Psychological and Sociological Impacts of Madia on Personal Perception

By: Christine Forler
This media image causes the viewer to focus all their attention on the way the celebrities appear; this is because of the eye-catching phrase "who’s Hot and who’s Not?" The viewer immediately searches for shocking images of celebrities looking unlike they do in photo chutes. Comparing themselves to negative images cause the viewer to feel better about their own body image; However, at the same time the viewer subconsciously gathers that if they do not look like the so called "Hot" image then they are most certainly "Not."
Psychologically, viewers are aware that they possess rationale that can interpret media and pick out the negative messages. Viewers are also aware that they should be cautiously aware of media adds that cause negative self esteem. But what happens when the subconscious is consistently bombarded with thousands of negative messages based on negative self image, every single day? The human mind can not maintain a constant state of alert, in order to interpret a constant flow of negative messages.
The impact of the media on our personal perception is gradual degradation. With every negative media message that a viewer buys into, their resistance weakens and the subconscious becomes trained to blindly seek and buy into these massages, without hesitation.
Karl Marx’s theory of class conflict can help explain why there is far more negative media than positive, or why negative media continues to grow and grow while knowledge to analyze falls by the wayside. Marx’s theory explains that the driving force behind society is the struggle for power and wealth. In terms of media’s influence, the power is in the constant bombardment of negative media adds and the wealth behind celebrities is what is able to influence the media’s content. So as long as there are powerful people to lead these negative messages, viewers will continue to buy into them.
Until there are more people in the media willing to send a positive message based on body image, the ratio between negative and positive media will always sway towards the negative. The rich and powerful will continue to sell useless products and rake in the profit; all the while plummeting you and your children’s self esteem deep into obscurity. Are we really that powerless?