As I walk the hall of Big Bend CC a lot of folks ask me what I am studying; when I tell them I am actually a teacher they usually respond with, "Oh, really." Then they reply with, "What do they let you teach?" I usually tell them “they let me dabble in a few different subjects.” One of those happens to be Mass Communications. Most people usually have no idea what that means. Well in mass comms. we talk about, books, movies, TV, ETC. We talk about how your TV ended up with 400 channels, and we also talk a little theory. We talk about how all of this media effects our lives. So we talk about the "Magic Bullet Theory," we talk about the "Cumulative Effects Theory," and even media violence. They are solid but none are sweet of my own little theory. My theory is this; the media works like this, “What is so dangerous about a character like… (The Media) is he gives good kids bad ideas.” Therefore, I call it the "Ferris Bueller Theory."
Let me explain a little more better about this theory; you see the media doesn’t make you go out and throw a hot dog at Tiger Woods although, the guy who did, said the Movie “Drive” made him do it. The media has an effect on each consumer, and it starts at a young age too. I would argue that the media plants in our minds ideas both good and bad. I remember as a kid watching Rick Flair, Jake the Snake, and Jimmy Fly Snuka in many of battle in the ring, I thought to myself that looks fun. So, me and the neighbor kids would get together Saturday mornings for our own royal rumbles. We would all start on the trampoline and once you go thrown off you lost. But, don’t worry we had randomly placed couch cushions on the grass for safety. I am pretty sure we are the reason why they have those silly safety nets now.
That wasn’t the only time the media has planted a sweet idea in my brain. I remember while in college we would devise ways to meet girls. We had all sorts of sweet ideas. But after watching this scene in “The Matrix” we had come up with the best way. http://youtu.be/l4W-M3CGVoU (I couldn’t embed this video, it was disabled by request.) At :21 in the video Neo receives a package; at :33 he pulls a phone out of the package; and at :34 the phone rings. This is amazing! If only I could pull this off, how….
Well, one day while at the Panda Express me and a few friends were eating a little dinner; on the other side of place there were a few Phillies enjoying some orange chicken of their own. So I acted quickly and set the, “Matrix plan” in motion. I sneakily walked by one of the girls and dropped my phone in her purse. And then proceed to the exit. When outside, I yelled to my friend, “Call my phone.” They answered my phone, “Who is this, and whose phone do I have.” Success we were talking to girls! This story didn’t have a happy ending though, she was not as big of Keanu Reeves fan as I hoped.
Therefore, after today’s lesson, let’s make sure we only consume sweet media.
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