Is Holiday Nostalgia Good for You?

    When we live without family, we will miss them further. This year I came to America for 9 months. Whenever I meet a big holiday, I always think what they are doing now. I want to celebrate with my dearest family. I have learned to cherish them this time. I will be a good daughter and sister when I come back.

    It is not bad when you have strong nostalgia. Although it is hard when you miss them so much, you will improve your attitude being better to them. It means you are growing. I hope I can grow up when I come back to Taiwan!

Why We Feel Nostalgic During the Holidays

    Nostalgia is a kind of homesickness. I have nostalgia a lot when I come to America. I miss my country very much. It is not a good feeling. When I meet a big festival, I was thinking of my family. This is my first time away from home for 9 months. It's a long time. I really miss them.  I want to go back to Taiwan now!!!!

"Christmas Story" still a hit with cable viewers

    After "A Christmas Story" movie, it attracts lots of people. Christmas becomes very popular in the USA. Many youngster in 1940s Indiana were revolved by the story. They all want a BB gun for Christmas although it is dangerous.

    After reading the article, we can see how media influences the society. It becomes popular very soon by media. We still can get many information by media.

A Christmas Story (1983)

   After reading the article, I cannot wait to see this movie. It looks interesting. A child of the movie gets lots of problem. He wants a BB gun as a Christmas gift.

    I like Christmas very much. Every children imagine Santa Clause will  come to their home by climbing the roof and put the gift into Christmas Sock during children are falling asleep. How a cute story! It is a fake story, but some parents will still pretend they are Santa Clauses and give their children gifts.

    This year I can celebrate Christmas in the USA. Will I see lots of Santa Clauses on the street? Maybe it will be very different as Taiwan!!!

Real-life Groundhog Days studied

    This article was talking about the deja vu. It is a faulty memory. It's an illusion that you thought you have experienced but you don't actually. It could cause problems.



    Everyone has deja vu. It depends on personality.  It is easy to get deja vu. Like if you hurt your head or get some chronic pain. It is amazing sometimes.



    Don't be worry about it. It is not a big deal. Just renew your memory and remember everything.

Groundhog Almighty

    This article was talking about how different religion think about Groundhog Day. In this movie, Phil lived the same day in a time circle, just like he lived in a samsara. It's from buddhist. He was tired of living in the same day. He always knew what would happen in that day. He could do everything he wanted. He had tried to suiside for many times but it never success. He still lived on February 2 the next day.

    If I were Phil and I always lived in the same day, I would get very crazy. I cannot enjoy the rest of my life. I don't want to live in the same day although I can do anything I want. It is boring. Only you know what is happened. People don't believe you. You will feel hopeless because you cannot escape this circle.

    I enjoy the movie very much. It is really funny!

Mind Blowing Movies: Groundhog Day (1993), by Ruben Bolling

    After reading this article, I have lots of interest in this movie. It describes Groundhog Day movie a lot. I believe I will get more information about Groundhog Day from this movie. Groundhog Day is unique because our country does not have this festival. We never see groundhogs in our country. I think I will be very excited when I see groundhogs.


    I can not wait to see this movie!!!!!!!! It seems very funny!!!!!!

Groundhog Day

    This is a movie about a weather man. He lived the same day. He thought Groundhog Day is ridiculous. However, he fell in love with Rita. He realized that he did not just love her appearance but also her personality. Because he became a good man.

    I got lots of information about Groundhog Day from this article. It is a celebration about a groundhog can predict the weather. A groundhog comes out his hole and if he sees his shadow, it means there will be six more weeks in winter. It is on February 2. People get together and eat food. If I have a chance, I will join the celebration.

Anatomy of a Panic

    This article is too hard to understand. It describes how media influence the society. Media usually has huge power to let people believe.

    We cannot live without media, but we cannot depend on it. Although it is important, the news or information are not completely true.


   The result of this article shows that a minor panic in the City of Brotherly Love, jammed switchboards, perspiring cops, an editorial rebuke from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The War of The Worlds Broadcast

    People should take their responsibility for what they broadcast. No matter a person who works as a reporter  or a speaker in a radio should broadcast something with enough evidences. They can't make fake news. They should not make people be panic.

    When a group of people were panic, they would cause many problems because they were afraid. This is not unnecessary. It is stupid. So people should have responsibility to broadcast true news.

    If there were many problems because of fake news, it was not totally broadcaster's fault. Listeners also have problems. They should prove it when they get new information.

"War of the Worlds": Behind the 1938 Radio Show Panic

    It is a sequel of the last article 'Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact'. It explained how radio influenced the society. Many people listen to radio everyday. There are many things on it. Including news, music, talk show...... 
   
    No matter where the information comes from, it should be proved by enough evidences. If we just trust what we hear or see, there will have lots of problems. Just like the articles say or the movie'wag the dog' showed. Media will cover everything. Bad people used media to cover many scandals. Being clever people.

    

Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact

    This article was talking about the news are from radio. It was ridiculous. People did not prove it and just ran away from their house even ran out of cities. I don't know why they did not check the news was true or not first. They just believe what they heard. It caused lots of problem.

    I think there is a similar information like this. I don't believe 2012 is the end of the world, but many people still believe. It is a big deal no matter which country. I think maybe there was a movie called 2012 influenced this society a lot. And still have lots of news about Mesoamerican prediction. But recently they said it was not true. The earth will not explode on 2012. How ridiculous!

How Media Coverage of the Vietnam War Changed America, Journalism

I think media was bad before. After reading this article, media finally does the right thing. Media stopped the war of the Vietnam War. Vietnam War ended after most twenty years. It took a very long time. It was very cruel to Vietnamese and American. Many people died in Vietnam War. American government did not want to stop the war until society began to report the true awfulness of war and the politics behind it. The media and American people lost hope in the government and war. Media also reported images of the war on television. Photos of dead soldiers were shown on television. This was the first time to play the images of war on television. So there were more and more people against the war. Finally, American decided to end the war.



Although media did the good thing in this event, I still trust myself.

Postmortem: Iraq war media coverage dazzled but it also obscured

    Media has always confused people.  Media should not just show what they want to show. They should show the truth. In this article, they let reporters and journalists join the war in Iraq. They took pictures and  made newstories about the war. But it was not good. Some of informations would have endangered the lives of American soldiers. Todd Gitlin said the media makes the war a kind of entertainment for the people. But Barbie Zelizer said that photos didn't always show the truth. She said that the photos should be both visually dazzling and journalisically inappropriate. We should not always trust the photos. If people want know the truth, they must share a passion for seeking out the truth.

Media manipulation

    Everyone can't live without society media like news, talk shows, reality shows or soap opera. It can amuse people. It became a part of our life. But I hope there is no bad media, because it is bad for children. They can't realize what is right or wrong. But I am glad there are many levels of program. Like some programs are not good for children, they will warn at first. It is good thing for media.

  But it is not always right for media. Like a movie named Wag the Dog. A political leader will start a war or create another large incident to divert the public attention from certain issues that threaten the regime or leadership. It showed us we can't not all believe what we see on media. Media also has power to attack who has criticism it. Because people believe it. People watch media everyday. 

  Next time, I will find the evidence after I see the media.

    

Wag the Dog

    Wag the Dog is a black comedy film. It is about the scandal of American president. Facing this scandal to become head-line news and presidential-election, so they started a war. But this war was not a real war.

    This film talked about political, society and media. Media really influences society a lot. I hope I can know more political of the USA from this film. I also want to know how big power media has. Why media can make wrong to be right. I really forward looking this film.
 

Loud echoes of TV history

    This show changed the life of Lance Loud. If he didn't act in the show, maybe he wouldn't have died. He was the first openly gay man on TV shows. It was the huge change for that time. Gay people would feel more comfortable after they saw Lance Loud. An American Family was more real than Survivor and The Bachelor.
    One part in the show that is important is when Lance Loud took his mom to a drag musical. He had a lot of  courage to tell his mom that he was a gay also to show her that part of his life. Gay people who watched the show would have the same courage to tell their parents.
    Lance Loud's father regretted that if he would have paid more attention to his son, maybe he would not die. He died in Los Angeles on Dec. 21.2001. His passing was preceded 30 years earlier by the death of a significant part of American television's own "age of innocence."

Hotel Chelsea

    I have known many things about Hotel Chelsea from wiki. The building was the tallest in New York. And it was one of the city's first private apartment cooperatives. It bankrupted many times, and it is renovation now.
    There were many actors, file directors, musicians, visual artists, fashion designers and warhol superstars living in the building. A designer Charles James died there of pneumonia in 1978. There were also several survivors of the Titanic staying in this hotel.
    I learned lots of information about this hotel. I knew many movies, books, and musics mentioned the hotel. This hotel is very important in the USA.

I’m OK, You’re (Really Not) OK: Memories of “An American Family”

There was a sexual revolution. Women lived without telling anyone. When they were found, they had lived with somebody else. We could know things On “An American Family”. Like: a son coming out as gay to his parents. There was no secret on reality show. Everyone loves gossip. They like to know other people's secret. So people love the reality show. And this is why becoming more and more reality shows. But is that really true? I don't believe it.

Reality Check

The family had drastic changes after their reality show. The parents also divorced because of that. And every children of the family had lots of persecution. The reality show influenced them very much even though they grew up.
I think everyone should have own privacy. If there was a camera in my home and recorded my life everyday, I would get crazy and couldn't feel free in my own house. I really don't like when I do something and people keep looking at you. Family is important to children. They are influenced by family.  I am glad I have a happiness family. My parents are nice to me. I am the youngest girl in my family. Everyone treated me like a princess. I appreciate I have them. They always protect me. I love my family very much.

The comments of The Real Deal on Reality TV

There are many kinds of reality TV shows. Reality TV shows attract more people. It cost less money than a scripted drama. But is it real? Does it really unscripted? Reality shows are excited because we believe it is live. We have watched many reality shows. Like tricking people on the road or watching a couple arguing on the show. But is it really good for audience? I think maybe it may have a little influence to people. The actor on the show may be famous for that, but it is just for a while. People who watched you just want to laugh at you. It is a good entertainment for audiences.

The comments of Just how real are reality TV shows?

This article showed me how real are reality TV shows. People who watched the shows were discontent with the reality of the show. The author of the article called it 'partially scripted television'. The reality shows places real people in unreal situations. There are many reality shows. People are complaining the show are not real, but they still watch them. Because the shows are still entertaining. The author said that the shows are half real and half fake. The reality shows can not be completely real but still be popular.

The commence of THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA

I got more information about The American Family from this article. It didn't talk about Cinema Verite. It talked about how the producer chose the family to act The American Family. It also showed me the summary of each episode. Maybe it is interesting. I would like to see it one day.

The commonce of Television

There are two shows. One of the shows is The American Family. The other is Cinema Verite. Cinema Verite talks about the making of The American Family.The American Family is a reality show about the real life of an American family. It was very popular in America. The stars of the show became famous celebrities. However, some people think it is not real. Beacause they think the camera changed the way they acted. Even though it is a reality show. Some people think it is the first reality show. However, Mr. Gilbert and Raymonds do not agree. It shows a lot about the past. But it is not a reality show.

The real life of Superman

After reading these articles. I know the real superman a lot. Christopher Reeve was a man who played superman. He served as a symbol of strength, the force of good, with the ability to fly and soar over the problems of man. He was strength and mobility personified to people throughout the world.
Then, it came as a shock when Christopher Reeve fell from his horse during a riding show accident, and landed on his head. He was upset everyday. Due to his injuries, he actually helped a lot  for medical research.
Christopher Reeve also answered a question that everyone would ask,"What is a hero?"
His answer was that "a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences."
He was a real hero to everyone. When he had an accident from the horse, he didn't give up. He did a lot help for many things. We are really proud of him.

Comment of Superman as the Essential American Hero

This article talks about more things about Superman. Superman has a distinction of being a hero recognized throughout the world as America's greatest icon. Superman is made by two teenagers from Jewish immigrant families. Their origin ideas were rejected by many publishers.Then one of them imagined a concept would permeate the national consciousness. This was how Superman came out in the world. They had also drew upon their Jewish stories of Moses and Samson. They fashioned Superman who had survived the death of his home world by being sent away from his parents to live with another family. And would have superhuman strength and speed and utilize them to fight the evils. And DC comics is a National Periodicals which accepted Superman.
Superman became a very popular character. He saved a woman, served as a defend just like a big hero. He also fought the injustices that people in the nation suffered from during the Depression. Bryan Singer is a filmmaker who points out the saying from the character's,"he brings unique talents and a special heritage as so many immigrants do and yet he takes the ideals of our culture-truth, justice, and the American way and embodies them...".
Because of many bad actions of Superman, Joseph Goebbels publicly condemned the story and cursed Siegel who had created Superman as being "mentally circumcised". Siegel and Schuster didn't want to overuse stories of Superman fighting the Nazis fearing that their invincible character might belittle the efforts made by the actual soldiers in the war.
The famous psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham began a crusade against comic books. He noticed African American youths all read comic books. He concluded  comics were the cause of their problems from his research among juvenile delinquents. So Superman was accused of being a sadistic bully who delighted in harming others while he remained safe.
American had became no longer tough and rebellious since the change of Superman. And World War II  had placed America in a role of international peace keeper. Then coming up new stories of Superman. The new stories focused his use of intelligence to overcome problem than strength.
And this new superman became successful. In 2008 was the Presidential Election, artist Alex Ross painted a portrait of candidate. Obama with his shirt ripped open revealing a Superman-like "O" emblem on a suit underneath was painted expressively to portray Obama as a real-life Superman to the American people.
Superman used to utilize his power and speed to resist bad guys. Now he can utilize his intelligence. And become more beloved. He is such a big hero to Americans.
I can't wait to knowing more and more things about Superman.

The comment of The American mythology

After reading this article, I realize what kind of myths do American have. No matter Superman, Spider-Man, X-Man or Batman, they are all heroes. They attacked  bad people to protect the world.

I didn't know a lot of things about these heroes until this article. I just knew some famous names like Superman. And what it means. Now I know the American mythology. It's "anyone can do great things." Everyone can be Spider-Man or Batman. And next time if I see this kind of comic story, I will not just take a look or dismiss it. I will pay more attention to realize the story!

ALI 290 MultiMedia Society - Wen-Jing Chou

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