What is Media Literacy?

There are several websites chock full of definitions and explanations for the meaning behind "media literacy". A popular and widely accepted definition I found was as follows:

"Media literacy is an expanded information and communication skill that is responsive to the changing nature of information in our society. It addresses the skills students need to be taught in school, the competencies citizens must have as we consume information in our homes and living rooms, and the abilities workers must have as we move toward the 21st century and the challenges of a global economy."

Extracted from:

http://www.ced.appstate.edu/departments/ci/programs/edmedia/medialit/article.html#What is Media Literacy

However, to fully understand the complexity behind this pair of words is not going to be accomplished through reading a bunch of definitions. To me, media literacy began in our last class when we dissected Beauty & the Beast and the music video by Madonna. It began when I started seeing the images as highly complex and particular, as opposed to simple and entertaining. Media literacy begins when you notice this change, when you stop viewing images as simple entertainment, and when you start seeing the reasons why they were chosen in the first place. I used to watch films and feel my emotions act in accord with the images and sounds I was experiencing. Now, I find myself beginning to look deeper into the film. To read between the lines; to actively watch what my subconcious has been absorbing for all of these years.