| November 6, 2007 |
Vol 8, Issue 35 |
|
 Get Ready to Lead!
"It's simple. We're just changing the world."
| |
|
|
|
Decoding Mass Media Deception
| Greetings!...
 GRTL subscriber Becky wrote,
We really are encouraged and challenged by reading your newsletters. Just a question. The last newsletter on culture says to teach your children the "grammar of 21st century mass media." I'm not sure I know exactly what that is. Can you explain?"
Just as a grammar in language structures communication, the grammer of 21st century mass media uses story line, dialogue, setting, lighting, cinematography and special effects to get the audience to think and act in certain ways.
Our families must be aware of the tools used to communicate media impressions or risk being deceived.
After all, "protecting" kids is not always an option:
- *What about the magazine covers at the grocery store checkout counter?
- *What about the lyrics booming out of the stereo next to you at the stoplight?
- *What about the comments of the college guys sittting behind you at the ballgame?
In this issue you'll "learn to discern" how to avoid being manipulated and controlled by the mass media.
|
|
 |
|
|
Mass Media "Code" Revealed
|
 Advertising photographers, filmmakers and music producers consider themselves to be artists, and they use every available tool at their disposal to get the audience to think about and see things in a certain way.
Understanding how these tools are used is essential to media wisdom.
Let's take film as an example. Here are some questions that reveal the grammar of film:
- What is the underlying message?
- How are the characters portrayed?
- How are special effects used?
- What emotions are being expressed?
- How is the dialogue constructed to shape the message?
- How are lighting and camera angles used to create a certain effect?
- How is music used to bring out emotional responses?
I remember watching a film and finding myself irritated by a character who was portrayed as a Christian. After reviewing the film again I could see that the director had used harsh lighting, makeup, dialogue and the emotional "touch" of the actor to portray Christians as unfeeling and repressed without ever having to make that argument in a logical fashion. It was a cinematic "sleight of hand."
Of course, it's hard not to be cynical about all of this. But as C.S. Lewis argued in Abolition of Man, a hard heart is not a good substitute for a soft head. At some point we have to learn, and
teacher our children, the art of discerning truth from error. |
Six Questions All Discerning People Ask
|
 Samuel Johnson said, "The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things; the power to tell the good from the bad, the genuine from the counterfeit, and to prefer the good and the genuine from the bad and the counterfeit."
To PREFER the good and the genuine means cultivating a reflex to choose what is right.
Whenever you face a persuasive message, whether in an advertisement or movie, here are six questions you can ask:
1. What do they want you to do?
2. Why do they want you to do it?
3. To what motives do they appeal?
4. How do they make their case persuasive?
5. Can they really deliver what they promise?
6. What is best?
|
A Case Study: Axe Body Spray
|
 Axe Body Spray is marketed to young men as a cheap cologne. But the advertising is shockingly bold: spray this on your body and beautiful women will want to mate with you.
This is a purposeful, global advertising strategy. A Business Week article on July 2 of this year said:
"What Russell Taylor, the Axe vice-president, proposed doing with that straightforward idea was ambitious. He wanted to turn it into a truly global marketing message, one that would work in all 75 countries where Unilever sells Axe."
You'd be amazed at how many young men around the world find this message cool and compelling. So let's try the six questions on your average Axe Body Spray advertisement:
1. What do they want you to do? Are they genuinely concerned about your attractiveness to the opposite sex? No. They just want you to buy Axe and tell your friends to do the same.
2. Why do they want you to do it? Because they care about your self-esteem? Nope. They want your m-o-n-e-y.
3. To what motives do they appeal? To the insecurity of every young man, especially his desire to be seen as attractive to the opposite sex.
4. How do they make their case persuasive? By using lighting, music, a fairly nerdy guy actor and curvaceous actresses who express the emotions of animal attraction.
5. Can they really deliver what they promise? Are you kidding? A $3 body spray?
6. What is best? What is it that really makes a man attractive to a woman? I asked this question of a group of young women at our student leadership conference in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago. Here's what they said: honor, kindness, strength of character, respect, willingness to stand for truth.
By using these six discernment questions it immediately becomes evident that a cheap body spray is no good substitute for genuine masculinity. |
|
|
 From Jeff Myers: Make it a Great Week!
I am now back from the Philippines and rejoicing over what God did during the last two weeks. During our intensive two-day conferences more than 1,000 teacher from 110 Christian schools were trained to mentor, disciple and coach their students. They developed strategic plans by grade level and by school to make leadership training a key objective of their schools. These teachers represent, I am told, 40,000 students EVERY YEAR. That number of people, committed to godly leadership, is more than enough to bring the kind of reformation Filipino Christians long for.
In our final event in Baguio, 304 teachers packed into a room that would comfortably seat 100 Americans. For two days! These teachers crave training that will help them prepare their students to be godly leaders in the next generation. The best part for me was watching Filipino Passing the Baton speakers Joy Caintic, Jabe and Elena Barker, Julius Tajale and Vangie Mandapat present sections of the workshop to the participants, with their own life illustrations and in the local dialects!Our strategic partner, Association of Christian Schools International, is planning new workshops in areas of the Philippines where the presence of Muslim extremists makes it dangerous for Americans to travel. How fulfilling to see the baton passed to a new generation of discipleship trainers!Here are some of the comments from participants: - "I have realized that I can disciple others based on my own design, and as a Christian school teacher I can help shape leaders for our nation."
- "Today's youth are really the future leaders of our nation. Unless they are nurtured with God's Word, molded in the likeness of Christ and mentored by their teachers, the future is at stake."
- "I'm so thankful that I joined the Passing the Baton seminar because it gave me a burning desire to invest in the lives of my students."
- "The next generation is dying for a lack of good role models and teachers. Passing the Baton helps bring LIFE to them."
Please continue to pray for Passing the Baton as we prepare our strategic plan and budget for 2008, continue traveling to student leadership conferences, teacher conferences and other meetings.PTBI grew by more than 100% from 2006 to 2007. Even thought the times are uncertain, we are being led by God to NOT retreat but to move forward purposefully. We project growth of more than 300% in 2008. In the coming weeks I'll be sharing the need and asking you to prayerfully consider a year-end financial gift to help us make a strong, fast start in 2008.Of course, the financial figures aren't just numbers. They represent changed lives. Our vision is to train one million leadership coaches by 2015. Imagine that many parents, teachers and pastors around the world gaining confidence to disciple, mentor and coach a generation of leaders. Imagine those young leaders desiring to have a godly influence in politics, business, science--in every area of life!
Jeff Myers, Ph.D., President
Passing the Baton International, Inc.
Click here to e-mail me. Or here to visit our website. |
|
|
