The influence of Hollywood and the media on American audiences and abroad Nowadays, cable television and movies are an important part of people’s everyday life and are, furthermore, a primary source of information (Dodds, 2008: 230), even though films are not compelled to depict ‘the truth’ or reality, even when addressing contemporary themes and events, as their function is not to provide reliable information but to entertain. As John C. Merrill wrote in 1994, “media are everywhere and it is impossible to escape them” (cited in Gul, 2013: 2). This is all the more true now that the Internet has expanded, making the media even more omnipresent. The same goes for entertainment that is now available through cable and satellite TV (Valantin, 2005: 9). It is thus likely that audiences have expanded as well.
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Another factor that should be taken into account is the effects media have on younger audiences that are still in a ‘learning phase’ and are therefore considered more vulnerable and prone to external influence (Impact of media use on children and youth, 2003). Cinematographer Mo Ogrodnik highlights the fact that blockbusters, flagships of the Hollywood film industry, are usually targeting young male audiences aged between 16 and 24 years old (Ogrodnik, 2016, interviewed by the author, 20 January), or, in other words, voters in the making, as well as potential military recruits. It is therefore legitimate to think that mass media have a major impact on their audiences, and should be acknowledged as ‘effective instruments of ideological justification’ (Tanguay, 2012: 228) or ‘active agents spreading political ideas and psychological archetypes’ (Sánchez-Escalonilla, 2016, pers. comm., 15 February). Hollywood and the media are thus tools of ‘soft power’, which refers to “a persuasive approach to international relations involving […] cultural influence” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016) and ‘the
Another factor that should be taken into account is the effects media have on younger audiences that are still in a ‘learning phase’ and are therefore considered more vulnerable and prone to external influence (Impact of media use on children and youth, 2003). Cinematographer Mo Ogrodnik highlights the fact that blockbusters, flagships of the Hollywood film industry, are usually targeting young male audiences aged between 16 and 24 years old (Ogrodnik, 2016, interviewed by the author, 20 January), or, in other words, voters in the making, as well as potential military recruits. It is therefore legitimate to think that mass media have a major impact on their audiences, and should be acknowledged as ‘effective instruments of ideological justification’ (Tanguay, 2012: 228) or ‘active agents spreading political ideas and psychological archetypes’ (Sánchez-Escalonilla, 2016, pers. comm., 15 February). Hollywood and the media are thus tools of ‘soft power’, which refers to “a persuasive approach to international relations involving […] cultural influence” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016) and ‘the