After watching the documentary film Consuming Kids (Directors A. Barbaro and J. Earp, (2008), I had some interesting insights about how childhood was influenced by media and technology. In addition, I found it interesting how advertisement industries manipulated children into commercials signifying to children that the key to happiness was through having certain brand things in order to be cool in past and present society, but the film did not show how values shaped childhood too. What the film lacked in showing were the processes it took in order to have stuff.
I also thought it was neat how the film showed how the children’s movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was turned into a commodity, and advertisement outlet targeting children as consumers. I thought this was interesting because advertisers and media outlets draw on children to make billions of dollars in revenue by producing things such as TMT action figures, comic books, lunch boxes, sheet sets, and on food products like macaroni and cheese. The media’s use of commodity consumption puts a damper on lower income families’ that cannot …show more content…
I noticed how the old commercials for toys were less colorful than more modern products and commercials today. I also liked how the car commercial with the young boy in an expensive car and he said, “see you in 20 years” (Barbaro, A. and Earp, J.), which was a metaphoric message of saying a successful adult buys new expensive things. The film also showed how children’s television shows impact how young girls dress and act. For example, young girls ages 12 and younger according to Consuming Kids, girls now wear short skirts, applying makeup, and are unaware of consequences of their actions. Barbie has now transformed from being an innocent plastic doll to being a plastic doll that talks and dresses more
I also thought it was neat how the film showed how the children’s movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was turned into a commodity, and advertisement outlet targeting children as consumers. I thought this was interesting because advertisers and media outlets draw on children to make billions of dollars in revenue by producing things such as TMT action figures, comic books, lunch boxes, sheet sets, and on food products like macaroni and cheese. The media’s use of commodity consumption puts a damper on lower income families’ that cannot …show more content…
I noticed how the old commercials for toys were less colorful than more modern products and commercials today. I also liked how the car commercial with the young boy in an expensive car and he said, “see you in 20 years” (Barbaro, A. and Earp, J.), which was a metaphoric message of saying a successful adult buys new expensive things. The film also showed how children’s television shows impact how young girls dress and act. For example, young girls ages 12 and younger according to Consuming Kids, girls now wear short skirts, applying makeup, and are unaware of consequences of their actions. Barbie has now transformed from being an innocent plastic doll to being a plastic doll that talks and dresses more