Tyra Banks

http://www.carbwire.com/2007/01/31/thanks_to_tyra_banks_for_standing_up_to_the_fat_bullies
Tyra Banks who was formerly a model and is now a talk show host as well as head of a reality show titled "America's Next Top Model," has been called fat by her critics. Tyra is finally standing up for herself and admits that she has gained 30 pounds and she still looks beautiful. Tyra now weighs approximately 161 pounds and that is still average for a woman of her height. It is good to see that Tyra doesn't take what the critics say to heart. So many young hollywood celebs would read that they're fat in a magazine and then lose tons and tons of pounds. Tyra was hurt by the remarks of her critics but did not let it go to her head, which is a lesson that many young girls should try and copy.

Half my size!

http://theskinnywebsite.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/cover_blog_13.jpg

A lot of gossip magazines always have a section about dieting and losing weight. I agree that everyone should stay in shape by exercising and eating healthy. The way magazines portray these diets aren't necessarily about being healthy though. It seems they just focus on how you look on the outside. It just seems that magazines sometimes make average people feel like they need to lose more and more weight and be super skinny. Notice on the picture, the biggest words on the cover of the magazine are "HALF MY SIZE!" It also shows a before and after picture where they choose a bad picture for the "before" picture and a model picture for the "after" picture.

Violent Video Games

Video games have been a topic of huge discussion in the past couple years. A lot of video games involve fighting and the media puts the spot light on those games; making them more popular. Reporters believe that the Columbine shootings and the Virginia Tech shootings involved young men who enjoyed playing violent video games. An example of a violent game is Grand Theft Auto. This game is all about killing prostitutes, shooting random people, beating up gangs, and stealing people's cars. It is a fun game to play, so it easy for young minds to think it would be a fun thing to do in real life. http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/features/historyofvgc/historyofvgc_screen021.jpgThere are so many shooting games that young children play and are influenced by. Thankfully, the violent shooting games usually have age restrictions on them; making it up to the parents if they think their kids are ready to be able to play a game like that.

Positive influences

I think that celebrities need to put themselves with positive people if they want to change. A lot of young Hollywood completely block out positive influences. For example, Britney Spears refuses to talk to her mom now. Now, Lindsay Lohan is dating a new guy that she actually has a lot in common with. His name is Riley Giles and he has been arrested on a few occasions as well as been booked under suspicion of DUI. I just don't think rehab is the place to meet a new boyfriend. http://www.perezhilton.com/ Unfortunately, there are young girls that look up to Lindsay Lohan and if they see her dating a "bad boy," then they are going to want to do the same thing. A lot of decisions Lohan makes are very poor and sadly girls will follow in her footsteps. When a person is Hollywood every decision that they make affects not only them but their fans as well.

"No Wonder Our Perception of Beauty is Distorted"

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/dsef07/t5.aspx?id=7373&filmno=1

This video is a great video for young girls to watch. It starts with an average looking woman with no make up. It then shows her go through a transformation as tons of people apply make up to her face and fix her hair. After that is all said and done, a person fixes her photograph to look perfect. It is a good video to watch and it finally shows us that celebrities don't wake up looking as perfect as it may seem. It shows that they have a lot of people to help them look the way they do. This is actually the first instance I have found that the media is making a positive influence on woman. I think every girl should watch this.

Examples of Direct Media Influence

The classic study involving the Bobo Doll is an example of media influence that I remember discussing in my Psychology class. The study started out with two different groups of nursery children with a bunch of toys they had never seen before. One of the toys was a Bobo Clown with a weighted base that was designed like a punching bag toy. One group of children observed an adult playing gently and quietly with toys and ignoring Bobo. In the other group of children, an adult took agression out on the doll. The adult punched Bobo in the nose, sat on its head, used a toy mallet to hit it, and even kicked it in the air. After leaving both groups of children alone, those that observed the adult acting aggresively toward the doll imitated many of the same moves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_influence
Young children are very easy to influence. When they see adults acting a certain way or saying certain words, they assume it's okay for them to do also.

Plus Size Models...

http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/gen-gallery-antm09-models/12/1

A lot of people have been talking about the new cyle of America's Next Top Model. Each season there is usually one or two plus size models. A girl in class today informed me that in cycle 9, Sarah is being called the plus-size model, weighing approximately 150 pounds. After seeing Sarah's picture I was shocked that she is getting called "plus size." I guess having meat on your bones and not looking anorexic means you're plus size. In my opinion, there are no plus size models this season. Young girls are who view this tv show! What are they going to think when they see that Sarah is the plus size model? I haven't watched the show, but I'm wondering, does Sarah actually believe that she is plus size?

Definition of media influence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_influence "media influence refers to the theories about the ways the mass media affect how their audiences, think and behave." We only see what the media wants us to see. We only hear what the media wants us to hear. The mass media sometimes tries to persuade the public's opinion. Celebrities are not the only people involved in influencing the nation; the reporters and newspaper writers also influence us. There are many tabloids that are known for not telling the exact truth but people still read them and some people still believe them.

California dreamin...

I'm going to stay on the topic of plastic surgery for this post. Since most celebrities live in California, I think that the people that live there are more easily influenced. My 19 year old cousin who lives in California has thought about getting plastic surgery. She has told me many times that some day she would like to have plastic surgery. She's afraid of needles; she won't even get her ears pierced, but yet she would like to get plastic surgery. I think the environment she lives in tells her that plastic surgery is a good thing. I live in Indiana so I just see it on tv and in magazines. My cousin in California actually sees it in person; everywhere she goes.

Dr. 90210

In my last post, I discussed a lot about plastic surgery. In this post I'm going to talk about how there are shows on tv that show plastic surgery being done. The one that I have seen before is called Dr. 90210. On this show, they show different doctors giving different types of plastic surgery on their patients. The show makes it out to believe that everybody can be perfect and every one should have plastic surgery done. On the episodes that I have seen, nothing ever goes wrong and all the patients claim they are so happy that they went under the knife. People that watch the show, probably just see how easy it looks, and they don't see the pain they are in afterwards. Dr. 90210 is just another tv show that young people can watch and get ideas for what kind of plastic surgery they think they need.