Week 12 Responses

If this isn't the biggest example of greenwashing a product or company, I don't know what is. I don't understand how you could possibly make concrete more environmentally friendly, and I don't think people even know what the term going green means anymore. To begin deconstructing this brilliant spectacle, I would love to start off with the fact that a cement company advertisement uses grass to exemplify their attempt to go green. They clearly know the only way to go green is to abolish the use of cement and let grass grow, but they chose to use it to advertise their product anyway. In a way, it's funny that the average consumer wouldn't even notice this, but it's sad at the same time because now that consumer thinks that they will be helping the environment when they rip out trees and grass to put in their new concrete backyard. One of the bonus features that makes TCL's new concrete more environmentally friendly is the fact that it has increase impermeability. That's great, now rainwater won't be cleansed by grass, dirt, and other natural occurrences as it rushes to the nearest lake or river, collecting chemicals, trash, and toxins all the way. One last thing that caught my eye was the line, "acting as a responsible corporate citizen", proving the fact that corporations truly have the same rights as those of a human being.

2. Common sense media is a website designed to give parents an accurate opinion on what media they should be letting their children experience. They have a rating system that goes by age and judges movies, TV shows, music, video games, and websites. The problem is that kids happen to be maturing at much younger ages as they experience new age media and therefore might consider this kind of website as biased, or representing old ideals. The site seems to be aimed at younger children, those younger than 15, and is very reasonable in the reviews that say no children should be allowed to watch a certain movie/show. I think this is a great site for concerned parents but I don't believe kids will support the safety the site is trying to give, especially if parents flat out tell them they can't visit a website or see a movie. Online activism is definitely apparent on Common Sense Media because the creators are trying to repress the illusion that kids today can view anything without being influenced in the wrong way. Children of any age can flip through TV channels and see violence, sex, cursing, and many other bad examples, and they should know what all of this means.

3. Our PSA hasn't had much progress this week, but the addition of James to our group is good because he has some knowledge of editing, so I am not worried about running out of time when we put all of our pictures/clips together with music. We are doing good in terms of content to use in our PSA, while James and Colin have been working on getting facts about energy and water use to put as subtitles. Editing is all we have left to do.