Oliver Queen

Have you ever clicked on your TV to find yourself staring blankly for hours upon hours without a single recompense of the media you’ve mindlessly consumed; questioning what you’re doing with your life? Occasionally beating yourself up when you realize you’ve just become victim to the trap known as mainstream media. Finding yourself asking how all that time went down the drain.

In Steven Johnson's persuasive essay “Watching Tv Makes You Smarter,” he defies what our culture teaches us about television. Our society teaches that television is making our youth “dumb” and that our culture enjoys the “simple pleasures” so that is what the media companies are feeding us with. But, Johnson states that based on what the show “24” suggests, the “exact opposite is happening: the culture is getting more cognitively demanding, not less” (1). The growing interest of TV programs with complex mental faculties involves three primary elements: multiple threading, flashing arrows and social networks (2).

This model serves to illustrate that media “is an integral part of the continuous process of cultural production and reproduction that characterizes everyday life.” (Steele, 556) This means that the media serves to shape values, as well as reinforce existing values and meaning that individuals attribute to their everyday

Television has been keeping me entertained for as long as I can remember. I have always been a big fan of watching television such as shows, movies, and especially sports. For movies and shows, I love how it forces me to make me use my imagination even though in the back of my mind I know that everything that’s happening is completely fake. It’s caused me to think deeper about things I never thought I would think about, and given me a lot of great memories. Even though television has been a very positive part of my life, there has also been some downside to it as well. Television has affected me in a negative way because it paints a picture reality that sort of tricked me into thinking it was true. When I was younger I was extremely gullible and easily influenced and really wanted to be able to live like some of the characters that I saw on the screen. An example was in about 7th grade I started watching this hilarious show called How I Met Your Mother. My parents refused to let me watch it but I would always find a way to watch it on my laptop without them knowing. There was this character name Barney Stinson who I really admired and was determined to be like when I grew up. In the show he was rich, well dressed, ladies man who seemed to have everything going for him. He was a total hound dog in the show who expressed the joy of constantly going to bars, sleeping with random women, and then never calling

In fact, Media tells you what is important in life and influences the choices we make daily. Instead of coming up with our own creative ways to dress, live, act, talk etc, "We try to keep up with (or ahead of) the Joneses. " People feel compelled to buy or consume, and are only briefly satisfied by the things they have right now. As soon as people see someone else with something new or a new invention is created they jump right on the following train to go get whatever it may be so that they are up to date. Media determines your perception of life and Perspective goes a long way in building confidence to pursue challenges, make steps towards big dreams, and enjoy the little gifts in

    As previously stated, the Cultivation Theory is the belief that prolonged exposure to the media will condition your thinking. To be specific, repeatedly seeing something (or the lack thereof) on TV or in movies affects the way you view the world around you. According to “Living With Television: The Violence Profile”, “All societies have evolved ways of explaining the world to themselves and to their children. Socially constructed ‘reality’ gives a coherent picture of what exists, what is important, what is related to what, and what is right.” (Gerbner). This quote relates to the idea of media representation by implying that what is shown on the media is portrayed in such a way that makes the consumer believe it is reality. As an example, if the media portrays homosexuals as sassy and bossy, it will be done repeatedly until that single idea becomes a ‘reality’. The media also uses this tactic in reverse, which is called symbolic annihilation. This concept says that lack of representation in the media equates to lack of existence in society. The less you are seen in the media, the more you are deemed imaginary and will be treated as such.

Cultivation Theory was developed by George Gerbner, and it speculated that the longer people watched television, “the more likely their conceptions of reality will reflect what they see on television” (Lett et al., 2004, p. 40). This way of thinking emerged when television gained popularity during its younger years, and people started investigating the long-term effects of watching television.

The main claim is that television is beneficial on a more social level. By following the intricate storylines, television viewers are able to learn how to decipher social cues, while honing analytical skills in order to keep track of what’s happening. The cognitive labor of television, according to Johnson, is why it’s so alluring for the viewer. The mental progression of society is marked in the complexity of the shows we watch. An example given is the difference between I Love Lucy and Friends. The former is all about short, uncomplicated humor, while the latter calls on the necessity for rapid informational recall. Old fashioned comedies relay their jokes within the span of thirty seconds, whereas modern comedies are a series of inside jokes within the show, illusions to other things, pop culture references, as we as puns and sarcasm. The social complexities change with the mental level of the viewers. Television is all about collateral learning, rather than the actual content of the program; much like gaming. We have to trach quick time happenings, social connections, and other such important ideals that we need to have a handle on to operate smoothly in social situations. Johnson is suggesting that not only does television watching progress our mental prowess, it benefits our social conduct and understanding as

One's view of the world is formed through life experiences and interactions within social institutions of which media plays a central role. People begin to shape their own ideas by learning about the world through media. The ability to manipulate what

Mexico has resulted in recent years as one of the most promising emerging economics nevertheless the downturn occurred in 2009 under the influence of the crisis in the United States. In 2010 the economy has restarted its growth trend, which according to the forecast will bring the Country among the elites of world economy. This short paper explains the fundamental factors determining Mexico economic growth using the PEST Analysis Framework. In particular it focus on how International Business activities has contributed to economic development of the Country, offering also an once-over on the main industry involved in this process.

Darrin Brown, Sharon Lauricella, Aziz Douai and Arshia Zaidi composed a study focusing on the uses and grats of the aforementioned genre as a means of better understanding the relationship between television and its audiences (Brown, Lauricella, Douai, Zaidi, 2000). Blumber and Katz’s theory on uses and gratifications suggest that audience’s choose to watch certain programs as it satisfies a particular need; in other words, people use a program to gratify or please themselves (Who Watches Crime Dramas and Why?, 2012). They identified four main uses and grats: entertainment and diversion, where there is an idea of escapism; surveillance and information, where people have an urge to become more knowledgeable in a particular area; personal identity, where there is a comparison between the characters and audience members; and finally, personal companionship, where audience’s become involved with characters as if they were real (Who Watches Crime Dramas and Why?, 2012). The uses and Gratification theory assumes that audiences use mass media as an outlet for satisfying certain needs and desires (Brown, et. al, 2000). According to another group of scholars, the gratification individuals get when using such media are both social and psychological in nature (Brown, et. al, 2000). In

Last Tuesday, I attempted to unplug myself from the world of media and see how it affected my everyday life. After trying to disconnect myself from everything that involves media, I realized how much I rely on it to get me through each day. I was never this aware of its presence in today’s society until disconnecting myself. Without media to rely on, I found myself having to readjust my whole normal routine just to get through the day.

Gerbner’s cultivation theory states that television has become the main source of storytelling in today's

Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is saturated with the evil of men (and women) who seek to destroy the purest of things—the innocence of a child. The majority of the characters in this novel are driven by greed, power (over the less fortunate) and pure evil—non-more so than Mister Bumble, the cruel, pompous old beadle of the poorhouse where Oliver is raised, and Fagin, a “loathsome reptile” of a man. While each of these men will succumb to some level of depravity, as will the other characters, young Oliver Twist does not. Against all odds, Oliver is the only one who remains untainted by the evil that surrounds him all times. Despite the heartbreaking revelation of his parents’ demise, dealing with the loss of them both, the ill treatment he receives on a daily basis, existing in a world completely void of light and permeating with corruption, Oliver never adopts the pervasive nature of those around him. The infestation, which eventually consumes all those around him, is something that Oliver Twist was able to avoid due to his purity of self.

Because media is such a regular and consistent part of my life, its impacts did not immediately stand out to me. Media’s influence on important moments of my life was substantial though, a key example being how I met my current best friends. It is first useful to note that being exposed to fictional novels when I was younger, such as Harry Potter and Magic Tree House, led to my love for reading and consequently my joining of the