In this post, Nicole shares her realization that what we watch/hear in the media does indeed shape how we see the world.I hope the paper turned out ok, Nicole!
February 4, 2009
Last week in my Media Studies 101 class we talked about a basic topic: how does the media, in particularly TV, affect its viewers. We got into a pretty heated discussion about how television shows and how they can affect people’s actions. They brought up shows like One Tree Hill (my absolute favorite!), Gossip Girl, Rock of Love, and A Double Shot of Love. It’s sad to say that I watch every single one of these shows probably along with a majority of young girls. What I started to think about was how these shows shape my perception of my own life. I try to relate so many aspects of my life to these shows. I see the way Nathan treats Haley or Dan treats Serena and I see myself in these characters. I try to act how they do in order to achieve the same outcome. Sadly enough, I’ve even quoted these characters when I’ve been in fights with my boyfriend! He even has to tell me that it’s not real, it’s a scripted show. Even with shows like Rock of Love, I started thinking about what purpose do they serve? Every person who watches this show says how dumb, trashy, and slutty the girls look. They say how fake it is and they’re just acting like that for camera time. So even though we know all of this, why do we continue to watch shows like this?
I think we watch these shows in order to make us feel better about ourselves. I see these girls on TV acting like idiots and I know I would never do that and I feel good. I feel like I’m a better person than these people. What’s complicated is that we watch certain shows and base our lives off of their characters, but watch other shows, ironically enough “reality shows,” and understand that it isn’t real. What’s depressing is that most people, especially women, are deeply immersed in both.
Something else we discussed was the vast array of the infamous college movies. Accepted. Van Wilder. Road Trip. Animal House. College. The stereotypical storyline of love, drinking, frats, sex, and drugs. Now that I’m in college I’m wondering if the movies shape the reality or if the reality shapes the movie. Do college students try to create what they are exposed to in movies like these or are the movies actually portraying real life? It’s hard to say. Being in college I have been exposed to what any college student would be. I do think some people here try to go all out with the college experience with drinking and partying and I think these ideas mostly come from the movies. Maybe I don’t feel like these movies relate to me on as strong a level because I don’t feel I’m as naive to the whole experience. Last weekend I watched “College” and I laughed the whole time at how ridiculous it was. Girls don’t just walk around flashing their boobs at parties. People don’t just get super drunk and have one-night stands without any consequences.
TV shows and movies do definitely shape the type of society we have today. Now that I’ve talked all of this out, I think I’ve discovered the topic of my paper. :)
