Response 3- Are You Scared

Propaganda is all over the media today.  It is a force to be reckoned with.  It can make you purchase an item, listen to a song, watch a movie or even vote for a certain political candidate.  It has a tight hold over us humans.  Humans are very gullible creatures.  If the media continually forces something on us, we will in turn believe it to be truth.  It doesn’t matter where you are from or what language you speak you are often forced to see the media and what “they” want us to know. 

From the moment children can understand, the media attacks.  We allow our media to be “parent” at times.  We sit our kids in front of a television for hours.  While they are watching Nick Jr., they are also seeing commercials.  Media is sending messages to these kids.  A new toy comes out and so does the commercial for that product.  Next thing you know that product is in your home. 

I understand that the media can be a scary thing for some.  That the phobias it can implant in someone’s head can be dangerous if they make it dangerous.  You have to be able to understand the message the media is sending.  Sometimes, it is not a clear and precise picture and you may have to go beyond the surface to understand. 

The media has helped the dynamics of parenting in some aspects.  For instance, without the media how can we know if there is an “Amber Alert”?  The media can strengthen the bonds of a community.  A community that has a bond with one another can overcome the negative propaganda. 

Without media and propaganda education would not be where it is today.  People are more apt to purchase an item and to learn about an item if the paper or magazine has written about it.  If we see and hear about items on the television we are able to learn about the product or idea.

Trying to hide or shield one from the media and/or propaganda will only hurt you in the end.  In a world full of ideas and intelligence, the media gives us a chance to act.  If we don’t like something we can easily write to a media source and give our opinion on the propaganda and vice versa. 

When I read On Parenting, Media, Education and Phobias by Ben Williamson regarding the movie Dogtooth, it opened a small door to what some people would and can do to escape the media.  This film documents the fear that some people take to escape the media and the propaganda that we face on a daily basis.  But, I personally think it took it to the extreme measures.  In this film, the parents have imprisoned their three children from infanthood all the way to adulthood.  The children in the film were not raised around other children or the television.  The children were not given proper names or a proper education in the system.  The parents gave “fake” names to everyday items.  An airplane flying overhead is just a toy to the children and a flower, well that would be a “zombie”!

When the father would leave the compound for items, he would need to cut off labels so the children wouldn’t know what they really were.  He would replace lyrics on songs and home movies for real movies.  All the children knew was from what the parents taught them.  Having outside factors was not allowed and when some items were brought into the home from an outside source, there was a price to pay.  No outside source was allowed to alter the  mind of the children.  Only the parents were allowed to warp the mind of these children.  But, to the children, they did not know anything different.  If these children were to enter society, they would never survive.  We are social creatures by habit and without that skill set, we are just another animal in a pack.

This film and a few other films based on similar experiences show that if we are shielded from the media and from propaganda our world becomes very, very small.  Education is not a priority for this type of shielded culture and violence seems to be the accepted norm as does abnormal sexuality. 

If we cease to allow the media and the use of propaganda in our everyday world we are asking for a community filled with the unknown; a land of uncertainty and vulnerability.  Humans are curious creatures and we want to learn and to grow.  Without this media, we are stuck.  All we have is a void.

So, don’t be so afraid of the media and the propaganda it gives us.  Embrace the power of words and their messages.  Be smart about it and do your own research.  If you don’t agree with something or someone, you are allowed to voice your opinion and take a stand on that.  That’s why we have the media.

Williamson, Ben. “On Parenting, Media, Education and Phobias”