Uncategorized

Be Original, Be Consistent.

Michelle chenLeave a comment

Always…
Continue Self-growth, do good deeds, believe in self with open hearted mind to face any obstacles and outside factors/ forces that one self cannot control.

Still…
BE BRAVE AND STRONG 💪

Giving, the power of kindness alongside with selfless will always find ways in return. But, always remember, to most of the people you encounter in life, with your best abilities to give. Yes, “most of the people”. Life experience will teach you why, if it hasn’t taught you so.

The sincere people who I cherished in life is always going to be my top priorities, no matter what. Still…
NOT RELIGION, NOT MONEY, NOT ANYTHING ELSE.

Be real, and continue to be real.

Continue to be original and consistent.

onward and upward! 💪

Art credit & author: Michelle Chen (yeah, that’s me)

The Effectiveness of an Animation Ad Promotes No Texting While Driving
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The Effectiveness of an Animation Ad Promotes No Texting While Driving

Michelle chenLeave a comment

In recent years, whether an individual is walking, driving or bicycling, it is fairly easy to find smartphone addicted people on their phone. In addition, AT&T, the second largest company provider of mobile phones in the United States, surveyed 1,400 American adults between the ages of sixteen to sixty-five who drive every day, and at least once had texted while driving. Unsurprisingly, the survey result showed that 98% of them admitted that texting while driving is highly risky and dangerous. For this purpose, a group of artists have created a new PSA (Public Service Announcement) and named it as TextWreck to advocate the dangerous effects of texting while driving. This public service ad briefly shows the cause and effect through animated emoji and effectively promotes the idea of not texting while driving while raising awareness of this hazardous behavior.

Interestingly, this PSA chose to use animated emoji text messages for their advertising campaign because they think it is the best way to get smartphone addicted people’s attention and awareness. Since they spend a lot of time on their phones, it would be highly likely for them to know TextWreck and to spread its message out to others. The designer of TextWreck Nick Cade said “We created the world’s first text against texting and driving and animated it using a language we all text in—emoji.” (Cade) He straightforwardly expresses the familiarity that almost everybody communicates to one another with emoji.

In the very beginning of this animation ad, it plays a simple song that is only melody with no lyrics. It starts with a statistic saying “Texting and driving causes 1.6 million crashes a year,” and then the next message simply says “So we’re trying to stop it… with a text.” The ad display its texts in black on a white background so the audiences’ main focus and attention would be directly on the message itself. It straightforwardly tells the audiences this unfortunate average statistic happens, and they want to help it stop continuing. It uses logos because of the statistic given appeals to logic. Within a few seconds right after this incomplete thought “So we’re trying to stop it…”, then a speech bubble with “with a text” in it immediately pops out. This advertising strategy catches the attention not only from people who have ever texted at least once but also from those who are smartphone addicts because they can quickly recognize the speech bubbles with their conversations which always appear on their phones when they communicate with one another through text messages.

Next, the ad begins to introduce their first “don’t text and drive” emoji animation. It first shows a small car moving because it quickly passes by a tree with a speech bubble in front of the car. It indicates the driver is texting while driving; however, within a few seconds, the car hits a small dog. The car is still going without stopping because it continues to pass by another tree and the speech bubble is still in front of the car. While the car is still moving, within a few seconds, it collides with another car in a very violent explosion. The speech bubble immediately disappears when the two cars crash. It suggests that the driver cannot keep texting anymore. The accident gives the audience an imaginary space about whether the drivers from both cars have died or are seriously injured. Nevertheless, while one might still not know what happened to the drivers or whether the cars are going to explode or not, then two winking ghost emoji (which suggest the drivers) with their tongues hanging out fly up to the sky from their cars that are on fire because of the crashes.

Then the whole emoji animation including the two cars on fire and the two ghost emoji disappear and is replaced by TextWreck campaign: “textswreck.com”. At the end of the ad, it shows “Now, we’re sharing it with all our friends. Go to Textwreck.com and help spread the message. Just don’t do it while you’re driving…” Their messages directly inform the audience to share this ad with others so that they do not text while driving. This ad suggests to audiences to take action to help anybody they know who has the habit of texting while driving and to help themselves to change it as well.

TextWreck has an interesting creativity to use emoji to create the ad to relate and to attract drivers’ attention, especially young adults. According to Pew Internet, approximately 91% of young adults who are between the ages of eighteen to twenty-nine send or receive text messages compared with only 68% of older adults. In fact, younger people are also more likely to use emoji when sending their text messages than older adults. Therefore, this ad can successfully arouse their interest to watch it and to know the meanings of what it wants to express because they are likely familiar with emoji. According to Institute for Hwy Safety Fatality Facts, there are eleven teens deaths from texting while driving that happen every day. The accidents caused from texting while driving has become one of our nation’s top killers, and it has a higher rate which happens to young drivers than older drivers. Specifically, a young lady named Aimee Eckert shared her shocking and unforgettable accident story on her Facebook and Dayton, Ohio News. It happened because of a driver who was texting while driving, speeding 75 mph, who crossed over the center line of the road for vehicles coming from both directions in Alabama in 2011. Aimee was seriously injured, lost her six-month unborn child, lost one of her legs, and her car was totaled after the collision. Fortunately, the accident did not take away Aimee’s life but it forever impacted her. After she got better from her injuries, she shared this tragic incident to the public in order to make more people aware of the severity of the consequences of texting while driving. Her story soon went viral on the Internet. She even took an action to change her license plate on her car which spells “DNT TEXT”. She did it in order to remind people to avoid texting while driving because it is simply not worth it.

This animation ad by TextWreck campaign also uses pathos because of the emotional appeal to sway the audience. Unfortunately, car accidents caused by texting while driving happen in our daily lives anywhere in the world and are usually tragic. According to a HealthDay poll which surveyed 2,800 American drivers in 2011, around 37% of them have admitted that they have experienced texting while driving. Meanwhile, about 18% of American drivers have admitted that they already have the habit of texting while driving. Although most of the drivers agree that texting while driving is very dangerous, many of them still continue to do it frequently. Many individuals have admitted that they would be stressed if they did not reply back immediately after they received text messages from others. Texting while driving has become a very serious problem that is continuing to grow in America. To illustrate this point, according to a news report about a car accident caused by texting while driving on the Chicago Tribune in 2011, a woman named Araceli Beas was updating her Facebook status while driving and it caused her to hit a seventy-year-old man. The victim, Raymond Veloz, did not see Beas’ car was going to hit him while he was stepping out of his car. Veloz was seriously injured; one of his legs had been severed in the accident. He later died from his injuries, and his daughter, Regina Cabrales, filed a car accident lawsuit against Beas. People can be easily distracted just by using their phones for any purpose, and this negligent behavior could cause death not only for the lives of drivers but for pedestrians as well.

In simpler terms, TextWreck uses some of the car accident scenes, such as a car hitting a dog, and a car hitting another car to perfectly illustrate examples of common car crashes to the audience with animation. It is something almost everyone is familiar with because they might have seen or experienced it. Every one of us has the responsibility to not text while driving not only for our personal safety but for the safety of others as well. TextWreck effectively achieves its purpose of raising the awareness of texting while driving to a great majority of people publicly. It reflects culture in terms of young ages who have texted while driving at least once or have the habit of doing it. It makes a strong statement about telling the audience not to text while driving because the messages are simple and appealing. The emoji animation aid my understanding of the horrible effect that happens because of texting while driving, and it is preventable as long as every individual does not text while driving. It can be simply avoided by being cautious and responsible. In simpler terms, it is a very big deal that everyone should be aware of the dangerous effects can be caused by texting while driving, TextWreck effectively promotes the message of not to do it and brings awareness to others.

Reference

Desk, News, and Nick Cade. “A New PSA Fights Texting While Driving — with a Text.” PBS. PBS, 04 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 June. 2018.

Lohmann, Raychelle Cassadaa. “Texting and Driving: A Deadly Decision.” Psychology Today. N.p., 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 June. 2018.

The Free Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. “Distracted Driving.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Sept. 2015. Web. 11 June. 2018.

Sperling, Victor, Adam L. Sperling, and Ilan Wexler. “Accident Victim Who Suffered Devastating Injuries Battles Distracted Driving.” Anzellotti Sperling Pazol Small RSS. WDTNTV, 20 June 2014. Web. 11 June. 2018.

Matyszczyk, Chris. “Driver Accused of Updating Facebook in Fatal Crash – CNET.” CNET. Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 June. 2018.

Picture Source

https://www.mamamia.com.au/bill-shorten-texting-while-driving/

The Meanings of “Family”
Article review · Uncategorized

The Meanings of “Family”

Michelle chenLeave a comment

It seems easy for an individual to define the basic definition of family and to explain the different meanings of what it means to him or her; however, in our rapidly changing world, there is no simple definition of family. It is more diverse and complex to define the definition of family and to explore it in its full complexity in order to explain its meaning and to argue for its particular meanings because there are different types of people that live in our society. So what exactly does family mean and how is family defined by many different types of people in our society specifically?

First of all, in order to understand and learn the basic definition of family, the simplest way is to look up its meanings in a dictionary. Besides the dictionary definitions of the word family, its definition can also be found in many aspects in our society such as from anthropology and many varied types of people who do not have stereotypical and traditional kinds of families but define the meanings of the word family themselves uniquely and variously.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the word family is defined as “a group of
persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.” It also suggests that a family consists of two married adults typically a man and a woman, usually living together with their children in a house. However, those typical definitions may be too narrow and may not have enough explanations to fully define the meanings of the word family to certain types of people. Unfortunately, many parents abandon their children, and cause their children to grow up without their blood family. Those children may have to live in foster care or to live with somebody who is willing to adopt them and develop good family relationships. To them, family has a different value that goes beyond the traditional dictionary meanings. Thus, it is necessary to have a broader definition for the term. In fact, many people today have diversified families. They live with others who do not have any connection to them such as marriage, blood, or adoption; instead, they live together because of their commonalities, interests, or close relationships which bring them to live in the same place. They also should be considered families because of such people under this kind of circumstance.

In addition, according to Bronisław Malinowski, one of the most important influential anthropologists in the 20th-century, the definition of the word family is a group of people which include a mother, a father, and a child or children acknowledge among themselves and are clear enough to be recognized from other groups (Malinowski). Malinowski’s definition of family is different from Encyclopedia Britannica because he also noted that it is “a definite physical space with a particular set of emotions such as family love.” For instance, family members also need to have the family bond to maintain the connections of their relationships within a family. But later on, there were many anthropologists who questioned Malinowski’s definitions and ideas of the word family because it does not always have to include a mother, a father, a child or children. Not all family member loves one another nor do they live together.

Even though Britannia Malinowski had his own definition of the word family, many other anthropologists still believed that one definition of the word family requires a mother and a child as the basic unit of a family. On the contrary, it is true, possible, and easy to find parents and children in a family in our society everywhere. Nevertheless, not all families must fulfill either Malinowski’s or the Encyclopedia Britannica’s definitions and requirements on family in order to be considered a family. What brings people together to build a family is their good supportive relationship with kindness, care, love, and loyalty. Therefore, many people have different interpretations of what the word family means to them, and that is why it is beyond the traditional dictionary definitions from encyclopedias. Specifically, if an individual has lost his or her biological family members, loved ones, or relatives due to unfortunate events, he or she can still build his or her own new family. There are many ways for an individual to build his or her own family by having friends, pets, or even someone who has similar interests and is supportive to become replacements of their lost families. As has been said, family should be totally decidable and definable by an individual’s own definitions and personal values not merely based on other definitions.

And yet, many people define the word family differently than the traditional definitions. The viewpoints of family to many individuals in this modern society has changed. It may no longer merely be about groups of people who live together because of marriage, blood, or adoption to be considered a family. In fact, there have been many news reports about same-sex couples being denied to visit their partners in hospitals even though they have defined themselves as family but just not blood family or family connected by marriage. In short, the word family should not be defined only by the dictionary, anthropology, society, media, or even the great majority of people. Most importantly, everyone in our society can have their own viewpoints to define the meanings of family in a way is personal to them. For example, a friend of mine lost his entire biological family when he was eighteen years old because of an accident. One of his parents’ best friends took over the role of his parents and loves him, takes care of him, gives him support, and treats him just like he belongs to her family. Thus, he has a new family with a sense of belonging because of his parents’ best friend’s love and support. The definition of the word family should be broadly defined including people who have different kinds of values than the typical or traditional family norms.

On the whole, there should not be any limitation on the definitions and meanings of the word family since not everyone has the same typical or traditional families. Every one of us should understand, respect, and support every other person’s personal perspectives and values about the meanings of what the word family means to them. Just because some people have untraditional family structures which do not have a mother, a father, a child or children that does not mean that they are not families. The definitions and meanings of family should be defined simply as any person or people in a person’s life who are willing to have him or her to be part of their lives, and it can certainly be more than just blood. We live in a diverse world with people who have different values. As long as people who have close relationships or the ability to take care of one another through love, kindness, or good fellowship with every member in their own family; they should be defined as a family because of their recognition among themselves.

Works Cited

“Family | Kinship.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2018.
Natalia Sarkisian. “Defining: The Creative Industry of Definition.” Creative Industries
Journal 6.2 (2013): 83-87. Family Definitions What Is Family? Web. 19 Feb. 2018.

Picture source

http://view.news.qq.com/original/intouchtoday/n4025.html

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post! 🙂

Valid and Deductive Argument on Monika Bartyzel’s “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand”
Article review

Valid and Deductive Argument on Monika Bartyzel’s “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand”

Michelle chenLeave a comment

The article, Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand by Monika Bartyzel highlights the fact that Disney princess-movie marketing strategies set many unrealistic expectations and are a harmful influence to a great majority of young people, especially to young girls. For instance, a negative influence suggested by Bartyzel is the racial stereotypes which most Disney movies have, including their princess brand. For example, she talks about the crows in the animated movie Dumbo, which released in 1941, which was discriminatory towards African Americans. The crows were portrayed as “black” and therefore were used for comedic effect and were depicted as less intelligent. The crows’ slang and attire are unambiguously intended to ridicule African Americans. She reveals her thesis in the fifth paragraph in her article, “It even informed how adults interacted with her child, offering “princess pancakes,” pink balloons, and even a “princess chair” at the dentist’s office”. She argues that the Disney princess franchise produces more feminine stereotypes. These movies can be detrimental because young children are very impressionable and this can lead them to internalize unhealthy body expectations, place an emphasis on marriage, and limit their aspirations as children. Many mothers who let their daughters watch Disney princess movies do not know their harmful effects which easily influence and mold their kids.

Another piece of evidence Bartyzel uses to back her claims can be found in the fourth paragraph along with her claim of fact, “Disney began its empire with three princesses, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty.” Bartyzel observes that these three were Disney’s three main princess movies back in the 50s. However, three decades later, in the late 80s, Disney began producing princess movies again, including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan. Not only did Disney create princess characters with girly characteristics, but they also added some other princess characters such as Mulan and Pocahontas to portray strong and independent female characters. However, young girls often cannot easily relate with Mulan and Pocahontas since they wear warrior clothes that are not as pretty as other typical princess dresses. Not only are warrior clothes rare to see and find in young girls’ daily life, but most girls do not find themselves attractive in those clothes. Even though Disney princesses have different characteristics, physical appearance, and behavior, princesses that wear warrior clothes or have strong and independent personalities have less relation to many young people. They are still less popular than many other well-known princess movies such as Cinderella, The Princess and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, etc.

Bartyzel also provides examples explaining how the Disney princess films have influenced young kids already. Many mothers share common struggles when it comes to teaching and explaining characteristics, behaviors, and physical appearances of certain princesses from Disney movies. Bartyzel projects her pathos by using a mother’s personal example with her daughter on explaining to her daughter about the typical princess culture which the Disney princess films have created. In addition, she also uses a psychotherapist named Mary Finucane as another mother’s personal example to show how a mother’s concern about the asthenic characteristics of a princess has influenced her daughter. This appeals to the audience’s emotion by picturing the position of those mothers. They could have the same concerns about their kids only wanting to have the same behaviors as princesses. Bartyzel effectively uses a claim of value and pathos with this supporting evidence in the seventh paragraph.

On the one hand, the slippery slope fallacy appears when Bartyzel predicts that the more the Disney produce princess movies, the more the young girls will be affected by its unhealthy impacts. Bartyzel builds credibility to herself by bringing an outside source in the end of the eighth paragraph, “As Orenstein explains, princess culture was no longer just about fairy tale magic, but ‘a constant narrowing of what it means to be feminine.’ It shows a claim of value and the evidence to back up her thesis. Bartyzel makes a good argument on pointing out the real problems Disney princess movies have. The article has true premises, is valid, and strong. Claims of value emerges in many parts of the article, and Bartyzel points out some of the growing struggles and observations as a mother and draws a conclusion at the same time. I am convinced by the article to put myself into a mother’s shoes or imagine if I were a very young girl seeing these movies. If I were a mother, and my kid wanted to watch Disney movies, I would certainly not want to see Disney films bring any harmful influences on my child because of many unhealthy scenes, themes, and messages in it. I do not want my son or daughter to grow up with a mindset of unrealistic thoughts like being beautiful is moral, being ugly is evil or immoral, and living happily ever after is true. If I were a young girl watching many Disney princess movies while growing up, I might live in a dream world believing that I could be one of those princesses who fall in love with a prince or a hero and live happily ever after together. I could easily believe that many unrealistic dreams would come true when I grow up and see those princesses as ideal women to look at as my measurement of true love, beauty, and successfulness. Thus, many unhealthy messages I received by watching those Disney princess movies could cause me to live my life having some cognitive biased preconceived notions.

Bartyzel makes an awareness of informing parents about any bad influences and problems Disney princess movies have. The overall problem of Disney princess moves could narrow the worldview of growing girls. Instead, she suggests that their princess marketing should extend to a more diverse and varied selection of different positive female roles with healthy characteristics, and realistic female facial and body types. Bartyzel redefines the femininity and reaches her conclusion. Of course, not all Disney princess movies have unhealthy impact on children, but it is important to think what kind of information and messages are influencing a great majority of young girls.

Works Cited

Bartyzel, Monika. “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand.” The Week – All You Need to Know about Everything That Matters. N.p., 17 May 2013. Web. 20 May 2017.

Picture source:

https://jonnegroni.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/from-damsels-in-distress-to-vibrant-viragos-the-evolution-of-disney-princesses-disney-9940111.jpg?w=798&h=517

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for my next blog post!