I have always seen programs on television emulating high schooler and college students lives and thought "that is not how it really is in high school and college." People do not look like Gods and Goddesses every day in school, or have this huge perfect house which always seems to be empty, or throw massive parties where big breasted women end up duking it out in a swimming pool filled with jello, mud, or some other weird substance. That is just not how really life is (at least in most cases).
After watching the video I became intrigued with the idea of the feedback loop. I had never thought about the fact that the media companies study teenagers to portray them on television, to just have teenagers try to emulate what they see on TV. The question as to whether teenagers have a culture that is just their own left is a very valid question. With all the advertising for clothes, music, technology, "coolness" it is no wonder there is nothing unique left out there. Everyone wants to be cool and cool is currently being mass produced. I don't think teenagers have their own culture anymore. I think it was completely taken over by the media and is now being sold to teenagers for a price; that is their new culture and most of them do not even realize that it is happening.
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I completely agree with what you said here about teenagers' culture being taken over by the media and sold back to them. I see this a lot with my little sister and her friends (they're about 15 years old). They constantly profess their individuality, yet my sister will correct the way I speak sometimes by saying something like "that's not cool Alli; you just can't say things like that". When I asked her why once, her resonse was "because, that's just not what people DO". She is reinforcing what she THINKS a teenager should act like, but the media is what makes her think that way - and she doesn't even realize it.
ReplyDeleteAre there kids in the demographic that escape the feedback loop? I know that during the time of this video I definitely didn't. Maybe I felt like I had control over what I liked and what I didn't like, but now looking back, I don't really think that I did.
ReplyDeleteRight now I think that being uncool is cool. Which is scary. How do we avoid being labeled and targeted? Is it unavoidable?