1F25 blog entry 2: The Media We Want?

I believe that we want the media we get. I don’t believe we have a say in what is presented to us, regardless of what we chose to watch or listen to. 

The text provides an example of a world where the roles of men and women are reversed. “The men will all eat and sleep together in one building with the children, while the women will eat and sleep together in a separate building. … The women go out and grow the crops while the men do all the cooking.” (pp. 62) I try to picture this example displayed as a television show, and find it next to impossible to do. Typically television shows portray the father ‘bringing home the bacon,’ while the mother either has a laid back job, or stays home with the children. This is what I picture when I think of the typical American family. This is one example of how we don’t get the media we want. If I were to wish to watch a show about this backwards lifestyle, I would have to write it myself. Shows of this nature are not available for viewing. I am not saying; however, that this is nonexistent anywhere, merely stating that it is rare to see the gender roles reversed on television nowadays. Recently television shows such as Glee, and Modern Family are trying to change the way we view society, but I still believe they’re playing it safe. The standards they’re playing with are still within very safe walls. For example, the boy in Glee who is homosexual, has a quarter back for a brother, and parents that are happy and approve of his life choices. In Modern Family, the homosexual male couple both have male roles, rather than one being more of a feminine figure. Although they’re toying with gender roles slightly, the media is maintaining a safe distance between what would be totally socially intolerable. 

pp. 62 - What’s in a Name? Language and the Social Construction of Reality, Chapter 4, O’Shaghnessy

“The media show us what the world is like; they make sense of the world for us.” (pp. 35) I believe this demonstrates how the our idea of the world is handed to us on a silver platter, by the media. What the media wants us to think about the world, is what we think about the world. There is no suggestion box for us to drop what we want to see next on the news. The angles portrayed on CTV are created by the media, and are displayed in a manor that is socially acceptable. Generally, the media decides what they displays, and what they do not. They completely control what we receive.

pp. 35 - What Do the Media Do to Us? Media and Society, Chapter 3, O’Shaughnessy

Overall, as viewers I don’t believe I get to actually chose what I view on television, or the news. Television shows avoid topics that would arise questions, or unacceptable topics, and the news channels display the opinions and images as they chose.