Critical Thinking

The trend that has plagued YouTube in recent years has also simultaneously replaced reality tv, this trend is vlogging. Vlogging first started as the ordinary, everyday person recording they're day to day life. Through vlogging, viewers got to see how others lived, learned new life hacks, and delved into the dramatic and romantic lives of these online personalities. Vlogging has the same appeal as reality tv, they both allow viewers to get in on the drama, romance, and everyday life of whoever is being recorded. The difference is, reality tv is produced by big companies who make these shows to appeal exactly to what viewers think they will like. Whereas vlogging  is more natural, and seems more genuine than reality tv. This is exactly why vlogging and lifestyle videos have been so widely popular over the last few years, so much so it's overshadowing reality tv. The reality tv catered to the American market was appealing and a booming genre of tv. People such as The Kardashians,

As a child, one of my favorite movies growing up was Catwoman with Halle Berry. After watching Miss Representation, I can tell that this movie is another victim of the objectification of women in the media. In the movie Catwoman, there are some very independent and powerful women but also most of the women were existing in order to please a man or the male- dominated society. For instance, the main antagonist has a beauty cream that is supposed to make people, more specifically women, look more youthful. It’s often catered to women in the movie in way that is expected to please men, this is just evidence of stereotypes being imposed onto women in the media. Not to mention Catwoman, Halle Berry, wears little to no tight clothes and when fighting has very sexual movements. This is to appeal to one large demographic, men. There is no independent woman that fights men and looks good doing it, there is simple a scantily clad women who goes around purring. After rewatching this movie, I can

This has been an issue in Western and especially American media for years, the whitewashing of roles in movies and tv. There are so many actors of color who are robbed of their chance to showcase their talent due to whitewashing and also the status of an actor. For instance, the  movie, The Great Wall, set in ancient China, has a main character of Matt Damon, who is of European descent and identifies as white. Matt Damon is the hero in the movie that helps the Chinese people fight off lizard-alien invaders. This role could of easily, and would have made a lot more sense, if it was given to a person of Chinese decent. There are plenty of Chinese-American actors or actresses that could have filled this role and executed it. But this is just simply another show that American media is being whitewashed, a country with so many different cultures and ethnicities should have movies and actors that represent that, whilst also being successful.

Recently, I was watching a YouTube video on the American beauty community and how the biggest influencers have brand deals that wouldn't be seen by the average viewer. It got me thinking about how an influencer is essentially a vessel for big companies to advertise with. Beauty influencers usually appeal to the younger crowd and can advertise to their audience. For instance, in the back of the video there may be a certain product that is placed just in the view. Or, there is a whole video that reviews a palette, or lip product, that is raved about. These are all instances of advertisement, whatever influencer a person watches, they all do it. Its essentially product placement, like how someone would do in movies. It's crazy how in tv and movies people can always notice product placement, but not on YouTube were people preach to be more genuine and appeal to a more ordinary demographic of people.