The Media Torrent And Disposable Feeling, By Todd Gitlin

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Why is the media vital to our society? The media overwhelms society with drama and entertainment. In “Supersaturation, or, The Media Torrent and Disposable Feeling” by Todd Gitlin, paintings were what television is today: entertainment. The rich surrounded themselves with paintings similar to the way media surrounds us. Gitlin feels as though media desensitizes people and therefore modern day feelings seem “disposable.” Society moves from one topic to the next to keep up with trends displayed in the media. As a result, society becomes isolated. However in the 1600s, these paintings were passed down from generation to generation, and today, television shows rarely last two seasons. Our once private households are now dominated by other worldly …show more content…
Hip Hop and Rap’s explicit lyrics cause individuals to be violent because the music promotes criminal behavior such as gangs, fighting, shooting and degradation of women. The degradation of women leads to a high prevalence of sexual abuse. Hip Hop and Rap convey disrespecting women as the norm, so men control and treat women as sex objects. The degradation of women also causes youth to engage in sexual behavior. Women have low standards in men because of the way women are viewed in music. Women are viewed as weak, dependent on a man and as a result women settle for the worse kind of men who treat them below their value. Hip Hop and Rap also convey messages in favor of drugs and alcohol. Rappers express substance abuse as a fun, relaxing and careless behavior; Rappers do not show the destructive effects of substance abuse. Individuals are constantly exposed to the explicit message Hip Hop and Rap convey. The supersaturation Hip Hop and Rap has on society causes individuals to act out and behave like the lyrics. Hip Hop and Rap’s violent, hostile and risky behavior overwhelms youth by controls their decision making and behavior. Society allows the media to control their lives; moreover, the media becomes a way of life and not entertainment. In relation to Thoreau, the rapid and unstoppable invasion media has on our lives prevents society from “living deliberately”. Society allows the media to affect the way people act and view things, causing individuals not to be completely in control of their thoughts or actions. Hip Hop and rap music, specifically, negatively impacts an individual’s behavior, causing one to be more hostile, violent and perform risky

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