Thursday, April 19, 2012
Media Influences
The media is one of the strongest influence that we have nowadays. Almost everyone is exposed to different types of media, and this is most of the time how we keep connected with the past, current and future events. Because we face the media so frequently, it impacts the views and values we have about the world. A good example is a popular talk show, like maybe the Tyra Banks Show. Back when it was still on air, Tyra Banks hit many society's strengths and flaws. She discusses the issue with racism, physical appearance and the various beliefs of people. Through the exposure that this show brings to people, it definitely influences how we view the world. It allows for both sides of the story to be heard and criticized. A particular episode talked about the problems of people's weight. Tyra dressed up as both a skinny and an over sized woman and she walked into different clothing stores and she compared the customer service she received from the employees. Obviously, she got prime treatment when she was fit and skinny, and the complete opposite for being overweight. In that particular episode, we got to see how people treat others simply because of their weight. I am sure that most people who watched the episode, including myself, took into consideration how to act around different people. It made me understand that people are people and no one wants to be treated differently for not looking like a superstar.
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I liked that you pointed out a particular media source such as the Tyra show that airs shows which shed light on issues that a lot of people can relate to. I have heard of the experiment that was done on her show to get society's reactions on people's weight. The favorable attention to a skinny person and the negative reactions to an overweight person are disturbing. It comes as no surprise that people treat other people differently based on their appearance. We live in a society that largely bases their opinions of others on how they look. I haven't ever seen her show, but I like that she is interested in using her show as a platform for good.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! The media is the strongest and biggest influence on all of our lives now a days. In one way or another, we are being exposed and influenced by what the media is putting out there for all of us to see. But, sometimes I feel like we put too much faith in what the media is telling us. I mean that sometimes the media can be telling us something wrong or distorting the truth. The media only tells us what we want to hear or what we believe is interesting so sometime they try to turn the media into something we would like to hear even if it is false.
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