urban legends essay

You know how when you open your inbox and you have an email “EMERGENCY EMERGENCY!” And you open it up and its some story about a new toxin in a commonly used product. Like HIV positive blood being slipped into ketchup, witch is false. But note not all of these aren’t true snopes.com is a great place to find out.

A email surging through the net about the new hot craze in twain restaurants are purchasing dead babies and fetus’ from hospitals one roasted or grilled fetus’ can cost between 50-70 the email started with a photo with a large Asian man eating what appeared to be a cooked baby. This is false Taiwan maintains the same attitude towards cannibalism as the rest of the world. The idea is as disgusting there as it is anywhere else. True, the cultures of Asia and Taiwan are very different from of North America’s and Europe’s, and of coarse eastern attitudes towards plenty of subjects are different from western attitudes.
It seems that the world’s largest taboo cannibalism seems so foreign that Asia (China), harvesting executed prisoners organs well in the sense recycling not that I agree with either opposing side but I can comprehend the argument. This it is at fault in my opinion for almost framing Asia for this grotesque crime against mortality.
THE OUR GANG CURSE...Alfalfa -- Carl Switzer was shot to death at age 31. Chubby -- 300-pound Norman Chaney died at age 22 following an operation. Buckwheat -- William Thomas died at age 49 of a heart attack. Darla Hood -- The Our Gang leading lady contracted hepatitis and died at age 47. Brisbane -- Kendall McCormas, known as Breezy Brisbane, committed suicide at age 64. Froggy -- William Robert Laughline was killed in a motor scooter accident at age 16. Mickey Daniels -- He died of liver disease at 55. Stymie -- Mathew Bear led a life of crime and drugs. He died of a stroke at age 56. Scotty Beckett -- He died at age 38 following a brutal beating. Wheezer -- Robert Hutchins was killed in an airplane accident at age 19. Pete the Pup -- He was poisoned by an unknown assailant. And Spanky.......Robert Blake is accused of murdering his wife (recently acquitted)
These stats are according to snopes.com although it is said to be false because you can look at a small group of people and categorize them into something. So we ride these tragedies off as coincidence. I love the Our Gang show and I hope all of the Actors rest in peace.

A scary message was sent through myspace, AOL, Exite, yahoo, and aim. The e-mail said that this man using the screen name slavemaster is luring women in with sadomasochistic sex and murdering them. John Edward Robinson Sr. was charged with sexual assault by two women who were “brutalized them in a way that went beyond what they intended”. When the police search his property they found 56 industrial barrels each one containing a dead woman. The barrels were in a space he rented in Missouri. All of the women seemed to be bludgeoned to death. One of the bodies found was later identified as being one of these women, and the missing infant was discovered to have been adopted by the killer’s brother.

In conclusion I believe snopes.com is the best source to debunk all of these ridiculous myths. But also warning not all of them no matter how unreal they may seem may be true. Snopes.com has thousands of urban legends so you know the difference between fact and fiction.

photoshop images

Fire on Ice(7) i thought it was interesting because you think the editor would look into the subject a little more .Any former ice skater would know their trainers would avoid practicing them together at any cost. To avoid trouble with outside injury's and fouls. The fact that a popular magi zine makes a huge foe-paw on the cover is sad and hilarious all at the same time. The last image i found particularly interesting. Since Clement Hurd is a children's illustrator he of course cannot smoke in case of effecting the influence of the sales for the early childhood kids book but he looks a little more threatening. I looked through all the pictures and I have to say the "whopper hopper" was the most comedic. Well whopper hopper dose have competition with the O.J. Simpson because since the murder of his wife he has to be dark and "evil" so they made him look kinda like a convicted super-villen. I was also drawn to the Jakalope image but that may be just because their cute.

real life media violence

In TV alot of the first effect of media is demonstrated. With The news all we hear are tragedy after tragedy. That fear that you or some one you love could get hurt builds and builds. Then there are TV dramas like CSI's, NCIS's, Judging Amy,Law and Order's all of these shows deal with the fact that's there is some sob story behind every victim were there was abuse and violence. Then there are reality shows like COPS,Worlds Dumbest Criminals,Dog the Bounty Hunter, well those are "real".Like yesterday I was watching COPS and there was a bare naked guy high out of his mind trying to break into a day care center with a stolen police gun. If that doesn't make some mothers worry... i don't know what would. This man had supposedly snorted cocaine while watching some overly violent movie and thought he had to save the children or something. When i was a little kid my Friends Chris And Faith used to rent movies. One time they rented power rangers and we all watched it then went to the back yard. In the Back Yard there was spare broom handles and old pipes. Chris and i started "sword" fighting. He happened to have one of the thick pipes, and happened to be a rather stronger boy, a little older than me I was caught off guard then "THWACK" whoops my forehead. Luckily i wasn't really hurt. Later on in Childhood my brother had a similar incident. Watching teenage mutant ninja turtles and decided to ride the dog fight stuffed animals. Joe had a little less luck and fell off the dog on too his toy covered floor and got a Lego star-ship piece in the eye. But he's alright with 20/20 vision today.

super bowl 1#

The super bowl is probably the most viewed event on TV annually. The one thing i was surprised at is that i learned advertisers purposely aim their adds at a certain audiences at super bowl. Considering foot ball is stereotypically viewed by guys, beer drinkers and ages between 8-65. Aiming at this audience witch sexy half naked women, sports, action, and even super powers. I noticed that all five key concepts were extremely obvious. They were constructed, used creative language,catchy music and slogans, and i definitely experienced this differently than the stereotypical football fan, the last concept is the embedded values oh so crystal clear. Learning these values has helped me look through advertising so I am no longer the victim of it. The victim of low self esteem, or trying to impress anyone certainly not the media :)

hip hop #1

"Rappers who talk about violence and the streets are reflecting the violent American culture we live in." In the every day life we live in we see traces of this violent behavior repeatedly. Weather its some guy on TV rapping about gang fights, or a brawl up at the park couple blocks over. Its essentially the same thing weather its in the media or every day life either way its absolutely every where. "Every black man that goes into the studio has two people in his head: a pimp in terms of who he really is, and the thug he feels he has to protect. Its a prison for us ...its a prison we're in."-Conrad Tillard, this quote represents every one has to act this out even with out the music life has always been portrayed this way.

body image contrast

Watching the two movies its a hilarious contrast to how really people think and act. Stereotypes are obviously an important part of the media the values implied for women are weak and innocent, less human, servant's or slaves almost. Being a young woman the utmost immediate image i had in my head was a sickly woman in a revealing bikini severing food to a man spinning a gun around his finger with a bored impatient look on his face. I saw this image on the back of an old magazine featuring XL models witch most were like a size 15 "Whoa she average she must be huge compared a size -1". I personally have fit in a -2 before they do exist i looked so sick and disgusting. This brings me to the other view witch can be just as sad. Men are looked upon as invulnerable, providers, strong, intimating . The male view of media is sad because the fact that a child is hurt is told not to cry boys of every age are being bullies. men are taught to violent never to show compassion to be scary and never get emotional. Both of these views need to change their are plenty sensitive men and strong women.

key concepts

The key concepts of commercials consist of 5 elements. The first element is all media messages are constructed. For example if the audience most likely to buy the product is young ladies the message throughout the commercial will show attractive women construing the message "If you use this product you will be this beautiful!". The Advertising company's will also use their own colorful creative language. Using slogans like "Think outside the bun"(Taco bell) or "Just do it" (Nike).A company uses bright colors and catchy music in advertising to get your attention to get you to buy their product. Although all people experience messages differently. Again the target audience will be allured by this, but lets say its a bud light commercial if a victim of an alcholic will experience this alot differently then a bar tender perhaps. Witch also is a great example of the embedded values in these adds. Like if you see an add for bud with football fans the stereotype is all sport fans drink heavily. The Company's use all these tools to ultimately gain money and power.