Explain the negative issue(s) associated with the “make-believe media.”

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Responses may include part or all of the following issues: Often we are not conscious of the extent of the media’s influence, of how much they are “make-believe media”--that is, they make us believe. Our concepts of what we should be like or, for that matter, what our relationships should be like, or even more specifically what African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and men and women are supposed to be like, are conveyed to us via the media, so much so that some critics complain that the media preempt real life, offering us fabricated views of the world in its place. Among the media’s messages are that violence against women is commonplace; that men are hard, tough, and independent; and that minorities and women are less visible than men. Women, for example, have been underrepresented in film (especially aging women), which features fewer female than male protagonists and female characters who were younger than the male characters. Women also have been less likely than men to be portrayed as leaders and more likely to be identified by their marital status. Other media messages are that African American males are either athletes or unlawful, that Asian males are awkward, and that Muslim men are terrorists. Such messages often distort how we see ourselves and influence our perception of what is normal and desirable behavior. In addition, media models adversely affect our evaluations of ourselves as attractive, successful, or smart. And all too often, the thirst the media develop in us to attain some ideal turns into painful and enduring feelings of inadequacy when we are unable to acquire what we covet.