Mass Media has always had a major affect on people. It influences what we think, what we buy, and even how we live our everyday lives. It is hard to tell whether media is a good thing or a bad one. I have to say that media can really change a person. Mostly though I think media is bad. Don’t get me wrong, media can be great but it has some seriously bad side effects.
A big example is the fashion industry and the media we see about it everyday. Fashion magazines and shows litter the media world. We often see images of perfect gorgeous models. Stick thin models walk the runway every fashion week. And the faces of beautiful people stare us down everywhere we go. This has become such a problem. Last semester I wrote a paper about how the fashion industry contributes to eating disorders in teenagers. But it is not only the younger audience that is affected by this. People of all ages see this media and get the wrong idea about how the world is. Not the only does the media surrounding the fashion world lead to serious mental problems, it almost gives false hope to all people out there. Not everyone in the world is a size zero. Not everyone has perfect bone structure and a fabulous body. Many people see this and think this is how real life is; they often do not realize these images are altered. No one is perfect and the fashion industry tries to put that off. This can be related to The Cultivation Effect, which suggests the more someone sees something; the more likely they are to believe it is in fact legitimate.
Another example is all the video games and movies that have inappropriate messages in them. We hear many stories on the news about young people doing terrible things to others, based on things they have seen in media. This is called the Social Learning Theory. People see things and believe this to be accepted due to the fact that it has been shown in TV, movies, and video games. You have to wonder though, how can people be so persuaded by these forms of media. How can a teenager really think it is acceptable to go and stab someone because they saw it in Grand Theft Auto? It is because these medias are considered cool. So when does something that is shown in the light of media out weigh the reasoning and logic of a person. I think that because we are all constantly surrounding by these things it is hard to remember what is right and wrong. Nothing is off limits anymore. TV and movies show everything now. We need counteract this media with messages and teachings of what is really right and acceptable in the world. But seeing as people enjoy these things so much, I think it would be extremely hard to erase the negative actions shown. It is almost embedded in our culture now, which I find to be supremely upsetting.
I think that our culture relies so much on media that it makes it hard to really understand how real life should be. I think that if we had things that could show us that it isn’t acceptable to kill people like in video games or starve yourself to look like Kate Moss we would be a better more well rounded society. But as we have established, media is so deep into who we are as Americans it may just be impossible to counteract it. And how can you do that? How do you stop the effects media has on people? Unless all negative media was removed I don’t see how it could even be possible.