The popularity of MTV is directly proportional to teenagers and their ideas. If this station did not listen to its audience’s zeitgeist, there would be no MTV. Once MTV became a hip icon, it began to create a somewhat distorted image for boys and girls. The concept of the “Funhouse Mirror” declares the reflection of society is mirrored, but also distorted. Rushkoff described a “crude, loud, obnoxious, and in-your-face” character introduced on television networks like MTV.
Reality Television: How Have They Changed Television Viewing Habits? Pamela Parker English Composition II Prof: Erica Ellsworth February 4, 2013 Reality Television has affected the moral fiber of our society dramatically. It portrays negative manners toward our younger generation, but ultimately it simulates the entire audience in some perspective. In today’s society Reality programs have become such a fad for American television serving an important part of people everyday life. A brief definition of reality television can be detailed in many ways, but basically its real life situations being displayed on television, which are also considered good money makers for the producers as well as the actors.
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.
The Effects of Reality-Based Shows Outline Thesis: The reality based shows create psychological contradictions, change the existing social dynamics in society, and can also affect children’s behavior. I. Psychological effect A. The reality based shows create psychological contradiction B. Example (Bachelor show) II.
Neil Postman believes our society is closer to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World than George Orwell’s 1984 because of our society’s addiction to television. Huxley feared that no one would want to read books and that people would become passive and egotistical. He dreaded the day that the truth would carry little power and pleasure and love would control the public. Huxley’s worries become terrifying realities when one observes how much television has overtaken the American people’s lives. Ridiculous television statistics, youth corruption, and the need for “TV Turnoff Week” prove that television is an evil.
Unfortunately, many of today’s television programs are violent. So does TV influence kids that violence, drugs, alcohol and sex are ok? How much violence, drug references, alcohol usage, and sex references does the average American child come across? How much of this do they take in? 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.
Those most affected by these trends and ideas, as delivered through mass media, are youth and young adults. The balance of this society can be considered non-mainstream and more traditional and practical in their thinking. Product and concept companies utilize the media in promoting their ideas and trends, and they use famous celebrities, musicians and sports stars to deliver these messages. Pop culture defines a perception on what we should look like, how we should live, thus how we should behave in today’s society. A prime example of falling victim to this influence comes from television production companies and what they air.
This event showed the growing interest of Americans in television broadcasts, but consequently may have triggered some future negative issues for young people. Marika Tiggermann and Amanda S. Pickering, authors of Role of Television in Adolescent Women’s Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness, suggest that television has become the most prominent and influential form of the mass media, especially for young people (200). As the boom of television has occurred, the media has developed a negative influence on adolescent teens because it manipulates their minds by promoting a perfect body image, displaying unrealistic lifestyles, and presenting dangerous behaviors. Television tends to promote “perfect,” unrealistic, body images. Amy I. Nathanson and Renée A. Botta, authors of Shaping the Effects of Television on Adolescents’ Body Image Disturbance: The Role of Parental Mediation, came up with a simple definition of body image: “Body image is an overall concept consisting of related but distinct dimensions addressing feelings, thoughts, and perceptions about body size and shape” (305).
Video games primarily serve as a source of entertainment and although they have been quite influential on our generation, video games have had a lot of negative effects on the children of today. Since the start of Atari in 1972, the video game industry has expanded into a 10.3 billion dollar a year market and will only continue to expand with the growth of technology. And although these games provide much entertainment, it does not come without a cost. This pastime can become an addiction, carrying with it, many negative effects. Aside from the extreme amount of time wasted, video games teach players questionable life lessons.
There is a wide variety of reality shows, which covers a very large area and all different aspects of daily living. Throughout the wide variety of all of these reality shows all of them has one major thing in common: the people starring in the shows are supposedly all, “real” people going through “real” situations, rather it be day to day living, competition, or informative based news shows. There are several reality type shows out there that are sending out the wrong messages to teenagers and even some adults. It might inspire them for violence, teen pregnancy, and many more habits and or mannerisms that are not acceptable on a day-to-day basis. Teenagers could even be trying some of the stunts shown on a few of the shows at home resulting in injury.