The Commodification of Disease Essay

The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact it

Entertainment is the most addicting form of media that people enjoy viewing on their free time. Some people find entertainment to be either good or bad, depending on what the individual believes to be appropriate to watch. Most people derive amusement, fun, pleasure, and relaxation from the movies and TV shows we see in our daily lives. Whether it is a movie trailer we watch or an advertisement on TV or the way the companies market the material, the material overall can be encapsulating and attracting toward consumers. In most cases, the materials we watch can leave us feeling a certain way throughout the course of the day. As technology increases, the need for consumers increases from the wide majority of the publicity materials that are being

As the second part of this reflection paper, I selected a book ‘A Short History of Disease’ by Sean Martin. He is a writer and filmmaker also known for his other famous books like The Knights Templar, Alchemy and alchemists, the Gnostics. His films include Lanterna Magicka: Bill Douglas & the secret history of cinema. The most alluring thing which conceives me to cull this book is a history of the disease, as a medical professional, it's always tantalizing to know from where all these begins and this book reaches up to my expectations as it started from the first ever recorded disease in the history of mankind. He isn’t lying when he say this a history of the disease. He starts from the earliest bacteria to evolve on the earth, long before there was anything around to infect. This book is divided into seven chapters, each chapter describes the history of diseases in a particular era. Chapter One: Prehistory, Chapter Two: Antiquity, Chapter Three: The Dark and Middle Ages, Chapter Four: The New World, Chapter

These theories will be useful in determining my underlying motivations behind my choice of media and content and how my experiences help shape the meaning I provide to the former. Although I have a very active lifestyle, media does consume the largest portion of my time. For the sake of this analysis, the table above simply refers to the television shows and movies I watched throughout a week, however it is important to note that in addition, all time spent of the phone, computer, reading and listening to radio also comprise of media consumption.

The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact

The earliest human records attest to the fact that human beings have been using addictive narcotics since we were hunter-gatherers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, physicians prescribed drugs like opium, morphine, cocaine and even heroin in the United States. (Crocq 355) Currently, these substances are either highly regulated or they are outright illegal. The irony here is that the the largest pharmaceutical companies or Big Pharma as they are better known, are selling the general public narcotics that are just as addictive and harmful as what the many gangs in the United States are selling to their customer base. The last statement may sound extreme, however, the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer are prescription drugs both in the United States and in Europe. (Gotzche 628) Unfortunately, these pharmaceutical companies are not satisfied with just making us addicts, they are also bankrupting the American consumer and our health care system. The statistics of deaths and the criminal practices of these pharmaceutical companies are distressing, however, it is not surprising since their main objective is to maximize profits. First, let us take a look at some of the offenders.

Media serves as a dictator, almost forcing society to shape around the brainwashing effect of advertisement. Society shields itself behind a thin wall they call individualism. They promote everyone being individuals and thinking for themselves when in reality, it’s the media who is lurking over the shoulder of society, whispering the rights and wrongs in the way we think and act. It’s the effect of media on society that sets that rulebook for what is considered the “well-being” of a person, both physically and emotionally. Ethan Watters supports this idea through his narrative, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan” (512-532). He explains how Western society has been imposing on the culture of

“He will soon learn to have a thick skin about what he has” - my senior dermatologist told as we walked out of the unit for children with congenital skin disorder, in which skin peels off even with slightest friction. I had gone into dermatology for its challenging complex diseases and hoping for a future with intellectual explorations. I was shocked to see the lack of structure to deal with the psychological aspects of patients. Often, I sat besides bewildered patients, listening to their stories of stigmatization and rejection in the community because of their appearance. I believed in adapting individual approaches to different personality types and cultural backgrounds. I was unwilling to accept everything at its face value, but felt satisfied seeking for causes, asking questions, and above all analyzing the biological, psychological and social aspects of diseases. As I analyzed, I saw each disease being defined by the individual’s experience - her/his way of “being in the world”.

With cancer requiring colossal amounts of money from society to attempt to treat and cure the disease, it has become an important and relevant social issue in the United States. In 2016 alone, there will be an estimated 1,685,210 cancer diagnoses along with approximately 595,690 deaths in correlation with cancer in the United States (Cancer). Although with the United States having a population around 318 million, only approximately 5% of the population will be affected by cancer. With this only affecting a small portion of the total population, the topic of cancer can create a social issue and source for debate

The media is a well-known platform for viewers and largely impacts the people that watch or see certain programs. Therefore, it is safe assume that the media often represents realistic or unrealistic views

Companies believe if they associate with a cause people care about they will increase their sales. Though there are many people who really do care about helping to find a cure, many companies just use breast cancer to boost profit, or image to the public. Many decisions in average households are made by women. Having a pink ribbon on an item saying that proceeds from that purchase will go to support breast cancer will often influence and shopper to purchase that item over another. Advancements in

In order to get people to want to spend their hard-earned money, individuals need to be motivated and persuaded. More importantly, people need to be manipulated into thinking that to feel happy, whole and worthy, they have to consume. This single path between material and well-being, paved by the grasps of media and advertisement, gives rise to the self-poisoning consumer-infatuated society present today. Modern day obsession with the consumerist lifestyle, transforms the American, regardless of

One last example that supports how Television is causes image and self esteem problems is the situation in Figi. In Figi, it was desired for a woman to be big and heavy set. Compliments were given out for putting on pounds. This seems completely opposite with the American View of women. American women should be skinny and proportionate. Well, all of this changed when Figi was Americanized with the television. Figi teens now had access to American shows that portrayed how a woman should look like. Shows like Beverly Hills 91201 stressed appearance and style. After the first 38 months of the television, 29 percent of Figi teens had risks of eating disorders, bulimia went up to 15 percent, and 74 percent of Figi teens in the study felt they were ‘too big or fat' (Goodman). Within a couple of months, Figi was becoming just like America- worried about appearance so much that they change their initial ideas about weight and beauty, change their diets, and having eating disorders. Goodman emphasizes that women in America, are constantly being reminded from TV that they must be skinny. When women act the aspirations to become "beautiful", it contributes to bad health in eating habits. People should be happy for who they are

The uses and gratification theory seeks to understand the uses of which people seek media to fulfill certain gratifications (Baran and Doris, 2006) by identifying how people utilize the media to gratify their needs and desire.

Media influence is the force by which ideas are injected into people’s lives shaping the very culture of society. This influence is masqueraded through hidden media message, resulting in a change in its audience which can be positive or negative, abrupt or gradual, short term or long term. Although mass media’s influential effect can reach a wide ranged audience as an agent of socialization the responsibility to contain what it releases has not been of importance. “The media’s socially significant obligations are formally ignored.” (A.S. Zapesotskii, 2011, p 9). Media messages can be exerted through many different outlets such as TV shows, music, movies, commercials, news, magazines, games which are all gravitated to entertain audiences ultimately offering personal gratification that can sometimes blur the lines between reality and