Table of Contents

About Us

If I by LS Top of the Box Office by MI Perspective by LS Disconnected by MI Deception by MI My World by LS Communication by MI Look up by GM A Woman’s Point of View on the Portrayal of Women in The Media by GM Sensory Overload by GM Media-X by AS

Beautiful by: CN N for Media by: JV

  

GM, Sophomore I am a sophomore at GCE Lab School, I am in the humanities course Book Bound. Currently in Book Bound we are in groups of three creating literary journals. My team consists of me, LS, and MI. We are an all around well rounded group who have contributed to our literary journal in many ways. For our literary journal, 11:44, I contributed two writing pieces titled, Look up and A Woman’s Point of View on the Portrayal of Women in The Media. I also contributed a photo titled Sensory Overload. For the interview I conducted I interviewed my mother, and for my poem I took inspiration from what’s been going on in the world around me and how I feel about it. Lastly for my picture I just wanted to show people all the different platforms of media technology has given us. So I used a few app icon pngs that I found on google and I made a collage out of them.

LS, Sophomore Usually, I’m not a very good creative writer. However, when I began writing pieces for this journal, many ideas started forming in my head. Most of the pieces I contributed say a lot about my relationship with media and how it has affected my life. They also portray how I think some of the adults in my life see media.

MI, Sophomore I'm just a musician that likes having fun, making people laugh, and occasionally gracing paper with my literature. I enjoy creative writing because I don’t really approve of how there are some genres or styles that are generally more appreciated than others. I get to prove that every kind of writing deserves a chance. In this literary journal, I hope I can deliver the message that even though media is widely accepted across the world, sometimes, there's darkness behind that screen.

  

If I… I sit in my room, I turn on the TV, I wake up my computer, I unlock my phone. Is technology good for me? Or just a distraction? Does it help me? Or just posion my brain? As I sit in my room, and enjoy my media, I always have to think, would my life be better if When I sat in my room, I turned off the TV, put my computer to sleep, locked my phone. Opened a book, wrote out my thoughts, drew my feelings, didn’t give in... LS

  

Top of the Box Office By: MI

I love being quiet. Silence. It really is a virtue, when you think about it. I never really get that anymore. Stars don’t always shine...and after a while, they explode. My name is Max Melancholy. HAHAHAHAHAHA NICE NAM- no. Don’t laugh. If you knew more about me, I bet you’d assume I was in heaven, right? I won my first oscar at the age of 16, 3 years ago. I live in California. I have a loving family. The most recent movie I headlined topped the box office. Everything’s great right? YES..except for the fact that I can’t breathe. EVER. There’s always someone watching me. I can’t even walk my dog without large groups of people surrounding me. I have nightmares of going blind from the camera flash. If I see one more bottle of Ativan I’m going to go into a coma. I’ve worked so hard for everything i've earned. I just want to be happy. It all started from that show. That god forsaken kids show. I just did it for fun. I won the stupid contest. I was just the lucky kid that got to be in one episode. But no. NO. OF COURSE NOT. For some reason, the cast absolutely loved me. They gave me a permanent role. That’s when everything took a turn. I started to like acting. I stopped making music completely. It was fun. It was, I won’t lie. Everything was so good, I just don’t know what I did. People kept recognizing me. They wanted autographs, I felt so important….now I just feel violated. I want my old friends back. I want everything back. I haven’t played a video game in so long. I hate this medicine, I hate these, people, I hate this job. I just want to be happy but I can’t have a fucking pimple without it being in the news! Maybe I can fix it. I know I can. *grabs bottle of Prozac* I just really can’t anymore...I’m tired of going so many days without smiling. I hate being self conscious. It’s not worth it anymore. *swallows whole bottle* I just don’t kn----- *falls to the ground* Max passed away from an Overdose. Media can be an awful thing. Not everyone can cope with being famous.

  

Perspective LS 12/3/15

  

Disconnected I really hate this bit color screen the lies behind the words are starting to get to me Going blind from the backlight so I won’t get to see But when you tell me shut it down I turn around “What do you mean” This is all I have, what I live, what I breathe If I can’t find any tech then best believe I’ll flee the scene If I can’t find out what’s next I’ll watch the news on my tv And if you turn it off I’ll throw a tantrum and I’ll scream Never liked reality Never had morality Won’t ever earn a salary So you’ll never be proud of me and I really hate this bit color screen the lies behind the words are starting to get to me Going blind from the backlight so I won’t get to see But when you tell me shut it down I turn around “What do you mean” MI

  

Deception

MI 11/14/15

  

My World I think my life is stressful, so I look away. How can I escape? How can I hide? I step into a new world, and open up my eyes. Color is jumping everywhere, Sounds I’ve never heard. Dreams, mine and others, unfolding at the seam. What is this place? Do I have to leave? However, my question is answered soon By someone who doesn't understand. My new world goes dark, and a cold voice says, “Stop looking at that darn screen.” LS

  

Communication MI 11/30/15

  

Look up

Everyday I'm faced with the problem of looking up Looking up from my screen, The screen that helps to keep me from things that I want unseen. I look up from the one thing That can always seem to release my stress, My phone. The stress caused by the pain of the events in my life. Everyday I'm faced with the choice to join the real world Or to stay in my world where I am in control. People tell me too look up from my screen, The screen that they seem to look at as a black hole that I can never get out of, They say that one day all the good memories of the world are going to slip away. Do they mean the memories that are now terrorizing families, And communities in the news. Or are they indicating the memories of the political war, With candidates that just can't seem to get it right Because these are the memories I am left with of the world. And I don't need to look up from my screen Because even in my own little world I can't escape the real problems through my screen. GM

  

A Woman’s Point of View on the Portrayal of Women in The Media By: GM

Interviewee: Jamie McCullum

- What are your views on media in this day and age?

Media is continually used to negatively impact people, instill fear and keep us blinded to many truths. Media continues to grow more graphic, vulgar, disrespectful and portrays inappropriate words and actions exposing people especially our youth.

What are the differences in media when you were growing up vs. now?

- How does the media portray women? Media tends to focus its attention on women’s physical attributes rather than their intellect, abilities, skills, achievements, thoughts and views. Daily we are fed story after story and image after image of fashion, sexuality, and sensuality. Sex is used to sell everything and anything from clothing to cars and even food. Women are often portrayed as dumb, gullible, and naive. Not all portrayal is negative but the vast amount of negativity greatly overshadows the positive that is out there.

How does the way the different genders are portrayed make you feel? Is this wrong or right?

- Is there anything that you wish to see in the media that you aren’t seeing now? I would love to see more positive stories about the good that is taking place, to help to balance out the negativity we experience, see and hear on a daily basis. It isn’t that there aren’t good things happening in the world,but people have been conditioned to feed off of negativity, drama and fear. I believe that this was media’s intention, and it will continue to be that way until we choose to speak up. I also believe that the government plays a large part in what the media reports on, so as to keep our focus exactly where they want it to be.

Could they have done something better to more effectively delivered that news around the world?

- I was sickened and disgusted that humans can so easily disregard the value of a life. originally heard about the first attacks through a notification on my phone, and notifications continued to pop up as more and more information became available. I generally don’t watch or listen or read the news very much at all because of all of the negativity, sickening things taking place and sadness. I often don’t feel very knowledgeable about what is going on locally or in the world in general, but my heart aches and my stomach turns almost every time I hear or read the news, so I prefer not knowing. I’m not sure if there was a better way to deliver the news since I wasn’t following it closely but no matter how it was delivered, there was no good way to put it.

  

Sensory Overload GM 12/2/15

  

Media-X AS 12/13/15

  

Beautiful by: CN

What you see in the box is what I allow you to know. Behind the filters, the brightness, contrast, and temperature adjustment is an unedited photo. As you scroll through countless photos of dream girls, dream boys, dream houses, dream cars, and essentially your dream life, you don't realize that none of it is real. Every photo we take is just a moment in time that we choose to share with someone else. But it can only capture a fragment of the moment. Sometimes that fragment isn't complete truth. Did you know there are people that get paid to just stand and hold lights during a photo shoot. They literally just stand there and hold up lights at the right angle so that the woman appears "beautiful". Then after the photoshoot, which had makeup artists, hair stylists, wardrobe stylist, set decorator and professional photographer, there is still a process that the photo must go through. This is where editing comes in; slimming thighs, smoothing wrinkles, erasing stretch marks, coloring skin, removing imperfections, and adding filters. We see the finished product and call it beautiful. What is beautiful? I don't think it's healthy to say that what we see on magazines, Facebook, and Instagram is completely beautiful. Remember, I said that the images are only a fragment of the truth. I think the imperfections are beautiful. I think the wrinkles that show your laughs though your years are beautiful. I think the stretch marks that are scars from your battles are beautiful. I think whoever you are outside of the box that your selfie is confined to is beautiful.

  

N for Media JN 12/1/15