The 5 Ps of Reality TV

The 5 Ps of Reality TV Prezi

More Superheroes

After reading the article about how superheroes can hurt boys’ mental health, I was far from convinced. An argument against “superheroes” is hard because absolutely every superhero is different.

The main case here seems to be against Iron Man. While some of the activity Tony Stark does is questionable, it’s not like this is anything new. This is his character and it always has been. Iron Man was my favorite superhero growing up and I had no clue he “exploited women” and “flaunted bling” until watching the movie. Like I said, I was a huge Iron Man fan growing up, but I didn’t like him because he did these things. I didn’t even notice he did these things. My interest was his suit and his powers because I thought they were neat. That’s it.

Also, since there are so many superheroes and they’re all so different, there are obviously going to be some that just aren’t for kids (believe it or not). You can’t group in V for Vendetta in with something like Captain America. Some superheroes just weren’t created for kids. While watching a trailer for Watchmen, a child might think that the film could be a great family superhero movie. In reality, the superheroes in the film are about as flawed and mentally troubled as they come.

It just seems that anything “super” gets grouped into one big category when there are loads of unique stories and characters out there. Making an argument that superheroes could damage mental health is like saying music could damage mental health. Of course it could, but it just depends on what media your consuming. The world of superheroes is not a world only for children.

Video Games+

While I’m not too sure if I agree (at all) with McGonigal’s claim that video games can fix the planet’s toughest problems, I think there are some hidden benefits of playing certain ones. I’ve thought multiple times of what the benefits of these games would be, but I think of it more on a personal level.

I’ve always liked adventure games more than any other. While growing up, the technology was finally there to create giant worlds to play in. These open-world “sandbox” games allow players to do a vast amount of things. For a younger child, I think games like these could teach many skills. The first is most definitely problem solving. Many games have multiple scenarios where the player is forced to solve tricky puzzles. The game forces players to critically think about the problem at hand and eventually find a solution.

These sandbox games also use some sort of currency. At an early age, kids play these games and have to figure out logical ways of spending and not spending this money. This could be a child’s first try at budgeting. I know it may seem silly, but I think things like these could translate to real-world skills.

Another positive of these games is the development of hand-eye coordination. Ever since dual-stick joysticks came out, my dad has told me multiple times about how he thinks there are great hand-eye coordination benefits from using the controllers so much. I would say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but in fact he really does. He’s been flying radio-controlled planes and helicopters for 17 years and the navigation controls used for these RC flyers are almost identical to that of a PlayStation 2 controller. The first time I got to fly an RC plane, I felt comfortable with it—even though it was my first time. My experience with a dual-joystick control scheme translated perfectly to a completely different hobby.

Sporks Over Porks

After watching Food, Inc. for the second time this past week, I still am not sure how to eat. The film promotes a change in the system, but doesn’t really provide the viewer real instructions on how to change their own personal diet. It’s a movie of “you shouldn’t”s, and I’m still unsure of how to eat.

My sister, on the other hand, thinks she’s found a diet that works. She has been a vegetarian for about 10 years and promotes the lifestyle whenever she can. She is a total organic “nut” that swears by her diet. While talking to her about watching Food, Inc. in class this week, she agreed that there were no real “instructions” on how to eat right. She suggested that I check out Forks Over Knives.

The film does something very different. It scopes in on the damage the food does to our bodies and what we can do to battle it. It examines the physical damage on our bodies in extreme depth. The film seems to have figured out the right diet, too—a plant-based diet and whole grain foods. It’s almost a continuation of Food, Inc. with a different message.

While most who didn’t like (I don’t know if it’s really one of those movies you like) Food, Inc. surely won’t take their interest in food lifestyle/food documentaries to the next level, Forks Over Knives is a film that addressed the American food consumer in a more intimate fashion. While I will never be a vegan, it’s an interesting alternative lifestyle that seems to work well for a lot of people. It’s a film that sticks with you, and influenced me to start working on my diet.

Adver-Games

While talking/reading about the America’s Army videogame, something seemed weird to me. I couldn’t picture how an “adver-game” like this could be so popular. It doesn’t seem like people would get excited to play (and pay) for a game that is essentially an advertisement.

While thinking about this, I remembered an old game that my brother rented from Scott’s when I was younger. The game was called Cool Spot. If you’re not familiar with the little guy, he’s the red “dot” in the 7 Up logo. They actually made a game about a dot in a soda company’s logo. Even when I was a kid I found this to be weird.

When I got back from class I told my roommate (much more of a gamer than I am) about the Cool Spot game. He redirected me to this.

Get More: GameTrailers.com, GT Countdown - Top 10 Shameless Licensed Games HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

I couldn’t believe so many adver-games had been made. The highlights of the video include:

• A game where you try to break Chester Cheetah out of the zoo
• A game where you play as the Kool-Aid Man
• 3 different Burger King mini-games
• McKids, a McDonalds-themed Mario rip-off
• A Doom look-a-like entitled Chex Quest
• Darkened Skye, a game about Skittles

The game I actually found most interesting was Darkened Skye. This stuck out because the Skittles advertising is hidden. All these other games show their blatant advertising on the box or in the title. Darkened Skye (a full 3d adventure game) has no mention of Skittles until you find one in the game. The game’s quest, believe it or not, is to restore the rainbow.

While I’m sure these games were all pretty awful in terms of commercial success, I think that advertising will slowly creep more and more into video games, just in less blatant ways. Product placement is already pretty common in many AAA titles released today. I’m willing to bet that this will become just as common in videogames as it is in movies. With the extreme realism games are advancing towards, developers will need to add more detail to the objects in their games. What better way than to add a real life product and get paid at the same time?

Disney Channel!

While watching the video on children’s advertising on Wednesday, I noticed a few clips that came from Disney Channel shows. It’s a little embarrassing that I realized exactly what shows these clips were from, but I’ve met the beast that is Disney Channel before. It’s hard to escape when you have a younger sister who constantly watches it.

The first time I was exposed to the Disney Channel (later in my life, I didn’t have cable growing up) I immediately noticed the absence of 3^rd party advertisements during shows. At first I thought this was just some weird exception, until I kept seeing them. I had never seen a channel before that operates like this. In the place of typical ads, the channel promotes various Disney stuff. When I say “stuff”, I’m referring to Disney Channel shows, Disney Channel original movies, Disney movies, Disney locations, Radio Disney, etc. Pretty much anything Disney is fair game.

I decided that I would watch a 30-minute chunk of this garbage so I could actually see what Disney was throwing at the viewer. I started into this with a show called Good Luck Charlie (a baby show). I then saw some of A.N.T. Farm (something with music). Here are the ads:

· Disney Channel’s “Night of Premieres”, Halloween themed Good Luck Charlie ad

· New Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place episode ad

· Disney Channel’s Magic of Healthy Living, a cooking spot to show kids how to make homemade granola!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

· New Disney Channel’s A.N.T. Farm episode ad

The second set wasn’t much better.

· Disney Channel’s “Night of Premieres”, Halloween themed Good Luck Charlie ad (again)

· Disney Channel’s Disney Princess Makeover, a makeover spot hosted by a Disney Channel star!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

· New Disney Channel’s Fish Hooks episode ad

· Disney Channel’s Jessie behind the scenes/sneak peak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The third set was similar.

· Disney Channel’s “Night of Premieres”, Halloween themed Good Luck Charlie ad (THIRD TIME)

· New Disney Channel’s So Random episode ad

· New Disney Channel Original movie ad, featuring Disney Channel Stars

· A Disney Channel star’s (Selena Gomez) music video, presented by Radio Disney!!!!!!!

· Disney Channel’s “Night of Premieres”, a 5-show ad

Disney really knows how to produce a channel that can benefit every aspect of the company. Everything you see on the channel is a plug for something Disney-oriented, during every break between programming you’ll here a “You’re watching Disney Channel” and the channel repeated one of its ads 3 times in 30 minutes. All these things (and more) make me glad my pop culture obsession isn’t Disney Channel.