Media and Culture
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. While the political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century, its advocates such as John Fiske argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populus itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience are able to break all the indented meanings within a media message, and by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power bloc that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defense mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske's ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life. Everyday, we are exposed to millions of different visual messages which tell us what to eat, what to wear, what to listen and what to watch. No matter how hard we try to avoid being influenced by these directives, only up to
In both cases, we see the stabilizing function of the television. Through an auto-control mechanism, and the promotion of what the authorities define as suitable, it manipulates reality into a socially comfortable and acceptable rhetoric. As the audience, we consider the tales of the television to be the most reliable ones, for now it is our new grandfather. Therefore, the control of the society through TV, by those who control it, and directing the society towards a certain destination, which is found to be the "way forward for humanity", and keeping the system together by creating a popular culture based on consumerism; turns out to be a post-modern way of practicing authority in our post-modern lives. After all, we breathe visually; we live with images, both of ourselves and of other people; we talk with the symbols of a mechanized life, "everything is under control" ; we pet the remote-control, not our little puppies; and we thankfully worship our TV set, for He has enabled us to be what we are today. We are the children of a new clan, and TV is the Good Shepherd of the post-modern times, preaching the virtuous American way of life, and He has long established "His Kingdom on Earth". The second step in the visual influence process starts at this point. For all the reasons described above, television is the most trustworthy medium to give us the subjective validity of our beliefs which can not be proved physically. It is the ultimate source from which we can get evidence about objective reality, motivated by our desires to form an accurate view of this reality and to act correctly. Our uncertainty about the future and more importantly about our own time, which is expressed by individualism and the loneliness of the individual itself, increases our dependency on the television, and the role of this magical machine at this point is giving us the feeling of being part of a well functioning and united system. As O'Neill writes; "...the specular function of TV lies in its ability to individualize the mass while treating the individual only as a member of the masses" (O'Neill, 181). Senyapılı, Önder. Toplum ve İletişim. Ankara: Turhan Kitabevi, 1981. Gettleman, Marvin E; Franklin, Jane; Young, Marilyn B; Franklin, Bruce H. Vietnam and America. New York: Grove Press, 1995. The difference between the two films is one that nuclear TV cannot stand, namely, that in one case we see the actual horror of a bomb dropped by Americans and that, in the other case, we see the fictional horror of a bomb imagined by Americans to have been dropped upon Americans by someone else. Thus TV is engaged in a retrospective political history on the nuclear front which parallels the current remaking of the Vietnam War and America's re-humanization of military adventure (O'Neill, 190-91). The persuasive affect of the television, therefore follows two steps. First it is the synthesis of video and audio, which means that it involves action and sound as the most realistic forms of communication making it the most popular electronic device ever prodced. We are more likely to accept what it tells us as the truth than any other medium. It is in the most respectful corner of our living rooms, where once our grandfathers use to tell fairy tales. It is a member of our family, that holds some magical ties with the outer world, through which we learn the deeds of our times. It is the head of the household in the traditional sense, that tells us the right way to behave, the right goods to consume, the right people to choose. It survives with our confidence, that lasts forever despite all our criticisms. It socializes our lives, which we deliberately try to hide behind the curtain of the fast city life. It does this by visually integrating our materially disintegrated society, with its promotion of a stereotyped consumption fetishism. It is the most favored mean of communication which "demands not to be spoken to while
Some common words found in the essay are:
According Giddens, Bush Edelstein, John Fiske, War America's, JR Dallas, York Times, Entertainment Researches, Deutsch Gerard, Justice Department, Lee Solomon, popular culture, media industry, media military- industry, military- industrial complex, dropped americans, horror bomb, forward humanity, roach 17, reality act correctly, subjective validity, view reality act, 70 americans, accurate view reality, interpretive power, 000 tv,
Approximate Word count = 3123
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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