Media Violence

Media is all around us and can be a great form of entertainment from time to time, whether it’s advertisements in a magazine, television shows, or even movies. However, since media is such a constant in our everyday lives, it is very powerful. When the wrong types of messages are broadcasted, such as violence, negativity, and dangerous acts, it can be harmful to people and influence the way they view the world around them. Media influences all ages from children, to teens, and even adults. Nobody can escape the harmful grasp of the media no matter where they run to. Media is very harmful for many reasons; one of them being because of all the violence that is being portrayed in movies and television shows. In almost every television show …show more content…
Everyday in the news there are stories about the latest crimes that have happened in the local area. This makes people feel as if though they can never escape the violence they see on television shows, even in reality. It forces them to see the world in a negative light which in turn creates a lack of heroes for them to admire. For example, in “The End of Admiration: The Media and the Loss of Heroes,” Peter H. Gibbon argues that the media is changing who we view as heroes due to their focus on the negativity in the world. In other words, the lack of positive images in media and pop culture, such as movies and television, is changing how we see the world and how we view others. He states, “The empire they [journalists] have created… makes us more knowledgeable, but it also leaves us overwhelmed, convinced that the world is a sleazy place, and mistrustful of authority and institutions. It all but extinguishes our belief in heroism” (237). The media focuses on the negativity in the world, which in turn makes people believe it is full of harm and violence. It tells us to be suspicious of authority and creates a lack of heroes for people to look up to forces us to admire the wrong people. I agree with Gibbon; the media’s focus on violence forces us to continue to see the world in a negative light. The lack of heroes influences us to side with the media’s point of view that there is violence all around us. …show more content…
They promote things such as cigarettes and drinking by showing celebrities, people who others look up to, drink and smoke, making the readers believe that is what’s cool and something they must do in order to fit in. For instance, in “Advertisings Influence on Media Content,” Jean Kilbourne argues that advertising is harmful to the world and corrupts people as a whole. In other words, advertising shapes how people view the world and warps what people think about themselves and the dangers around them. She states, “Advertising corrupts us and, I will argue, promotes a dissociative state that exploits trauma and can lead to addiction” (244). Advertisements, such as those in women’s magazines, exploit women and send mixed signals to the reader about how they should look. They make women believe that there is only one way to look and it is like the women on the cover. Advertisements also negatively influence people by showing cigarettes, alcohol, diet products, and junk food as a normal and okay thing. People began to think that these products aren’t harmful to their health when, in reality, they can be very harmful and even kill. I agree with Kilbourne, advertisements are harmful to people’s mental state and can lead them to make very dangerous decisions such as drinking, smoking, or even developing an eating disorder. They influence people to think