The Media: To Brainwash or not to Brainwash?

By K. Johnson

It was Friday evening, the rain was pouring in Port of Spain. I had one goal that evening and that was to get out of the capital city before it started to flood. As I made my way down Frederick Street I was forced to stop to shelter the rain in front of one of the stores that lined the street. Standing next to me, one of the students shouted “Deuces b***es!!!”  Apparently Chris Brown’s song Deuces has finally started to serve its purpose.  
That incident made me wonder how many of us 'closed-mindedly' absorb what the media feed us and regurgitate some of the nonsense as though its “We ting”. If we look around in our society now we see that the media have started to fold new cultures into our already fading culture. We see evidence of this when we hear Trinbagonians (young people in particular) speak, when we look at their attitudes - just looking at them communicate reeks of international influences through the media. Since when we as Trinbagonians use the term “bumbaclot” – which in Jamaica means "king of curse words”…or phrases like “me afi go pon d bed” which means “ I have to go on the bed.”  And there are numerous other phrases that sometimes makes me feel like I am in ‘little Jamaica’.  
Sometimes it’s even hard to distinguish some of our local artistes from the Jamaican artistes. Language is supposed to be one of the tools that help to define our identity as a society.
The question here is, are we not satisfied with the way we speak? Or do we just copy and speak what we are frequently exposed to and bombarded with by the media?
So for now I am just waiting to see what new slang we are going to adopt…But even with that said I hope we just stick to just the slang and not behaviour such as this…

Plain talk, bad manners

What do you think, is the media in fact brainwashing us?

Fashion and Styles - Do we or the media determine what we wear?

By S. Elie

For generations, the media has shaped our fashion sense through music, videos, advertising and television shows. From pictures of Prince with "jerry curls" to Kartel’s  song, Straight Jeans.

My question is, has the media gone too far? 

I recently went out with a guy, and like a typical female, I took quite sometime choosing what to wear, making sure that everything was right; hair, make up, shoes and jeans. That night  I saw at least 20 girls in my jeans and this was just outside of the club. Then  inside, though the club was packed and the DJ on par, I couldn’t help but wonder between my date and I, whose jeans were tighter. This bothered me, mainly because I took such a long time looking for those jeans, settling for nothing less. I wanted the jeans that I saw Beyonce, Tyra and Faye Ann wearing, and I guess he wanted the jeans that he saw Chris Brown, Kartel and T.C. wearing.

After the date I couldn’t help but wonder why I had to have those jeans, then it dawned on me, the media. Through music played on the radio, music videos, ads and pictures in print and the electronic media, I learnt that I needed to dress a particular way. I had to get those jeans.  I bought into everything I saw and heard, buying “their” concept of fashion hook, line and sinker. 

I am sure that you can finish these songs - Straight jeans and fitted..., or, Ah way yuh get dat new Clarks dey daddy…, maybe this one, wey them blackers  at  wey them blackers at …, or a song that was my anthem for a while, Auda Marva Kay Watch,  dimples in your neck tie, Hermez briefcase, Cartier top clips, silk line blazers, diamond cream facials, vvs cuff links, six star pimp suites...
Kartel brought back skinny jeans and Clarks for men, Rihanna ushered back black and after Beyonce wore a shirt  as a dress in her Upgrade You video, men’s shirts became fashionable to women.

We are surrounded by media influence everyday, whether it be radio, television, pictures and ads in newspapers, magazines and on billboards, videos on television and the internet, even our local presenters dress in the new trends. We are bombarded with this concept of fashion by the media. 
I like this guy, but I can't help but think that if we took our jeans off we might have difficulty deciding whose is whose.

Plain talk; bad manners

What do you think, has the media shaped our fashion sense?

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