Personal Engagement with the Media - Essay Example

Personal Engagement with the Media Introduction Ever since I was young, I have always had great passion for movies. My family has played a great role in satisfying my ever growing urge for movies. I grew up in a family where movies were considered an important activity. We still go out to watch movies every weekend.. Interestingly, we are not selective in the kind of movies we watch. We enjoy watching all kinds of movies ranging from action films, drama, horror, to fantasy. The essence of watching movie is to get entertained. Therefore, we believe that any genre of movie can be entertaining hence worth watching. Initially, I used to watch movies as a family norm. they were for entertainment puposes only. However, I have grown to understand movies better and learnt that there is so much to more that I can gain. Sometimes, watching a movie leaves me inspired. Other times, a movie becomes a revealing moment that leaves me feeling overwhelmed. This self-reflection essay will focus on my personal engagement with the media. The essay will evaluate, analyze and reflect on the importance of films in my own life and the lives of others that I am acquainted with. For quite some time, movies have remained an important component of mass media. Moreover, there are numerous genres of movies to satisfy the varying tastes of watcher. People watch movies for various reasons. However, they do it on their own volition. Movies play a critical role in peoples lives. Sometimes I may feel unmotivated. I just look for an inspirational movies and watch it. therefore, I personally engage with media and highly associate my emotions with the power of movies to entertain, inspire, mystify, amaze, arouse, and inform. Some movies are highly criticized by people. At times, I have heard people argue that certain genre of movies is boring. However, I am not easily influenced by people’s opinion about a movie. This is because I find myself enjoying almost every movie I watch. Moreover, I believe that every movie is made with a purpose. Sometimes, the purpose is easily understood. In other times you have to watch a movies several times to understand the message relayed. Moreover, movies play a great role in satisfying my emotional needs. Movies continue to play an important role. I think that most people, I included, watch movies because they want to feel something. There is something that movies offer that cannot be obtained from the real world. I was amazed when one of my friends who had lost his mother in a car accident invited me to his house. He blamed himself for the accident since he had become very irresposnsible and spent his time drinking alcohol. He believe that her mothers accident could have resulted form the emotional hardships she was going through because of his behaviors. When I visited him, he requested that we watch a movie together. The movie we watched was Seven Pounds, and he later confessed that he was watching the movie daily to help him cope with the pain. At first I could not understand how such a movie related to his situation. However, he explained that the pain that the major character, Will Smith, went through encouraged him that he would eventually cope with his pain. Moreover, he argued that the movie had enabled him forgive himself for the mistakes he had done. At first I was dumbfounded. However, he explained that the movie inspired him that he had the power to correct his mistakes and live life normally. At first, I thought that his explanation was too shallow. However, I realized how different people related to characters. Moreover, I had never though that movies had such great power of enabling someone deal with such a tragedy and change his life for good. Therefore, movies is one of the most omnipresent media that helps people cope with varying life situations. Movies are important in motivating and empowering people. At times, I though I was incapable of doing something. However, watching a movie of someone coping with a challenge would motivate me to try hard. My literature teacher always talks about the movie Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams. This is the movie that inspired her to be a passionate reader of poetry. She admits that she has learnt several lessons from poetry. Moreover, she now inspires us to lead poems by reading for us a poem at the end of every lesson. Just like my teacher, there are countless movies that have inspired me to aim higher. October Sky starring Jake Gyllenhaal is one movie that has inspire me in many situation. The movie revolves around a coal miner who dream of building his own rocket one day. Although the dream seemed unrealistic, she pressed hard and became a NASA engineer. Whenever, I feel like giving up, I watch this movie since it reminds me that the dreams that seem impracticable can be achieve through hard work and persistence. Therefore, I do not watch movies for entertainment only but I try to look for the deeper meaning and apply it in my life. My passion for movies keep growing every day. Some people argue that movies can have detrimental effects on the society. However, I believe thatevery movie has some decency and a lesson to learn. Maybe some people could be affected negatively, but I always have a positive intention when watching any movie. Therefore, I always find something positive to learn from the movies. I will not fully refute that some movies can serve other interests such as spreading of propaganda. However, I believe that the goals, inspirations, and aspirations of the composers of movies are to help people positively. However, people are likely to interpret the movies differently and get different messages. Therefore, it is the individual’s intention of watching a movie that makes an audience consider a movie as bad or good. This is because the intention determines how a person interprets a movie. Conclusively, movies have played a significant role in my life and those of others. People watch movies for different reasons such as entertainment, inspiration or emotional support. The intention of watching a movie determines how a person interprets a movie. In my case, I believe that every movie has a purpose to serve. Therefore, I watch movies with an open mind. This has enabled me learn a lot from movies. Many people have been greatly inspired by movies. Therefore my family spare some time to watch a movie. This have increased my passion about movies. Moreover, I believe every movie has a purpose which can be realized if we watch the movie with an open mind. Read More