General Conference!!!!

I consumed some of my favorite type of media this week. As you probably know it was conference weekend! For me this is a bigger holiday(as far as celebration traditions) than Halloween and even Easter. Like most families we have traditions about special foods to eat conference weekend and activities we can and cannot do while conference is on. I'm not normally a huge movie or TV watcher so conference weekend is one of the few times I watch large amounts of TV. Often I watch the women's session on Sunday evening of conference weekend as well as watch the priesthood session with my husband. That all adds up to 12 hours of watching media in two days. For some this might seem mild, but I generally have a short attention span for visual, non-interactive media. Anyway this weekend was awesome, and here are some of the great memes that came out of conference this year:)

Cranking up the MoTab

This week I am especially grateful for sabbath appropriate music. My husband and I try to limit our consumption of non-religious media on Sundays. For us this means no sports (we've never even seen the superbowl), no movies(except those based on Scripture stories and those on LDS.org), and only religious or wordless classical music that promotes the spirit. We have found that this helps us focus on keeping the day holy, and makes the day very different from the rest of the week. Having religious music playing throughout the apartment keeps the day relaxed and we tend to slow our pace to the soothing beats of the music. As we abandon the habit of rushing around trying to satisfy the demands of our coursework for the day, and instead dedicate the day to spending time with family our ability to listen to the spirit and it's promptings increases. Basically, MoTab is life! At least for 1/7th of the year anyway ;)

Don Knotts!

Don Knotts is one of my favorites! I love the type of comedy he represents, it was funny, clean, and didn't degrade anyone. I have been watching a lot of the Andy Griffith Show lately, but I also love the private eyes, the Apple dumpling gang, the ghost and mister chicken, and the shakiest gun in the west. New comedies seem to rely on dirty jokes, strategically placed swear words, and jokes degrading groups of people or particular characters. Many shows also heavily rely on awkward situations to trap the audience into laughing. You may find yourself giggling during a movie to relieve the awkward tention, this works for the media industry because at the end of the show we often remember laughing during the movie but rarely remember why we laughed. This leaves us with the impression that the movie was funny, whether we were really entertained or not. Anyway I love the type of character that Don Knotts plays. Going to go watch Private Eyes now.... I wonder if they had a rule about harming pigeons when they filmed that?

I love my Bubble

I guess I have been very sheltered(at least media wise). The other night I watched the first episode of "Parenthood" for my group project. I hadn't seen it before, but I was (and still am) under the impression that it is one of the more mild and popular shows on. I was surprised how loose the morals of the characters, who were generally portrayed as good upstanding citizens, were throughout the show. One man had a very loose sex life and found out that he had a son (with a woman he mainly referred to as "the flexible one") and at the same time promised to have a baby with another woman in 3 years. Another divorced mother of 2 gets caught half-dressed with a man she hadn't seen in ~20 years, by her teenage son. Ya. Not so good.
            If this is what families and relationships look like in TV shows, how is this affecting society? I grew up watching old TV shows, like "I love Lucy" and "The Andy Griffith Show". I was a little shocked and dismayed with the type of show that is getting attention nowadays. Call me nieve, but I plan on continuing in my self-imposed bubble:)

The Martian

As usual I was exposed to TONS of media this week. What was unusual was that I actually paid to see some of it! There is so much access to free movies, books, and advertisements that I generally make it a rule not to waste money on it. Usually money just buys the ability to see or get media sooner rather than later when it will be released to the public for free by one means or another if you are willing to wait for it. Anyway MLK Jr day was the 2 year mark of my first date with my husband, so we decided to splurge and go to the movies (at the dollar theater haha). We saw "The Martian". Overall we both enjoyed the movie and found it very interesting. The main character is constantly improvising and some of the situations he was in really made you think and try to figure out a solution along with him. One of the things I didn't like about the movie was all the swearing. The F word made several appearances in very obvious places, not just in passing or as part of the background. I was surprised that people thought this was so funny. EVERY time it came up everyone in the theater burst out laughing... Why? I still haven't decided if people laugh because the situation is funny (though I don't see what is so funny about pulling antenna parts out of your side), because the swearing makes people uncomfortable, or because they are seriously amused by the actual act of swearing. I would go see the Martian again, but probably get it with clear play to avoid the swearing(and the naked man tush)...