Last Thursday we looked at materialist approaches to culture in the early 20th century: the process of harnessing mass media to produce culture for profit. We looked at Louis Althusser’s concept of ideology, in which he studied something that i’ve been frustrated with for years. The powerful, he believes, can actually perpetuate their ideas through the media, and their perspectives are set forth as assumed truth. this can have drastic consequences, indeed it has had drastic consequences, on all areas of life.
i think i first realized this truth while watching certain sitcoms. Funny as certain shows are, they broadcast a specific set of moral values that become to an audience an understood norm. So your 14-year-old daughter grows up thinking that sex before marriage is appropriate or getting drunk is part of life, because it appears normal on TV.
The effectual power of the media was even more noticeable to me while working as a Legislative Aide for the last three years. We’d track all things political, and i grew to hate the polls. Because if a poll came out showing your candidate down, it perpetuated to those watching that the person was second best, not as popular, maybe even not worth their votes. Who wants to vote for the second best candidate? i always tip my hat toward those who can actually win, and to those who seem to have garnered some public support. Ugh…broadcasting polls perpetuates the current state of the race as if that’s the way it should be, and i personally think it effects the outcomes of voter decision sometimes. Broadcasting polls is only beneficial if you’re on top.
As we think about how mass media perpetuates culture, i can’t help but turn my thoughts to the recent outburts of school shootings all across America. Do you think all these different kids who act in the same violent ways are doing so completely independently all over America, without knowing the others are doing the same thing? Or do you think, as i am inclined to, that having seen others point guns at their classmates, they rationalize their anger, knowing that they are not alone in their desires or frustrations. Could perhaps the news of other school shootings add fuel to the fire, and actually aid in perpetuating violence?
after all, it is only normal, right?
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