Situated Cognition

In class there was that discussion on how our situations affect how we view or interprete media. This is so true...now that I think about it. A reference back to the video games, I don't think that I was so opposed to the video games so much for it's content as much as the time it took to play them. I'm from a place where, if you wanted to play, you gathered your friends and went outside to play. Television and computet was not a very important aspect in that particular society. Video games were definately unheard of and spending more than two hours watching TV was considered to be lazy. There was no room for anything other than playing with friends, school and church. So coming in America was a little too tough to adjust to. I expected to see kids playing outside or something but instead, they spent their hours infront of the TV or computer screen. Maybe my loving to read had a little to do with it. I couldn't imagine anybody spending so much time in "mindless entertainment" while you could use your imagination more by reading.
As Dr. Rudd said, a picture of the beach is not the same for everyone. I have found this to be true especially with books turned into movies. I am a book worm..especially when it comes to romances, although I enjoy a massive amount of other Christian fiction and non-fiction. When I read a book, I have a setting in my mind which influences my liking or dislike of the book. Mostly, it involves a neighborhood that I have been to before or sometimes I just use my imagination. However, when this book is turned into a movie, there is potential for disappointment since the setting is different from what I imagined. There are some instances however, where the movie setting is more interesting than mine. A good example is Nicholas Spark's "A Walk to Remember". I applaud the author cause he did a wonderful job in his describtion. The scenery and everything just appealed to my senses. When I read the book, I imagined a quiet Southern town where everything was rusty and with dusty roads everywhere. WHen the movie came out, I was a little disappointed. ALthough, the town was southern, I had imagined it differently. The characters were all so different from what i had imagined. Nevertheless, I like the twist the ending had.
All this being said, there is a lot of our lives that goes in our reading and how we perceive things. Pieces of us come out in our view of thigs and they way we approach certain ideas or issues.
That's all for today
God bless
D