I feel this movie open my eyes to how everything is interconnected.  First off it is not fair that the tobacco company went after Dr. Wigand’s family and even broke them apart.  The tobacco company threatened their lives and wanted to kill them.  I feel just because Dr. Wigand told the truth does not mean him or his family should be threatening over it.  Also the fact that CBS would not run the show is absolutely absurd.  They did not want to run the show because they were afraid that there would be a lawsuit, making the company go out of business.  As journalist you are suppose to report the truth and with Tobacco Company supporting their product by not being addicting is false.  This is a huge story and also it is in benefit for the people to know.  It is a health issue that only Dr. Wigand knew and he let the public know, but because CBS was too scared they decided not to run the truth.  Making no sense to me because I feel a journalist should report the truth and have it revealed to the public, which is exactly what Bergan did.  I am glad that Bergan had enough guts to go against his own company and report the truth for his own company to finally report the interview of Dr. Wigand.  He knew what was right and went with the good of the people.

I am honestly scared that now everything we listen to on the news is twisted in the way that benefits the news company.  It is not fair that the full truth is not revealed to the public.  I know have to think twice about everything I hear because what if they are actually keeping the truth just to save themselves.  In fact they may know more information than we do because they do the interviews and some stories are not even shown.  In the movie The Insider the most important message is even though it may not help the company it is important to report the truth.  You have to protect the people and the source that gave you the information.  I would definitely recommend this movie because it really teaches you a great deal about mass media.  The movie was captivating and kept me intrigued the entire time.  All I wanted to see was what would happen next.    In fact this movie affects everyone because tobacco is a huge part of people lives today.  Smoking is very addicting and the people should know about it.  If it is affecting people than, it affects me because I do not want people smoking around me.  This is why I really like this movie because it kept me interested and informed more on important information that can help save my life from nicotine.

The Insider

The movie Passport to Paris featuring Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen is a movie about Allyson and Melanie Porter taking a trip to Paris where their grandfather is the American ambassador.  While in Paris they had many adventures.  Meeting new people and seeing all the magnificent sights Paris has to offer.  Not to mention the French cuisine they were subjected too.

The product that was specifically placed in this movie was McDonalds.  Allyson and Melanie get McDonalds hamburger and French fries one night because they did not like the French cuisine.  However, when they got caught the cook at the embassy made a competition out of it.  He could try the McDonalds and Allyson and Melanie would try one of his creations.  Once that competition ended with the cook actually liking the McDonalds food, it was evident that the hamburger and French fries were the best choice.  Than in another scene the guardian of the girls took them out for McDonald’s milkshakes.

McDonalds was placed in this movie very precisely.  No other fast food or other food company was featured in this film.  The McDonalds bag was completely visible with the golden arches directly in view.  This is the same for all the other food items that have the golden arches on them.  They are directly shown on the screen to make sure the audience knows that McDonalds is being advertised.

I think McDonalds was placed in this movie because McDonalds is one of the major fast food companies competing for people’s loyalty.  Since there are so many fast food chains that are out producing some of the same products it is always the advertisements that get the customers.  A Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen film is one of the best ways to get a product to the younger customers.  They were highly popularized teen and tween icons.  Whatever they did and wore was emulated and copied by teens and tweens around their age.  In turn since McDonalds was present in the movie with both Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen eating it makes others want to eat it too.   McDonalds became a name in the teen and tween scene because it was featured in a Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen film.

\”Passport to Paris\”

The article I have found is about Britney Spears suing US Weekly for libel with the deformation of character.  This is because she felt they fabricated a story about a sex video her and her at the time husband Kevin Federline allegedly made.  This story spread rumors and Spears and she felt it was unfair.  Not to mention she was worried the tape would be released.  This lawsuit was a $10 million case that was filed last year.   The Superior Court Judge Lisa Hart Cole dismissed the case due to Spears has “put her modern sexuality squarely, and profitably, before the public eye”.  This entire lawsuit came from the article published on October 17, 2005 with the headline, “Brit & Kev: Sex Tape?”.  In the end the case was dismissed and US Weekly were free from all charges.

Britney Spears is known for her sexual ways in either performances or in published photographs.  She is constantly in the public eye and not always in a positive light.  The pop star Britney cannot be defamed by published rumors because she puts herself out there in the public in a sexual portrayal. 

I agree with the case being dismissed.  Yes, I do feel bad for her and do I think it’s ethical that US Weekly would expose a story like this.  However, from a legal sense I completely understand why it was dismissed.  Britney Spears puts herself in the public eye and makes herself that sexual person.  There are sexual photographs and performances she makes.  If this tape was consumed in a legal way than, there is no reason why the tape cannot be shown.  This situation will not defamation of her character because she already acting a sexual way.

If the case was not dismissed than it could open up the news media to become sued more.  The news media always goes to find the stories that will sell more.  They want the juicy stores to create a good store that the customers will want to purchase.  The celebrities put themselves out there in the public light and taking things that are in public view is completely acceptable.  This is why this case was dismissed.  Without this case being dismissed there would be celebrity cases that are in the court system every day.  This is because they are always in the lime light.  If celebrities do not want to be in magazines than they should not put themselves out there for the public to see.

\”Britney Spears\”

I went to the Towson Men’s basketball game on November 13, 2009.  The reason I went to this game was to support to Towson team and also because it was battle of the Greeks game.  At this game Towson played against Miami of Ohio and the final score was 82-71, Towson with the win.  This game was a huge success because the stands were basically full.  At this game there were so many opportunities for advertisement.

Of course Towson University is represented everywhere, whether it is the logo or the name it is presented everywhere.  On top of that there were performances from both the Dance Team and Pom Squad.  In addition there was also the entire Greek community not only supporting Towson but also their organization through wearing their letters.  By all these organizations being represented it is showing the Towson Tiger spirit and also promoting people to become interested in those organizations.

\”Towson Tigers\”

On top of that there was also a food drive at this game.  This food was all to be donated to the poor.  In reward for doing the donation the fan who donated will receive the game day ticket price being only $5.  This was promoting both the game and also helping other who are less fortunate.

During the game the cheerleaders give out pizza to the fans.  This is product placement of the pizza which is from Seasons to college students.  Seasons Pizza is hoping that through this promotion of giving away free pizza, the students will order from Seasons more than their competitors.  In addition to having Seasons Pizza at the game there are also posters and advertisements for Bill Batemans.  This is also a great advertisement because Bill Batemans is actually on Towson University Campus.

I believe this basketball game was a success in its advertising endeavors.  This is because more people attend the basketball games and all the Towson sports games in general.  Also Seasons Pizza is becoming more popular on campus.  A good example of that is through my roommate.  Every time she goes out late at night her and her friends always make a stop at Seasons Pizza since it is open till 3am.  They chose to go to Seasons instead of a McDonalds or the Towson Diner.  Even Bill Batemans is getting more of the college students enjoying their services.  This game gave so many advertisements that it hit the right targets, which were the college students.

Spin the Bottle was a movie that hit you right in the face with the hard facts.  It is the truth about alcohol, sex and drugs.  All three of those things are very prevalent in college.  Drinking is the gateway to the other trends that college students follow into.  It affects the students in more ways than one.

Drinking the way some college students drink leads to health problems and academic problems.  When a student gets sick instead of resting they will party and get even worse.  Drinking tends to have students miss class and not focus on their studies which in turn hurt their grades in the long run.

Not only are these health and academic problems are a concern, but also the amount of alcohol consumption is an increasing problem.  A known day to drink is your 21^st birthday.  However, when taken too far, as shown in the video, it results in death.  As I attended 21^st birthday parties I thought nothing of taking the 21 shots.  It was a rite of passage and think they won’t get too bad.  All they will have is a hangover and let them sleep it off.  However, I am totally wrong!  My cousin on his 21^st birthday attempted the 21 shots.  However, he does not remember most of them and ended up in the hospital that night with alcohol poisoning.  This could not happen, just in the movies this actually happens, not my family I thought.  I could not have been more wrong.  This experience was an eye opener for me because this is real you cannot push it too far.  If my cousin were with his friends instead of family most college students could have just let him sleep it off.  Yet the ugly truth is if that were to have happen he would have died.  It’s not something I thought about, but now that it directly hit my family I am extra careful when going out and I tend to monitor others more carefully.  It has given me that fear that this is real it can happen to anybody.

The alcohol adds also target women and men in different senses.  Men get the male dominance of being tough drinking a beer.  Men drink beer because that is what men are “supposed” to drink.  Women on the other hand have a fine line to tread with drinking.  They are influenced to drink but not too much or they will lose their femininity.  The women are good girls during the day and bad girls at night.  Alcohol lets them relax and be loose may be even take a trip to the dance floor.  But the bottom line is advertisers want college student’s men or women to drink.

Another thing women have to deal with more than men is body image.  Women want to be portrayed as beautiful.  However, beauty in the advertisers mind are skinny women that silly drink.  The reality is that drinking adds calories an that does not have you stay skinny.  College women today either don’t eat and pick up the calories while they drink or drink and binge.  Both of these are unhealthy because by not eating it does not allow your stomach to digest the alcohol quickly.  It’s mixed up message wanting girls to have perfect bodies yet drink with the guys.  In reality this does not happen the way we want.

Sex comes into play when alcohol is involved.  The drunker the woman gets the more likely it is she will sleep with a guy.  Drunken sex is glamorized in the media.  However, most of the time people barley remembers what even happened.  This brings into the double standard.  A man “hooking up” with as many girls is seen as a good thing.  Yet, if a woman does it she is considered a floozy.  Also it is seen as okay you hook up with someone because you were drunk.  Students today need to take responsibility for their actions whether they are drunk or not.  Just because you are drunk does not mean you have an excuse to do whatever you want.

After this movie, I think more and more about how people behave with alcohol consumption.  I tend to make sure no one is in danger, while drinking.  Also, I look at myself and how I want to be portrayed.  This is why I do not act like a fool and having respect for myself no matter how much I have been drinking or not.

This movie was about all the ways kids are consumed in advertisement.  It is everywhere kids look.  On the television, games, radio, movies, clothes, school accessories, and everyday items all these items play off of each other to create this high source of sales.  Kids like to see things with their favorite cartoon character, princess, and celebrity; basically whatever are their favorite thing advertisers will put that picture onto their product.  This way kids are more prone to buy the item or really make their parents buy it.  Everything connects to each other because if you find something that is popular and put it on a product the kids will want it.  This is hitting the kids with way to much advertisement at a young age.  The advertisers feed off of their brains being like sponges and they are molding them into the consumer they want the kids to be.  I personally think it is not the advertisers to maintain censorship but it is the parents or guardians.  The advertisers are just doing their job and they are actually doing a very good job at it.  Parents and guardians should be the ones to watch what their kids see on television, and they are ultimately the ones deciding to buy the product or not.  In the end, it is the parents that need to watch their kids and if they are so concerned about the advertisements than their kids should not be subjected to them.

Did I grow up with Disney? My life has been consumed by Disney.  I grew up not only watching the movies and television shows but also going to Disney World or Land at least once a year.  This means that I have been 20 times and I am only 19 years old.  As you can see I have been surrounded by the Disney culture all of my life.  In fact for another example my first gift when I was born was a Minnie pillow and a Minnie stuffed animal.  Not to mention I still have them, you may think of me as a little child but I am okay with that. 

I was always known as the Disney freak because I would watch all the movies, wear all the clothes, and I just knew everything about Disney.  My parents were very into Disney as well, which is where I got it from, they even when to Disney for their honeymoon.  I completely think that this Disney craze affected my life and who I am today.  Since I was so immersed into the culture I was part of my life, which is why as I grow older it still is a part of my life.  Even when I grow up and have children I will want them to be brought up in the culture of Disney because it is a simple and fun way of life.

Disney reminds you that everyone not matter how old can be a kid.  Whenever I go there I feel like I have no cares in the world and just be a kid.  The movies that I watch are all about princesses and working together for a common goal.  I feel as a child these messages are innocent every girl deserves to be a princess and every guy deserves to be a prince.  Team building and working together shows children that working together will help you reach your goal.  Yes, I know the media can portray Disney as giving subliminal messages and having stereotypes being prevalent in their movies.  Yet, I still find the Disney moves as refreshing and a simply, fantasy world that I would love to live in.

Disney has been connected to so many things each item builds off of another.  The movies and theme parks inspired clothing and games, which spun off television shows.  Everything is interconnected because it has become a power house and has a culture all on its own.  It tells you that Dreams can Come True and that everyone deserves a happy ending.  I know from my Disney experience I believe everyone has a little princess in them and Dreams do Come True!

Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom is the only book that I have read that has impacted my life.  If you do not know what this book is about it is about a death of an old man named Eddie.  After he died he found himself in heaven and while there encountered five people who had significantly affect his life.  Now he did not know that this people had affected his life while he was alive, yet in heaven they relive his life and tell his story from another’s perspective. 

This book is nonfiction, yet was written and inspired by Mitch Albom Uncle Edward Beitchman.  I believe the book becomes more powerful and meaningful when you find out it was actually inspired by someone.  Even at a young age I understood the deeper meaning of the novel.  I read it when I was about a freshman in high school.  It came to my attention when over the summer before starting school it was required in our school to have summer reading.  This book was on my list and I heard good things about it from my mom’s friend so I chose to read it.  When I started school we had decisions about this book since there was a group of people that read it.  We talked about all the people that Eddie met and all the people we think we will meet. 

After the discussion we all had I started to think about my life.  I wondered who I would meet when I died.  Why were those people chosen for me?  I took this as every person I met whether if it was for a second or for years I was going to take as I was meant to meet this person.  Everyone that I meet has a purpose in my life whether I realize it or not.  That is why this book is the best book I have ever read.  I make you think that everyone is special and it gives you a different perspective of what heaven is like.  I never thought of heaven the way Mitch Albom portrayed it but I like it.  It was different yet very engaging and it honestly makes me not afraid of death.

\”Five People You Meet in Heaven\”

I found an article from the TIMES about Facebook and how it is progressing.  It is being a huge crazy!  There are so many people joining every day.  It is growing by the masses.

At first is started with just open to college students.  It specified to Harvard because that is where the CEO Mark Zuckerberg went to college.  After is traveled to colleges it went to high schools and than companies.  This way it can reach more and more people every day.

Facebook is so popular that people want to buy it.  At first it was for $750 million dollars from Viacom, but Yahoo raised the bar to $1 billion dollars.  This is a huge amount of money for a 23 year old CEO.  I mean with over 150,000 members and growing this will be a huge company that people are going to want to buy.  However, the CEO is not interested in selling at the current moment.

A huge new project that Facebook is allowing is Facebook Platform.  This is where outside companies can put applications on the social networking site.  An example could be Farmville or sorority life.  These are applications that bring more business to Facebook and bring up the revenue.

I know for the new generations this is becoming their life.  People visit this site multiple times a day and with more and more people joining it will be more popular.  The social networking sites contribute to the different lingo that the new generations are being exposed to.  Generations are not able to talk or write in clear English due to the quick type Facebook is promoting.  They right this way because it is quick and easy.  However, it is not good for our new generations because they will than never learn to write and speak in clear English.

I personally think that Facebook is a good tool for staying connected to friends.  However, people become addicted and go on the site way to much.  Nevertheless, it is good for people to communicate and keep in touch with the world.  I am honest and I go on Facebook 4 or 5 times a day. How many times do you go on?

\”Facebook Times Interview\”

The year 2035 has not yet occurred.  What will it be like? What should I expect? Well if it were up to me it would be the perfect utopia.

I will have had a family for several years and living in this amazing mansion.  Not to mention I will have the best car and all the newest technologies.

My mansion will have a computer program in it and will basically know everything I want and will have it prepared for me.  It will be a computer maid and housekeeper all in one.  This computer will have my meals prepared for me when I want, keep my house clean, and I will never have to life a finger.

Oh my car will be my pride and joy.  It will be ultra sleek and rides like the wind.  It will be run on the minimal amount of gas.  Not to mention this car will be able to fly!  I will not have to wait in any traffic jams and never have to leave early for an appointment.  This car will also be preprogrammed and I will not have to us any effort driving at all.  It will know where I want to go and do all the work for me.

With all these new technologies it is not enough for my utopian lifestyle in 2035.  I will also have a combined computer; phone, music selection, and word processor all wrapped into one electronic device.  You might think oh it will be gigantic, however, you will be able to carry it around with ease.  It will not be too small where you can not see anything but easy enough to use.  This is the exact electronic to make my life the easiest it can be. 

My utopian lifestyle is just perfect for me.  I will not have to do any or very minimal work to get what I want accomplished.  It’s the best scenario for me to live in. Let’s hope it happens!

***Big Brother is Watching***

The year 2035 what to expect? I expect a world gone mad!  There will be new technologies that are consuming our world.  Some of it can be good but others very bad.

The new technologies are new communication devices.  These are phones, computers, and even cars.  Yet, what are they used for good or bad?

These forms of communication can be good because it is connecting us to the world around us with a much quicker capability.  However, in this 2035 the world uses these technologies for bad.  Authorities are watching over everyone at every second of the day.  Your every movement is monitored and analyzed.  Big Brother is now watching you!

\”1984\”

I mean a little supervision is good, let be real about it.  Yet, this situation is very bad.  Authorities will come and take you in if they do not like your conversation or you deviate from their plan.  This is not a good situation because you do not get to live your own life.  Your life is planned for you and is carefully monitored so you are following “their” plan.

In my opinion this is not the world I would want to live in.  I like having freedom and making my own decisions.  Also, the fact of always being watched over is very creepy.

**Lets Talk Real Life**

Now I know my two situations are very dramatized, but that is what others before our time thought the year 2009 would be like.  So in turn, may be the year 2035 will make that exact case.  I believe there will be the technologies that I had discussed.  However, they will not be perfect and will probably still be in the works to them even better.  I mean we already have the blackberry and they are a computer, phone and have music on it.  However, by 2035 the blackberry will be improved, with hopefully little flaws.

I believe that in regards to mass communication there will be changes in how it is operated.  Yet, it will still be a very important field in our culture.  This is because with the new things coming out there news to be coverage and promotional features for everything.  Otherwise, there will not be as many sales, which is not what we want for our economy.  2035 will be an interesting year because everyday we are trying to better the world we live in.  It is just how far will be go by than?