Mass Media in America Essay - 730 Words

Mass Media in America The media is inescapable. At every checkout counter, there are ten different magazines showing us what the perfect girl looks like, who the sexiest men alive are, and Elvis is really an alien. Most people don’t think they are effected by this explosion of control the media has over us. That is because most people don’t realize that the media is actually controlling us. This is not a new idea, that people are ignorant to the fact they may not be as free as they think they are. The early Greek philosopher, Plato, wrote an allegory explaining how people are chained together and forced to only watch a blank wall with passing shadows. Although people in this day in age think that human kind is extremely civilized†¦show more content†¦Television is not different in that the programs that we watch so religiously are only there so that we watch the commercials in-between. Even news programs don’t deliver us the â€Å"real† news. They go for what we want to see; blood, violence, social disorder. News is also brought to us by way of newspaper. Newspapers are filled to the brim with stories, opinions, advice, comics, movie times, yet most importantly, advertisements. Ads are what keeps the newspaper in business as they keep radio and television shows in business. Companies spend thousands of dollars to make the consumer aware that life would be oh so much better if she wore their brand of lingerie. They control what we believe our needs to be. We need food, water and shelter. Yet, marketers would argue we need a swimming pool because a Santa Ana is coming; we need to buy their brand of cosmetics or else our skin with break out terribly. Advertisers propose problems to us we may never have known before, like how many pores our face has, and show us a solution. We, as consumers, believe because we see it. In Plato’s allegory of the cave, the people sat in the depths of a dark cave, watching shadows pass by their eyes. One might ask why didn’t these people try to break free and get out of the darkness? They didn’t know they were being held captive. The images that danced before them wereShow MoreRelatedHow has our understanding of ‘race’ been shaped and influenced by mass media in America in relation to hip-hop?1892 Words   |  8 Pagesunderstanding of ‘race’ been shaped and influenced by mass media in America in relation to hip-hop? Mass media, through its selective portrayal of hip-hop has played a crucial role in the way that it has been understood and interpreted over time. The media’s focus on negative aspects of the genre has led to the establishment of a two-class system. This brings forward the theories of Karl Marx in relation to the ‘two-class system’. 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