BP6: R&R

     One of my favorite television shows is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a comedy/sitcom starring Danny Devito that takes place in the Philadelphia area.  The show, while at times very obscure and shocking, is very appealing to me due to its high levels of abrupt humor and likable characters.  In particular, Devito's character, Frank, never fails to make me laugh.

     Despite the fact that the show is very entertaining, it is also very unrealistic at times.  Since I began watching the show last Summer, I have already seen episodes in which the characters harass professional athletes, attempt to illegally sell gasoline, smoke crack cocaine in excess in order to qualify for welfare so they do not have to work, and other outlandish things.  Even though the characters' antics almost always end in disaster, punishment, or widespread chaos, they always manage to fix things and bring their lives back to normal as if nothing happened.

     Even though the characters and episode plots of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" are usually very crude, ridiculous, and exaggerated, a lot can be said about the carefree way in which the show's characters live.  I would not mind living a life where I could have the power to do so many crazy, illegal things and always get away with it.  Having said that, I can imagine living such a life in the real would eventually lead to misery, as well as possibly jail time or even death.

     I believe that the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" can be influential to the way its viewers see life due to how it is constructed.  The show does realistically portray aspects of life such as typical emotional reactions and common human interactions.  In addition, even though the characters' ability to constantly get out of trouble and re-appear in future episodes is pretty unrealistic, the ways they are punished for their actions in every episode is usually very realistic.  However, in the end, the show is not an accurate portrayal of every day life and its characters should probably not be mimicked by anyone.  

    

Applying Bok's Three Step Model to the Illegal Downloading of Music

The illegal downloading of music from the internet has become a major copyright-related issue over the past decade.  Rather than being sold for profit through online music sites or record stores, artists' material is now able to be quickly shared across the internet and downloaded for free.  This practice has been demonized by the recording industry and those who are caught in the act of doing it usually face very large fines as a result.  Yet, the problem remains.  

                Downloading music in such a manner is not only illegal, it is also very unethical.  Every time a song is illegally downloaded, it is basically the equivalent of walking up to the artist who recorded the song, reaching into their pocket, and taking their money from them. 

                Sissela Bok’s three step ethics model is one of many ethical philosophies that can be effectively applied to the illegal music downloading issue.  When someone is about to illegally download a song off the internet, they first need to stop for a moment and consult their conscious.  They need to ask themselves if they are content with downloading the song free of guilt. 

Next, the person should consider all the legal and ethical alternatives to downloading songs illegally.  Itunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and numerous other online music stores provide legal song and album downloads for a reasonable price. 

If the person is still unsure as to whether or not they should illegally download the song, they need to consider the third step of Bok’s model: how would they react to a face-to-face conversation with the artist that they stole the song from?  How would they explain themselves to someone who potentially put their heart, soul, and time into a song that was obtained in an unethical manner?  If the person is able to confidently think of a legitimate, justified reason for illegally downloading the song, then they should probably go through with it.  However, realistically, there is almost never a way to successfully justify copyright infringement. 

                The illegal downloading of music from the internet is being managed by law enforcement to an extent.  However, countless instances of illegal downloads continue to occur every day.  In the end, the problem can only be contained if consumers are able to start living by better ethical standards. 

Twenty-Four Hours of Advertisement Exposure

The amount of advertising the average person takes in within a single day is stunning.  Today, it can be hard to avoid advertisements due to the fact that they are virtually everywhere.  

During the past twenty four hours, I have become very aware of advertisements and the countless placement methods they use in order to gain access to my attention. 

                Like most weekend mornings at home, after running, I began my day with some television over breakfast.  As expected, I was instantly subjected to a tidal wave of commercials advertising different products and services.  These advertisements included, but were not limited to Tums antacid tablets, the Nintendo 3DS portable gaming console, Progressive Car Insurance, and the upcoming film, “Wrath of the Titans.” 

                In hindsight, these advertisements made a lot of sense in terms of the demographic of people they were signaling to.  Since I was watching Comedy Central, a channel typically aimed at young adults, it seemed logical for the channel to include commercials advertising video games, since they are a common interest for young adults, car insurance, since most of Comedy Central’s viewers probably drive, and a movie such as “Wrath of the Titans,” because it seems like action/fantasy films and comedy shows and films tend to attract a lot of the same viewers.  

                Later, as I departed from home to return to Kutztown, I was subjected to even more advertising, this time from billboards and signs standing along the highway.  As I drove, I passed several exits for Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Naturally, I also passed several advertisements for the Hershey Park attractions and Zoo America, a popular zoo located near Hershey Park.  In addition, I also passed a large sign advertising Ron Paul’s 2012 political campaign.  I also passed by numerous signs for fast food restaurants located off of exits I was approaching.  This made sense considering these restaurants are trying to attract people who may have been driving for a while and have become hungry as a result.  

                Finally, after returning to Kutztown, I logged on to Facebook before bed.  While updating my status, I became aware of yet another batch of advertisements located on the right side of the website’s homepage.  These ads were different than the ones I had experienced earlier in the day.  This was because they were specifically aimed at me and were able to shape their content based on the interests and “likes” I had included on my Facebook account.  Since I am a member of the Kutztown cross country and track teams, there were several running-related advertisements for things such as Nike footwear and the Philadelphia Marathon.  There were also advertisements for two upcoming video games, both from franchises in which I “liked” on Facebook.  Since these advertisements were directly aimed at me on a personal level, I found them to be the most interesting.  

                This experience really opened my eyes to the ways in which modern advertisements are exhibited based on demographics, as well as the personal information people share on the internet. 

A Brief Analysis of Cosmopolitan Magazine

            Cosmopolitan Magazine (Cosmo) is a monthly publication that provides health information, sex advice, celebrity articles, and other information that is traditionally aimed at a female audience.  Therefore, it is probably not a magazine that most males would express interest in buying and/or reading.  A quick glance at the cover of any Cosmo magazine makes this very evident though headlines such as “Guys Answer Your Sex Questions” and “What Your Vagina is trying to Tell You.”  In addition, each new edition of the magazine features a prominent female celebrity on the cover as opposed to a male one. 

            Once inside the magazine, it is easy to quickly point out obvious signaling towards the attention of women.  Where article topics are concerned, Cosmo includes everything from stories about why certain men aren’t interested in marriage, to ways to better identify breast cancer, to advice columns dedicated to making sexual acts more enjoyable for a boyfriend or husband figure.  Articles such as these focus on topics that mostly younger women would be interested in.  It also makes women aware of the fact that they are in the right place while reading the magazine.  Cosmo seems to heavily focus specifically on sexual topics related to women.  This most likely adds to its appeal for women due to the fact that this type of information isn’t as explicitly outlined in other magazines.  In some ways, the magazine essentially acts as a guilty pleasure.  

            Cosmo is also a magazine with its fair share of advertisements.  The majority of these advertisements, like the articles they are placed between, are obviously aimed at a female audience.  A quick turning of Cosmo’s pages reveals advertisements for numerous female-oriented products such as Covergirl, L'Oréal, Victoria’s Secret, and various brands of tampons and other female health items.  

Cosmo’s articles and advertisements make it obvious that it is primarily aimed at women.  The demographic profile on the magazine’s website reports that, of the 18,224 readers that the magazine attracts, 15,470 of them are women.  Specifically, 58.7% of these women were found to be between the ages of 18 and 34, which makes sense due to the fact that this is usually when most women are the most sexually active and/or concerned about relationships and other topics covered in Cosmo.

The overall reader statistic is implying that there are also a small percentage of men who read Cosmo, despite the fact that it is clearly intended for a female audience.  This could be due to the fact that certain men are curious as to what women are reading about in an attempt to better understand their mental process. 

Analyzing Dual Coverage of Whitney Houston's Death

Last Saturday, the sudden death of pop music superstar, Whitney Houston shocked the world and immediately became a major news story.  Like other large news outlets, CNN and Aljazeera both wasted no time in providing developing coverage of Houston’s death.  The two broadcast news giants included a lot of the same basic information regarding the situation.  However, they also portrayed different methods in handling the story. 

Both versions of the story start in similar fashion by outlining Houston’s death, the details of the discovery of her body, information regarding her current status as an artist at the time of her death, and possible input from fellow musicians and individuals associated with her.  However, the major difference between the two stories comes after these facts have been laid out.  CNN’s version continues into a retrospect of Houston’s life, explaining the success of her numerous hit singles and her added success as an actress, while briefly mentioning her destructive, drug-filled relationship with Bobby Brown.  Aljazeera’s version, on the other hand, proceeds to go into a relatively large section explaining how Houston had been partying and drinking heavily the night before the discovery of her body.  TMZ, a gossip site notorious for exploiting the personal lives of popular celebrities, is cited numerous times as the main source of this information.  TMZ is nowhere to be found in CNN’s report. 

I believe that CNN’s coverage of Houston’s death did a better job of remaining respectful and professional, while still touching on the infamous negative parts of her life.  It seemed like Aljazeera’s version was subtly focused on what Houston did wrong during her lifetime rather than what she did right.  Their version goes as far as to mention Houston’s past destructive habits at, literally, the very beginning of the breaking news report.  Personally, I consider that type of information to be slightly irrelevant during the opening of what should have mainly been a report on a major celebrity’s demise.  CNN’s version provided me with every aspect of the story, as well as brief biographical information, both good and bad, regarding Houston.  I felt that Aljazeera’s version quickly reported the facts regarding Houston’s death, mentioned a few of her songs, and then turned into a glorified gossip update.  The different methods of coverage these two stories use could be due to the fact that Houston was an American musician.  Naturally, an American news outlet is going to most likely come across as sympathetic, positive, and somber rather than cynical and gossipy when reporting on the death of a beloved American celebrity. 

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

     One of my favorite television shows is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a comedy/sitcom starring Danny Devito that takes place in the Philadelphia area.  The show, while at times very obscure and shocking, is very appealing to me due to its high levels of abrupt humor and likable characters.  In particular, Devito's character, Frank, never fails to make me laugh.

      Despite the fact that the show is very entertaining, it is also very unrealistic at times.  Since I began watching the show last Summer, I have already seen episodes in which the characters harass professional athletes, attempt to illegally sell gasoline, smoke crack cocaine in excess in order to qualify for welfare so they do not have to work, and other outlandish things.  Though the characters' antics almost always end in disaster, they always manage to fix things and bring their lives back to normal as if nothing happened. 
  
     In reality, a person who attempted these types of actions on a regular basis would most likely be in jail, on probation, or possibly dead.