Essay 1, Rough Draft, Week 3

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James Richards

Professor April Nogarr

English 221 (0241)

28 June 2018

On Mass Media and its Role in Shaping Cultural Values and Beliefs

            From the most popular shows on television like Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, and Breaking Bad to social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, most individuals rely on some form of mass media throughout the day whether they realize it or not. Ousting traditional venues of entertainment like newspapers and magazines with online publications and in theory providing every individual with the opportunity to be a celebrity, the smartphone has without a doubt defined an entire generation. It is to the Digital Age what the printing press was to the Reformation, the Winchester ’73 to the American Wild West. No other invention has had as profound of an effect upon the 21^stcentury as the smartphone. It is both the culmination of and driving force behind mass media and its role in shaping cultural values and beliefs. Never before in the history of mankind have individuals been able to access such a vast library of information while simultaneously being exposed to such an abundance of mass media at every single moment of their lives from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed at night.

            But how much information is too much? And is the role that mass media plays in shaping a society’s cultural values and beliefs necessarily a good thing? Most people are aware of propaganda and the subtle yet effective strategies utilized to control the public. From a commercial for a particular political candidate to a paid advertisement for a product or service, mass media has always been a tool to sway the masses and influence public opinion. Is it 

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possible that with great advancements in technology, mass media, and the delivery of information that its role shaping our cultural values and beliefs has been negative? Indeed, for mass media, despite its many benefits, has unfortunately had an extremely negative and pronounced effect upon our cultural values and beliefs because it is driven by profit.

            In his 1997 article titled Commoditize Your Dissent, Thomas Franks writes, “The structure and thinking of American business have changed enormously in the years since our popular conceptions of its problems and abuses were formulated,” (154). What this means is that contrary to enabling the public to question the establishment and think independently, mass media has rather accomplished the exact opposite in society. From political campaigning to advertisements, commercials, and even subliminal messaging, corporations and unscrupulous businessmen have exploited mass media to better serve their bottom dollar. Even worse is that they did it not by establishing the mass media as the polar opposite of our society’s cultural beliefs and values, but as the expression of them. For in the case of the former at least the public would be able to critically evaluate the mass media and what it stands for on their own, but in the case of the latter, the public is deceived into believing that the mass media is their friend, and thus becomes complacent to whatever message they receive from it.

            Franks takes it further a few paragraphs back when he states rather poignantly, “Consumerism is no longer about ‘conformity’ but about ‘difference,” (153). What he is referring to is the fact that the mass media capitalized upon our society’s progressive ideal of nonconformity and questioning the establishment in order to deceive the public. Instead of holding the establishment accountable and aiding the public in their pursuit to question authority, the mass media merely enabled the establishment to go underground so to speak, its presence 

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veiled and shrouded in mystery yet its power and influence at an all time high. Understanding this is paramount to understanding why the mass media has had a negative effect upon our cultural values and beliefs because it begs a very unsettling question: if unscrupulous businessmen and corporations can exploit it through the almighty dollar with ease, then what other nefarious purposes could the mass media be used to accomplish? 

            Indeed, unscrupulous businessmen and corporations out for a profit are but one relatively benign and harmless way the mass media can be exploited for nefarious purposes. If they want to try and market our own cultural values and beliefs back toward us in a way that serves their own personal self-interests then let it be. Those with money will always find a way to cheat the system whether we like it or not and nothing will ever change that. However, but what about when the mass media defines our very cultural values and beliefs for us? In a 2012 article written for The New Yorker titled The Aristocrats: The Graphic Arts of Game of Thrones, Emily Nussbaum explores the way popular television shows like The Sopranos, Mad Men, andGame of Thrones can shape the views of society on important topics like class, gender, and race. To the benefit of mass media, it can be used to encourage thinking and promote healthy dialog. For Nussbaum declares, “And yet the undergirding strength of each series is its insight into what it means to be excluded from power: to be a woman, or a bastard, or a ‘half man.” However, it can also be used to encourage unhealthy attitudes toward such important topics and even insensitivity, as she continues, “Game of Thrones is the latest entry in television’s most esteemed category: the sophisticated cable drama of about a patriarchal subculture.”

            However, it does not end at class, gender, and race. In fact, the very assumption that those are the three most important topics in the world that every conversation must inevitably 

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revolve around is in itself but one viewpoint out of many as is the assumption that patriarchy, hierarchical structures, and absolute power are inherently bad things. The true danger lies in the fact that the mass media can be used to support one viewpoint over another instead of encouraging individuals to explore different viewpoints and arrive at one for themselves. The world is a very diverse place housing a very diverse assortment of views on topics ranging from religion and politics to poetry and film reviews. It is only fair that every viewpoint should be represented honestly and afforded the privilege to be able to make their case before the public. What the mass media does is present some views as being superior to others while blatantly misrepresenting and vilifying views that do not align with those of its sponsors. Such behavior does not encourage people to think for themselves nor does it foster healthy dialog as much as it simply leads to indoctrination, division, and the mass vilification of  “the other side.”

            It is one thing, for example, to disagree with the actions of the president. It is quite another, however, to dismiss everything that does not align with a left wing viewpoint of reality as hatred and bigotry not warranting even the slightest bit of respect or consideration. It is similarly one thing to agree with the actions of the president, but quite another, however, to condemn every last one of his detractors as unpatriotic and disloyal communists who do not even deserve the honor of being able to call themselves Americans. The inability to fairly represent all viewpoints while simultaneously presenting some as superior to others is but another way the mass media plays a negative role in shaping our cultural values and beliefs.

            The third and perhaps most unsettling way that the mass media plays a negative role in the shaping of our cultural values and beliefs is that it enables unhealthy behavior. In a 2010 essay penned for the Los Angeles Times titled The Social Networks, Neal Gabler observes, “It’s 

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not that we prefer television to human contact. The laugh track attests that most people don’t really want to be alone in font of their TV sets. They want to be part of a larger community. Yet another study indicates that TV provides a sort of simulacrum of community because the relationship between the TV viewer and the people he or she watches on the screen competes with and even substitutes for physical encounters with real people,” (317). What this means is that for many individuals the mass media and television in particular has become a sort of substitute for real human interaction and meaningful relationships. Instead of actually going out and obtaining that which individuals desire most the mass media provides an easier alternative.

            This is perhaps the most harmful way the mass media has negatively impacted our society’s cultural values and beliefs. It has led to isolation and loneliness, hindering any sort of real personal development and growth. As Gabler concludes on page 318, “For the fact is that we miss the friendships we no longer have, and we know that Facebook or emails cannot possibly compensate for the loss. So we sit in front of our television sets and enjoy the dream of friendship instead: a dream where we need never be alone, where there are a group of people who would do anything for us, and where everyone seems to understand us to our very core.” While watching television in moderation for the sole sake of entertainment is one thing, it is quite another for an individual to utilize it as a form of escapism from their real life problems. The mass media has enabled the public to ignore their feelings and become isolated.

            These are but three different ways from three different sources that the mass media plays a negative role in the shaping of our society’s cultural values and beliefs. To summarize, it has given unscrupulous businessmen and corporations yet another venue for taking advantage of the public in order to serve their own financial self interests. Indeed, the mass media will always be 

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susceptible to the corrupting influence that is money and spending. Similarly the mass media, while occasionally providing an avenue for exploring important topics like class, gender, and race, has also been used to encourage unhealthy attitudes toward these topics and more while simultaneously favoring some viewpoints over others instead of encouraging the public to arrive at their own conclusions through honest inquiry and logic. Thus the mass media becomes a tool for propaganda, and can negatively influence our society’s cultural values and beliefs. Finally, the mass media enables individuals to avoid their problems in favor of a cheap substitute and thus encourages isolation and loneliness instead of real human interaction and relationships.

            Even in light of these three main arguments, it cannot be denied that the mass media certainly possesses many benefits that warrant consideration. In a chapter titled “On the Air: Television and Cultural Forms,” Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon explore in their book Signs of Life in the USA the different ways mass media and especially television often reflects the contemporary culture of its time and can shed light upon certain sentiments. They compare the hit television series The Walking Dead, for example, with the threat of terrorism and economic uncertainty, explaining that “Such fantasies appeal to a society suffering from an apparently eternal threat of terroristic violence…and economic malaise,” (257). For just as ancient art and literature was a reflection of its time, affording viewers a more intimate understanding of a society’s fears, hopes, and aspirations at a given era, so too the mass media today can shed light upon where the modern world is and more important where it is going. 

Additionally it has provided the public with more information than has ever been made available throughout history, allowed every individual to have a voice and given them a platform on which to express that voice, and perhaps most importantly enabled communication at such a 

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faster pace than ever before that we are never truly alone. It cannot be denied that the mass media even possesses the potential for artistic merit. For indeed Maasik and Solomon concede on page 258, “Television offers an especially rich field of possible writing topics, ranging from a historical analysis of a whole category or genre, of TV programming (as we briefly presented above with respect to the Western) or of a general trend, to an interpretation of a single TV show episode.” There are many such examples of times when television has transcended simple entertainment into the glory that is fine art, such as the fifth season of Supernatural which explored themes such as God and death, the problem of evil, and existence of freedom. Perhaps the most philosophically complex and pressing question ever asked was in the last episode, when Castiel asks of Dean, “What would you rather have: peace or freedom?” Another such example might come from The Terminator franchise with its message of freewill and the triumph of human tenacity, its tagline being “No fate but what we make for ourselves.”

Perhaps it should be considered that the arguments against the mass media and the role it plays in shaping our society’s cultural values and beliefs are not so much the fault of the mass media itself as much as it is the fault of humanity itself. As people we have always found ways to deceive the public for the sake of our own personal self interest, encouraged unhealthy attitudes toward important topics while simultaneously working to silence all dissenting viewpoints, and found ways to avoid our problems through drugs and alcohol abuse. Perhaps the mass media did not actually create these problems as much as it simply provided them with a platform. Even without social media, television, and the Internet individuals would always find a way to do these things and this is confirmed by the long saga that is human history. Pinning it on the mass media alone is simply an easier alternative than facing the more daunting task of asking why it is 

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that human beings are like this and what we can do to change it. Even so, the role of the mass media cannot be undermined. For it was such a rapid change at such a rapid pace that it occurred before individuals were ready for it, before society even knew what hit it.

In conclusion, the mass media will change. Technology will advance without a shadow of a doubt, as the march of progress is inevitable and cannot be stopped. There are many problems inherent to technology and the media just as there are many problems within the human heart. Despite whatever changes may occur within five, ten, or even one hundred years down the line, we will always remain human beings. Society will always have to face important topics like gender, race, and class regardless of its stance toward the mass media and technology. We can only hope that as the mass media and technology inevitably become more intertwined with our lives that we will exercise the prudence and responsibility necessary so that it becomes a force for all that is good instead of a force for all that is bad. Only time will tell.

            

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Works Cited

Frank, Thomas and Weiland, Matt. ‘Commodify Your Dissent.’ Signs of Life in The USA:

Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Eds. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: 

Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. 150-155. Print.

Gabler, Neal. ‘The Social Networks.’ Signs of Life in The USA: Readings on Popular Culture for 

Writers. Eds. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. 315-

319. Print.

Maasik, Sonia and Solomon, Jack. ‘Video Dreams: Television and Cultural Forms.’ Signs of Life 

in The USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 

2015. 255-267. Print.

Nussbaum, Emily. “The Aristocrats.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, 

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/07/the-aristocrats.