influence - good or bad?

What comes to mind when I mention the word media? Celebrities? Not quite, I actually mean newspapers, magazines, television, radio etc. Even the Internet is a media form. But what I want to focus on are tv programs. Does it brainwash the people? Does it create desires, or does it merely gives us what we want? Does it instill values, or simply reflect what is already existing?

I believe that people nowadays (when I say people, I really mean teens who are so easily manipulated) let the tv programs influence their lives way too much. They incorporate the character's personality traits, eating habits, dressing into their own lives. Well this may be a good thing, but not when the characters on tv are always blown out of proportion. With the producers tendency to showcase the 'bad' side of people, teens get the perception that it is somehow the 'right' thing. That it is ok to make the tiniest matter the world's business. That it is ok if someone's day gets ruined because of a scandalous rumour spreading. That it is ok to have sex at sixteen. Let's be honest with ourselves for a while, life is often boring and monotonous, seldom does drama come into our everyday routines. So how on earth can it be 'right'?

Maybe I am going at it too harshly. Perhaps the media does some good. After all, without the media exposure given to us on a daily dosage, we wouldn't be so informed about the culture of other countries. As Singapore often imports foreign tv productions, we get a glimpse of life there through our tv sets. And being informed is a good thing, it helps in conversations, our perception of things etc. Even if we don't get to see them on tv, the Internet is another useful source to rely on for entertainment. Sex and the City, Desperate Housewifes, Cashmere Mafia, Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty, Dirt. These are just some of the tv programs that cause such a phenomenon. Both in a good and bad way.

People crave drama in their monotonous life, thus the success to such shows. The characters are always so extreme. The beautiful, rich girl always takes your breath away. The poor, ugly girl always bring disgust. Well I guess that whenever we watch tv, we just have to remind oursleves every now and then that what we see on tv is fake. Everything is fake, exaggerated to some extent to make the show more interesting.

So go on and watch your favourite tv show, just bear the above pointers in mind and don't let the media brainwash you!