I'm not exactly sure if we were suppose to do the reading, b/c I got the feeling that the reading starts this week. However, in class we discussed what our favorite tv shows, video games and films are in class. I said my favorite tv shows were most of the ones on the wb, "one tree hill," "Dawsons creek," "Felicity," etc... I really love "That 70's Show" and "Saved by the Bell." My favorite films are "Matchpoint" which is a current woody Allen film, and I love Breakfsat club, st elmos fire, weird science, pretty in pink, sixteen candles, outsiders, I'm a big fan of the films in the 80's. I also love titanic, romeo and juliet, ten things i hate about you, any film with drew barrymore as well. I had also mentioned that I hate reality telelvison shows, except for the first season of American Idol, when Kelly clarkson won, she's one of my favorite singers today, she's got a beautiful and powerful voice. I love music more, Sarah Mclachlan, Sheryl Crowe, I love 80's music, Madonna, Prince, Micheal Jackson.
In class we watched the show "Angel" that was a spin off of Buffy the vampire slayer. The episode was when the puppets took control of the younger audiences minds. The kids would touch the tv as the childrens show called "Smiley Time" would come on and the kids eyes would roll in the back of their heads. The pupets would lure the kids to the tv by communicating with them personally. As Angel walks on the set of "Smile time" I got an eerie feeling of darkness and evil, all the props for the show were put away nice and neatly. He ran into a janitor whom seemed to be blind and no one around in sight. It was quiet and Angel suddenly saw the flashing light which then evil forces pushed him back and he turned into a puppet himself. As he became this puppet, his self esteem was very low and on the show they kept on singing this song about low self esteem, like they wanted to brainwash the kids into thinking they had low self esteem. Watching the kids watch the program, the kids acted very obsessed, I think the show in general was addressing to me how powerful certain shows are to the audiences. It was a show in a scary violent way, and also how important it was for ratings to go up. The main puppet had said to the other puppets that he wanted them to take control and be number one, so they can get the credit out of it. It's obvious that the show was targeted for younger kids. The adults never payed attention to the kids, as if the tv was a babysitter for them. The language represents what kind of people watch the show, which would be people who like to curse, or hear mean tones. The kids show represented brainwashing, and sexual connections from the kid to the puppet. I also think this show represented how sick our society is today, can you imagine a show like this out in the 50's? You go from "Leave it to Beaver" to "Angel" there is a big difference. I also think they were mocking and making fun of the puppets, showing how society thinks that those kinds of shows don't really help they destroy.