Essay Example on Mass media has the power to suggests how consumers Think

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Mass media has the power to suggests how consumers think what they do and what they believe Most of the information consumers are fed is cherry picked to benefit the media itself Two media forms that adequately represent this issue are the book Fahrenheit 451 and the movie The Truman Show Between author Ray Bradbury s dystopian world of Fahrenheit 451 and Truman Burbank's perfect world within the movie both medias expose the power of manipulation mass media holds over it s audience and the negative aspects that go along with this The society of Fahrenheit 451 is constantly surrounded by an endless stream of media with the sole purpose of distracting people from the real issues of the world The endless stream of media leaking through television radio billboards and parlor walls numbed the citizens and brainwashed them into compliance with the governments ideals The people were pounded into submission They did not run there was no place to run Bradbury 75 The book presents the issue of a society constantly exposed to controlling media which in turn prevents them from caring about major issues This is how mass manipulation thrives The lives of those within Fahrenheit 451 are censored and controlled by the will of the government through the manipulation of mass media

Most characters in Bradbury's novel are addicted to media in one form or another The media they consume stimulates the senses and fills important space in their heads with distractions These media distractions create the illusion of happiness and fulfillment The novel portrays mass media as a tool used to obscure reality and interfere with the characters ability to think about their lives and societal issues as they become mindless consumers of the government's propaganda Much like the mind numbing media massively consumed within Fahrenheit 451 the media of The Truman Show is shown to be very emotionally important to people in the film This is shown to be an obsession to an unhealthy extent for many There are shown to be people who watch Truman Burbank s media constructed life for hours on end with entire bars dedicated to the viewing of this show The Truman Show is represented as escapism for many viewers as they mindlessly consume the media that is Truman and become intensely involved in the show The consumers unhealthy media obsession grant the producers of Truman's life the ability to get away with moral injustices manipulating Truman and those watching him through advertising and propaganda This greatly mirrors the society of Fahrenheit 451 as both societies allow the media to manipulate how and what they see and feel The Truman Show tells of the media's ability to exert power and control over people without us even knowing 



This is seen strongly in the beginning of the movie when Truman has yet to discover that his life is a media construct This mirrors reality albite a slightly extreme version of it Today's society is practically just as controlled by mass media as Truman s and even those of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 Many societal opinions are directly influenced by media reporting as there are many news reports especially political ones which have been edited so that society is being fed the media's agenda instead of facts While Truman s viewers are fed lines of advertising and propaganda those of Fahrenheit 451 are told lies of 48 hour wars to prevent worry from surfacing I m not worried I ll let old Pete do all the worrying Not me I m not worried I ve never known any dead man killed in a war Killed jumping off buildings yes like Gloria s husband last week but from wars No Bradbury 91 These ideas presented through mass media are viewed as fact as citizens are fed a never ending flow of information not allowing them space to think Bradbury presents this issue as the government s and media s ability to get consumers to think or do whatever they want by using the media to manipulate mass thinking This is also seen when the main character Montag is running as the television manipulates consumers into believing he is criminal The characters respond by unquestioningly accepting and mindlessly listening to the report and looking outside of their houses for Montag The main message between Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show is shining a light on the fact that the media manipulation in these fictional worlds is not far off from reality

We as a society are constantly confronted by a producer s outlook from carefully edited reality TV shows to the advertisements that surround us daily Media content creators have the ability to decide what we see which in turn shapes our viewpoints and ideals Public attitudes are regularly influenced by some form of media platform in which fabrications are portrayed as fact The Truman Show and Fahrenheit 451 presents the intrusiveness of the media along with its power over its consumers Modern day media has entered consumers lives to such a large extent that people's lives are under constant influence Much like Fahrenheit 451 we are subjected to all sorts of advertisements daily as large conglomerates attempt to persuade the way we see ourselves and their product This too is seen in The Truman Show in which Truman's life is planned down to the not so subtle product placements in order to attract as many viewers as possible Through manipulating all aspects in Truman's life the producers manage to get and keep the attention of consumers to an unhealthy extreme


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