AT&T Commercial "Hansel and Gretel"

Here is the original video for reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psDA54IBYqw

There has been much debate between our class as to which demographic is targeted by this advertisement. The common (mis)conception is that this ad is aimed at children, or even parents to buy this phone for their children. I quite disagree. This commercial to me is clearly targeting an older generation that children or teenagers, I would say the intended audience is between 40 and 50 years old. The main reason why I think that this is the case is because it sends the basic message that their 3G smartphone isn't as scary as other smartphones, in fact, it is easy enough for a child to use. First off, the makers of this ad chose a story that just about every person has heard, if not read to their own children. They chose to set this particular story in bustling New York City, an obviously adult world, and a place that many viewers might commute to and be familiar with. In the story, Hansel and Gretel are lost. This to me represents the feeling that many technophobes have on the topic of new smartphones, they simply don't know what they are getting into. To further support the analogy Hansel and Gretel are dropping breadcrumbs, but after that plan fails, they resort to using the GPS app on their AT&T smartphone. This is AT&T very clearly telling their middle-aged customers that their old methods of using cell phones are antiquated and furthermore, simply don't work. BUT if you buy an AT&T 3G phone then it will be much faster, newer and easier to do old tasks, so easy in fact that 2 children lost in the middle of Manhattan can be unafraid. The intent of this commercial isn't for children to watch and envy the cool phone that Hansel and Gretel have, it is for their parents to place themselves into the shoes of Hansel and Gretel and realize that they don't have to be afraid of this new world of high-tech phones, they can ditch their breadcrumbs because AT&T has a smartphone that even they can use.

http://www.linmod.com.mx/cosas/krispo/palmistry.mp3


apparently I missed the first Lethem post so I will just do it here.

Intertextuality Exists

The idea that Jonathan Lethem argues for plagiarism is absurd. At no point in the article does he ever encourage to take a whole idea of a person to claim as ones own, he simply acknowledges, as we all should, that intertextuality exists in our culture. Put better by him "Any text is woven entirely with citations, references, echoes, cultural languages, which cut across it through and through in a vast stereophony. The citations that go to make up a text are anonymous, untraceable, and yet already read; they are quotations without inverted commas." He is right in thinking that copyright can't cover every right, should companies be able to sue if their product names are mentioned in a novel? Where do we draw the line between being fair and being stingy? I for one, think that it is acceptable to interpret others ideas and use them in combination with ones own work to "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." as stated in the copyright clause. As long as we ourselves can expect our own texts to be used in similar ways is there any reason not to open up the world of writing? For if all writers accept that their ideas can freely flow then what reason is there for anyone to be angry? This would not hurt the profitability of writing. Each inspired text would be significantly different and it would be up to the readers to choose which they would rather read. Quite possibly they would compare and contrast both versions. It makes absolutely no sense to not allow the borrowing of ideas. Many of the writers who doggedly protect their work with copyright have either intentionally or unintentionally taken ideas from other texts. There are many different takes on classic works such as The Odyssey or the works of Shakespeare, many of the storylines that we are presented with in modern writing have existed in one form or another previously

http://c.wrzuta.pl/wa9209/0db1297a001f9647486a0fa9/0/the%20weepies%20-%20nobody%20knows%20me%20at%20all.mp3

So here I am at Hofstra, and I am blogging. Writing online makes me feel ....

like I should be saying something profound. With the newfound responsibility of writing to an online audience I feel as though I must say things that are worthwhile. So much of personal online postings are useless ramblings and I wouldn't want mine to be among them (I've already gotten off to a bad start). I'd like to think that through this blog I could contribute some useful ideas on at least class topics if not more. My goal is to give thoughtful criticism on other's posts while trying to maintain a stream of thoughtful posts of my own. The only prior experience that I have with blogs are a myriad of music blogs that I peruse for new music, and since I have total control of this blog I've just made the executive decision to attach a song to each of my posts to spice them up a little. I'll seal this post with the song from which I chose the title of my blog. Enjoy.

http://youaintnopicasso.com/mp3/23/Neutral%20Milk%20Hotel%20-%20In%20the%20Aeroplane%20Over%20the%20Sea.mp3