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Trisk · 08-26-2004, 01:47 AM

There's a lot of stuff here so it's kind of hard to reply to it all.

Let me start out by saying that no, I don't consider myself to be very influenced by the media. As others have said, knowing the advertising industry can make you almost immune to the effects of advertising. Most of the time when I'm watching/listening to television/radio I just think how rediculous it is and I can pinpoint certain things meant to trigger a reaction. But instead of being affected, I'm sitting there thinking about the thing that was supposed to affect me.
Furthurmore, I find most television today to be boring, stupid and annoying. I find most new musical artists to be kind of dull, untalented, and annoying as well (and don't even get me started on the people they hire to talk during the breaks in the music). As a result, I rarely even turn on the television or the radio...meaning I get fed substantially less ads than the average American.

Does that mean I never buy brand name products? Of course not! If I find the product to be good, I'll buy it. Sometimes a box or container will attract my attention - I won't deny that either. And sometimes if I see a commercial or ad that I think is really clever, funny, or attractive, I'll buy the product - not because of subliminal messages, but because I feel in a way like I'm rewarding the company for putting a smile on my face. Oh yeah, not to mention that for certain products, I simply don't know whether to trust the no-name brands over the ones I've known for my entire life. A good reccomendation from a friend can change my mind though.

HOWEVER, I'm not going to deny that for certain people, the media dictates what they buy and don't buy. Note that I say this only applies for certain people. The people, imo, influenced the most are those that sit in front of the television 24/7. Unfortunately, this makes up an alarmingly large portion of America today. I've seen children raised on television and not only are they almost brain-dead with no attention span for real human beings but most of them, when they turn 17 or 18 (and have to do things on their own) will buy only brand name items that they remember nice commercials for.

I find this to be sad and disgusting. But I'm not sure whether to call if mind control or what. Obviously, these things can be avoided. If parents learned to raise their kids themselves, the kids wouldn't grow up on television and ads. If people understood limits, they could turn off the television at some point and stop having ads fed to them.

I don't believe in this idea that people can't control themselves or change their lot in life. If people made an effort to change their lifestyles, they could have a direct impact on these things. Instead of saying "Well i can't help getting fat because the mcdonalds ads control my mind", people should get off their couch and go to the gym for 2 hours - thereby avoiding the ads AND fixing their problem all at once.
There are lots of things to do outside - even just taking a walk with your friends is better than the lifestyle that so many Americans lead today.

So basically what I'm saying is that the media is not really to blame - we are, for letting ourselves or our children get to the point where they can barely think outside of what the media tells them to think. But we can change this, if we make an effort to.

As for the media shaping our self image - I do agree with this in some part. On television and the radio, they show us ideal people. Skinny people with perfect families, people with great complexions, rich people, poor people, sluts, religious people and tons of other types. But with each type of person is a message. This person is perfect. This person is not. This is the ideal man. This is the ideal woman.
...and every few years, a new formula might pop up. For example, this year there is the whole "gay men are great" fad. Most straight men in sitcoms are wimpy, stupid guys, and most women are powerful, motivated and smart.
Whether or not we realize it, we get our ideas on what we should or shouldnt be from a lot of these sources.
Even with simple things like fashion. If you saw a man today in bellbottoms, you'd be like "dude what the hell are you doing". But 30 years ago, that was normal. Only in more subtle ways, how we should act changes with the years too.
People are affected by this. Someone who might be considered cool or hot in one generation might not be in the next. Most of the times, these things are triggered by the media - by what we see on television or in magazines or whatever...and later on, society follows and enforces it by judging those around them - shunning those who choose not to follow and embracing those who do.

But we can't blame everything on the media. There are lots of forces that go into the molding of a person and of society. The media is only one of them.

08-26-2004, 01:47 AM	#37 (permalink)
Trisk Insane	There's a lot of stuff here so it's kind of hard to reply to it all. Let me start out by saying that no, I don't consider myself to be very influenced by the media. As others have said, knowing the advertising industry can make you almost immune to the effects of advertising. Most of the time when I'm watching/listening to television/radio I just think how rediculous it is and I can pinpoint certain things meant to trigger a reaction. But instead of being affected, I'm sitting there thinking about the thing that was supposed to affect me. Furthurmore, I find most television today to be boring, stupid and annoying. I find most new musical artists to be kind of dull, untalented, and annoying as well (and don't even get me started on the people they hire to talk during the breaks in the music). As a result, I rarely even turn on the television or the radio...meaning I get fed substantially less ads than the average American. Does that mean I never buy brand name products? Of course not! If I find the product to be good, I'll buy it. Sometimes a box or container will attract my attention - I won't deny that either. And sometimes if I see a commercial or ad that I think is really clever, funny, or attractive, I'll buy the product - not because of subliminal messages, but because I feel in a way like I'm rewarding the company for putting a smile on my face. Oh yeah, not to mention that for certain products, I simply don't know whether to trust the no-name brands over the ones I've known for my entire life. A good reccomendation from a friend can change my mind though. HOWEVER, I'm not going to deny that for certain people, the media dictates what they buy and don't buy. Note that I say this only applies for certain people. The people, imo, influenced the most are those that sit in front of the television 24/7. Unfortunately, this makes up an alarmingly large portion of America today. I've seen children raised on television and not only are they almost brain-dead with no attention span for real human beings but most of them, when they turn 17 or 18 (and have to do things on their own) will buy only brand name items that they remember nice commercials for. I find this to be sad and disgusting. But I'm not sure whether to call if mind control or what. Obviously, these things can be avoided. If parents learned to raise their kids themselves, the kids wouldn't grow up on television and ads. If people understood limits, they could turn off the television at some point and stop having ads fed to them. I don't believe in this idea that people can't control themselves or change their lot in life. If people made an effort to change their lifestyles, they could have a direct impact on these things. Instead of saying "Well i can't help getting fat because the mcdonalds ads control my mind", people should get off their couch and go to the gym for 2 hours - thereby avoiding the ads AND fixing their problem all at once. There are lots of things to do outside - even just taking a walk with your friends is better than the lifestyle that so many Americans lead today. So basically what I'm saying is that the media is not really to blame - we are, for letting ourselves or our children get to the point where they can barely think outside of what the media tells them to think. But we can change this, if we make an effort to. As for the media shaping our self image - I do agree with this in some part. On television and the radio, they show us ideal people. Skinny people with perfect families, people with great complexions, rich people, poor people, sluts, religious people and tons of other types. But with each type of person is a message. This person is perfect. This person is not. This is the ideal man. This is the ideal woman. ...and every few years, a new formula might pop up. For example, this year there is the whole "gay men are great" fad. Most straight men in sitcoms are wimpy, stupid guys, and most women are powerful, motivated and smart. Whether or not we realize it, we get our ideas on what we should or shouldnt be from a lot of these sources. Even with simple things like fashion. If you saw a man today in bellbottoms, you'd be like "dude what the hell are you doing". But 30 years ago, that was normal. Only in more subtle ways, how we should act changes with the years too. People are affected by this. Someone who might be considered cool or hot in one generation might not be in the next. Most of the times, these things are triggered by the media - by what we see on television or in magazines or whatever...and later on, society follows and enforces it by judging those around them - shunning those who choose not to follow and embracing those who do. But we can't blame everything on the media. There are lots of forces that go into the molding of a person and of society. The media is only one of them.