Media_Reaction_Paper

Media Reaction Paper SOC/315 Media Reaction Paper The media plays a vital role in today’s society. A lot of people watch countless hours of television, read a lot of books, magazines, and read the newspaper on a day to ay basis. Depending on the message of the article of the newspapers read or the television watched one will form their own opinion from their beliefs and customs from their personal lives. The definition of diversity is the unique differences and similarities that people from different ethic backgrounds bring to a country, city, or neighborhood. Diversity means more than just acknowledging and/or tolerating difference. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences.  Those differences can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. Diversity is a set of conscious practices that involve the understanding and appreciating interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural environment. Diversity means that each and every single of us is different and unique. Who we see, hear, and read on television, radio, newspapers, and in movies has a great deal of influence on shaping the attitudes of all Americans. True Blood is an HBO original that is set in Louisiana at a time where vampires existed and many other things humans thought did not. Thanks to a Japanese scientist's invention of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. While humans have been safely removed from the menu, many remain apprehensive about these creatures "coming out of the coffin." Religious leaders and government officials around the world have chosen their sides, but in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, the jury is still out. Local waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), however, knows how it feels to be an outcast. "Cursed" with the ability to listen in on people's thoughts, she's also open-minded about the integration of vampires — particularly when it comes to Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old living up the road. True Blood is a Southern, absurdist, gothic, civil rights horror show where folks acknowledge that vampires exist; they just don't want them moving into their neighborhood. The show put a twisted and tedious subplot about vampires campaigning on TV for antidiscrimination laws and from our history we know that integration hasn't been easy in America. The vampires are having it tough despite a newfound subset of people interested in sex with vampires and rogues trying to "drain" vampires of their blood to resell on the market (it’s somewhat like a hallucinogenic drug); but most people have no interest in being around them. (www.hbo.com/trueblood/) Although “True Blood” is not reality it hits on many cultural differences that exist today. Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behavior and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Stereotypes have existed since the beginning of time in our everyday life through religion, politics and the media. Humans have the tendency to "use stereotypes in their humor, their descriptions of others, and even in their beliefs." One may believe it is possible to get rid of such habits; however if one looked at the regular promotions of propaganda, it would make this objective impossible. Stereotypes are generalizations, or assumptions that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image about what people in that group are like.  We live in a world of technological innovation where mass media is a major part of us today. People make assumptions on what they hear. They do not try to analyze the situation to see who is right and who is wrong, and mass media is the main source of manipulating one's mind. These ideas create negative or positive images in the intended audience's minds. However, it is notable that the information is only the one that is exemplified through media and therefore, can be wrong or changed from what reality is. I believe that the selected movie does influence the part of society that can afford to pay to see these types of shows. The series depict many different cultural aspects to show how society views their behaviors and norms. Although this show is not reality the events and way individuals interact in society shows how ethnocentrism and relativism is used to discriminate and separate certain groups from others because of their differences. References: True Blood retrieved January 12, 2009 from www.hbo.com/trueblood/