Problems With Mass Media

I distinctly remember kicking one of my friends off my bed during nap time at a baby-sitters house because I saw Simba do it to Scar in the Lion King. When I went to tumbling class I had my leotard straps fall off my shoulders because that’s how Jasmine had her outfit in Aladdin. At my great-grandmother’s funeral, I put a flower in her hair (in the casket, mind you) like Ariel in the Little Mermaid. Needless to say, Disney really impacted my life as a child.

But sometimes grown-ups do the same kind of copy-catting, and I think that's one of the problems that exist in the relationship between mass media and society. Beautiful men and women flood the covers of magazines and movie screens. There was a recent study done that found the more couples watched chick flicks, the more unsatisfied they became with their own relationships. Viewing, reading, and listening to what we perceive as perfection affects us, and it’s not always for the better.

Identify a Myth in a Mass Medium.

Good ol' Forrest Gump pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. Forrest had a lot going against him, especially as a kid. His mother was a single parent, he had to wear those dreadful leg braces, and he was a little on the slow side. However, Forrest never let those things bog him down; actually he was actually pretty oblivious to it all. He managed to become an All-American football player, a war hero, a ping-pong champion, and multi-millionaire.

Forrest exemplifies this myth in that he was able to turn his unfortunate circumstances into wonderful opportunities for himself and the people in his life. Everyone he encountered (except Nixon) he managed to help one way or another. He helped Jenny and her sister get away from their abusive father, saved fellow soldiers in Vietnam, gave Bubba’s share of the shimping boat money to Bubba's family, made Lieutenant Dan a millionaire, and inspired two separate entrepreneurs to create Smiley Face t-shirts and "S*** Happens" bumper stickers.