My Blogging Experience...

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Before using the blog for RTF 305, I would only use blogs to review films, TV series, and music that I was interested in. Using the blog in RTF 305 made the lectures, screenings, and discussions more coherent , because the blogs were a chance to apply the information in a creative way.  The only difficulties I found using the blog at the beginning was trying to use videos as a visual in my posts. However, I quickly figured out how to use them, but found using pictures adapted my ideas better. 


I would definitely recommend using a blog in future RTF 305 and other undergraduate courses at UT. I find them creative and interesting. I enjoy applying the new information that I have learned in classes to something that is not a drag to take up my time. It's better than writing an essay or having to do some sort of extensive project. It's short and simple...gets the point across.


In the future, maybe students should be informed on how to do little tweaks in their blogs, like videos and making their pictures into collages. I figured this out on my own, but it would have been nice to be shown how to do this beforehand. Saves time.  


Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report.

Globalization: Cultural Imperialism

Globalization is broadly the expansion of technological developments, pop culture, increased opportunities for communication, the exchange of material and symbolic goods, and the migration of people across national borders. 


Cultural Imperialism is a form of globalization that spreads one nations culture and language to other nations. American popular culture is spread all over the world. From the films, to music, and television, different nations have become Americanized. 

• The late music artist, Michael Jackson, was not only a huge star in America, but was famous all over the world. 
• The film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings is an American film based on an English novel series and filmed in New Zealand. 
• British 'Pop Idol' is made in different countries with respecting country name as title: American Idol, Canadian Idol, Australian Idol, Greek Idol, etc. 
• Different American films and television can be watched in different countries and vice versus. 

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The film 'Pan's Labyrinth'  was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films. It was released in The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. 

Gossip Girl: Advertising Through Sexual Appeal

Take a look at the advertisement above. What do you think about when you observe it? The obvious answer would be SEX for most people. The funny thing about this answer is that the above advertisement is for the hit series on The CW network, Gossip Girl. The advertisement above is promoting the show's first season, which centered around young adults...in high school. Being a show about high school students, it is likely that its main audience will be HIGH SCHOOL students. So what is this advertisement telling HIGH SCHOOL students? Have sex! Why? Because it looks cool. The caption of the advertisement states that Gossip Girl is "Very Bad for you". Why would a promotional poster contradict itself? It is because the caption is a strategical gimmick to lure audiences in. Usually young audiences would be curious to see something that is supposedly bad for them. That is what makes it even more captivating. The contradicting captions are what makes the sexual acts on the posters look even more cool. At least that is what the advertisement team for Gossip Girl is banking on. 

Sex or Sexuality is considered a powerful tool in advertising and marketing.  People are curious about sex. It's human nature and this is what makes a product sell...or what gives a film or television show high ratings. No matter what the product is, a half naked woman or man would catch the attention of the opposite sex (or same sex) and the audience will either fantasize or wish that they looked like the person on the advertisement. As appealing as sex may be for advertising, advertisers have to be careful when using sex as a market strategy. Recently there have been people who have strongly opposed certain advertisement tactics and have taken the cases to court. In order to avoid this, advertisements should be appropriate for the product and convey an underlying message suitable for the product. However, this is not the case with some advertisements. Sex appeal is still sometimes used just because it looks cool.

The Gossip Girl season one promotional posters are prime examples of sexual appeal advertising due to the sexual nature and the captions that appear on them. The captions agree that the nature of the television show and the posters are "inappropriate" for the audiences that it most likely appeals to: high school students. The poster above states that the images are "every parents nightmare" which highly exemplifies that parents of the audiences will not approve of the sexual nature of the series and that their children should not be captivated by sex. Not at their age. As the captions are sort of contradicting the action of promotion, it uses it as an advantage, because high school students are usually rebellious and will most likely watch whatever they want despite what their parents agree to. Sexual appeal heightens a teenagers curiosity. This is the stage where people usually try to understand their own sexuality and the promotional posters not only entertain their audiences, but subtly makes them question who they are...sexually.

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