Does Media Affect Us?

There has been a debate raging on for decades now, an argument that believe it or not, would affect each and every one of us.  Does media affect us?

Unfortunately, the answer is a gray, blurry “sort of.”  Studies have gone on for years trying to determine the effects of violent movies, TV, and video games with no clear determination of an answer.  Some argue that clearly violent media creates an immediate increase in violent behavior, while studies like those in the book Grand Theft Childhood explain it as only a short term effect, when it has shown to have one, lasting as short as a few hours.  It always comes down to a chicken or the egg type of question.  Does violent media make people violent or are violent people drawn to violent media?

What has been proven true though is how media affects our perceptions.  When the news is filled with bleak and depressing stories, it creates the idea in a viewer that everything is wrong in the world.  Our perceptions are affected in other ways as well.  Think of people you may know who become obsessed with medical dramas like Grey’s Anatomy or House.  Do they sometimes act like a medical guru, putting their seasons of study to practical use, repeating diagnoses they’ve witnessed on their shows?  A few years ago a study was done to determine which show was the most medically accurate.  The winner:  House with 30%.  That’s right, the most accurate medical knowledge of a TV medical drama was accurate only 30% of the time.  Still feel safe with that friend’s diagnosis?

Now nobody’s going to let someone perform open heart surgery, no matter how many times they’ve watched their DVDs of all the seasons of ER.  Where this becomes a problem though is when you introduce ideas of sexism and racism.  What message does it send if a cop drama is always arresting African Americans, or if in a drama the woman boss is mean, manipulative, and heartless while the girl intern is stumbling through life waiting to be rescued by a future boyfriend?

When I was young, TV told me Hispanic people were members of drug cartels and bikers were cool bounty hunters.  It wasn’t until I had more influences in the world to see the much bigger picture.  The truth is media does affect our perceptions and our perceptions are our reality.  If we always see bad news our world becomes a bad place.  Inaccurate perceptions create an inaccurate reality.  Women become trophies, minorities become criminals, and violence becomes the answer for every problem.

There is a light in all of this though.  With awareness, we can enjoy whatever media we like without having it influence our behavior.  It can be reduced down to the escapism it was meant to be while we sit back and enjoy the show.  Take the time to learn more outside of what’s presented to you.  Talk with your kids about what they’re watching so they can get life’s answers from you, rather than the TV, and they can be above its influence.