Reflection on How Media Shapes Our View of Reality by Calvin Griffith

Growing up, all of us watched TV and movies, read magazines, and listened to music. All of this media affected what we considered "cool" and how we thought the world worked. In movies, saw slick, smooth talking guys impressing beautiful women and figured we had better learn some smooth moves ourselves to have a chance with the ladies. Girls looked at magazines and saw what culture considered to be beautiful and decided that is what they wanted to look like (guys did that too). Music taught us that sexual pleasure is the ultimate goal and that rebelling against authority is cool. Some people decided to like the exact opposite of what the media told them to, but even these people's views were shaped by the media. By chosing the opposite of everyone else just to be different, these people's views were still a reaction to what culture was saying to them. In my opinion, people love movies where everything works out in the end because in real life, it doesn't. People love seeing gorgeous models in magazines because in real life, not that many people look like that. The way the media portrays life and society is completely fake, but people eat it up because it's more attractive than the reality surrounding them. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No, not necessarily, but it sets a lot of people up for a big surprise when they're not as good looking and charming as they hoped to be, or when instead of coming off as smooth, they just look like an idiot. That is real life. It's filled with awkward moments and bad hair days, but when something does go right, it's worth celebrating. I think it would be healthier to depict reality in the media, and I think that we as a culture are swinging in that direction. Take the TV show "The Office" for example. This show is built solely on making fun of awkward moments, and it does a fantastic job. It is extreme at times, perhaps, but it has to be in order to keep us laughing. In all honesty though, that show is absurdly realistic. Anyway, the media shapes all of our views whether we like it or not. Whether we react positively or negatively to it, we all still react.