I had to write a page response to a video we watched in class and how it links to the readings for this week. I think you can tell from reading my response that I'm highly disappointed in the information that we're being handed...
Where Do We Go From Here?
The book Gender, Race, and Class in Media and the video Merchants of Cool have one of several things in common - they offer no solutions to the problems we are presented with and leaves the audience with no recourse. Both go into great detail about well-known, obvious facts such as how five major corporations control everything we see and buy, that teenagers are an extremely profitable demographic, and that TV can control our spending habits. But what we never learn is how, as common everyday people, do we survive and thrive in a society that’s trying to shove “cool” down our throats twenty-four-seven.
What are we supposed to learn from all this information we are presented with? Most of the things that are pointed out are far out of our control. How do we take this information and use it to better our lives? Neither the book nor the video offer us any clues as to how to answer these questions. Just like the media they’re attempting to scorn, they too are exploiting their target audience. They are relying on our fear and paranoia to keep us engaged but doing nothing to help us solve the issues that are explained to unnecessary lengths.
In our conversations in class we’ve repeatedly touched on the issue of education versus action. These two sources are good examples of how there is a schism between the two. It is always extremely important for people to be well informed and educated on subjects that affect their everyday lives. But when they aren’t given the tools to properly react to the social problems presented to them their education reaches a wall.
