I propose that we have a field trip on the blue bus to...anywhere. The point is not the destination but rather what we'll see along the way. The book states some great ways to conserve and live sustainably, but, honestly as an American, i don't want to. Is it my fault? Well, yes but no. If any of you guys can recall what you learned in philosophy class, John Locke believed we all are born as Tabula Rasa, Latin for blank slate. He believed we all are innocent until we're old enough for society to corrupt us. So, yes i am guilty for not wanting to change my wasteful ways so easily, but it's also society's fault for persuading me that it's ok to do that.
The media is such a good way to convince someone to buy their products, whether it's advertising an attractive model eating a burger, or a guy doing stupid things for a chocolate bar. The point is that the media is promoting useless products everywhere, on TV, on the radio (if you guys still listen to that) and online, where you are constantly bombarded by pop ups of advertisements. Ugh, enough is enough! The bad thing about this neighborhood is that it's near Hollywood and...you know the rest. If you haven’t already known, UCLA has been victimized as the experiment dummy for the Hollywood ventriloquist. How is it possible to change your behavior if these ads are toying with your cognition and attitude?
Going back to the field trip on the blue bus, I personally am a commuter and everyday when i take the blue bus, I keep seeing billboard after billboard of ads. "Watch this show, it got nominated for an Emmy!", "Watch this movie, this hot chick is in it!", "Buy this drink, this famous basketball player will slam dunk for it!" etc. Being the educated UCLA students that we are, we obviously wouldn't fall for such persuasion so easily, but not everyone goes to UCLA. Those are possibly the vulnerable targets buying into the nonsense commercials. This is bad because these people could be our friends and family! Going on the bus to Santa Monica and looking out the window, we can be exposed to what kind of world we're living in and what kind of dummies the big corporations think we are.
In order for Merkel's idea to work, we need to reverse this phenomenon. The media can influence the average Joe to buy a soda by having a famous celeb appear. Well the media can also influence that same Joe to live sustainably by having a gorgeous model wink at them. It may sound silly, but it could work. To alter our behaviors, they need to start by altering our cognition and attitudes, and in a positive way.
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You're so right about the media. Advertising is something our capitalist culture thrives on. It's hard to admit, but even the best of us is influenced by all of the imagery and advertising surrounding us. We should all go on a BBB trip to the farmer's market and count all the ads we see along the way, lol. That's potentially impossible, as many billboards as there are.
ReplyDeleteWednesdays, 8:30-1:30 Arizona and 2nd street in Santa Monica. That's where all the organic goodness is going down! Well at least that's the biggest of Santa MOnica's farmers markets. Then on Saturdays the same market but a bit smaller happens, same hours, same place. I think it's a great idea to take a field trip so why don't you guys bring it up in class?
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