Advertising: Informative or manipulative?

Advertising could be argued as a very resourceful information or manipulation in our life. Advertising is related to public relations. “Public relations” to me is a study and practice of communication and the process of interacting with people. Through this, we can share our different ideas, talk about the issue and improve our lives with it. I have always been interested in communication in a creative manner and I’ve found interacting with others quite enjoyable. That’s why I would argue that advertising is in fact, quite informative in our society rather than “manipulative”. 

It is in fact, very easy to criticize advertising. Those people who can’ handle the fast pacing and money lacking individuals blame advertising for creating a “desire” for unnecessary goods. I, on the other hand, disagree. Advertising can’t sell any products, but it simply “help” sell products that people want to buy. It is simply informing the public of the variety of good quality goods available to us. It actually helps benefit the society. Advertising is very persuasive and handy tool. It is everywhere around us; in magazines and newspapers, on radios and televisions, and on any internet sites along with billboards in the highway. They are very easy to get a hold of.

When I was young, advertisement and commercials have got my attention much more than scheduled programs or shows on TV. Especially growing up in Korea, I was surrounded or I could say, bombarded by Korean commercials. They use broad range of strategies in order to capture the attention of the viewers. The catchy words and funny costumes that American TV watchers may be familiar with will be taken to an entirely different level in Korea. Mesmerized would be an understatement of a word to describe the commercials aired in Korea.

Korean commercial producers rewrite the rules of advertising. They link almost every random moment of people’s day with any various products in Korea. A recent commercial that I watched that manages to stuck in my head is for a rice cooking equipment featuring a newborn baby and the stamping of his birth certificate. In Korea, commercials and advertisements are seemingly everywhere. It sometimes appear in every flat surface, there is a poster promoting some kind of a household goods plastered and LCD screens, playing some kind of commercials replaying their advertisement over and over. I wonder now, if it is all those lights from the advertising that brightens the night light in Korea, and if we turn it off for couple of hours every day, we could save some energy. Coming out from every building in downtown central Seoul is papers promoting wide range of goods and services. Unlike some critical Americans, the Koreans find this abundance of advertising harmless and sometimes, even informative. 

Advertising helps spread news of newly invented high-tech products and contributes to society’s awareness of what is “new” out there. It helps define our fast developing world and is a very persuasive and handy tool. Without advertisement, it would be a lot more difficult for some people to get an easy access to something they want or need. Over all, advertising helps us by sharing informative information. 

"Precious" Movie Review

“Precious” (2009, written by Geoffrey Fletcher and directed by Lee Daniels) is a drama film for spoiled, rich ass brats to watch and be thanked for for the situation they are at the moment. The film’s setting took place in Harlem, centers around, a overweight, illiterate teenager, pregnant with her second baby from her father, struggles to balance her life between education and her dysfunctional and abusive mother, Mary (Mo’Nique). Sixteen-year-old Claireece P.  “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) sees her life hopeless, unfair and cruel but finds small joy and peace along with other girls similar like her, Rhonda (Chyna Layne), Jermaine (Amina Robinson), Joann (Xosha Roquemore), Rita (Stephanie Andujar), and Consuolo (Angelica Zambrana) in a small alternate school. Miss. Rain, “Each One Teach One” alternate school teacher (Paula Patton) and Miss Weiss, the social worker (Mariah Carey) helps Precious to start over with her life.

“Precious” being a film about abuse, violence, sexual assault, and pervasive language, it was rated “R” by the film company. The outstanding review of film’s popularity was based exceptionally from the cast member’s outstanding performances (Mo’Nique winning Oscar for best actress in a supporting role), best direction to the cinematography, and best screenplay adapted from the book (receiving six Academy Award nominations). The editing of the film was excellent, captivating the audience’s attention by colliding Precious “day dreams” with her present moment of cruel reality to balance out the heavy drama going on in the film. 

The casting choice for the movie may have influenced the outcome of the movie. Such as casting Mariah Carey (singer/songwriter) into the film definitely played a pull factor towards the film, attracting more audience through her fan clubs. Gabourey Sidibe and couple of the co-stars definitely gained their fame through “Precious” nation wide which helped their careers launch off. The movie’s dark atmosphere of thrill, violence, and exposed scenes captivated the viewer’s attention, with just a bit too “realistic” condition. In conclusion, Precious is not for everyone due to its heavy mature contents but it is a great film to watch.

Best High School Memories

Highschool is notorious for being the social hierarchy of food-chain. The popular kids at the top, the invisibles, nerds, and an outcast. Highschool for some may be four years of hell but for me, it is considered the best four years of my life. The highschool that I’m attending is a bit special, to say the least. Starting from my freshmen year, we didn’t have any cliques or outcasts. Well, maybe half of the reason was because most of us knew each other from our previous school Whispering Palms and other kids were generally very easy-going and fun to get along. And perhaps the other reason was due to my easy-going personality. Hehe. There’s so many memories I have from SIS and its a bit hard to narrow it down to “just a few”. 

One of my best memories happened from my freshmen biology class. I was sitting down next to my three best male friends; they were also from the same junior high school as me. While my teacher, lovely Ms. Peterson was lecturing the class about some important stuff that we should probably remember for our test the next class, my friend Lucas blurted out “Shut up!!”, which made the whole classroom quiet and awkward. To make matters worse, my friends Kai and Hunter was quietly chuckling facing down on the table. Then Lucas somehow came up with a brilliant plan to switch the situation a bit less serious by pointing his finger at Kai and said, “I was talking to Kai.” Our whole class erupted with laughter it was truly impossible for us to “move along” rest of the period. 

My next memory is possibly the most memorable image stuck in my tiny head and will be there for a very long time. There is a tiny slide in the kindergarden playground in our school. My friend Cleo and I thought it would be fun to slide down on the slide......riding on a wagon. Turned out, it was not that good of an idea after all. We brought the wagon up the mini stairs to the top of the slide, placed it gently on the aisle, I was the first to have a go so I sat down smoothly and Cleo pushed me down the slide. Being  the immature freshmen, we did not know anything about the velocity, angles or the impact the wagon would cause my butt a sore encounter with an icepack for the next 3 weeks. At the end of the slide, the wagon gracefully soared through the air and not so gracefully landed on the grass, me resulting with a scraped back and thighs. The principle gave us each this line, “I will not slide down the kindergarden slide, riding on the wagon” 300 times to write for punishment. But at the end of the day, with all those bruised and scraped back and thighs, it was totally worth it.

Fav dish

Whenever I have a bad day or in a depressing mode every month, my mom always manages to cheer me up by cooking my favorite food. Her style of vietnamese wannabe noodle soup. It can cheer me up whenever, and wherever I am. There’s traditional days when my mom has to cook this special dish for our family. My birthday, the day i get straight A’s in my report card, or when there’s no rice and only noodles in the fridge. 

It is very similar to vietnamese noodle: pho but wayyyy better than the actual dish. Through many experiences and failures, my mother has created a masterpiece. It is so deliciously juicy and tasty it would make you cry when the soup first comes in contact with your taste bud. She mix the vietnamese noodles with different spices from all over the world making it diverse and unique! Talk about individual characteristics! She then boils the beef in a light boiling water (cannot be boiling too much, just slightly) therefore, we can see the slight blush of red blood visible in the beef. Then, all the deliciously taste free vegetables are added and whola! Mommy’s deliciousness full of juicy noodle soup is complete. This dish itself has so many personal memories in it, making it my favorite dish of all time. 

Maldives

Marriage. Honeymoon. Children. Divorce. Well, it all seems as if we are living in a society where this four phrases run in a cycling motion. However, since I am a very romantic person, let’s just focus on the good side of the phrase: honeymoon. 

Since honeymoon is a phrase where newly wed couples spend some quality time together as husband and wife, I would like to spend my honeymoon to some quite, warm place such as Maldives. 

Maldives is considered one of the most beautiful places where newly weds can experience peace and isolation from rest of the world, making it the holiday of a lifetime. I would like to find a room by the beach or a water that can give me and my husband some privacy and a beautiful environment to spend time in. 

My cousins went to Maldives for their honeymoon and from the pictures that I saw from her camera, it was just heaven. I was so jealous that she got to experience the Maldives culture with the person she love. The magic she captured in her camera was simply beautiful and amazing that I decided to go visit Maldives once in my lifetime. Even if it was not on my honeymoon. Maldives, here I come!

Romantic phrases?

500words

It is damn hard to choose two romantic words or phrases I've heard/read. You see, I've never actually had a boyfriend in my life and is not planning to get one until I get off this god damn rock. So, when I have to write 500 words essay on something that I am not familiar with, it does not make me happy. However, I'd like to consider myself a hopelessly romantic person. As some may say pathetic, but I'd like read romance novels every once in a while. Keeps me updated on the romantic world and away from the cruel reality I live in. Since there's not a single guy I know of who can shamelessly erupt butterflies and fireworks in my heart, I find peace and fulfillment in online romance novels. Yes, yes, you guys are probably thinking…."who can spell pathetic". Well you know what?….I can, so deal with it.

So,,,,these are my top two romantic expressions I've read online.

The first expression is from a novel called "Last Summer Rain" which is about a sick boy who is fulfilling his bucket-list as he finds out that he is sick and has only a small amount of time left. He finds this girl who helps him accomplish with his bucket-list and falls hopelessly in love throughout the fourney. 

“So if someone gave me a second chance to forget everything, go back and live without the illness, I wouldn’t. I would rather have loved you, been loved by you and end our love story as a tragedy than be lovers that never loved at all. I want you to know that I don’t regret ever getting to know you. Thank you for making the darkest days of my life the brightest.”

I just thought this was just too sweet and sad at that time when I was reading, I guess the moment and the feeling is now stuck in my head. I'd recommend you reading this if you are shamelessly bored or have endlessly unlimited time left, or is single on Valentine's day seeking for a good romance book and a bucket of ice-cream. We can even read it together if I'm in the mood. :)

The second expression is from another cheesy romance novel called “It could be him” which circles around this two college students and the stage of realizing their love for each-other through thick and thin. 

“I love you and only you. You are the one woman who has been there for me through thick and thin and you are the girl I want to be with every single day. You are the woman I want to call up and chat to. You are the woman who I have always loved. You are the woman who I think about all day and all night and you are the One and only person I want to be with forever and always.”
I honestly is not a huge fan of cheesy guys, but once you know and get to realize the character, you’ll swoon when he says this line in the end. 

These are the two phrases which I think is the most romantic expressions I've read. 

5 perspectives

If I had to teach five precepts to teach my future children, it would be modesty, self-confidence, respect, responsibility, and individual characteristics. 

Modesty would be my first choice to teach my children because no matter how important, famous or rich you are, you will not receive any respect without any modesty. People will talk behind your back, point fingers at you and most importantly, will not have any true friends besides you. 

Self confidence would be my second choice because without any confidence, you as a person won't shine. If you can't shine for yourself, there is no way other people will see your shinning self. Confidence is categorized under "must have" personality box in our working society. Without self-confidence, you can't progress or develop higher in this society. My mother always told me that strong women should stick together. I thank my mom for leading me into a right direction, for making me who I am, a strong, independent, person.

Respect it is one of the most important precepts a person must obey by no matter where or who you are with. My mother always told me to respect one another and treat others as you would like to be treated. I'll teach my children never to touch other people's items without asking them, be polite, don't be noisy and push people too far, but most of all, be the person who can listen to others when they need you the most.

Responsibility is another huge precepts my children needs to learn. "Take responsibility to whatever came out of your mouth." Yes, it can be interpreted in two ways. Clean up your own puke or take actions in something you've promised to someone. There's a famous saying, "don't make promises when you can't keep it". Even I admit this is one of the hardest task in my life. I hate it when I ask my friend to return my stuff after I let them borrow, and they keep on using this old fashioned line, "I promise I'll bring it tomorrow" and never does. It genuinely pisses me off. Whenever I borrow something from someone else, I try to give it back to that person the next day. If i borrowed their clothes, I wash it and give it back. I believe it's common courtesy to do that. 

And last but not least is supporting my children with individual characteristics. Teaching them or helping them to be who they are and what they can be is one of the important factors in life. I'd rather have a unique, creative, and bright children compared to the kid who seats help them represent who they are as a person. I believe every children has their own imaginary portrait of who they want to be and I, as a parent want to respect that. These are the five precepts I would like to teach them.

Greatest invention of all?

If you can pick out one greatest invention of all time, what would it be? I’d have to say its the wonderful makeup. For instance, lets look at Jia Ying sitting next to me in class. She wears atleast 3 inches of base makeup along with dark dramatic eyeshadows and two round pink puffball shaped blush applied on top of her 3 inch makeup base. She is pretty, at times, but when I see her without it, I could barely recognize her. Jia Ying and I are tight buddies; we even live in a same town. At often times, when I go out to jog, I have this unfortunate encounter with the girl sitting next to me. I always pass her by and when I’m around the corner, I hear my name in the world’s most hideous screeching sound no human being should hear , “MINJOOOOO!!!!” yes. That’s when I know that it is indeed my dear, lovely friend, Jia Ying calling for me. 

I honestly don’t know what the world would be at this moment if makeup wasn’t invented. Would I ever recognize my dear friend Jia Ying’s face? I really hope I do. Makeup has a very powerful effect on the society. It can make a person look younger or age older by using makeup. Or, it can change you into a complete different person. I believe other industries would not have survived or grew without a direct or indirect help of makeup. Actors and actresses apply makeup in every single movie, females apply makeup for different range of jobs, not only females, but males as well. That’s why I believe makeup is THE ultimate greatest invention of all time. If you can pick out one greatest invention of all time, what would it be? I’d have to say its the wonderful makeup. For instance, lets look at Jia Ying sitting next to me in class. She wears atleast 3 inches of base makeup along with dark dramatic eyeshadows and two round pink puffball shaped blush applied on top of her 3 inch makeup base. She is pretty, at times, but when I see her without it, I could barely recognize her. Jia Ying and I are tight buddies; we even live in a same town. At often times, when I go out to jog, I have this unfortunate encounter with the girl sitting next to me. I always pass her by and when I’m around the corner, I hear my name in the world’s most hideous screeching sound no human being should hear , “MINJOOOOO!!!!” yes. That’s when I know that it is indeed my dear, lovely friend, Jia Ying calling for me. 

I honestly don’t know what the world would be at this moment if makeup wasn’t invented. Would I ever recognize my dear friend Jia Ying’s face? I really hope I do. Makeup has a very powerful effect on the society. It can make a person look younger or age older by using makeup. Or, it can change you into a complete different person. I believe other industries would not have survived or grew without a direct or indirect help of makeup. Actors and actresses apply makeup in every single movie, females apply makeup for different range of jobs, not only females, but males as well. That’s why I believe makeup is THE ultimate greatest invention of all time. 

What I fear the most

I am a fearful person in general. I am afraid of a lot of things. I do not like insects, heights, Mr. Lee smiling at me, mom asking me what my grades are, getting shots, grandma’s spoon that always seem to end up smacking me when I chew with my mouths open, airplane turbulence, street dogs, policemen, and Jia Ying doing yoga. However, there is only one thing that scares me to death. Making my skin crawl with fear, sweat pouring from my forehead, turning my tanned skin, almost vampire like tone of pale complexion and improper usage of lungs: 10 missed calls from mother. 

I’m pretty sure all the teenagers would agree to this little nightmare of an incident. Going out with a friend, having a good time, music blasting somewhere at that presence, tired so decided to check your phone to look at the time, and then realize you have 10 missed calls from mom. Yea. Exactly. We all know what it feels like. No words needed. You know what’s worse though? When you try to call her back, she won’t answer. Heart Dropping moment right there. Then you run towards your car, yes run, not fast walking, or pasting through the road, full on sprinting. You violate all the road signals because at that moment, nothing scares or matters more than arriving home, walking through that doorframe of your front door. 

At last when you arrive home, you shuffle your bag to find your keys, only to realize you forgot to bring it out with you this morning. At that moment, all hopes drain out of your face and you just want to welcome the apocalypse of 2012 like an old friend. You curse every single word you know asking how stupid you could be, doing kicking motions to the door, but can’t actually hit it because you’re afraid it’ll make loud noises. So you’re just standing there in front of your house, thinking of some plots to secretly break in to your own house without making any noises. You comfort yourself that you could do this, that you are part asian; therefore, ninja blood runs in you, that you could easily jump two story high building. Then a security guard comes around the corner and asks if there’s any problem and you just smile and tell him that you’re out for a evening walk because you’re too embarrassed to actually tell him the true story. When the guard leaves, your back in business again. Thinking of plan B. Then repeat the process until you reach plan z, and finally give up and knock on your door, greeted by your angry mother. She yells at you and tells you that she could have let you go if you came 2 hours ago, only to realize you did, but was staying outside thinking of ways to break in to your own house.

This...is what I fear the most. This scenario happening,,,,again. That’s right. It happened to me once before, but it was more dramatic and scarier version than this. My kind mother decided to punish me right then, by locking me out of my house for almost three loving hours. I was outside in the cold chilly wind, singing along to the song blasting from my cellphone, my friends coming to cheer me up and finally, one blissful cellphone call from my house and one phrase I’ve never thought it would make me so happy, “Come Home”. :D