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Movie Review: High School Musical 3 – The Message

High School Musical 3 has been gaining a lot of attention especially with the youth. The series has been known to be clean, fun and safe to take the family. As a full disclosure, I have never seen a single ones of these movies. However as someone spends a great deal of time mentoring youth, I wanted to take the time to at least read about it. Though it’s rated G, you really don’t know these days. I’ve walked into movies that are pg-13 with very questionable content. Also what I find even more dangerous are the underlying messages of what is right and wrong, what is the norm, a way of thinking… these subtle things have much more of a lasting impact in the way we view our lives and the world.

What you will find in this post has nothing to do with how good the story is or how well the movie was made, just excerpts talking about the messages conveyed in the film. Note these are excerpts from articles or comments I’ve read so it doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with it! I tried not to leave in spoilers, but no promises.

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Creativity: Don’t Vote Print Campaign

Brilliant voting campaign aimed to push the public to go vote. This marketing campaign was created by Borders Perrin Norrander and Pollinate Media. They provide the files so people can print out posters as well as banners for the public to put on their blogs and websites. The tag line is “Don’t Vote. Things are fine just the way they are.” Just simple and brilliant.

See more examples below the jump!
Website to the creatives also available below the jump!
(for those not familiar with the blog term “jump” – it means click into the entry and you can see the rest of the article)

Print Ad - Don't Vote Campaign - Amde in China
Don't Vote Campaign - Made in China

Message: Our Economy is in trouble. America’s stance in the world in diminishing. China’s economy is growing while our influence in the worldwide economy lessens.
Execution: America, now.. made in China. Awesome

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Just Inappropriate for Kids or Just Inappropriate

Just Inappropriate for Kids or Just Inappropriate
Many people talk about how the media affects our children, how it may lead to violence or how it may encourage promiscuous lifestyles. There is a lot of merit there, but one thing that is increasingly noticeable but overlooked is the fact that the parents themselves are underestimating the influences of media in their own lives and indirectly how it affects their children.

Take a look at movie review sites where users list their ages, you’ll see adults saying the movie is inappropriate for the younger audience. But you ask a 25 year old how they feel and they say it is inappropriate for 21 and under. Ask a 21 year old and they say it is inappropriate for 15 and under and so on. Thinking we are above the influences of media starts at a very young age. In the same way, lot of the criticism that are made against inappropriate shows, movie scenes, and video games are often argued for the sake of the children rather than based on morals because the latter would mean the older adults themselves are subject to their own cry for control.

Hints at “Inappropriateness”
If it’s morally wrong to put a sex scene in a mainstream game, then they themselves should not be playing it. If one believes it is morally ok, then shouldn’t that bother us in someway? If it is something we would be embarrassed to be watching in open public or in front of your kids, doesn’t that hint at the fact the question shouldn’t be whether it is appropriate for our children, but whether it is something appropriate at all?

Take a look some of the comment excerpts for an article discussing the controversy of placing nudity in a video game.

“I just find it sad the trivial amounts of nudity and sexuality in a video game is so controversial.”

– I find it sad, that our society as a whole has come to a point that nudity and sexuality in video GAME is consider “trivial” and is even considered a topic of “controversy”. There is no controversy here.

“Where is it said that all video games are supposed to be suitable for children?”

– This can only be said when one deems playing games with sex and nudity is suitable for adults. Is it though? Is that suitable for anyone?

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China’s 2008 Beijing Olympic Deception & Lies: Impact on Culture Part I

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the most widely watched Olympics in history. It had all you could ask for. It had high drama, incredible feats, and one of the most beautiful opening and closing ceremony ever. I was completely in awe with the beautiful creativity in displaying all of China’s history and culture. Great job China.

However… coupled with such great display of the magnificence of Chinese culture, so was the display of some not so magnificent incidences. Lot of deception was carried out by the Olympic decision makers to put forth their best face. It’s a show, so much of it is understandable, but I strongly believe that actions the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) & the Olympic organizers carried out poorly contributed to its own culture and sent the wrong message to the very people they govern.

The list of what are being called “deceptions” or “lies” continues to grow. A wonderful little girl with a wonderful voice, Yang Peiyi, was yanked from the stage and told to sing backstage because the organizers wanted to have a more prettier girl, one “flawless in image” as mentioned by the music director, to be on stage. The new girl, Lin Miaoke, ended up lip syncing while the Yang Peiyi had to sing backstage during perhaps the biggest stage she would ever get a chance to participate in. CCP also claimed to have sold out the games but admitted later to hiring volunteers to fill up the empty seats. Organizers also showed fake digital fireworks making the firework display grander than it actually was to the rest of the world. Organizers also claimed and printed on their programs that the spectacular display of China’s ethnicity groups were actual people from those provinces while later saying that they were actually nearly all from the Han ethnic group that make up 90% of their population. CCP kept emphasizing harmony with its people while sanctioning away water and resources from the countryside farms to keep Beijing well stocked and pushing out migrant workers out of their cities. CCP praised the fact that the Olympic games were protest free while quietly jailing any dissenters and sending elderly protesters to work camps. Then there is the still unresolved matter of the Chinese Gymnastic team.

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How Safe are Social Networks?

In June, Common Sense Media released a comparative analysis the Internet safety features on the most popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, YouTube, Club Penguin among others.

Though there has been significant improvements over time in building safety features for the users, more than half of the sites were deemed not adequate. Also many of the features are not easy to find or too obscure for the users. However it is still too easy for someone (think: children or teens) to lie about their age or access bad or inappropriate sites or videos.

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Themes of Wall-E

All about the Themes

Wall-E was definitely a Pixar quality film. I learned never to doubt Pixar no matter how peculiar or odd the trailers may be. I once questioned how good a movie could be about a talking fish. I was immediately blown away by Finding Nemo. In the same way, when I saw the trailer for some animated super hero movie I thought, could they really pull this off? It was incredible (that’s right i said it). So when a movie about talking cars came out I said, forget it I trust Pixar, it’ll be great. It was. When Wall-E’s trailer first came out about some small robot that barely talks.. I was game. As expected of Pixar, the story was well written, the CG animation was truly amazing especially in the way they humanize these robots, but what made this film special was its themes. No I am not talking about the romantic aspect of it (in fact I thought it was a bit too much) – but the themes of loneliness, relationships, comfort and materialism. Without giving away any of the story, the movie really highlights where our society is headed. Perhaps the extremity of what we see in the movie will never quite come true, but it does highlight the comfort driven mentality that all of us has. In fact in a span of 700 years (which the movie depicts), who knows, perhaps its very possible.Comfort is what drives us to do much of what we do. We study hard and try to beat everyone else in school so we could graduate with top honors. Why? So we could work hard and get a great job so we could live in comfort. It is common in our society to leave family or friends behind to go to a new school or a job. Parents may be sad, and friends upset but ultimately it is almost a given that leaving relationships like this is the right thing to do because hey, you have to earn a great living right? Perhaps it is due to technology and the ease of travel and communication, but honestly does it have to be this way? Is it really wrong for us to forgo a going to a good college or pursuing a great job because we value our relationships just that much more?

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Ironman and Prince Caspian – Clean Cut or Not?

 

Ironman

Honestly this movie didn’t peak my interest when I first saw the trailer. In fact the trailer wasn’t that great and looked like it would turn out to be a mindless action film with a poor plot. However after seeing stellar reviews across the board including a 93% rating in rotten tomatoes and A- rating in Yahoo, I went to watch this film. It ended up being a very well made movie. The plot was good story of redemption, the acting was great, the pace and mood was well controlled and the film work was well done. I also left thinking that it was a relatively clean movie opposed to all the movies that have come out these days. Violence was somewhat tame and sexual scenes very minimal. However that really got me thinking.

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New Dove Beauty Campaign “Onslaught” Video

 

Video focuses on a child’s face than proceeds to show seemingly a hundred ads in a matter of 20 seconds showing the “onslaught” of media that a child sees in regards to what is considered beauty. The ads vary from skin product commericals, cosmetic surgeries, diet ads, skinny models dancing, provocative ads on the streets and so on. Only 5% of children consider themselves beautiful. I am not surprised. Please be aware there are a few provocative sexual imagery shown (ex. models dancing). The clips themselves are only a fractional of a second to 2 seconds long.

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Faith Amidst HeartBreaking Tragedy

99 Balloons – Video

 

Summary: “Eliot was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body.” Video Collage of the childhood’s life narrated by their parents who were thankful and loving none the less.

 

Quality of Video: 8 – Simple, Personal, Good Narration

 

Message: 9 – Be thankful for what you are given. Don’t give up but endure through the hardship through faith and strength. Love others now as time is precious. Have hope in heaven.

 

Comments: Powerful is this parent’s love and faith despite the difficult circumstances.

 

Who: Fellow Blogger has a Site Dedicated to the story of this child as well. 99 Balloon Blog Igniter Media – “Our vision is to create high quality media that equips people with visual resources that declare Truth.”

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About

 

Clean Cut Purpose

Clean Cut Media aims to bring you insightful commentary and meaningful discussions on the impact of media on pop culture. No one would argue that all forms of media from movies to music to advertising has a powerful effect on how we think and what we believe. However it is fascinating to really examine the underlying messages and hidden philosophies behind each story or ad. Posts will vary from examinations into advertising campaigns, analysis into the philosophy conveyed in a movie, to deeper discussions about our culture, worldview, and understanding of truth and meaning. There will also be posts displaying great pieces of art or advertising.

About Us

Clean Cut Media began as a personal portfolio where pictures, videos and other design work were posted for public display. Before the site was even near completion, a blog was formed to share and discuss various pieces of art and media. Soon editorials and personal articles were written in response to the effects of media on our worldview and culture. After many favorable responses and support, the blog has taken a life of it’s own and continues to this day.

We have great visions for what this site could become so please continue to show us your support by engaging the community and sharing your thoughts. Also follow us on Facebook &

Want to Contribute?

Do you ever find yourself saying something like this?

  • “The message in that movie was horrible!!”
  • “I can’t believe I let my kids see that!”
  • “What are they trying to teach my children these days!”
  • “That was such an inappropriate commercial!”
  • “That movie had a wonderful message, everyone should know about it!”

If that is you, perhaps you would consider contributing to this site!

We would be happy to review guest submissions and if the quality is good, publish it on Clean Cut Media. We are always looking for guest writers, and volunteer contributors. Share your insights! Get your opinion pieces out there!

  • Know of a movie you are dying to share your thoughts on?
  • Are you good with writing about movie themes, commenting on messages taught in tv shows?
  • Did some tv show or advertisement anger you because of the bad message that underlies the story?
  • Perhaps there is some big new trend in SOCIAL MEDIA that is worth sharing!

We love analysis on messages, themes in popular movies, books, music, commercials, advertising etc. More than reviews of how “good” the media piece was (lot of sites already do this), we are looking for analysis on what the media piece teaches those who are watching. What is the underlying message? What does this movie teach about how one is supposed to view the world or what one should value? You can choose to be unbias, or subjective, up to you. The aim should be to promote discussion. Ask a lot of questions, stir up interest, and get people thinking!

We also love articles related to social media. News? Trends? Share it here!

It may help to first send post ideas for approval before spending the time to write it out. Or send us complete pieces! Must be original pieces, to be published first on Clean Cut Media.

You can send them to this email: info | at | cleancutmedia.com

Looking forward to your contributions!

Clean Cut Categories

Check out the different categories!
Articles
Movies
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Video

Home Page: Clean Cut Media

Clean Cut Authors

“Clean Cut Media”
– Graduate of Walter A. Haas Business School B.S, Marketing & Management
– Occupation: Senior Director of Online Marketing
– Passion for Art, Design, & Film

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