I think that after this class I can truly say that I understand the power of the media in America. Media comes in many forms, news papers, magazines etc...but the most powerful and influential for of media is television, simply because it gets through to so many people everyday. I dont think that anyone can say that a day goes by where they dont watch a television show.
The media controls this country, try and imagine what America would be like if television did not exist? It could benefit the country, and it could also make millions and millions of people go crazy. People need media to go on with their daily lives, whether they watch television for pleasure or business, it has become a very big part of Americans lives.
It is hard to say whether media has made a positive or a negative, but whether we like it or not its here to stay...for good. So many peopel tune in everyday to watch their favorite televisionb show that the television industry has become one of the most well paying business. NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, TNT, TBS are just some of the many different television stations you can find all over teh country, and now, all over the world.
Here are my icks for best movies ever, followed by the director, year it came out, and star actors:
CASINO - 1995, Directed by Martin Scorcese, starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Danny Devito. Robert De Niro plays a caino owner who is working "off the books" with Danny Devito who is robbng casinos for the both of them.
5 STARS
GOLDENEYE - 1995, Directed by Martin Cambell, starring Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, and Judi Dench. Pierce Brosnan, working as agent 007, tries to save the world again from evil Russain General Sen Bean. 4 STARS
SHAWSHANK REDMEPTION - 1994, directed by Frank Darabont, starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and James Whitmore. Tim Robbins is wrongfully accused of the crime of killing his wife, Morgan Freeman keeps him company in the country's most secure prison, or so they thought, while Robbin tries to escape. 4.5 STARS
The media is responsible for influencing about 95 percent of the people who have access to some form of media. This would include Television, Movies, Newspaper, magazines, and other not so obvious forms. I think that it is safe to say that at least 90 percnt of america has access to at least one of these types of media.
The media sets a bar of standards for what is cool and what is sexy. America then sees these standards and tries to meet them, this is the probem, these are unreachable goals. People gets put down and made fun of if they are not up to a certain standard in american media, and this shouldn't be. But everyone, of course, wants to be like the "person on TV", so until they make it, i assume they will keep tyring.
Reality Television is without a doubt the most popular type of programming, besides big sporting events, on telivision today. But I'm noticing more and more that people are forgetting where to draw the line. In fact, sometimes the line gets crosses everyday, but since it brings in so many ratings, the cencors for the telivision companies don't really care. This just shows how shallow America can be.
The first braodcasted reality telivision show was Candid Camera, which was over 50 years ago. But the reality shows that we have today are nothing like that, not only are they cruel sometimes, but some of the people will do anything for money, even if it means endangering their own health. The Real World and Road Rules, both MTV shows, started running about 10 years ago. Here they put six, or seven, strangers in a house or RV together and let them live together basically until a homocide occurs or six months is up, which ever happens first. The new hit series Fear Factor has people facing their worst fears. But I can't remeber the last time that I heard someone say that their biggest fear was chewing cow testicles, or transferring worms from a bucket to a scale to weigh.
And how can someone enjoy watching someone get so disgustingly skinny from not eating simply because she wants to win money. This is ridiculous, now people are just seeing how far people will go and how low they will sink for money. Which in actualltiy doesn't seem so bad to people because this is America, home of the greedy. And if there is one thing I have noticed about Reality telivision shows, it is that if there is money involved, people will be trying it.
If you would like to see more about these reality television shows click here:
Survivor
The Real World
Road Rules
Fear Factor