Media is influential, strong and a major shaper of society and its behavior in modern times. More so today than it ever was due to society’s huge exposure to mass media such as television, movies, print media, Internet and gaming. Never before in the history of mankind we have been so exposed and vulnerable to outside influence from around the globe than we are today. It is a major driving force in job creation,  access to swift and easy information, availability of resources, speedy reporting on rising crime rate, information on political and economic unrest and  awareness on rising crime rate against women. It has touched each and every aspect of our political, cultural, social and economic life. It has affected the society both positively and negatively and with the advancements in technology the influence of mass media on people’s sensibilities and conduct has been enormous and at times critical.

Subsequently, this unprecedented breakthrough in technology and arrival of internet as well as mobile devices have brought unimaginable access to every single information conceivable within seconds or even less.  Today the information, news, fashion trends, crime reports, economic and political revolution and political movements reach millions in few seconds via Internet and television. This phenomenon has empowered us in such a way that today the entire universe is on our palm and at our fingertips. This is no small achievement for the mankind. However, it does come with a price. Earlier television used to be the only source of home entertainment along with the radio, but now in addition to television sets we have laptops, iPads, smart phones and gaming consoles. We are not only constantly exposed to media through these devices but also carry the contents of the everyday news and so called entertainment with us wherever we go whether it’s work, shopping or while socializing with family and friends.

With the onset of this Information Age we are more informed about the world in the current scenario, different places and people from all over the world than we had been before and therefore are in this constant information cycle which keeps feeding our mental sensibilities throughout the day. Pointedly, the good thing is that we have the ease and access to  all the information of the world at our disposal, but at the same time we are at a risk of consuming and processing too much information about anything and everything that we don’t require and that is where the contention of the matter lies. The image of the world, lifestyle and living in general that media has created in the minds of people is more confounding and damaging than we could ever fathom. There are number of images that media portrays could be utterly disturbing and objectionable for some people and that is where constructive  debate is needed in order to evaluate the current media influence on the people and the future that lies ahead.

Negative influence of mass media:

Objectification of female body and commodification of the entire female gender through mass media is mostly demeaning and derogatory. Women have been relegated to mere objects of desire and titillation by the mass media and thus women in general suffer a huge deal due to this typification. In most of the shows and movies the female gender have been subjected to show more skin than their male counterparts, which sometimes the show does not require at all. Notably, if the show is more substance based and has strong and interesting storyline, there would hardly be any need of nudity and unnecessary skin show. However, despite this reality, somehow the movie producers and show makers find ways to insert unnecessary scenes that are more toward skin show than substance.

Glorification of absurdity in the name of real entertainment and addiction of masses to cheap and crass reality shows such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and many more like that across the globe creates an attitude of nonsensical absurdity in such a way that it starts appearing normal to many, who wouldn’t mind emulating those characters and personalities without having the support system around them the way these personalities have. Many young people get attracted to the glitz and glamour of the celebrity lifestyles which media magnifies manifold, follow the lifestyle of these celebrities and end up being broke, and disheveled. Therefore, the glorification of celebrities and the glamour around them by media is quite damaging to young people who otherwise would have been having a promising education and the life afterwards. It’s a major cause of distress and misery among young people. 

Most of the programs are designed to increase the TRP and therefore lack substance. The contents are shallow and of lower sensibilities which does not help any class of the society but the corporations who own the channels and make money out of people’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities. By airing out of wits reality shows which does not enlighten anybody but rather wastes people’s more productive time is no laughing matter. The corporations and the stars are the only winners in this business, who laugh their way to the banks and viewers just end up being losers and nothing more. Reality shows are basically feeding other people’s trash into the minds of viewers who get addicted because of the mere absurdity and crassness of the show and not because there is any takeaways for the viewers. Most of these reality shows are trashy and unsophisticated and in no way have the capacity to make people more aware or knowledgeable. The time that otherwise would have been used on wellness and health or any other constructive pursuit just goes out of the window for the consumption of other people’s trash. 

Mass media does not talk any more about good conduct or good living but rather about breaking the convention in the name of freedom and liberty. Also, there is little emphasis on creating descent characters and personalities through various programming. Today, most of the characters are twisted, flawed and divergent and not at all  good examples for the society. In today’s world, weird is wonderful and media does not only promote but captures the attention of people in such a way that at times these flawed characters appear most reliable and right examples to follow. Youth of today find it fashionable to emulate the  characters celebrated by the shows. In my opinion media should act like a pillar of the society in order to build the culture and path for excellence and good citizenry rather than as a medium of creating a mediocre, out of touch and ambivalent class of citizens who act out of impulse and not out of consciousness.

Violence in movies, television shows and digital media has been one of the most significant causes of rising violent behaviors and emergence of copycat crimes throughout the world. The influence of violence on the young and impressionable minds can no longer be underplayed or brushed aside. According to various studies media’s violent portrayal does not make everybody criminal but certifies those who have deviant or criminal tendencies. It burnishes their perception of the crime and deviant tendencies which sometimes can lead to unconventional crimes and behaviors. Furthermore, it creates and makes way for those who had already intended to commit some or the other kind of crime. In this whole affair media, acts as a catalyst. Perhaps, in the absence of violent contents the crime would have been less severe if had not disappeared altogether. Gaming industry is another reason for the  rise in mental and emotional disturbances among children and young adults. Modern games are violent and are therefore dangerous for the kids if they spend multiple hours on those games and remain unsupervised.

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There are so many examples of crimes committed by people absolutely motivated by the movies, television shows and the video games.

A movie theater massacre in Arizona was motivated by the movie Dark Knight Returns and the killer confessed that he was portraying as joker, a lead antagonist of that movie. A thirteen year old kid went on a biting spree in Iowa, only because he was obsessed with the movie twilight saga. Some believe that columbine high school shootings were inspired by basketball diaries, and video games like doom and mortal combat. Movies like natural born killers have also inspired many copycat serial killings. Inspired by the movie Scream, a Belgian man dressed in the signature robe and the mask stabbed and killed a young girl after she rejected his romantic advances. There are movies like Matrix, taxi driver and so on which have also played their parts in inciting criminal tendencies in some individuals. However it’s worth noting that most of us go uninfluenced by those violent scenes but some don’t and thus the influence of violence through media on people cannot be nullified or underplayed.

Internet is the prime source of all the materials which otherwise would not have been accessible to many especially young and impressionable. All kinds of contents adult and otherwise are readily available to all of us in few seconds and only with the help of few clicks. Internet and YouTube have no rating system for the programming and can therefore be easily accessed by underage and vulnerable children in the absence of parental supervision. In today’s age and time when both parents are working, many children are home alone on their own for extended periods of time and free to watch inappropriate contents, which could be quite damaging to their psychological health considering their age and inappropriateness of the content. For example a ten year old watching an adult content would lead to an enormous  mental and emotional distress to the child for the lack of better understanding of the content and it’s context. Certain contents and materials should be absolutely off limits for children and young adults as well as  mentally agitated people.

In this digital age the Internet is the major driving force in determining the way we consume entertainment. Children as young as two years old are addicted to mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets and laptops. This addiction is detrimental to their all-round physical and emotional health. It’s quite frustrating to see a child crying for their parent’s smartphones or tablets instead of crying for a doll or a toy car.  Most of the people are on social media and have this virtual world build around them which provides them with sense of security and friendship. However, this fake sense of belonging and friendship does not help in combating the real life issues whenever that occurs. It should also be pointed out that virtual world is not a real world and has affected people negatively in more than one way. There are numerous examples of sexual predators and pedophiles on the other end of the wire that if left unsupervised, adults as well as children are at grave risk of falling prey to those online offenders. Many young children get lured by those online predators which in many cases often result into serious crimes against these children who meet those online predators clandestinely.

Familial and social conversations are on its decline due to invasion of all sorts of devices and gadgets which people can fall back upon even if they don’t have real people to interact with. Nowadays, people connect with people virtually through text messages and social media. Earlier, people would meet and greet in real situations and gatherings, but not anymore. It should be pointed out that decline of real life social interactions are the  prime cause of many emotional and mental issues that so many people are grappling with these days. Real life feelings and emotions cannot be experienced through virtual world. Real feelings do require real life situations and real people. It is ridiculous to expect the same experience and feelings in the virtual world.

Media’s portrayal of crime against women is more than demeaning. The victims not only relive their trauma, but also become a subject of conflicting scrutiny by the society innumerable times. The media’s attempt to increase the viewership by repeating the news many times, undoubtedly incises the already brutalized victim many times over. It also acts as a stimulant to people who have these criminal inclinations thus endangering the women in general. Movies certainly influence the behavior of the masses and if there is huge portrayal of violence in them, it does incite the latent criminal psyche. Pointedly, if good examples teach us good things the bad example also have the capacity to show us ways to behave and act badly. Furthermore, most of the crimes against women are reported in more juicer way and with all the graphic details just to increase the viewership in some programs if not all. This trend is an insult to all the women and also a reflection of a society which prides and feeds on the misery of others.

Seemingly, in this Information Age the exposure to violence, crime, nudity, absurdity and stupidity through mass media has gone above and beyond our imagination. Media is not evil on its own and does come with some good points, such as speedy information, new trends, markets and stocks and economic and political information. However, the philosophical and moral aspect of everyday life and its portrayal by media is somewhat on its rapid decline. In the name of freedom and liberty, the mass media keeps us well fed with the imagery and sounds that in no circumstance would be considered appropriate for our mental and emotional health. It’s obvious that we try to imitate the people and things that we see around us. So just to reject this idea that media has little or no influence on our behavior pattern is absurd. According to a study on an average we spend four to five hours on television and social media and consume the very best and worst of it.  Absurdity and nudity have many takers in this digital age and would lure young and old alike, but how much is too much has to be defined. In the name of entertainment we just cannot go on creating violent contents, low grade reality shows and programs which unnecessarily portray women in nude and in bad taste. There has to be a point where, we just need to stop and process the entire juggernaut in order to create a balance between good media and bad media. Media’s role should change from being predatorial to philosophical with an intent of delivering good, just and honest information to the masses. The emphasis has to be on the creation and production of quality entertainment which could pave way for good takeaways rather than bad. It’s a serious issue and cannot be just brushed aside the way we have been successfully able to sweep many more issues under the carpet in the name of free speech. If media continues on its current trajectory unabated  and unfettered, it surely would be creating a society of intellectual bankrupts, who would be more of a burden and threat to the society and less of  a productive and creative entity that they were expected to be. The way today’s youth are exposed to violence and obscenity is not surprising. Most of the crimes portrayed by mass media be it movies, television shows, internet and print media, directly or indirectly influence our thought patterns and lifestyle. Watching violent contents surely does not make everybody violent but it does create an environment for the criminally inclined to get ideas and execute it as and when the situation permits.

Conclusively, I am surely not advocating moral policing but have the intention to criticize the current movie making, programming and shows, which do not appeal to a sensibility like mine and therefore I wonder if violence and nudity is the only way to appeal to people? If that was the case, then movies such as, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Jurassic park, It happened one night, Titanic, My Fair lady, and many similar and wonderful movies in different languages would not have been mega blockbusters. The entire debate is about drawing a line between decent and tasteful portrayal of characters rather than cheap, vulgar and violent depiction of the same. Once that fine line is defined, described and acknowledged the entire debate would be more productive and creative and would have an universal appeal to people’s sensibilities. Whether, we agree or not but Media does carry this burden because of its reach and influence, and therefore should play a much bigger, productive, creative and sophisticated role going forward. Sublime is not what is needed but ridiculous is not an option for the media and the society.