The Top ten, top 100, best, most beautiful..

To celebrate the end of the first decade of the 21st century, many magazines and newspapers made lists of the top movies, shows, songs, artists, and books of the decade. Every year many magazines also do the lists of the top and best whatever, one of the most famous being People's Most Beautiful released each year. All of these awards and lists make me question our society's loyalty to the media to give us accurate perspectives on the most important things in our life, entertainment and appearances. I'm wary of trusting media sources to tell me which movies to watch or music to listen to, but I still find it hard to combat the influence. Rolling Stone published a Best of the Decade article and I immediately bought about half of the albums they discussed and watched three of the movies they advertised. A lot of these movies and albums were from the early 2000's, when I was just nine or ten years old. I had no interest in music back then or movies outside of the Disney and Nickelodeon realm, yet while reading this list, I still felt like I had missed out on an important part of my life. I experienced a huge cultural gap, and I trusted Rolling Stone to fill me in accurately on what I had missed.

In some ways compilations of different media sources, such as movies, is a good way to get a glimpse into a year of movies unwatched, yet each magazine or tv show or news program has its own opinions on what makes a good movie or a good artist. In Rolling Stone they posted the editors and reporter's top ten and then in the corner they posted the reader's top ten. Some of the reader's choices went without representation in the editor's top ten, and the movies that were the same through out were in different orders, some number one on one list and number ten on the other. While Rolling Stones readers too have a different perspective on different media sources, the dichotomy is emphasized by the fact that both parties are interested in the same magazine yet have vastly different opinions. We trust beauty commercials to give us accurate information on what will make us more beautiful.

There's something to be said for the fact that our whole world is intertwined in a web of dependence. We depend on doctors and lawyers to keep us healthy and fix us and save our money and win us money. However, the law and medical trades are based on knowledge and a specialized set of skills, whereas magazines and television shows are more based on a specific opinions that are developed, rationalized, and promoted. The people creating these media sources are very skillful, yet they have skills in promoting not the real truth, but the truth viewers want to hear. Television shows and magazines form their own personalities not based on having attended a specific school or studying a certain discipline but by knowing how to adapt. We trust magazines and television to tell us what we should like and what we should do with our free time. Also, the people reading many of these top 50 or most beautiful articles are of a young (ish) age, relative to those not viewing these types of media. Younger people tend not to put health and money at the top of their lists of the most important things in their life, so many of us are placing entertainment as the number one priority. College kids trust magazines and television to tell them what types of alcohol to drink and what types of parties to throw. Mothers and homeowner's trust House and Garden to tell them what their house should look and feel like. They trust House Beautiful to tell them the best colors for a living room or a kitchen. Home renovations are an important part of our lives outside of work and making a living. Our homes are representations of ourselves as much as what music we listen to is. In many ways we are putting our identities in the hands of the media, as we often listen to their advice and shape our lives around what they say. I've never defined myself by my doctor or the grocery store I shop at. Even though the people involved in these enterprises are more important to our well being we don't always listen to what they say or advise. A diagnosis at the doctor's might define us as someone with a disease or a condition, but we don't base our identities on the opinions of doctors as much, such as their opinions of what foods to eat or medicines to take. I wonder how media sources target what we find important and what we want to define ourselves by. While what they say and write is often based on their opinions, they are also targeting certain people and interests. How often do they track what their readers and viewers want to see? What is the rate of change for how media sources approach their viewers and what they give them? Hourly, daily, weekly? When Tiger's mistresses were revealed his shows were immediately pulled from the air. Does the media usually work this fast at changing what they show viewers based on what their values are (American's don't value cheating celebrities) or do they only work this fast in the case of disasters, when viewers would be angered by Tiger endorsements? How do the different filters described by Chomsky and Herman influence the way the media shapes our identities? Do these filters work to shape our identities by catering more to us or does their work shape our identities because they operate with their best interests in mind? If what we are viewing is what the filters have produced based on their values, opinions, and identities, then what does that say about our relationship to the filters? What does it say about the American identity?

"I feel very plastic" - Heidi Montag

I was looking for a link to the trailer for the Lovely Bones, a movie that premiered this week, and I ended up on people.com, the website of People magazine. There was an article about a girl I knew from a television show one of my friends from home used to watch, the Hills. The article said she had had plastic surgery, which wasn't really interesting. However, the girl under her name, Heidi Montag, looked nothing like the person I knew from the Hills. While not an avid fan, I had watched enough episodes to know that, she had indeed, had plastic surgery. In fact, Montag had 10 surgeries in one day, leading to a near death experience with Demerol. The story fascinated me, as I had never seen someone so changed by plastic surgery. People like Joan Rivers have had plastic surgery but I was not at the age to notice a change in her. When I became a teenager she had already gone under the knife. Montag was the first celebrity I was familiar with to change the way they looked so clearly. I googled "Heidi Montag interviews," hoping to find some commentary on why she had had the surgeries. I understand plastic surgery and the motivations behind it, my mom is a cosmetic surgeon, but I've never known someone to get 10 surgeries in one day. Montag received botox, at age 23, had her eyebrows lifted, had fat from her legs put in her cheeks and lips, and butt and breast implants. Before she was a thin, blonde, pretty 23 year old, who seemed to have no need for plastic surgery. I watched the video of the interview she gave to Access Hollywood.

Montag had many reasons for having the surgeries, and apparently didn't regret them. She cited paparazzi and gossip blogs for motivation for doing the surgery, as they had criticized the size of her chin. She also had her ears surgically pinned back, as she thought that they had stuck out too much before and she couldn't wear her hair up on the red carpet.

I'm interested to explore the many different ways the media shapes this ideal woman or even 23 year old girl. Montag had parts of her back bone and muscle taken off, in order to have a curvier "bombshell look." That surgery itself is beyond extreme and coupled with nine more must have stemmed from something she thought was seriously wrong with her and sparked her to move towards something supposedly better. I've looked around blogs speaking of her change, and have been particularly surprised by the way others on her show have responded. They've criticized her for getting too much done and setting the wrong example for young girls. The Hills show is one of the most ridiculous reality television shows, as it makes the lives these college age students lead seem realistic. All of the girls on the show work at various magazines and companies in Los Angeles. They've lived together on and off through the seasons and their "friendships" have erupted in giant posed fights on air. They shop on the daily, date tons of people, party almost every night, and generally make it seem as though they're normal girls trying to make it in the real world. Montag's surgeries cost 30, 000 dollars. She apparently has been paid generously on the Hills, and it's ridiculous to say that these girls are normal. By just living their lives or the staged versions, they make a very decent living. Shows like these definitely affect the image of the perfect woman, as not one of the girls on the show is overweight in the slightest. None of them have acne. They all have personal trainers, and makeup artists. They're not normal girls, but they act like it, creating a dangerous trap for people thinking all that glamour is readily attainable.

I've heard from my mother and grandmother once or twice a year for the past ten years of my life that I should be who I am and not worry about what others think. I express concern that my belt doesn't match my shirt and my mom launches into the "you are beautiful in every way" speech. I've dreaded these moments, as I know how planned and crafted they are, yet now that I've gotten older and become happier with myself I can realize how important they are, how grounding they are. People magazine has reported that Heidi Montag's mother is unhappy with the surgeries, and that Montag is scared to face her family. She's from a small town in Colorado, and seems to have been raised to respect family and God. One episode of the Hills shows Montag's visit home and her parents seem like grounded hard-working individuals, although its hard to know with television, especially this type of television. One thing is sure though, there's a trend of girls working surrounded by the media who do crazy things to make themselves look different or change their reputation. The media has drained some of the power parents have to guide their children, and it must be all consuming for celebrities who are constantly in the spotlight. Most teenagers do things their parents disagree with, maybe they get their nose pierced or something similar, but Montag almost got herself killed and spent 30,000 dollars doing it, and this is all without her mother's consent. Even though she's an adult, when did she reach the point when her family's concern for health no longer mattered? I don't have many answers, but I'd like to continue to explore what aspects of the media contribute to this image and ideal Montag was pursuing. Television, magazines, and blogs surely do, but what are their techniques? Do they tend to try to hide or embrace their cultivation of this image as it sells spreads on famous people, such as People's "100 Most Beautiful" issue that is released every year. I wonder how websites and magazines will comment on Montag's transformation in the future, once she has recovered and emerged from her self-imposed exile.

Going Green

In the past few years being "green" and buying sustainable products has become all the rage. I attended two programs last year that focused on sustainability and living green and since returning to "civilization," I've noticed and scrutinized all the green advertisements and the way previously dorky or lame companies (to teenagers), such as LL Bean are now considered cool and hip. Whenever my mom would buy me LL Bean outfits in middle school I'd promptly bury them at the back of my closet, and now I find myself enjoying time spent in LL Bean and wearing LL Bean apparel with pride, knowing its often made with the environment in mind. Some of it has to do with my abandonment of the quest to be fashionable. Comfort and warmth now occupy the part of my mind that picks out clothes. Anyways, magazines such as Vogue now sport spreads of green gifts around the holidays and green replacements for other things, such as organic soaps and lotions. Often, green products

are advertised with all the flash and thrills, and are typically sold for more money. The shirt on top is a teal American apparel T that retails for $17. The one on the bottom is an organic American Apparel T that retails for $18. While this margin is small, if someone chooses to buy ten t-shirts, say for making jerseys for a sports team, the company has already made ten more dollars. While organic cotton is often times softer and more sumptuous, high-end stores such as American Apparel tend to use nice cotton for their regular t-shirts, decreasing the softness margin between the two shirts significantly. They do however have an all organics section on their website where people might look and buy from, without knowing that the organic shirts probably aren't that different physically than the other shirts. Their production is definitely different, but often times teenagers shopping at American Apparel care less about where the product comes from and its production's affect on the environment and more about its price, look, and feel. Organic beauty product ads can also be found in magazines typically considered classy and up to date, such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Instyle.

Above is a magazine spread displaying green bags, made with organic or recycled materials. The article, found at http://www.vogue.com/voguedaily/2009/06/eco-centric-green-totes-at-the-green-market/, epitomizes the mix of fashion lingo with green lingo found in articles about green products. The article also discusses the work of green fashion designers. Even if every fashionista in the U.S.A. bought organic or recycled purses, our country would still be in an environmental crisis. However, the little things everyone does matter. Some of us try to do more things, such as Andover's entrance into the Green Cup Challenge, but if people normally uninterested in the environment find a flashy ad for natural beauty products that won't pollute the earth, then that's great. Often times natural beauty products are advertised as being better for the skin and less toxic on the body.

Nowadays, magazines and websites focusing on the environment itself are becoming more and more popular. The series Planet Earth has become a sensation in the U.S.A. Planet Earch addresses the problems plaguing the earth while delivering stunning footage of the environment and images of cute animals to its audience. Some of my friends who never before cared about the environment, vowed to take shorter showers and start taking the train into boston rather than driving, after I showed them Planet Earth. The Discovery Channel, run by the BBC, has succeeded in attracting a large population of teenagers of all backgrounds (jocks, girly girls, etc.), and have used this to the environment's advantage. The annual Shark Week on the Discovery Channel is something that we teenagers look forward to, and the Discovery Channel reminds viewers that many species of sharks are endangered while showing them clips of the coolest animals alive. In general, I've found that advertising for programs based on the environment as well as products that are eco-friendly are doing well and attracting people of different interests and demographics to the environmental cause.