Thursday, October 9, 2008

I need your help:)

Hi everyone!

So my practicum for Focus on the Family is with the group Axis and we will be going to christian high schools and colleges, presenting different worldviews through media targeted to their age group.  To give you an example last night I went with my team to go watch the first presentation at a youth group in Colorado Springs.  We present a gird of 6 questions addressing:

reality: what is real?
origin: where did we come from?
identity: who am I?
ethics: what is right and what is wrong?
purpose: what is the meaning of life?
death: what happens after I die?

And the worldviews we present to the students are:
naturalism: the belief that only the natural realm exists (i.e. Atheism, Humanism, etc.)
spiritualism: the belief that only the spiritual realm exists (i.e. New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.)
theism: the belief that spiritual and physical realms co-exist (i.e. Islam, Judaism, Christianity, etc.)

So last night two of the questions we presented to the students was: whoa am I and what is the meaning of life?
Then they played a clip from a song by the Pussycat Dolls: When I grow up---

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(here are the lyrics)
But I ain't complaining 
We all wanna be famous 
So go ahead and say what you wanna say 
You know what it's like to be nameless 
Want them to know what your name is 
'Cause see when I was younger I would say 

[Chorus] 
When I grow up 
I wanna be famous 
I wanna be a star 
I wanna be in movies 

When I grow up 
I wanna see the world 
Drive nice cars 
I wanna have Groupies 

When I grow up 
Be on TV 
People know me 
Be on magazines 

When I grow up 
Fresh and clean 
Number one chick when I step out on the scene 


This song has such a great beat and a lot of the students in the youth group were singing to it and dancing in their seats but reading the lyrics made the song open up such new meaning.  The media is targeting students like no other! 

Anyways, I have to find these kinds of clips.  If you watch any movies or see a youtube video or reality show, or music video and you see how it has a specific worldview, let me know!!  It can even be a song or a billboard picture or magazine.  Anything that has a clear message from the media to students enforcing their worldview on their listeners.  Even websites would be helpful to me:)

With this assignment I'm pretty ruined for life. lol  I can't watch anything or hear anything without thinking really hard about the lyrics and what message the artist is trying to express/teach.  It is scary how oblivious we are about the media.  

Thanks for your help!

1 comment:

Bryce said...

You got it! If I see or hear anything I'll let you know fo sho.