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!
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7 comments:
Oh yes, the strong will resist and the weak will falter.
maybe we shld haf "Tv education lessons" in skool as well? to go wif sex education?
brilliant idea! yes, lets teach the children of today about everything! hahas, gosh i didn't know when i last used the word brilliant
yea, i am really wondering why those kids don't bother processing those information and come to the conclusion that those will only happen in shows before they actually get manipulated and get influenced so easily.
i guess we have all been influenced by the media in one way or another. in worse cases, we are being influenced even without us knowing it. some may think the mass media is bad for the human mind but i beg to differ. mass medias like newspapers and television keep us up to date with current world events. other mass media provide us with entertainment while we are bored. with so many good uses of the mass media, how can one say it is bad for us?
Media influence is part and parcel of our lives. To be able to discern the good and negative influences would mean that we are able to co-exist with it and draw out the necessary information for our use. Never step in too deep.It's hard to turn back.
yeah, sometimes kids cant really differentiate real and tv life. take for example friends. everyone sleeps with everyone else, and everyone stays and everyone elses apartments which are just next door. and my younger sis always wonder why we dont ahve that, and talk about having apartments like taht with her friends..blahblah. tv is okay if the viewers keep your pointers in mind.. haha. but seldom the younger people notice that they are getting sucked into the yearnings of the beautiful world in tv land.
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