Urban Legend Essay

Urban Legends

What are Urban Legends and where do they come from? An Urban Legend is a story that appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in various forms and is usually false; contains elements of humor or horror and is popularly believed to be true. The term “Urban Legend” has appeared since 1968. Before that time, it was known as a legend or folklore. It is from the traditional folklore in preindustrial times. Urban Legends are often repeated in news stories or distributed by e-mail. There are many Urban Legends that are often exaggerated and sensationalized but some are actually true. The story about The Lock Stalk and The Knockoff Pullover is a mixture of true and false statements. The legend of The Swiffer WetJet is believed to be false.
The Lock Stalk is an Urban Legend about robbers using a special device that clones the code to your car if your car doors are locked by the keypad. This story is a mixture of true and false statements. There is a device called the RKE system that can be used to clone the code to unlock the car doors. The falsity is regardless to the fact that you lock the car with the keypad, there is still a device that can unlock your doors, incase you’ve locked your keys in the car. And in research, it is said that this Urban Legend is highly believable.

The Urban Legend of The Knockoff Pullover is a mixture of true and false. It states that unmarked police cars are known to be driven by rapists and murderers who pass off to be police officers. It also says that if you are stopped or followed, proceed to the nearest gas station. This statement is what makes it false because you are suppose to proceed to the nearest police station after calling 911 so an officer can know that you are not refusing to stop for the police. But it is, in fact, true that you are not suppose to stop for unmarked police cars.

The third Urban Legend I chose was The Swiffer WetJet. This Legend says that there is a Warning Label that states “harmful to small children and animals.” This is true. Also, a nearby neighbor’s dog digested parts of the Swiffer WetJet that “destroyed” its liver, and later after another neighbor used the product on the floor, their two cats died of liver failure. This is a mixture of true and false because the Warning Label is true and is clearly printed and recommended to read before using the product. But according to snopes.com, it states that the WetJet can’t destroy an animals liver but it can poison them.

The Swiffer WetJet, Knockoff Pullover, and Lock Stalk all are Urban Legends that are half true and half false. But only one of them is completely false, which is The Swiffer WetJet. These Urban Legends are highly exaggerated but are very interesting. In each story, there are things that are true and should be believed. But there are things like, proceeding to the nearest gas station when followed by an unmarked police car, which are not true. Everyone should know to go to the police station closest to them after calling the police to let them know someone is following them. The next time there is a story told that sounds outrageous and exaggerated look up the research on the story because it may be an Urban Legend!

Pictures That Lie

The five pictures that stood out the most are:
1. Katie Couric
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Septuplets Mom and Dad
4. O.J. Simpson
5. Martha Stewart

The one I like the most is the one about Katie Couric. On the unaltered picture she is shown as wide and more yellowish. On the altered picture they gave her more of a pale look and she is more thinner than she appears. Her face also seems a little more skinner. This picture stands out to me because it shows how the media can easily change the looks of person. And the fact that she is skinner than the unaltered picture stands out the most because that is really not her body, which means the media is lying to the viewers.

Violence In The Media

Example 1: There is a lot of violence in the media now and days. You have video games in which display a high rate of violence depending on the game. Like the shooting games and fighting games present violence and then the children react what they seen into the real world. Even sport games now are becoming dangerous such as hockey games have the players fighting and football games are showing people tackling each other. Then once children get that violence stored in their head, they go out and they do what they saw to their friends and it ends up being a a big fight. 

Example 2: Television media definitely is a huge contribution to violence in the world now. They have many shows on television that are sending out a bad message to children and adults. There are wrestling shows that come on and mainly boys watch it. So that's when they go out and repeat what they saw, or use it against others to defend themselves. Also there is a lot of violence in the world and the news displays it on television. 

Example 3: Movies altogether (drama, action, horror, etc.) have many affects. The media has movies that show murders and killers killing people and some people who watch that, may think it's okay to go out in bring the violence in reality. It is understood that movies have ratings for certain age groups but depending on the parents, is whether or not that person can watch a killer movie that may be rated R. The ratings are there to prevent children from watching some movies that may traumatize them or cause them to go out and do something harmful in the real world.