One final entry before the final deadline. I was finally sitting down in the living room at 9PM watching the channel 8 drama (the one with the beach babes playing volleyballs).

As it was close to the end of the drama, the male lead (Christopher Lee, whose stage name I do not know, so I shall call him YY) saw his mother again after she abandoned him at the playground and ran off with another man. The show goes on to show that his dad remarried a short while later, which resulted in abuse by the step mother.

These scenes are very common in drama serials (also in local dramas). The media uses the cultivation theory to indirectly influence its audiences. The media can create a way of looking at the world, therefore changing the perception of others and it eventually becomes the commonly held view.

The portrayal of the “evil stepmother” ranges from kids stories to mature content. Snow White and the seven dwarfs is a very good example. The story was written a long time back, and the movie was released in the early 1900s. We all know that the evil stepmother tried to kill Snow White by giving her the poisoned apple.

Similarly in the local drama, the stepmother abused YY by hitting him after the father left home. She schemed to do these acts behind the father’s back and pretended to be the nice and loving mother in front.

We then stereotype stepmothers to be evil and abusive towards their stepchildren.

In this sense, the media has created a perception of “stepmothers are evil” and most of us have this common view.

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Let’s go back to the drama. The drama then shows the YY getting drunk because he was upset after meeting his mother. The girl who liked him then sent him home cause he was too drunk to get home.

At this moment, my mother commented that surely the girl and YY would end up in bed stark naked the next morning. The show then ended without showing more.

Indeed, tomorrow’s trailer aired and they had done something wrong. It goes on to show that YY said since they are both willing parties, he would bear no responsibility and that there is no feelings between them.

Pre-marital sex is depicted to be a norm in the modern day society. One night stands are so commonly shown that we can predict what would happen.

The media influence teenagers nowadays, and somehow, their views of pre-marital sex are: it’s no surprise, and they are not against it.

Pre-marital sex is so rife that magazines teaches you the various positions in order to achieve maximum pleasure, or interviewing others who are not at all shy to tell that at the young age of 20, they have had sex.

The media has created a synthetic reality in which everyone lives in it.

“Resonance is when the audience’s everyday experiences match those they view on TV, creating a “double dose” effect.” Quoted directly from text materials.

These teenagers have sex, then watch these TV dramas. Sex is portrayed as such a common action nowadays, and the drama shows that there is nothing wrong with one night stands. There can be no feelings between both parties and after the sex, that’s the end.

The double dose effect in this case is that the media further enhances teens thinking that sex is okay.

In my opinion, the more the TV portrays the action being a commonly done act, the more teens would be influenced by it. These influences cannot be turned backwards. I wonder what would it be like 10 years from now, would my kids be having sex at the age of 14 and telling me about it?

OH NO!

As I was doing some last minute cramming of Media Communication Theories while watching Miss Universe on TV, I decided I should draw out a mindmap for the test later.

This is actually the (inserts number) mindmap I have drawn for Communications. I feel that it helps me remember stuff as I write them down. Also, cause I love to draw, thus grabbing my full attention. Mindmaps aren't actually my kind of thing. But in Poly, my cohort was trained to draw mindmaps. Big/small. simple or complicated - depends on your preferance.

Again, I would like to raise the issue on perception. The top 5 finalists of Miss Universe have a similar trait.

(Sexay~ I was rooting for Colombia/Mexico. But the winner was Venezuela. Hot all the same.)

They are non-Asians. They have long hair, sexy bodies, nice teeth, nice skin and the list goes on. Basically, they are Barbie dolls. The perfection of beauty. How often can you actually see an Asian in the top 5 or a plum looking (but exceptionally beautiful) woman?

Nay.

Perception of beautiful has been shaped by the media, and not by us.

(I can hear you saying that beauty is superficial. Inner beauty is everything.) I disagree, rather strongly actually. Perhaps you think I am shallow, but you can't possibly thrive in this modern day society with inner beauty.

Okay, enough said, here's my mindmap! All nicely photoshopped and typed in. (I apologise if there are errors in my mindmap. I really thougt I was on the right track! =] )

Finally, Communications project is done.

I would like to refer back to my ## post (hahaha) regarding fillers.

During the presentation, many of us use fillers. Could be due to nervousness that made us forget what we were trying to say, or could be due to what we forgot to say that made us nervous. =]

The most popular filler would be “erm” and “actually”. “Erm” is a very common filler. We use it in our everyday life, when we try to put something across but we need more time to think about it or when we fail to draw a clearer picture for the other party.

Anyway, this is just a short post to record what I discovered.

Good job people. *Claps*

ps, I realised I forgot to add comments section or a tagboard for people to comment! =O

The Johari Window model was developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in the 1950s. The model is a simple yet useful tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness and mutual understanding within a group. This tool can also be used to assess and improve a group's relationships.

Interestingly, Luft and Ingham came up with 'Johari' after combining their first names, Joe and Harry.

The Johari Window is widely used model for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships.

Hidden: Our hidden area that is unknown to others unless we disclose it. We keep this within ourselves, and we may retain it out of fear. The degree to which we share ourselves with others (disclosure) is the degree to which we allow to be known.

Blind: These are things about ourselves that we do not know, but that others are able to see notice; or things we imagine to be true of ourselves for a variety of reasons but that others do not see. When others say what they see (feedback), in a supportive, responsible way, and we are able to hear it; in that way we are able to test the reality of who we are and are able to grow.

Unknown: We are richer and complex than that which we and others know, but from time to time something happens - is felt, read, heard, dreamt - something from our unconscious is revealed. We then "know" what we have never "known" before.

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You can try doing up your Johari Window, or add your opinions to mine!


You can also see from my window that I think of myself as complex, observant, silly, sentimental and introverted.

But from others' point of view, I am actually extroverted, bold, confident and brave! This points would not be used to describe myself.

Let me tell you a little about my life story. I was an extremely nerdy looking kid in my Secondary school days. I could have teachers teaching me for a year and not notice me. I was bascially hidden. I was also bullied due to my appearance and my introverted personality.

Over a night, I transformed my outer appearance and most of my secondary school mates could not recognise me. Adding on, as I moved into Poly - Law and Management, I was trained to speak up, to present myself. I also worked part time in the F&B industry, and dealing with customers upped my self esteem.

The Blind Spot of the Johari Window shows how I present myself, and how others perceive of me.

I gave the link to several of my friends, from different stages of my life namely, Secondary school mates, Poly mates and recent University mates. It's really interesting to see how the opinion changed from phases of your life. Try it, it's really interesting to know what others think of you!

We’ve all just learnt about Individualism vs Collectivism.

Personally, I think that there’s no pure individualist. There’s someone I know, who puts himself above others, he studies like there’s no tomorrow and if he comes up to you and said “I went out yesterday to catch a movie”, I would be certain the sky had fallen and doomsday is imminent.

The incident that I remember the best is that he once told his only friend (“XX”), “Do not sit beside me.” In poly, we had to change classes every year or semester, and finally during the second last semester of the course, he was finally in the same class as XX (actually more of a living thing he was seen with other than his school bag and textbooks).

The first reaction you would expect would be glee, instead, he was unhappy about it, and then told XX the alarming sentence.

Till here, we can see he has disturbingly low dependency, he doesn’t care about any living thing. His goals, attitudes and values are of personal benefit.

Factors of an Individualist
Yes, he speaks freely, offending most people in his path
Honesty – I doubt. He often lies about the most retarded things
Social recognition – I highly doubt if he even needs it
Hedonism – His luxuries are his expensive textbooks and indulges in winning others academically
Rewards – yes, he’d love that

This person would be what I expected to be the most individualistic and most extreme.
In my opinion, there isn’t a distinct separation between individualism and collectivism. The two would overlap in some way or another. Being an individualist or collectivist would just be based on majority of the factors instead of purely possessing one side.



How often do we use fillers to fill up the empty spaces in between our words?

We might use empty words such as ‘well’, ‘actually’, ‘you know’ etc. as a stalling device to gain time to think of what to say or how to bring our message across.

This thought has been lingering in my mind for some time, and it suddenly occurred to me that this does not only happen in verbal communication, but also across the internet.

How many of you “haha” when you aren’t really laughing? The topic may be on the funny side, and laughing would be a “polite” reply. However, what if the topic isn’t funny at all. This time, “haha-ing” would be a filler.

I have a friend who “haha” whenever. He types this in almost every sentence, funny or not. Now I know, he’s using it as a filler.

I have another friend, who “hahahahahahahaha”. She says it’s a habit and she can’t stop using it. Yes, she literally uses that many haha.

So now I have a question, do you people “haha” to fill up the empty space and to make the conversation less harsh, or do you really laugh when you type those words?

A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion or image, based on the assumption that there are certain attributes that members of the other group hold in common.

When you see a specky boy wearing high waisted jeans and refuses to look at you in the eye when you two converse, what goes through your mind?

A nerd.

The moment your eyes laid upon this individual, you have already sterotyped him. Unless a miracle happens, the perception of him would not change.

Lets talk about someone of a different character. Imagine you are strolling down Orchard Road, and you see this female with silky long hair, a small waist and long slim legs. What runs through your mind then? “Woooo hot.” You then try your best to find out what she looks like. Because in your mind, you have already perceived her to be a beauty.

Everyone judges each other on the first meeting. You may say “I do not”, but in fact you already have.

So lets now talk about physical appearance. Define beauty.

“Beauty is only skin deep” but beauty is almost everything isn’t it?

Imagine this senario. You arrange an appointment for an interview with XXX Company. You put on your smartest shirt and flash your best smile. Armed with your superb resume and the confidence that you will definitely get the “Sales Executive” position. You then step into the meeting room and give the best presentation of your life. But you do not get employed. Why, why and why?

What do employers look for in an employee?

Of course, your resume, how do you carry yourself, which also means confidence and self esteem levels, your ability of eloquency and lastly, how you look.

AGREED?

I shall talk about judging a book by its cover some other fine day. Perphaps that I am actually a boy.

Unless you are a huge fan of martial arts or an avid movie watcher, I'm quite sure none of you have heard of Chocolate.



How many of you have heard of the movie Chocolate. The Thai movie directed by the director of Ong Bak. From the title, Chocolate, does it occur to you that this is actually an action packed film filled with Muay Thai.

The film is set in the gangster world of Thailand ,with a bunch of gangsters shooting at each other and a lady, Zin with a full sleeve tattoo. After some intimate scenes with Zin and a Japanese, and being forced to part as he was sent back to Japan, Zin became a single mother to their autistic daughter, Zen. Zen was a special child who is blessed with extreme agility. She picked up Muay Thai from observing training sessions at the Muay Thai academy from her home winow and by watching television programs. Zin was diagnosed with cancer and needed money for treatments. Zen fought her way to get the money owed to her mother by complete tyranny bastards.

"Award winning movies are a rare commodity, most of which draw upon a mixture of themes, situations, and settings. ...

A drama portrays the life of the characters and tells a story involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue.

An action film is that in which a lot of visual and audio stimulation is combined with a suspenseful plot and where there might be, perhaps, a conflict between good and evil."

Chocolate tells the story of the characters, Zin and Zen. It protrays the love and emotional side of a suposedly cold-hearted gangster. Zin single handedly brought up her daughter and loved her with all she could.

The tone takes away visual stimulation as it is set in the country side. Without the bright and cheery New York City settings, the saturnine atmosphere makes it less attention grabbing. The gloomy ambiance also surrounds the saddness that Zin is unable to cure her illness.


There is a lack of suspense in this movie. The only vivifying portions are when Zen fights the tyrants who refuses to return the money owed to her mother. The movie is based on the conflict between the good - Zin and Zen and the evil - the gangsters.


The final fight between the good and evil brings the Japanese back from his country. Zen was driven to kill the tyrant as he stabbed Zin. The movie ends with Zen following her father back to Japan.

Chocolate meets the criteria of being a dramatic action film. The simple storyline enables you to go into the theatre without brains. It allows you to enjoy the fascinating real-life fighting which injured a few casts, including Zen.