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!