BLOG TASK #001 - MASS MEDIA AS A CULTURAL STORYTELLER.
- Aug 22, 2015
- 8 min read
BLOG TASK #001 – MASS MEDIA AS A CULTURAL STORYTELLER.
Mass media plays a very important role in the current generation. We live and thrive in media, as means of communication, as sources for information, as a base that holds society together, entertainment and so on. Majority of us agree that mass media is and has been a big cultural storyteller. This is because the field that mass media covers is so wide, that literally almost anything can be obtained and can be shared through it. Mass media as a cultural storyteller can be portrayed in so many different ways, take for example TV programmes such as National Geographic, History Channel, Discovery Channel, these all portray different series that go all out on sharing different cultural beliefs and their backgrounds. All these programs hold solid information and facts that serve as a purpose to educate and to inform the public of the different cultures around the globe and their beliefs. But in every good there is the bad. How different people perceive and adapt to all this information also plays a big role on if or not we accept mass media as cultural storytellers. For example, news on certain wars on one side of the world can be seen as aggressive acts of terrorism, but on the other side of the world one perceives it as a strong practice of religion being carried out. On another note, mass media has also grown so much over the past decade and has now transformed into a huge public magnet that thrives on attention, views and money. The current big media business tend to focus more on glamour and current world trends. Certain media even tend to over-exaggerate certain news and have even generated stereotypical views on different cultures instead of promoting true and tangible facts about a certain culture just to for the attention, one sided opinions and positivity. As a close, we do believe that mass media as a whole can be a cultural storyteller but it all comes down to how the different viewers perceive and adapt to the stories provided and how true the stories are.
The conservatives in this country are always hooting about how ____ (insert western/eastern cultural phenomenon) is not Malaysian culture/Malay culture/Islamic culture. To what extend do you think the mass media has influence on society’s perception and acceptance of certain cultures?
We believe that mass media can only go so far as to inform and share their different beliefs to the world and they can try their best to twist and perfume up their information to try and influence others to accept their culture, but it all comes down to the viewer’s background and how strong and solid their beliefs are toward their own culture. Religion also plays a part in the viewer’s perception and acceptance of these cultures. Some examples we can provide would be the recent news of the acceptance and legalization of Same-Sex Marriages and homosexuality which has since created a dividing line between those that support it and those who are strongly against it, and this has created heated debates and arguments on if or not the acceptance of this culture is good. The group on the accepting side will tend to have the impression that this is a form of freedom and liberty of their own people, and they tend to criticize the other group that is on the other side of that line thinking that they are religious extremists and people who hate change and freedom. On the other side, we see people who hold strongly on their beliefs that this act is forbidden in their religion and so on and so forth and some even take it to the extreme and tend to discriminate and mock those who accept or follow this culture.
Explain what you understand by “The media is a cultural story teller”.
When the sentence “The media is a cultural story teller” pops up, the first thing that comes to our head is that of a TV show or a documentary of a certain country which talks and teaches us about the history, cultural beliefs and lifestyle of the natives that live there. Culture can be defined by the values, beliefs and traditions of a certain society or nation. Transforming this culture into a form of media and then broadcasting it globally, allowing others around the world to study, to understand, to obtain information and to respect it is what we define “media being a cultural story teller” as.
Describe at least three beliefs, values or attitudes from the TV programmes that has influenced the audience’s perception of culture and reality, especially if the audience watched such programmes repeatedly.
The two TV programmes that our group has chosen are Disney’s “Phineas & Ferb” and Cartoon Network’s, “Adventure Time”.
In "Phineas & Ferb" and "Adventure Time", one of the values that has a strong impact on the audience would be friendship. Phineas and Ferb are two brothers who spend their summer break together in their backyard with their other friends, creating a new invention every single day and every episode will play out how their day goes and the bonding and friendship they have. On another note, "Adventure Time" is the story of two best friends named Finn and Jake who live in a post-apocalyptic world. They are very close to one another and are very brave and adventurous souls, going on new exciting adventures every day relying on one another to keep alive and to achieve their goal, hence strengthening their friendship tremendously. This value represented in both these programmes tells us that friendship is key in being successful in life, making the right friends who will always be there for us will play a big part of how we will cope with the different situations and difficulties that we will be put in during the trials of life.
The next value or values would be the creativity and imagination that the characters in both the shows have. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, "Phineas & Ferb" is based on the lives of two brothers who are on summer break, and to make use of their free time and freedom, they come up with a plan to build a specific new invention every day and every episode will be bursting and flowing with the creativity and imagination the brothers have in creating their mind blowing inventions. On the other hand, Finn and Jake are adventurers who thrive in going on quests, overcoming danger and enemies through creative and innovative ways where they work together to escape their predicaments. Their source of fun and success comes through their creativity in handling the situation and also their imagination of what they want their outcome to be. This tells the viewers that just having facts and knowledge will not necessarily get you to where you want to be in life. Sometimes one has to take big risks, having to be creative and imaginative in different situations to overcome them.
The third value that is portrayed in these two programmes is love. In both the shows, the different characters have different crushes and complicated relationships with the other different characters, creating lots of fun drama and very unique twists to the storyline and this is what keeps the shows interesting. The value of love is a very strong value that majority of the audiences can relate to, if or not they have been in love themselves before, or are wanting to know what love would feel like and the two shows portray that very well. The aspect of love in both the shows reminds us that being in love isn’t easy. It is a process that you have to learn to build on and sustain. There will be awkward moments, there will be fights and the thoughts of breaking up, there will be misunderstandings that could slowly shake the relationships and can cause them to eventually crumble and fall, but there is always a happy ending if you remain faithful, strong and committed to your relationship. Things will eventually grow better as we learn. This enables us to learn through the mistakes the characters made in a cartoon show that can also relate to us realistically. Love can only be strengthened through hardships, just as how metal is strengthened through fire.
Besides core values, the two shows also portray a lot of things that we younger generation can easily relate to. Some examples would be to always stay positive, that everyone is unique and have different strengths, to never ever give up because nobody gets it right on the first try. That mistakes are meant to be made and that respect is to be earned and not deserved. All these little things are subtly portrayed in these two shows. More so when it comes to "Adventure Time".
With all that said, there is also the bad side to these two shows. Because these two shows are primarily targeted toward an older audience, the characters tend to use lite cuss words at times. This shows that they are trying to relate to the older audience who tend to swear at times too. But it can also portray that the usage of vulgar words are a norm in the older society. Another thing would be the violence portrayed in some of Finn and Jake’s more hardcore adventures and quests. They use weapons and spells to slash away at their enemies, and although there is no blood or gore, it portrays violence and this can be a very big problem especially toward the younger viewers who can be very easily influenced by the actions and words used by the different characters of the two shows.
Conclusion: What can we learn about the mass media’s influence in shaping our perceptions about reality through its role as a “cultural storyteller”.
Mass Media plays a big role in the society of the current age. It expresses and shares content and information that help mold and change ones perspective and perception on a certain topic or news. With that said, media has a strong grasp on the worlds view and has the power to manipulate what the world thinks and reacts because the current generation has grown into wanting to fit in, wanting to keep up with the current trends and also creating stereotypical views on the core cultures that are shown on the media. This enables the media to at times, to subtly creep in and shape our lifestyle, the way we think and do things in reality. This is because we tend to succumb to peer pressure and join in on what the media and the current society portrays as the “norms” of life. Also, certain sources of media may not also be true at times. There are plenty of fake news or rumours out there that are able to trick and lead quite a number of viewers into believing them. Media also has the power to easily over exaggerate certain news or be biased and tend to prioritize and support a certain topic or culture over another. This can easily immobilize the perceptions of their viewers making them view the news or topic from only one small angle. Because of this, we all have to be careful and do a proper and thorough research when it comes to obtaining information or learning certain things via the media. We also need to absorb the right things and view the media from different perspectives and also to be rational when it comes to making decisions especially when wanting to express your own thoughts or views on certain topics that are highly controversial.
THE END.
Writer:
Matthias Lim.
Editor:
Kok Sern.
Researchers:
Charlotte, Natalia, Darshni, Sarah & Farah.
SOURCES:
IMAGES
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