Thanksgiving

       

             As we enter the Christmas season I decided that the perfect show to discuss would be the hit series soulfood it aired in 2000 and had a tremendous four year run.Some of the characters in the was Venessa A.Williams who played Maxine Chadway ,Melissa Williams who played Bird in the movie and the oldest sister was played by Nicole Ari Parker who played Teri Joseph.The show was bascially centered around the sisters and there strong bond they had would eachother and the many thanks givings they would spend in there late mother house .Who would often at times appear to be giving the sisters advice when they were in great depth of misery in the her after life state.There mother would appear as a ghost.The entire moral of this show to me is about having good family values and staying together no matter what and helping each other in times of need its also shows that a good family lunch together makes that tight knit stay even closer.Hence the reason for thanksgiving its all about family coming together and celebrating in each others presence.

It's The Power of Three!!!

Photo courtesy: google images

A couple of weeks ago, it was halloween throughout the world; however, here in Trinidad and Tobago we don't go trick or tricking. It's mostly those scary, witchy shows we see,then we realize it's halloween. The first show that popped into my head (which was one of my favorites a couple years back) was Charmed. Yes, guys remember those sisters, or as they were known "the charmed ones".

Charmed made its debut in October 7th 1998 until May 21st 2006. The show was based on three sisters, who are known as the most powerful witches; their destiny  were to protect innocent lives from evil. The characters of the show were Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell, Holly Marie Combs as   Piper Halliwell, Shannen Doherty as Prue halliwell and Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews.

Photo courtesy: google images

Prue Halliwell, who was the eldest sister had the power to move objects with her mind. However, as the series progressed her powers matured where she was able to operate her powers through her hands. Prue being the older sister, was given the task to take care of her younger siblings; in modern times, this occurs alot. Later on, she was killed by a powerful demon.

Photo courtesy: google images

Piper Halliwell, the second eldest had the power to freeze the environment in which she presided. Similarly, as the show got deeper her power also grew, where she was able to do much stronger things with her powers.

Phoebe Halliwell, the third sister who had  the power of premonition, which she had the ability to see in someone's past. At the beginning of the series she was the most rebellious sister; however, as the show progressed she began to change for the better.

Paige Mattews, the youngest half-sister who has the power which was similar to Prue's, which was to move object with her mind.

It's amazing how a show or movie has the power to remind us of an event or holiday. Has it ever happen to you? It surely did with me, a few weeks ago when I saw an episode of Charmed.

So guys, that's the alternative response on Charmed stay tuned for our next posting. Please don't forget to like our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/AlternativeResponse1

Also, we want to hear from you. Do you have anything, media related that you want to know what's the alternative response take on it.

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See next time!!!

Feature: Tessanne Chin

Hey guys! It's this week's post! This week we'll be shining the lime-light on none other than our sister from Jamaica, Tessanne Chin. Can i hear a "Woot! Woot!"... So, as we all know, our lovely Tessanne has gone up for the renown t.v. reality series : "The Voice". Some may remember her from the days of her wonderful duet with our HANDSOME Kees Dieffenthaller, "Loving you" which, I must say, is still being played on CNC3.

So this wonderful powerhouse, Miss Chin, belted out her rendition to Pink's "Try" and got a 4-chair turn from the coaches. Ultimately she chose Team Adam (my fav) and proceeded to compete with another member of team Adam and ultimately, she was saved. So it's up to her for next week's knock outs to make it!

Aside from all of that though, and her being our "Jamaican Sister" (cause, you know we Trinis like to support everybody from the Caribbean). How much do you really know about Tessanne Chin before she went up for "The Voice"???

Tessanne Chin is daughter to Richard Chin and Christine Chin. She was born September 23rd 1985, and started performing at the age of 6.

Tessanne has been an opening act to Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight. Her songs have touched many and we hope that she would win "The Voice" Season 5!

Love and Hip hop Atlanta whats there real purpose !!!

           So this week we are discussing Love and Hip-hop Atlanta everybody knew about this show one way or another if its from a friend telling them about it or even if they watched it themselves. Well the cast is made up of new and upcoming rappers and a few people we knew already. Personally I thought that this cast actually had talented people than the cast from New York. Anyway  Stevie J a producer from Atlanta was a part of this cast then we have Lil Scrappy who is a bit irrelevant but still was a part of the cast and to name some of the women there was K.Michelle ,Mimi Stevie J baby mama and Joseline Hernandez  who was at the center of most controversies in the show.

          The issues here however with theses reality shows are ,are they in fact real television .Everything is basically staged because producers have to set up scenes to make the show interesting. So the question still stands are this reality shows truly reality. Also the message that these shows bring towards there viewers are not so powerful. Truth and in fact they are downright foul. What are they telling the young and upcoming generation that it’s okay to go out and fight? When you tune into these shows that’s what you see going on .That is exactly what makes people watch them so much because if  it doesn't have drama nobody would watch it. But are the producers of these shows even thinking about how these shows influence these young impressionable boys and girls. I guess it’s just up to parents to monitor what these kids are watching so they would be able to save them from this crumbling world that we live in today.

The Sex and The City Exposed

So this week we are dealing with a television sit-com, "Sex and the City"; for those of you who are frequent watchers, you know the main characters are played by Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbs. The setting of this show is based in New York City where these four women are set out looking for basically love and well sex. The show made its debut on HBO back in 1998 until 2004; despite being ran only for six years it has made an impact on many females especially those in their early twenties.

The underlying issue however, is how a show like this impacted us. Most times when women are portrayed in the media, whether it be singers, shows such as these or even in advertisements, one word attached to them is "sex". It is stated many times "sex sells" this is what brings in the revenue. In sex and the city is a great example, which gives women the idea of these things:

•  New York City is the place to be when searching for love and sex.
•  Appearance is everything, in New York City the dresscode must be very appealing. 
• It is about being at a particular size and shape.

These are the main messages being sent out here. The place to be is in New York, now my friends just imagine your daughter or even sister telling you she is going to New York to find men who can give her love and sex. Definitely, you donot want to hear such words. Secondly, these women are always seen with the most attractive and sometimes seductive clothing. Now, what does that imply? It is that a woman's natural beauty is not good enough for her to fine mr. right? Or what is it? Thirdly, these four women are a particaular size, what does that say? Perphaps, this can lead to women feeling insecure about themselves, if they are not that particular size.

Moreover, there are positive issues within the show such as they are all career driven. This can have a positive influence on women and a sense of independence. Below is a video that goes in a little more indepth of some issues, check it out.

















Well my friends, this is the alternative response on sex and the city for this week. Remember media is all around us and it do impact our lives whether positive or negative. Stay tuned for our next commentary with an Alternative Response.

Featured Artiste: Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), known by her stage name Rihanna  is a Barbadian recording artist, actress, and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, her career began when she met record producer Evan Rogers through mutual friends in late 2003 and recorded demo tapes under Rogers's guidance. Her demo tape was sent to several record labels, and she subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its president, rapper Jay-Z. Rihanna's debut and second studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006), peaked in the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart. Both albums spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top two hit single "Pon de Replay" and her first Hot 100 number-one "SOS".  ( taken from :Wikipedia)


Rihanna is undoubtedly a popular artiste she is a constant chart topper, an Instagram favorite and a Twitter trailblazer.
 Rihanna entered into the music industry as a 'good girl' earning her way into being a household name with songs such as If It's Loving that You Want and Pon De Replay . She was the Caribbean girl that made it 'big' internationally. RiRi, as she is affectionately called changed that all by her third album she broke out of her former self and wanted to be recognized as a 'bad gyal' . 

Her 2007 album 'Good Girl Gone Bad' was her transition documentary basically she told the StarPheonix :"So far, the new music is going in a different direction. Not on purpose, but I just want to hear something fresh and mostly uptempo. I think that's where I want to go on this one. You feel different every album, and [at] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs].I basically took the attitude of the bad girl and I really got rebellious and just did everything the way I wanted to do it—I didn't want to listen to anybody. I didn't consult with anybody. I just want to have a little more fun with my music and be a little more experimental in terms of my image and my sound. I just reinvented myself."Album after album, track after track Rihanna's popularity and fan base grew and so did her influence. 

Many have commented on her influence, some negative and some positive ( sorry i couldn't find a link for her positive influence). The list of negatives thrown at her are aplenty, make a quick search on Google and you will see for yourself. After scanning through the blogs which discussed Rihanna specifically ,we found that there is indeed much to agree on.

A high percentage of Rihanna's music is  sexually themed ,some of those include  Rude Boy ,  Sand M , Te Amo to name a few. The effect of sexually explicit songs on the minds of young impressionable minds is great, lets be real here. These stars are portrayed as ideal and that is where they get their influence. Rihanna was named one of the top 100 most influential persons in the World, for what reason? Her influence through music, her following.She is a trend setter of this generation  Many teens look up to her and model her explicit behavior, as her and other pop stars have watered down over-sexuality as a norm . . The words they use are the words the impressionable swear by take for example an excerpt from her song S and M :
 'Feels so good being bad (Oh oh oh oh oh)
There's no way I'm turning back (Oh oh oh oh oh)Now the pain is my pleasure 'cause nothing could measure (Oh oh oh oh oh)"
She glorifies sex the music video was an extra to her message by  portraying an orgy type environment. How does this affect the audience ?

• Makes it a societal norm to be hyper sexual and explicit.
• Decreases or erodes values of young women.
• Reduces men's respect for women.
• Fosters  a 'loose' generation.

Media is everything in this age and it's influence is grand. Be careful of how you consume it. See you next week when we feature another artiste or television series.

Alternative Response out !

Introduction ...

Welcome to our first post !!! We are a bit late but we are here and very happy to be here.

Alternative Response was formulated by four students of COMM350 Communication via Social Networking , we attend COSTAATT and all opinions posted on this blog are simply that, opinions.
This blog is a commentary on the effects of radio and television and the impact it has on audience. Each week we will feature an artiste in a particular genre or a television show of our choice.

Almost forgot to introduce us ... how rude ! The members of this group are: Alicia Perez, Zinzie Andall, Surayia Sruajdeen-Charles and Rinisse Lord.

Moving along...

I mentioned we would discuss radio, some of the genres we will observe are urban and contemporary some of the stations/frequencies include: 94.1, 100.5 , 96.7 , 96.1 , 94.7 , 93.5 , 95.1 , 103.5 to name a few. Will will feature an artiste from each frequency and discuss them thoroughly we may even choose a presenter and discuss the impact their style of presenting has on the audience.

As for television, we will select a series, a popular series and discuss it's impact. Look out for it.

This week we will feature: Rihanna. Posts coming up soon , check us out !

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