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“More Beautiful You” by Jonny Diaz

August 18, 2009 12 Comments

Here in Clean Cut Media, we often discuss the media’s harmful influence on young girls. For example.

50% of girls already engage in negative activities such as unhealthy eating habits and disorders due to self-image issues.
7 out of 10 girls believe they are not measuring up in some way especially in terms of looks.
Most have already seen the powerful dove beauty evolution video that shows how photo editing tools can be used to convey a false image of beauty.
In 2004 a survey by NPD Group showed that on average, girls started to use beauty products at the age of 17. Today that average is 13.
We also discussed the rise of Pro Anorexia sites all over the Internet & on Facebook.

“More Beautiful You” by Jonny Diaz: Message

Jonny Diaz - More Beautiful You This song “More Beautiful You” was written by Jonny Diaz, a young Christian man, who desired to tell women not to buy into the lies of the media and that what makes them beautiful is not external but within their heart. It’s been climbing the music charts and create a lot of buzz because of the truth in the message. It is a beautiful piece of work and the lyrics are well written.

Have a listen. Lyrics are below.

Get the Song Here:

Jonny Diaz’s Message

“The idea that they need to look a certain way in order to be feel beautiful is completely false,” Diaz explains. “Through this song I hope to get the attention of females and tell them the truth found in God’s word, that there could never be a more beautiful you!”

“More Beautiful You” LYRICS by Jonny Diaz

LITTLE GIRL FOURTEEN FLIPPING THROUGH A MAGAZINE
SAYS SHE WANTS TO LOOK THAT WAY
BUT HER HAIR ISN’T STRAIGHT HER BODY ISN’T FAKE
AND SHE’S ALWAYS FELT OVERWEIGHT

WELL LITTLE GIRL FOURTEEN I WISH THAT YOU COULD SEE
THAT BEAUTY IS WITHIN YOUR HEART
AND YOU WERE MADE WITH SUCH CARE YOUR SKIN YOUR BODY AND YOUR HAIR
ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY THEY ARE

THERE COULD NEVER BE A MORE BEAUTIFUL YOU
DON’T BUY THE LIES DISGUISES AND HOOPS THEY MAKE YOU JUMP THROUGH
YOU WERE MADE TO FILL A PURPOSE THAT ONLY YOU COULD DO
SO THERE COULD NEVER BE A MORE BEAUTIFUL YOU

LITTLE GIRL TWENTY-ONE THE THINGS THAT YOU’VE ALREADY DONE
ANYTHING TO GET AHEAD
AND YOU SAY YOU’VE GOT A MAN BUT HE’S GOT ANOTHER PLAN
ONLY WANTS WHAT YOU WILL DO INSTEAD

WELL LITTLE GIRL TWENTY-ONE YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD COME
YOU STARVE YOURSELF TO PLAY THE PART
BUT I CAN PROMISE YOU THERE’S A MAN WHOSE LOVE IS TRUE
AND HE’LL TREAT YOU LIKE THE JEWEL YOU ARE

SO TURN AROUND YOU’RE NOT TOO FAR
TO BACK AWAY BE WHO YOU ARE
TO CHANGE YOUR PATH GO ANOTHER WAY
IT’S NOT TOO LATE YOU CAN BE SAVED
IF YOU FEEL DEPRESSED WITH PAST REGRETS
THE SHAMEFUL NIGHTS HOPE TO FORGETS
CAN DISAPPEAR THEY CAN ALL BE WASHED AWAY
BY THE ONE WHO’S STRONG CAN RIGHT YOUR WRONGS
CAN RID YOUR FEARS DRY ALL YOUR TEARS
AND CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THIS BIG WORLD
HE WILL TAKE YOUR DARK DISTORTED VIEW
AND WITH HIS LIGHT HE WILL SHOW YOU TRUTH
AND AGAIN YOU’LL SEE THROUGH THE EYES OF A LITTLE GIRL

Short Tutorial on Jonny Diaz’s “More Beautiful You”

For those who enjoy learning the songs as much as hearing them.

Hope you enjoyed it.
Get the Song Here:

Please Comment Below and let us know what you thought of the song!

Articles

Polyamory Relationships & Cultural Subjectivity of Truth

August 3, 2009 10 Comments

Polyamory Relationships

What is Polyamory?

Polyamory is relationships with multiple mutual consenting partners.

The difference between Polygamy and Polyamory is that the former involves multiple spouses, while the latter still has only one spouse, just multiple partners. Essentially it is a belief in non-monogarmy, engaging in loving, intimate relationship with more than one person with the full consent of all those who are involved.

With the rise of the gay community and various wins in the advancement of gay marriage rights, Polyamory believers are starting to become more bold and the public will slowly have to take notice. Some estimate the polyamourous family count to be more than half a million in the United States alone. There are polyamory events, magazines and groups and the numbers continue to grow.

Advertising, Articles

Selling Products or Selling Lifestyle?

September 15, 2008 3 Comments

One trend that is becoming more and more common practice in advertising is to appeal to the emotions rather than the features or functionalities of the product. Rather than talk about why you should buy some product and discuss some of the practical features, many ads go about painting a lifestyle that you would want to have and placing their product as part of that wonderful exciting lifestyle.

Take a look at some of the advertisements below and ask yourself, what are they selling? What did I learn about the product? Did I learn something ABOUT the product? How do I feel looking at the ad? There are so many examples out there but below are a few.

Advertising, Articles, Movies

Media’s Impact on Sexual Freedom

July 22, 2008 No Comments

Has anyone noticed that all media articles regarding teen sex, condoms and abstinence always emphasize and focus on the spread of STDs and nothing else? Editorials and commentaries used to make the case of abstinence as a moral stance or a wholesome alternative to the sexually active world we live in. It also focused on the emotional risk involved with premarital sex. Now our culture has bent so far into the realm of sexual promiscuity that the only way people could even suggest abstinence is by fear of STDs. If you are going to raise the sexual freedom flag, why is abstinence ridiculed while ones who “score” or get “laid” considered cool or great?

Internet, News

Kids Consuming More Online Content

July 11, 2008 No Comments

Nielsen Online came out with a report showing that children consume more online streams and videos than those over 18. Kids 2-11 viewed an average of 51 streams and 118 Minutes of online video per person a month. Teenagers 12-17 watched 74 streams and 132 minutes of online video per person. The youngest group mainly watched children TV programming while older groups watched trailers, music videos and clips generated by other users.

Monthly Online Video Consumption among Kids, Teens and Adults (U.S., Home Only, April 2008)
*Age*	*Unique Viewers (000)*	*Unique Viewer Comp %*	*Streams per Viewer*	*Min per Viewer*
2-11	7,966	8.4	51.0	117.9
12-17	11,632	12.3	74.2	132.4
18+	75,122	79.3	44.3	99.4
Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus, June 2008

Advertising, Video

New Dove Beauty Campaign “Onslaught” Video

March 22, 2008 No Comments

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.

Advertising, Video

Distorted Perception of Beauty

March 22, 2008 No Comments

There is no explanation needed for this one. The video speaks for itself. What is it about our culture that shapes our perception of what define beauty when it comes to people? Why are people treated differently for the way they look? Why does the way one look tie so heavily with how we feel about ourselves? Think about the “beautiful people” in Movies, TV Shows, Print Ads… Enjoy.

Music Video, Video

Nickelback – Savin’ Me [Music Video]

March 22, 2008 1 Comment

Nickelback – Savin’ Me

By Paul Lee

No explanation needed. This Music Video by Nickelback called “Savin’ Me” paints a poignant picture of how life is finite. It awakes the viewers to the certainty of death and how none of us know when it will come.

Just imagine if you could see what the character can see. How would you view others if you knew the limited time you had with them? How would you live your life if you were constantly reminded of how finite your life really is? If you knew you only had a couple years left? But the more important fact is this – we CAN’T see it. We do not know when our life will end. We convenient live our lives ignoring this fact and choosing to live as if we will live forever. So how should we live then? What kind of questions should we ask and get answered before our time is up. Or do we ignore this fact just because we can’t plainly see it as the character does.

Have you thought about how short life is, and the repercussion it SHOULD have on your life and how you view things like money, career, and what is worth giving your life to?

See it for yourself.

Get Nickelback – Savin’ Me Here

Nickelback is an excellent band with good themes in lot of their songs. Have a listen.

Video

Creativity, Humor, & Randomness

March 22, 2008 No Comments

I appreciate creativity and humor. I also love to share what I find, so as I run into different videos that strikes me either due to the content, creativity, or humor – it will be posted here under the category of “Others”. Hope you can appreciate the videos that I have learned to appreciate for their various quirks. Two Videos below.

Who Am I – Executed by the Oslo UPC Youth Group (high school). Very Creative. Remember this is high schoolers. It is done to the song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns

Random simple video that tickled me like it would a child. Don’t ask. Videos like these are such a far cry from what children are exposed to in our generation.

Movies

Transformers – Why Writers Why?

March 22, 2008 No Comments

Transformers was a visual treat. The CGI was stunning and the action was packed and suspenseful. I caught myself literally on the edge of my seat!

I enjoyed it because I did not go in expecting an awesome story or some grand epic. I expected entertainment and action and Michael Bay nailed that down pat as he always does in his action films. However I was disappointed that in what seems to be a movie for the entire family there was so much shameless effort to throw in sexual innuendoes (disrespectful body camera shots, note about Sam’s pheromones suggesting he wants to mate with the female) and unneccessary effort to throw in inappropriate jokes to create laughter (mother accidently believes son was masturbating, Autobot spraying oil from his groin area). Some of these are very quick and hard to catch – “hey dad, do you want me to be the 40-year old virgin’. Also there is a general overlying disrespect of authority figures. Did anyone notice every adult in the movie is shown to be dumb and clueless?

Why does this bother me?

Video

The Rich Young Ruler

March 22, 2008 No Comments

This simple video shows the narration of a suburban wife and her very real struggle to “reconcile the trappings of wealthy america” and her call to morality. She looks at the poor and though she wants to help, knows she should help, struggles to do so because grinding through life is hard enough. The moral of the story goes beyond how we view the poor, but paints a picture of the human condition. That innate desire to focus on ourselves and our needs and comforts. That desire to just get through life. That unfortunate gap between our idealism and our unwillingness (or better – inability) to live up to it. Why is there this gap? Where does this idealism come from? I can relate to this. You?

Movies

Spiderman 3 – Window to Human Condition?

March 22, 2008 No Comments

Spiderman 3 is full of awesome effects and great fun as expected, but what has been getting some press is the insight of the human condition depicted in the character development of the characters.

Everyone loves Spiderman. People tell me it is because unlike most ‘superheroes’, Spiderman is a real human being with real human struggle. He wanted money to buy that fancy car to impress the girl. He takes pictures of himself bc he wants to do well as a photographer. He gets mad at his uncle for being a little intrusive. Who can blame him? We all can relate in some way.

The evolution of the Spiderman seems all too realistic. Spiderman 1 Peter was just trying to understand his power and its responsibilities. Spiderman 2 was about Peter struggling to accept the role of being a ‘hero’. Spiderman 3, peter has accepted his superhero status and is slowly becoming proud as the fame gets to his head.

We know this to be true to life.