In 2017, the minds of Americans are often occupied with thoughts of the ever-growing political divide between democrats and republicans and the influence of the media on their lives. Television networks and studios are uniquely positioned in such a way as to be easily able to modulate and change the political and moral views and values of our country’s citizens. For example, this position can include a news network that focuses on racial issues in anticipation of an upcoming piece of equal rights legislation in Congress, or a TV show about a group of fictional vigilantes that take on crime in their city and happens to secretly but aggressively emphasize the importance of citizens owning guns. To this end, some of this century’s most influential …show more content…
At its core, legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin conjures up this image of seemingly realistic yet optimistic government starting with the show's main character, Josiah Bartlet, the fictional president of the United States as portrayed by Martin Sheen. Sheen eloquently describes Bartlet as a principled and passionate academic turned political operative and statesman who leads his country and staff with idealism, vigor, and compassion that continues to mystify audiences even after being taken off the air. In the second season finale, of The West Wing, “Two Cathedrals,” President Josiah Bartlet is shown berating and questioning G-d (“Two Cathedrals” 00:24:27) in the Washington Cathedral following the sudden death of his beloved secretary and mother figure, Dolores Landingham. Bartlet seems to think that the death of his confidant is just one in a stream of bad things to happen to him recently, (his deputy chief of staff was shot at just last week) (“Two Cathedrals” 00:23:08). He questions G-d motives asking, in Latin, “Haec credam a deo pio?” (Am I really to believe that these are the acts of a holy God?) (“Two Cathedrals” 00:24:20). In a final act of resistance against a G-d that Bartlet believes lets bad things happen to good people, he lights a cigarette, drops it on the cathedral …show more content…
He seeks counsel from a priest to try to explain why, in Underwood’s eyes, Christ seems to be such a weak religious figure. The priest explains that there are only two requirements of a Christian, “Love God. Love each other. Period.” Underwood disagrees and asks to be left alone in the church to “pray.” Spacey’s character addresses a sculpture of Jesus and gruffly disagrees saying, “Love? That’s what you’re selling? Well, I don’t buy it”. He then proceeds to spit on the sculptures face, before accidentally knocking over and smashing the statue. This short but crucial moment in House of Cards seems to perfectly illustrate the divide between Underwood’s public persona, a man who seeks spiritual guidance, and his true self which seeks to inflate his self-centered ego by validating his status as superior to that of even
A liberal is a person that believes that the government should provide equality for all, while a conservative is a person that believes in limited government and that the government should provide the necessary freedom for people to pursue their own goals. Over time, it has been argued, mostly by conservatives, that there is a liberal bias in the media. Liberals have combated this idea with the belief that conservative media is devoted to making efforts to invoke fear and division in the general public. Though liberals make a fine counter-argument, it is easier to observe that the media is liberal-biased. The liberal versus conservative debate can be compared to facts versus values. Another reason for bias within the media is that a significant percentage of minorities, or smaller groups within the population that are often thought to be poorer, politically identify themselves as liberals. To make these minorities feel like the government is on their side as well as everyone else’s, the media must accommodate the needs of these minorities. Because of this, the media becomes liberal-biased.
In their article “Moving beyond the 'Vast Wasteland'”, Laurie Ouellette and Justin Lewis critique how public broadcasting functions in the US. Liberal reformers hold to the view that television needs protection from commercialism. The liberal reformer view contains cultural and class hierarchies. They believe that public television is for the white, college-educated middle-class viewer who has “cultural capital”(Ouellette & Lewis, 96). As a result, funding for public broadcasting has gone primarily towards high culture and intellectual programs and not sitcoms or other popular forms of television. Ouellette and Lewis disagree with this, saying that these types of high-brow programming are not the only ones worthy of public investment. Instead, they argue that popular programs that are being commercially maintained also merit public support and investment (96). Rather than reserving public broadcasting for more educational programming, the authors argue that there is a more progressive solution that can incorporate popular media forms while still veering away from commercialization.
Imagine, if you will, a time that seemed innocent... almost too innocent. Imagine a nation under whose seemingly conformist and conservative surface dramatic social changes were brewing, changes as obvious as integration and as subtle as fast food. And imagine, if you will, a radical television show that scrutinized, criticized, and most importantly, publicized these changes, making the social turmoil of a nation apparent to its post-world war, self-contented middle-class citizens. But what if this television show was not as it appeared? What if it masqueraded as simple science fiction, and did not reveal its true agenda until viewers took a closer look? Let us examine how
Maya Kochar 9 Mr. Hadley Honors Language and Composition 8 March 2024 AOTD Essay Neil Postman is an American media theorist who wrote the book Amusing Ourselves to Death. In this book, he argues that television has caused political and public discourse to change. This is because different media are good at conveying certain ideas, and the medium of television is good for entertainment, not serious topics. The flashy colors, music, and details of television all work to entertain and distract the viewer from the topic at hand.
(Barret 57). Despite the hard work it will take to build the church and not getting compensated for it, a divine call encourages Homer. Homer allows himself to accept this call that God gives him and follow through with the building of the church. Homer asks himself, “why he was staying
“Televised events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the World Cup give us a rare opportunity to share a moment in time with the world,” proclaims Tim Leberecht of www.designmind.com (Leberecht). With our busy lives, we almost never take out time to spend with our loved ones, and these televised events are when the majority of people meet up and have fun. “Millie? Does the White Clown love you? Does your ‘family’ love you, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie?” Montag asks Mildred (Bradbury 77). Guy Montag is questioning his wife out of desperation, and is extremely curious to know if she believes that her fake TV family really loves her. From this we can see that he is truly disappointed with life and his wife’s immoral addiction to television. We must keep in mind that our society today is not as dumbed down and obsessed with fake parlor shows that spread real, tangible people apart as Mildred is. TV today is a source of knowledge and learning, and creates the perfect circumstances and settings for the getting together of the people that really matter the most. One of the most important aspects of television is its ability to strengthen democracy and teach the law. “Seventy-two percent (of the US population) learn about elections and candidates from TV news,” states www.designmind.com (Leberecht). TV brings us information that is essential to maintaining our freedom and our guaranteed
In “Teaching Resistance: The Racial Politics of Mass Media,” bell hooks focus her message on the role of the media when depicting black and white characters, how it negatively makes an impact on the public, and how white and black people see each other. Although racism began centuries before mass media could spread stereotypes, media’s artful approach to the masses has been useful to continue what has long existed. Mass media’s contents are so subtle and morphed into jokes and entertainable means, that the public becomes easily distracted and over time, they unconsciously absolve stereotypes and false ideas. The fight against these channels has long ago started, and as hooks states in her article, people should turn to “low-risk small acts that can become major interventions.” She suggests boycotts and protest letters that will bring awareness and will be used to gradually deconstruct the negative ideas media strongly built.
The Left have popularized using tragedies as an impetus for political change, via the Media, because it garners attention and instills a base of support for change. However, this approach is misguided. The Media is powerless! In conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s column, “What an American Hero Looks Like”, he states: “It isn’t the Twitter battles that stand between the monsters and children.” Furthermore, he argues, policy change is inept because “laws and regulations failed” to save 26 people from a massacre in rural Texas.
One example of this is the penultimate scene in which Braddock demands from God, with “monstrous condensencion” (40) that “matters should be as they were….and that they should so remain” (41). With this, some key traits are revealed about Braddock Washington, and thus, the wealthy Roaring Twenties man as a whole. For one, it shows that, for one, even the criminals want to believe that there is a god looking out for them. God is never even so much as mentioned by Braddock prior to this incident. However, now, God simply must make it right for him. Moreover, Braddock offers God an actual bribe. The Bible discusses bribery as practically a sin. In other words, Braddock is trying to reason with God by committing a sin. Further, Braddock claims that “God had His price, of course. God was made in man's image, so it had been said: He must have His price” (42). This shows the level of ignorance regarding religion in the Roaring Twenties. People only looked to God when in a time of need, seeing him as the “provider” of sorts – someone who lives to provide. However, the fact that “God had refused to accept the bribe” (42) proves that was God listening to Braddock’s calls. This strong complete shutdown of Braddock sends a message to the readers that life is the great equalizer, and that comeuppance comes eventually for committing sins against
America has become distorted with the rise of television. The glory that this country once held and the virtues that it once stood up for have vanished. In a mere 89 years, generations of righteous men have gone through a gradual change and have become deformed to indolent boys. With television, has come the downfall of the righteousness of America. This monstrous manifestation is depicted in the decline of our values, the decline of our health, and the decline of the American family.
“The average American over the age of 2 spends more than 34 hours a week watching live television— plus another three to six hours watching taped programs” (Nielsen, 2012). It is clear that cable television has become the number one pastime for Americans. This obsession nominates media to be the viewer’s number one influencer, which is a scary fact. Take the very popular television series Sons of Anarchy, an American crime drama about an outlaw motorcycle club operation located in California’s Central Valley. Its popularity is record breaking!
In the United States, the News media is one of the most powerful institutions in the country. It serves the role as the informative arm of democracy, a vital function when the government depends upon public participation. This informative role gives the news media tremendous power, but can very often be negatively impacted by ulterior profit and political motives. Different Network’s portray the same story in different lights based upon their respective political leanings to garner ratings and revenue. The impact of this ambiguity and manipulation of the truth on different segments of the American public is profound, specifically in the news media’s usage of racial stereotypes and their subsequent adoption by the private consumers of this media.
Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be
In an effort to expose the epistemology of television, which Postman believes has not been effectively addressed, he examines the effects of TV on several important American cultural institutions: news, religion, politics and education. All four institutions, Postman argues, have realized that they have to go on television in order to be noticed which, in turn, requires them to learn the language of TV if they are to reach the people. Therefore, they have joined the national conversation not on their own terms, but on TV's terms. Postman contends that this transformation of our major institutions has trivialized what is most important about them and turned our culture into "one vast arena for show business" (80). In the case of broadcast news, we see visually stimulating, disconnected stories about murder and mayhem along with a healthy dose of infotainment delivered by friendly and likeable anchors that remind us to "tune in tomorrow". In the case of politics, we have discourse through distorted paid TV commercials and "debates" in which the appearance of having said something important is
The book begins with Neil Postman describing how the way we communicate, whether it is orally or through written material, has an effect on how we interpret our world. He then goes more specifically into how television has changed our culture. Postman’s intention for writing this book is to “show that a great media-metaphor shift has taken place in America, with the result that the content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsense”(16). There is no problem with television being used as a form of entertainment, but when entertainment takes over serious issues, it may become dangerous. I agree with this to some extent; I think that there are current events that need to be taken seriously, but some audiences may need that comic