Presentations

In response to the presentations last week, great job to all! I thought they all used great visuals. The audio clips in the 1^st and 3^rd were appropriately used to the point where they were effective but not over the top to just “fluff up” the presentation and fill in time. Emily had talked to me, worried about not using video clips in her presentation, but I think their presentation was great and, like I told her, if the video clips do not make a point or are just added to fill time, they just make the presentation worse. So anyways, great job to all so far!

As for the news presentation, I think the presenters were very informed about their topic and the way they presented the rhetoric and biases in the news was creative. I personally don’t watch the news enough but after I watched that presentation, I’m kind of glad I don’t watch O’Reily. Like Churchill, I think the man is a bit over the top and too opinionated for his own good.

Reality shows, however, I do watch….too much in fact. “The Swan” is a show that I never liked from the start though. The way they make people think that plastic surgery is the answer to your problems is incredibly superficial. It’s what’s inside that counts, isn’t it? I understand taking the burn victims or people who have deformities that cause them heartache everyday and helping them, but just taking average looking people and giving them a complete plastic makeover is too much for me to take. What is this show telling the younger viewers? We shouldn’t be happy with the way we look if we don’t look like a Barbie doll?

Rhetoric used in reality television is extremely influential on the way society thinks about themselves. The shows are pushing people to only be happy as swans or to be an idol, aka, skinny and beautiful. They are putting the message out there that beauty is only about what’s on the outside and although it makes for great entertainment, I think it does more harm to younger viewers than good.