Annaly Aviles Jeremy Voigt AP English, July 26, 2012 What life is now? In the novel “Amusing ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman, he indicates that the television has greatly impacted our culture. The main big argument that Postman has, is how television has overcome the printed word. This has become a big problem because it has greatly affected economics, politics, religion, and education. Children are so used television entertaining them that they expect the teachers to entertain them the same way, so they are unable to learn as they would without television.
Either way, both girls have taught me to be cautious around people or things that I don’t know of. Life Lesson #2: Be your own person. So many Disney characters achieve this understanding through their movie, but only a few have stuck out to me. Flynn Rider, for example, reveals his actual identity to Rapunzel when the two of them were about to drown. Right time to do that?
Influence of Visual Media HUM/176 Influence of Visual Media Since the invention of the television, American culture has been shaped by the influences of visual media. From shows targeted towards children, to reality TV shows like Top Model, the messages portrayed will ultimately become ingrained in the watcher. This in turn shapes everything we do in our daily lives from the foods we eat, clothes we wear, the merchandise we buy, and the way we act and talk. All of this creates the trends that transforms American culture from decade to decade. Childrens shows and movies seem to hold the most influence.
Hundreds of studies have found that children and teenagers that watch television may: • Become “immune” or numb to the horror of violence • Gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems • Imitate the violence they observe on television; and • Identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers Also, Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness. In some cases, watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness. So what are the Pros of Children Watching TV? • Because of its ability to create powerful touchstones, TV enables young people to share cultural experiences with others. • Shared viewing gives family members of all ages an opportunity to spend time together.
These functions of stereotypes can be seen in teen comedy films such as Legally Blonde (2001) and Bring It On (2000), where the stereotypical beautiful, popular girl becomes completely taken over by the label her peers have given her. The most exemplary use of this stereotype in film is used in Tina Fey’s Mean Girls (2004). In Mean Girls (2004), the main characters are the Plastics, a group of four rich and perfect girls who use their popularity and good looks to rule over their North Shore High School hallways. The film highlights how stereotypes function, according to Andre, because the Plastics use their label as fundamental in their daily lives from what they wear, to who they talk to, they use it as a shield to protect themselves from the judgment of their peers, and finally are generalized by their qualities. When individuals are stereotyped by their society it becomes a part of their conceptual scheme, or point of view, effecting how they perceive and relate to others (2).
Whether we realize it or not, mass media surrounds us in our daily lives. Newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and television are all around us and have a very clever yet powerful force on how we view them. The media can be potentially harmful because it conveys certain messages that are supposed to be socially desirable are part of the norms. Adolescents become prime targets of what the media displays because they are new consumers. Advertising is one of the most compelling messengers in a culture that can influence an adolescent.
None the less, there are many studies that have been conducted over the years on television but the issues is still prevails. Many researchers recognize that violence that is portrayed through television is a danger. One issue that is also faced is our focus on television violence should not take attention away from other cause of violence in our country such as: drugs, availability of weapons, unemployment, etc. It is a challenge to decide how the violence on television affects society because television affects people in different ways. There is an important problem with the violence on television is that as a society, we are going to have to acknowledge and face it as a whole.
In simplest of terms, these mediums provide us with information. We as humans then use the information as the basis for many of our decisions and standpoints on issues. There is no doubt that this information is significant and enlightening, but what most people do not consciously realize is how mass media is also highly persuasive. While some educated persons may see this in television programs, magazines and newspapers, there is a forgotten medium, which has a deep impact everyday on all of society. This medium touches the lives of every nation, of every culture, of every economic and every social class on a daily basis and has done so throughout history; music.
The mass media are an increasingly accessible way for people to learn what is important in the world today and what acceptable behaviour in the society is. The media which is prevalent in every aspect of our lives is the perfect instrument to install ideas in the minds of people, and the most susceptible of them all, children. The immaturity of those young children, who are rather active with action movies, will be easily influenced by the violent behaviour in the shows. This is because they may not know how to differentiate between reality and fantasy. However, media cannot be solely blamed for the world-wide increase in violence.
Name: Jean Smith Class: Writing 121 Professor: Mr. Horsh Date: 10//11 The Mass Media’s Influence on American Teenagers The mass media, including television, radio, internet, films, and newspapers have a great influence on people and especially on the younger teenage generation. It plays an important role in shaping the opinions and positions of the younger generation. America’s mass media produces, creates, and promotes multitudes of ideas and theories that teenagers all over America observe and take in for themselves. The mass media’s influence on the minds of developing teenagers in America is harmful, because it is detrimental to their development as an individual person. The mass media influences men, women, teenagers, and toddlers alike.