thurday nights, the next friday it would be all my friends and I would talk about. This was the best TV show of all time. I can say that this show was a great help in my acquisition of the English language, as funny as it may sound, this show combines both laughter and an educational aspect. You can learn a great deal of vocabulary words by watching this show, I know I did. Overall, I think TV shows and media in general helped have and keep on affecting me. It has helped me get in touch with the American pop culture.
Like many other students, my parents did not let my sisters and I watch more than one to two hours of television during the week and weekends. I remember my mother turning off the television and asking us to go play outside, draw etc. If I think of my earliest childhood memories, I remember my sisters and I watching “Passe-Partout”, me crying for days because Babar’s mother dies in the first episode of “Babar” t.v. show etc. In addition, Disney movies influenced deeply my childhood. My sisters and I reenacted parts of “The Little Mermaid”, “Lion King”, “Mulan” in a play which was filmed by my parents. My Halloween costumes were always chosen in regards with my new favorite Disney movie.
When reading the other students’ comments, I noticed some students writing about how advertisements influenced some of their choices. I remember as a young kid telling my sisters, “Oh i want this new ballerina Barbie or I want to go to McDonald’s and get that new toy”. I think that not only did particular TV shows affected our childhood but also certain ads.
I have read half of the posts here thoroughly and skimmed the other half. I may have missed it but I don’t think I have! Not a single person has mentioned the shows/movies that I grew up on: Care Bears, My Little Pony, Winnie the Pooh. I say shows/movies because, as far as I can remember, all three of those titles were both television shows and movies.
I think that these shows did have an impact on me. None of these titles are realistic: a world of magical bears, magical ponies, and a boys imaginary playtime with his toys. Nothing really close to reality. That is still more or less what I seek in entertainment. I prefer fantasy as a genre. I do not see the point in submerging myself into a fictional world that is just like the one I live in — if I wanted to do that, I would go outside and actually be a part of the world I live in. If I’m seeking entertainment beyond that, I would really rather imagine new worlds and magical creatures… I think this has also impacted my imagination because I do enjoy having an imaginative, creative side. Surely my early choices of entertainment have affected this.
I also remember, at around age 5 or 6, waking up long before my parents on Saturday mornings to watch 2 Stupid Dogs, a show that would by no means be acceptable for a 5 year old any more because it contains the word stupid in the title. Somehow, I’ve turned out just fine. To me, it seems weird that parents these days will show their kids violence (I have 2 year olds at the daycare where I work who can quote Darth Vader) and sex (which is pretty much unavoidable), but having a word like stupid in the title to a show should be censored.
That said, I also think that many people put too much into violence in TV. As a few of my peers have mentioned before, I watched Power Rangers as a child. There was such hype about how it was too violent for kids that after a while I was no longer allowed to watch it. However, having watched it did not turn me into a violent child, I did not go around punching my friends or attacking people. I realized that the world in the show was quite obviously not the real world — perhaps this can also be attached to my affinity for fantasy. It may have been alright to fight if I were a giant pterodactyl robot, but I knew that I wasn’t so I didn’t act out violently.
I would like to make one final comment about the “Disney Princesses”. When I was going up, they weren’t defined as the princesses, they were just female characters in movies. I watched these movies repeatedly as did many of my peers, but again, I never thought that the real world was anything like these movies, so I didn’t think I should look or act like the characters in these movies.
What my point is in the end is that there is a line between fantasy and reality that everyone should be made aware of, as early in life as possible. This makes taking in media bombardment easier. It doesn’t only apply to movies and TV, but also music videos and adds. It is all a fantasy, created to be more magical and fantastical than real life.
When I look back and think of my earliest childhood media memory, Sesame Street, Arthur and the Magic School Bus do come to mind. But there is one show that always stood out a bit more then the others, and that show is The Simpsons. Some might say that the Simpsons was an inappropriate show for a hyperactive 5 year old girl, but seeing as I have an older brother, who is 7 years older then I am, that problem never really stood in the way. My fondest childhood memories are rushing home after school to see the Simpsons not once, but twice in a row on ABC at 4pm. Sitting down on my couch, I was so excited to see what tricks Bart would be up to, and how Milhouse would sheepishly follow. I can always relate my life back to the Simpsons, comparing the random people I meet and the situations I get myself into. Although they are difficulty to catch, there were some pretty valuable lessons to be learned in the show. Homer Simpson himself taught me how to take risks, to go for the goal and even if you fall down and hit your head a few times, there’s always a way back up to the top…even if your head is tightly wrapped with bandages, while lying on a stretcher…attached by a long rope from a helicopter. I believe the Simpsons have really helped shaped the person that I have become.
So all I have left to say is…
Eat my shorts.
http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lgmp0162+homer-simpson-deep-thoughts-the-simpsons-mini-poster.jpg
Sesame Street and Mr. Dress Up were definitely my earliest memories of television. I remember sitting in the living room on my little stool counting to twelve singing the tune and watching the vivid psychadellic colors change with the music… I also remember watching the Marie Tyler Moore Show, for some reason this was a favourite of mine… Perhaps because my mom loved the show too. I thought Mary Tyler Moore was so pretty and I loved the fact that she had her own appartment. At the young age of 6, I wanted to be a career-woman like her. I also remember watching “Soap”. I loved it! One of my baby sitters introduced me to the show and I watched reruns of it every day after school. I remember watching “Welcome Back Carter” with Horseshack and Vinnie Boberino (John Travolta, my first crush)!
I remember returning from elementary school and watching “Video Hits”, “Three’s Company” until supper. “Video Hits” was the pre-curser to “Much Music”, and I remember looking forward to seeing the newest Madonna and Cindy Lauper videos…
I grew up in a time when TV was not sexualised as it is today. I remember Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” video was very controversial at the time because of the lyrics. Madonna was on the cusp of the sexual revolution in television, she was definitely a strong influence in the whole industry.
Another vivid memory is the death of Elvis. I was 4 or 5,I remember watching the montage of Elvis’ life as his death was broadcast, I remember my mother’s eyes were full of water… I didn’t understand why all of the people on TV were crying, and my mom explained to me that Elvis had died… Then a picture of his daughter Lisa Marie was flashed and I felt sad for her because her daddy was dead…
I also remember the space shuttle explosion in Grade 6. The feeling of dread when we all watched the explosion live. Our teachers could not predict the devastating outcome of the take-off and exposed us to such a devastating event.
In conclusion, the memories I have of the late 70’s and early 80’s are the “fluffy” sitcoms, influential in their time, with the rising of career women and the acceptance of homosexuality and the beginning of powerful sexual female images in the music industry. The influence that the media has on our lives, how it makes us feel, is truly amazing. I can still remember that dreadful feeling of despair when I recall the space shuttle explosion, and empathy for my teachers who had absolutely no idea of what they were about to expose our young minds to.
I do believe that media has influenced my life a great deal. Television has played an important role in my life, as I have a love hate relationship with it. I do limit my children’s viewing, I am afraid of what will they will be exposed to in their Television lives!
One of my earliest media memory is the popular 90s show “Full House” starring John Stamos, Bob Saget and Dave Coulier. Every Friday night “TGIF: Thank God it’s Friday” played shows like Full House, Boy Meets World, Step by Step, Family Matters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and a few others. Although I watched them all, Full House always had the greater impact on my life. They spoke about real life situations. They showed the realities of life and how every choice, good or bad, has a consequence. Full House questioned life, death, family and real topics that most people do not have the chance to hear about until they have to face it themselves. Although hearing about things like death is not really understood until you have experienced the loss of a loved one yourself, it at least shows us that we are not alone and as sad as it may be, losing someone is a part of life. In a later episode of Full House, the girls lose their grandfather, and earlier that year I had lost my great-grandmother and it was not until after that show that I felt okay about having cried and about having felt horrible for a long period of time. Full House also impacted my life in the simplest way: having the strongest relationship with my family.
My Earliest Media memory was definitely Disney movies. I remember growing up I was literally obsessed with Beauty and The Beast. Whenever my family would have family dinners, (Friday nights with my cousins and grandparents) I would make them all be quiet and watch me dance with my imaginary beast and sing, “ Tale as old as time…” Yes, I was quite annoying. Because of my obsession with Disney movies I wanted to be a princess similar to every Disney movie. I used to only wear dresses. My mom would try to get me to wear leggings underneath but I would refuse. Talk about media influencing the young, I thought I was a princess! It is scary to think how even at age 2 and 3, children are affected by what they see. Ironically, as a 20 year old I am enrolled in Physical Education at McGIll University and have a love for sports and non-princess like hobbies. But looking at old photo albums of me I could have sworn I would not end up like I am today. ?
I have many thoughts concerning my earliest media memories. One the television shows which was most dominant during my early elementary years was Sailor Moon. In kindergarten until grade 2, at my elementary, Sailor Moon was the big thing. Children put their hair like the girls in the show; they would use Sailor Moon slogans in class, Sailor Moon tee-shirts and sweat pants. I mean this was a HUGE deal! I can’t say I remember the point of the show, but I do remember that the girls were pretty, popular, and very powerful. Its funny how even though I was 6 or 7, already, at a young age, myself and the other Sailor Moon watchers new that looks and being thin where very important. Other shows that I watched as I grew older only proved to me more that looks where very important. When I changed elementary schools and started at a new school in grade 3, Sailor Moon was not something the other children watched. So as the years passed, I started to get more into a variety of very different types of shows such as Boy Meets World, You Wish and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. TGIF was a popular network during the 90’s that had everyone watching. These shows revolved a lot around family values and how to solve everyday highschool problems in a virtuous way. I feel like those shows where less revolved around looks compared to what you see on T.V. today. The importance of being beautiful was largely portrayed in today’s shows. Just looking at celebrities around the globe, there is only one type of beautiful: skinny. This idea of looks and the importance of girls and women being beautiful and thin can be related to what was discussed last class. The media is obsessed with beautiful people and it’s not healthy for today’s generation or for those to come.
Also, I would like to add how the media is still constantly impacting who I am today. Any studies, surveys, or discoveries I read about or watch that interest me I often relate it to myself in some way or another. Even something simple like a tv show can affect the way I think, unfortunately. For example, I used to love the show Gilmore Girls, because I thought I could relate to the daughter (one of the main characters). Similar to Loreli and Rorie, I have an extremely close and amazing relationship with my mother. It wasn’t until a few years after the show aired, did I realize how superficial their relationship was on the show Gilmore Girls. I am thankful that I don’t use tv to compare my real life relationships anymore. However, I will admit that even though I know most of things I see on tv are skewed and fake, I sometimes want to think that it is real. . .
Though it may not be my earliest media memory, Saved by the Bell was always one of my favorite shows. As I followed the seasons religiously, I came to realize that this was not just a typical show about High School students. Although the characters were faced with many common teenage issues like sex, drugs, eating disorders, deaths, etc. these adolescents were always there to support and help one another. One major aspect of this show that impacted me was that all of the main characters were very good friends and yet they were all so different. There were the two popular and good-looking ones, Zach and Kelly, Screech the dorky one, Slater the jock, Lisa the shopper, and Jessie the feminist. They got along with all of the students despite their differences. The show still rose many issues while depicting the great importance and value of friendship.
My experience in both Elementary and High School was a bit similar. Although I was not close friends with the dorks and the jocks, ect. all of the students shared a bond and had respect for each other (for the most part). I never made judgements about the other kids according to their status or interests. This may have also occured because of my up-bringing, however Saved by the Bell played a big part of my childhood and will therefore always have an impact on my life.
I don’t remember how much t.v. I used to watch when I was young, but now that I come to think of it (and thanks to all the entries, I remembered even more t.v. shows I used to watch), I realize that I watched many different t.v. shows. I remember watching Pacha et les chats, Babar, Caliméro, Les Mumins, Passe-Partout, Enfant-forme, and many others. Since I was raised in a French household, I only watched t.v. and movies in French. I believe that most of these shows taught me a lot, but the media that impacted me the most surely are the Walt Disney movies – they were my favourites (and by far!).
I can easily recall watching The Lion King and singing along the songs with my sister. Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid were also in my top favourites. These movies shaped so much of my life: they influenced my values, my beliefs, and who I am as a person. I wanted (and deep down inside of me, I still want) to be Ariel, a beautiful girl who found her prince charming; to fly like Peter Pan and escape to Neverland; and to be brave like Simba and overcome my problems. Walt Disney movies taught me that friendship, love, family, loyalty, and trust were the most important values. I still believe that, like Ariel, we have to take chances and live up to our dreams, that imagination is a great gift to use in life and to learn from, and that we ought to learn from our mistakes to make new and better choices later on.
Media has impacted my life, but I believe I took the best out of what I have watched throughout my life to become who I am today. It is inevitable that media has had some sort of negative influence on me: but is it really negative if I agree with who I am today?
Finally, when we look at media in terms of its influence on our community, we ought to analyze both good and negative aspects of media. I agree that according to the videos we watched last Monday, Afro-American women are diminished to a point that is not acceptable in some media. But if we enlarge our vision and look at, for example, Britney Spears’s videos, we see that men are also treated as sexual objects in some media. If we look at some movies, then we can find Afro-American women that have brains and that are portrayed as intelligent and will-powered women who can accomplish a lot. My point is, there is a balance to everything. The question we truly have to ask ourselves is: what am I going to take out of what I see in media?
As a little girl growing up in the 80’s, I loved anything pink, Disney or about animals. Jem and the Holograms was my first favourite show as a toddler, even though I share fond memories of Mr. Dress Up and Sesame Street too, like my fellow classmates. As a child, I was typically “girly” but I was a tomboy too, thanks to growing up with one brother and two step-brothers. I loved Barbie’s, My Little Ponies, Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, yet I also loved G.I. Joe’s, Power Rangers and Transformers. My second favourite show as a little girl was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was an interesting day in my house when my Barbie doll married my brother’s Michelangelo doll, because I thought Michelangelo was better than Ken for Barbie. I always loved cartoons. I loved Snoopy and Winnie the Pooh cartoons. I also remember when I would wake up early on Saturdays and go quietly downstairs to get some cereal to bring back up to the T.V. room to watch Garfield and Friends…my ultimate all-time favourite Saturday morning ritual.
Thinking back to my earliest media memories as a child, a man named Walt Disney and that image of the white castle on a blue screen immediately takes over from as far back as I can remember. Television was not a big part of my media development but film certainty was as I would obsess over “The Lion King” or “101 Dalmatians” and beg my parents to buy me a lunch box with Simba on it or a drinking glass with all those dogs over it. I had coloring books, reading books, soundtracks, clothes, utensils, stickers, and extensive VHS collection of all things Disney and I could not get enough. If it had a picture of the seven dwarfs on it or Pocahontas and John Smith, I just HAD to have it.
The impact that Disney had on my young life was also important because the characters taught me lessons, provided me with entertainment, and gave me imagination. Being an only child, I did not have anyone else around me that was my age to explore these things with so in a way, all these movies raised and helped to teach me. While I was not so naive to believe in fairy godmothers and talking mice, the morals and messages of these films I took to heart and really understood to be things I could apply to my own life.
As for stereotypes, I don’t really feel as though I was affected as a five year old or that the “Little Mermaid” enforced me with a sense of how girls should look or act. I did my own thing as a kid and whatever made me and my parents happy and don’t really remember ever feeling like what I was doing was either wrong or right according to TV or movies. Of course it all seems so simple now and perhaps subconsciously I did take my Disney fixation more seriously then I was perhaps aware of.
Similarly to some of my classmates my earliest influences in media come from TV shows that I watched as a child. Passe-Partout is the earliest program that I can recall watching. When my family and I moved to Ontario for my father’s work I was exposed to English television regularly and that is where I became familiar with shows like Barney and Friends, Sesame Street, and as I grew older other shows like the Magic School Bus and Rugrats (both of which I must admit still watched in my early teens haha!). When I look back at these shows, I realize that the majority of them were actually quite educational and I think that says a lot about how programs for children are designed. Good for them for making The Magic School Bus so entertaining. Today I’m not so sure that shows directed at kids are as “valuable” as they were ten to fifteen years ago. Although Hannah Montana is a great example for young girls, does she ever teach them anything other than making a fool of yourself is ok and be respectful to others in a PG way? I have nothing against shows like that, I find they have some good moral issues that they deal with and give kids respectable examples of good behavior, but where are all the educationally stimulating programs on the Family channel these days? I guess we will have to stay tuned… Literally!
When I think back on my earliest media memories as a child, I remember watching TV, but not on Saturday mornings. I remember coming home every day after school to watch Arthur, The Magic School bus, and Art Attack with my sister. As for movies, I could recite the entire 101 Dalmatians movie line for line, and so could my parents. I don’t ever remember taking life lessons away from these movies or TV shows, but some of the Arthur and Magic School Bus episodes taught me facts that I can still remember. However, I don’t think that any of the media that I encountered as a child influenced my thinking about race, sexuality, or gender roles today. Media that I encounter at 18, however, has a great influence on my ideas and definitions of a woman’s role in society. As a child, I was able to buy into and believe the fairy tales and made up stories, and if there were any, I did not notice the inferior daily roles of women in any of my television shows or movies, I just enjoyed them, over and over again.
My first media memory would have to be watching “Tom and Jerry”, “Bugs Bunny” and all those other cartoons that played on “cartoon network” with my brother when I came back from school. I grew up in Romania and although I had an English tutor since the age of four or five I think that my English developed because of all these English shows that I was watching. In a way these cartoons were my way of practicing English.
Media didn’t only influence my knowledge of the English language but it also introduced me to North American culture which made my integration in Canadian society somewhat easier. Halloween for one isn’t celebrated in Romania but I knew about the holiday through these cartoons. There are many other customs, traditions and cultural aspects that I learned about through the media and since this happened during my childhood these aspects were easier for me to accept because I wasn’t blocked by many cultural differences. It had become part of me, part of my culture.
The widespread of North American media, more specifically that of the United States had a huge impact on my life. Although it probably affected my views of the world it did so in a way that helped me integrate better in the society in which I live today. As for the stereotypes and misconceptions that I may have held during my childhood as a result of the media, I figure I can work them out now through education and critical thinking.
Hi guys,
My first media memory goes way back, like a lot of you guys, to those Sunday morning cartoons. I was waking up in the morning and just sat in front of the TV the whole morning. I also saw every single Disney movies including all the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast of this world, mostly because of my sister, but I have to admit that I was enjoying them in secret anyway… don’t tell anyone! Also, I need to mention StarWars as it was the first movie I’ve ever watched. I mean literally, I was basically raised by the three original movies. I was blown away by the whole universe. I was totally obsessed by it! Me and my friend used to play in the snow during recess, reenacting our vavorite scenes.
I also wanted to talk about the influence of media in our lives. Ever heard of the swine flu? I think it’s crazy how so much people have their brain washed by some of the things that are said in the media. People are willing to believe anything that is said in the news! I always thought that it was important to think for yourself, but some people are just happy to be told what and when to think. Anyway, I didn’t have anything special to say about that. I just thought that was a big waste of time and money!
It is hard to remember the impact of media on me during my youth because i remember spending most of my time outside. I remember watching this French educative program called Passe-Partout. It was everyday at 6 pm if my memory is good. I also remembered crying when i was missing the program. There are many songs from the show that i remember and sing to my little cousins.What is funny about that tv show is that it was made many years before i watched it and they recently put all the episodes on DVD and my little cousins love to watch Passe-Partout.
I also remember that my family received a video from walt disney showing all the activities and the hotel and trying to convince us to go on vacation over there. I loved to watch the video because this place sounded unreal for me.I beg my parents to go on vacation over there. It make me think of publicities that we have now days that are not really made for children, but they remember them and talk about the publicities with their parents. Children are very influence by everything they see and they spend to much hours in front of the television or video games. I wish it was like when we were younger where we could watch shows, but we were spending most of our time outside!
My earliest media memory is of watching the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Growing up, I was a major tom boy and my guy friends and I would act out parts from the show during our recess, lunch hour and after school. We started out acting out exactly what we saw on TV; the story, the fights, etc, and eventually we started created our own storylines and action. We had a lot of fun combining our imaginations with television. I’m not sure if watching “typical guy” shows is what caused me to hang out with boys or if hanging out with boys is what caused me to watch guy shows, but I do not solely credit the media for having this impact on me. I think it was a combination of many things. I always enjoyed watching the fight scenes and those unbelievable action movies and to this day I still prefer them and the company of men.
Growing up, my parents really monitored how much of the media I was exposed to. I was never allowed to have video games. I remember being so jealous when I would go to my friends’ house and she had all of the new Nintendo and Sega games.
Also, television and movies did not make up most of my day. I was lucky enough to always have a parent or grandparent home after school to keep me entertained, so the only show I really watched was Barney. Even though my parents tried to limit the medias influence over me as a child, I was so excited every time I watched Barney that I ended up having all the episodes memorized! Before I understood the concept of time, I would ask my parents on a long drive ‘how many Barneys’ were left and then sit in the backseat and go through episodes with my sister.
I am very happy looking back on the limits my parents had set for me. After having been working in a Grade 2 class I realized how many children are just placed in front of a television screen and not stimulated once they return home from school.
I definitely remember my earliest ‘media’ memories… mostly including Disney Princesses and all those pretty cartoons little girls obsess over. My absolute FAV though, was Sailor Moon. My sister and I would watch the show every single day before school (I was in Kindergarten) and sing along to every song like it was our job. I was a fanatic. It wasn’t until a couple years ago when I watched an episode on youtube that I realized what sluts they all were. It’s a little freaky that their legs are like 3/4 of the length of their bodies.. and their skirts were the length of their heads. But all the same I still know the theme song and get a little thrill when I hear it. (You are the one… SAILOR MOON!)
First, I apologised for being late to post but I wasn’t part of the class last monday since I took another class but changed during the week and wasn’t aware of the time limit for posting. I’ve read several of the posts and everybody seems to say the same thing over and over so I’ll try to make it a bit different. Everybody almost seems to agree that their first contact with the medias was television and watching M. Dress Up or Barney the Dinosaur or movies like Disney and all its Princesses. I am not different in that except that I come from a very french area around Quebec City and I only watched M. Dress up and Sesame streets every now and again. I would like to talk about another medias that was not my first contact with medias but did influenced and changed me forever. My father’s vinyl player turntable was the media that really influenced my views on music and also my tastes of music since then. I probably discovered how to use the turntables when I was about 9 or 10 in around 1989-1990 and started to listen to my father’s vynil. I discovered Queen, Jethro Tull, Supertramp and of course Styx. All these bands were to be the basics of my manhood’s music tastes. I still own a turntable today and listen to some vynil that are hard to find in CD in tribute to the golden age of music “the era of the vynil“.
My fondest childhood media memory would have to be the several performances by Sharon, Lois and Bram. As I look back today on some of their first shows, I have yet to understand what aspect of their performances I found so appealing. It may have been the fact that each and every song they sung allowed me to be engaged and involved with the gestures and lyrics. I remember always being greatly entertained by the diverse methods of presentation, whether it be songs, sketches, stories or even the use of the giant elephant puppet seen in The Elephant Show. Due to the creative aspect of the show, I was inspired to become a passionate artist at a young age. I remember waking up early every morning of the week and to draw multiple pictures of Bram and his pirate hat. Since I was a very young child at the time, I learnt a great deal about counting, animals, science and of course, the value of friendship. Although I doubt Sharon, Lois and Bram would have a great influence on me today; I have considered using some of their work as a teaching tool in the future, depending on the age I will be working with, of course! For those of you who have not seen an episode, most of them are available on You Tube. While doing some research to get in touch with some old childhood memories I found out that , interestingly enough, Sharon, Louis and Bram’s dedication to kids did not end on the television screen, as they have done work for UNICEF and are actively striving to help children in need. Not bad!
One of my first memories of the media is Reading Rainbow. I grew up in Vermont and my Mom really pushed PBS as the only suitable TV for me. I think it was a good show, the only thing I actually remember from the show is the theme song which I can still recite part of. Curously I am an avid reader, however I am not sure that is entirely to do with reading Rainbow, but who knows to what extent it did influence me…
As with many girls of my generation I grew up watching Disney movies. Although I don’t feel that I am now filled with a male-saviour complex I realize that ladies, including myself, are still holding up to the ideal of the perfect man being out there. What the Disney princesses have instilled in us is not necessarily to expect a handsome horse-riding knight to ultimately save us from peril but rather to at least show up in the most unexpected of ways, and at the last minute, to save us from becoming an old maid. Of course women tell themselves that they are being hopeful but in reality they are tapping into and depending on their emotional reservoire of male-saviourism.
The earliest media memories I can remember were watching television shows on Saturday mornings and after school. On most Saturdays my sister and I would sit down on the couch and watch the early cartoons while eating our breakfast. I loved to watch Pinky and the Brain, Bugs Bunny, Care Bears, and more. I also remember many days where I would come home from school and watch Arthur and the Magic School Bus, which were also some of my favourite cartoons. I don’t believe that these shows influenced me in any negative ways; rather they made me laugh and/or taught me valuable life lessons and interesting facts.
As for movies, my sister and I were huge Disney fans. We owned many Disney movies and we loved watching them. We always knew the words to every song and we knew every character. I also don’t believe that these movies influenced me much, and definitely not in a negative way, although now that I’m older I do see flaws in some of the movies that I had never noticed or thought of as a child.
Overall, I think the media I viewed as a child didn’t have a great impact on me. Some of the shows and movies taught me things, but it never affected me in a negative way.
As a young girl I had every Disney Fairytale ever made and watched each one to the point where I could recite each word to every single scene. In a way these films brainwashed me into thinking that every love story began with some extravagant romantic gesture and ended with a happy ending. My inability to be realistic when it came to certain human interactions is still affected by childhood fairytales and continues with feature films. The media has continued the fairytale facade in feature films making it difficult for me to imagine a world beyond the perfect fable. Movies such as, Pretty Woman or When Harry met Sally, are romantic movies with a story that every girl dreams about. It is difficult to get over the fact that not all love stories contain a perfect setting with the perfect man in the perfect situation. I continue to struggle with the idea that fairytales are far fetched and try and to bring myself back to reality when I get overcome with the idea.
** Late entry to the class
As a child, I watched a lot of television, so I have many early memories of media! One that sticks out in my mind though, and it has been mentioned by others, is watching soap operas with my mom. My favourite one was The Young and The Restless. I knew all the characters names and I always kept up with all the drama filled plot lines. I remember watching these outrageous shows and believing that it was a true depiction of everyone’s normal,everyday life. As I watched the show I would get so into in and get so excited to be older and like the people on tv. I feel that watching these shows with my mom made me slightly more mature than others but I was stilla kid at heart. I also remember wacthing Barney every single morning. My brother and I would get up and dance with Barney and all his friends. When I started pre-school, I remember wondering where Barney was and why we didn’t group hug at the end of the day. I think that because I watched such a broad range of television as a kid they all have influenced who I am today and definitely who I was and what I thought about society then. I believed everything I saw on tv and through the years I have realized that that this is not the case but I still feel I learned a lot from the television I watched as a child.
(ALSO LATE ENTRY TO THE CLASS)
My first memories of the media would have to be Barney.When i was little my sister and I would wake up every morning around seven and drag our dad down stairs with us to watch Barney. We were obsessed. I loved all the fun sing along songs and dances. Looking back today i learnt alot from Barney. I learnt how to play well with friends, i learnt to clean up after my self ( because of his clean up song), and i learnt about the different cultures of the world.
Looking back now, even at the young age of 2 or 3 I was obsessed with media. I refused to miss an episode of Barney. Today the media has a huge impact on our society. Rather than going outside to play, we are inside sitting by the TV waiting for our favorite TV shows to start ( in my case three of them are back to back.) This obsession is a big part of our lives and take up a great deal of time which should be spend on more important things.
*Also late entry to the class*
Similar to Tania and Adina, my fondest memories of the media as a child would have to be Barney. I would sit in front of the television; holding my security blanket in one hand, and sucking my thumb with the other hand. I loved all the songs they sang and would always sing the “I love you, you love me” song to my family. When my parents took me to one of the largest toy stores in New York and allowed me to choose one toy, I chose a big talking Barney. After the purchase, we went to McDonald’s to get a happy meal. My dad carried me in his arms as I held onto my newly bought Barney toy. Coincidentally, there was another little girl holding on to a Barney, in her daddy’s arms in the line beside ours. When the girl saw me with my Barney, she looked down at her Barney and boastfully said, “My Barney’s furry.” According to my parents and two older brothers, I was very irritated by her statement and immediately responded to her loudly by saying, “Your Barney can’t talk!!!” I then proceeded to press the buttons that made Barney sing and talk. The girl was speechless and I was so proud and happy to be the owner of that special Barney.
In response to the blog’s question, media impacted me quite a bit as a child. It impacted me in the sense that I tended to buy the stuffed animal version of my favourite tv characters. Such as Barney, the doll Molly from the Big Comfy Couch, Mr. Bean’s teddy bear, tickle me Elmo from Sesame Street, and the list goes on.
Although I watched quite a bit of tv when I was young, things have changed over the years as I don’t watch any tv at all anymore. I don’t follow any popular shows such as Gossip Girl, Friends, The OC, etc. I believe this is due to the fact that I always had dance class in the evenings when most of the shows were played on TV. However, just recently, I started watching Glee and I am absolutely in love with it!
(Also late to the class)
My earliest childhood media memories are notably different from the other blogs that I have read. As a child, I spent every weekend from Saturday morning to Sunday evening, at my grandparents house. My grandmother was my best friend and arguably the best cook that I have ever known.
My parents were always very cautious about what types of media they would expose me to, so my weekend getaways were always a free-for-all in front of the television. My grandmother did not believe in such rules, or perhaps, just didn’t feel the need to enforce them. Regardless of the many shows that I watched on those weekends, the only one that I remember, and that left a true impact on me, was my grandmother’s favorite show, that I would watch intently with her, Cooking with Julia Child.
I suppose it may have seemed odd that a 5 year old would be so enthusiastic to watch the preparation of French cuisine. Watching that show is what has stuck with me throughout all these years. In addition to watching the show, my grandmother and I were also avid cooks, and spent much of our time in the kitchen, like Julia. As a little girl, I would jokingly walk into the kitchen with my nose in the air and in a snobbish, British accent, remind my grandmother that the most important thing was that her hands must be “impeccably clean” just like Julia did at the beginning of every show.
I still love to cook, thank to my grandmother of course, Julia.
I suppose that in this case, this form of media showed me how I was able to learn as a result of exposure to the media. It demonstrated how not all media rots your brain like many of the shows that children and teens watch today (I won’t mention examples in fear of getting a virtual scolding from fans). Watching cooking shows, which I still do today, shows me how the media can help me to better myself by teaching me how to do new things.
I’m sure you can all guess how excited I was when the movie “Julie and Julia” came out this summer, I saw it, it was great and I recommend it to all (cooks and the culinary challenged alike!)
This topic certainly does bring back some good memories. Growing up as a French Canadian in a neighborhood where I was outnumbered by English speaking children, I was lucky enough to get a taste of two different worlds.
On one end, there were the daily evening Passe-Partout routine I wouldn’t miss for anything. My mother encouraged my sister and I to watch this show for its educational input. If only they had something similar for children in the present time. I remember learning a lot from the episodes and strongly believe this must of been the best of its kind for our era.
Who can forget early morning cartoons? Again, Bulldog Bazarre starting my weekends brings me back in time. I can barely understand how I could wake up this early! A chain of animated cartoons entertained me for hours on until the rents would wake up. These were more “story time” oriented than educational I’d have to say. Only positive memories stand of these early bird moments.
Then of course, with my english speaking friends and the english babysitter I had, I was presented to the inevitables: Barney & Friends, Sesame Street, Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, Denis the Menace, Tarzan, Big Cumfy Couch, and more. Whatever TV time we were allocated, one of these had to be part of the program or someone would get grumpy! Different types of shows had different influential impacts on my learning curve; some more informative than others.
I can’t speak early media without giving out props to my all time favorite Disney movie in Peter Pan. I speak nothing but truth when I say I must’ve watched this classic at least 150 times growing up [lol].
Also noteworthy, the collection of Dr Zeus my babysitter held in her Library was nearly complete. I really enjoyed story time thanks to his original tales.
That being said, I’m really enjoying the read and look forward to discussing a variety of media related topics with you all this semester.
****PLEASE NOTE***: I was a late register to the Media class and wasn’t made aware of the Blog activity before my first Monday class (Jan 11th). Although a late penalty is understandably deserved, please do not ignore my sincere intention to participate in this section of the course. Thanks for reading!
( Late entry to class)
Growing up I had always watched a great deal of television and movies. I would absorb my self into the lives of various characters and aspire to be just like them. Whether it was Sailor Moon, or Sandy from Grease, I did all that I could to be like them and have them in my lives as much as possible. In Kindergarten I had to have everything Sailor Moon themed. I owned every Sailor Moon doll, poster and sticker. My twin sister and I even had a Sailor Moon jean jacket that we refused to take off.
In grade one, Grease was my ultimate obsession. My sister and I would spend hours watching the movie over and over again from start to finish, memorizing every word and later acting the out the songs from the movie. We had watched that movie so many times that our parents threw the movie out.
Not only was I crazy about these shows, all my friends were. The obsession with Sailor Moon, Grease and many other television shows/ movies catered to girls, led my friends and I to compete with one another. All young girls are naturally very imaginative and will pretend that they are various characters from popular television shows/movies, and often girls would compete to be the main character. This was the issue that I had with my friends. We ALL wanted to be Sailor Moon when we played “Sailor Moon”, and we ALL wanted to be Sandy from Grease when playing “Grease”.
Choosing who plays what character made my friends and I pick out each other’s flaws, making everyone feel really bad about them selves. This led to me to have many insecurities about my self, and often would give me the feeling that I was not good enough. Even from a young age it made my friends and I, and I am sure many other young girls, criticize and judge everything about them selves. When choosing who should play what character, we would all point out the reasons why one another should play certain character and why one another should not play others. At the age of 5 and 6, children do not have much discretion and do not understand appropriate social edict, therefore they tend to say what they are thinking out loud, whether it is bad or good. They would not hold back from saying negative things to one another such as ” You cannot be Sailor moon because sailor moon is skinny and you’re big”, or ” you cannot be Sandy because you have black skin and curly hair and Sandy has white skin and blonde hair”.
Looking back, media is no different for children then it is for teenagers and adults. We live in a society that is obsessed with being on top, in charge, and being the best looking. We do all that we can to fit in and stay on top. Even at a young age, children are striving to be better than anyone else and be the most popular and best looking. The media has a huge influence on our lives and the people we are.
Il est certain des médias qui m’ont marquer sont tous bien différent de ceux qui sont publiées sur ce blog étant donnée que je suis francophone. Par contre je crois qu’un des éléments qui a certainement marquer plusieurs enfants de différentes cultures provenant de différentes régions du monde sont certainement les fameux films de Walt Disney. En effet, ceux-ci évoque plusieurs thèmes et à leur tour ils apportent plusieurs stéréotypes. L’un parmi tant d’autre est le film de Pocahontas qui met en vedette une amérindienne vivant avec le reste de sa tribut. Ce film a probablement été un des moyens de médias qui m’a le plus marquer en grande partie par tous les différences qu’elle apportait face à la vie que je vivais lorsque j’étais jeune. Maintenant que je regarde ce film, je peux constater plusieurs fait qui sont plus ou moins erroné face à ce film que ce soit au niveau de la façon dont les européens se sont emparé des terres ou encore de certains éléments de la culture amérindienne qui apparaissent mais qui sont totalement faux. Il est donc intéressant de voir l’impact que les médias peuvent avoir à sur les personnes à si jeune âge.
Don’t you think it’d be better to think carefully about this? That’s not to imply you are wrong, but when you say something like this, it should piss off some people. And I speculate if you’ve given thought to the opposite side of this statement.