Day Twenty-One. Carefully Choose the Ideas You Take in from Television, Ads, Movies, and the Internet

Group norms are propagated through virtually every structure in society, including mainstream television programs, movies, ads, and online information. Most of what is on television is superficial. Most television shows aim to engage and amuse, not challenge the mind or educate. Every day we are bombarded with messages that insult our intelligence while seeking to manipulate or influence our psyche (through intentional, subliminal messages). The vast majority of television programs, movies, and ads attract us either by feeding simplistic emotional beliefs (which flatter our infantile mind), or by stimulating our primitive drives for sexual gratification and violent revenge, or both. And it is merely naiveté or self-deception to say that you are not influenced by the shows you watch. Further, many people spend hours a day surfing the Internet, watching videos, and visiting websites. Ideas you get from the Internet affect who you are. Some of what is there is worthy of your time; some is inaccurate, misleading, or even dangerous, if taken seriously. Remember that irrational people and groups can have tremendous influence through the Internet, often through social networking sites. Radical groups can recruit people to their narrow-minded views.

“Why should people go out and pay to see bad films when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?”

—Samuel Goldwyn

Carefully observe...

...your television/movie-watching/web surfing habits today. Note how much time you spend watching television. Realize that most television programs are aimed at the intellectual level of an eleven year old. Ask yourself what you might accomplish if you spent less time in front of the television. Ask yourself what you get in return for the time you spend watching television. Notice the types of programs you tend to choose. Think through the implications of what you watch. What “messages” are you routinely receiving? Begin to notice the nationalistic or ethnocentric messages you see on television, in movies, and through the Internet. What cultural norms are encouraged? What taboos are discouraged? What types of behavior are sensationalized? How many shows or videos include some form of violence? How many of these types of programs or videos do you tend to watch? Also, pay close attention to the advertisements you see about you. How are products pitched to you, the potential buyer? Think about what advertisers assume about buyers. Pledge not to buy anything you see advertised today unless you independently assess the purchase in advance. Identify and begin to read at least one article or book on how ads influence people. When researching Internet sites and pages, determine whether the source can be trusted. What is the mission of a given website? What goals are behind it? Is information distorted or skewed to serve a one-sided agenda? What information might you need to balance a given view?

Strategies for critiquing television shows, ads, movies, and Internet resources

• Notice the television shows that focus on violence: the violence of the “bad guys” in harming “good guys” and the violence of the “good guys” in taking violent revenge on the “bad guys” for their violence (you get to watch it both ways). What do you think are some consequences of television violence?

• Notice how rarely the mass media portray reasonable people doing reasonable things to advance a more reasonable world. For example, notice how often irrational behavior in “intimate” relationships is portrayed as perfectly normal and natural (I hate you and I love you! I hate you because I love you! If you don’t love me, I’ll kill you!).

• Seek alternative television channels that question the status quo, such as Free Speech TV.

• Log the time you spend watching television. How could you spend your time more productively? Are you reading books that develop your mind? Are you reading anything that questions the status quo?

• Carefully choose the movies you watch. Consider watching realistic and insightful independently produced or foreign movies, rather than superficial Hollywood movies.

• Log the amount of time you spend on the Internet surfing the web each day. Look at the quality of the messages you see on the websites you visit. Consider how you are influenced by your favorite websites.

• Monitor your buying habits. How often do you buy the “advertised” brand? What does this tell you about yourself?

• Note the use of sexually suggestive images in product advertisements. Ask yourself: Will I really be more sexy if I buy and use this product?

• Rent the movie Supersize Me. Compare the information you get about McDonald’s food in the movie with the information provided in the multitude of McDonald’s ads. Think critically about food advertisements you see in the media. Compare the information these ads give you with the information they leave out (what is in the food, the health consequences of eating the food, and so on).