C'est fini

Reflection: C'est fini

                I consume a lot of media, much of it older, in the form of music and movies, and I can safely say that I know some films like the backs of my hands. I know that older media, that is not advertised to me has a large effect on my life, but sometimes I lose myself in my obsession with these things that I consider to be art and I forget that newer media can be genuinely toxic. I like to think media doesn’t control my life, but after these blogs, I have found myself more and more feeling like a marionette doll with a credit card. I do a good job of keeping ads at bay because my parents raised me to be anxious about making purchases over 20 dollars, an that has become a part of my life. This helps suppress ads for things that are “cool” and “trendy” that I don’t need nor have the cash for. Critical thinking has only made me more hyper-aware, in the best possible way as I become increasingly more aware of unethical abuse, advertisement techniques, and capitalizing on images perfectly crafted for you. My media consumption has not changed numerically, as my numbers were already low, but has changed in the depth of my cynicism, as mentioned above. This is because I have accepted the full importance of media literacy, in shaping my ability to understand, money, others, myself, the way that the world works, and the conformism of it all. While these things will continue to plague industrial life, the best that I can do, is be an educated consumer and understand why I make purchases that I make, and why they may or may not be necessary in my life. From keeping this log, oddly enough, I found that I really like analyzing cinema in correlation with social constructs and historical importance. That may sound odd, but I am fascinated by the way that these money-hungry ideals seep into art, why we let that happen, and how that can, in turn, change the society that consumes it. I really appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this class and further my learning. My only questions now, are what kinds of careers have the luxury studying society, art, economics, philosophy, history, and human nature, like this?