Media and Social Problems

                 On our last class we watched two documentaries: Bowling for Columbine and Paradise Lost: The Robin Hood Hills Murders. On both documentaries media was treated as supporting evidence to murder case.  Both documentaries show people base their sides upon the suspects’ likes and dislikes. For instance, because he dressed all in black, long hair and read witch related books suggest to people he is capable of murdering someone. On Bowling for Columbine, however we see it more explicitly how the suspect’s music preference –Metallica & rock - is used trivially.  We have the example of the Marilyn Manson band and their song Fight Song. Because their lyrics are out of the usual, and mention: “fighting,” “cutting wrist ,”“ I’m not a slave to a God,” people think it brain washes kids into doing this. At the interview with Marilyn Manson, he poses an interesting question. Society blames him for what’s happening to the youth but what about the government and its weapon factories. In society exists the acceptable, normal and abnormal. The acceptable is a realm walked by those people in the higher economic rank, it almost as if they make their own rules as long as it doesn’t completely contradict the “normal.” The standards for normal are usually determined by the biggest group which in return becomes the popular group. Then we have the abnormal which goes against the normal and acceptable. Actually, I think the whole purpose of people like Manson is to be different to stand out from the normal not because they have different morals but rather different tastes of fashion. Yet many people like in the videos use media as a target to blame it for a persons actions. A song doesnt give a person a weapon, a song doesnt say kill X person and yet in the trial media becomes evidence even when there is no factual correlation.

Media Effects

Watching both films made me realize that media depicts people, in certain ways that make people judge others solely based on the way people choose to live their lives. I think that Professor Jenkins and Seiter would in fact like to dissect the reasoning behind why the boys In the documentary “Paradise lost” did in fact feel so angry and connected with that type of music and lifestyle, and why maybe people would think they did murder innocent people. Jenkins feels that young children are not influenced by the television shows per se, but they are however influenced by pressure to be accepted in certain social settings. I think that certain communities such as the one shown in the footage is a conservative Christian community and the social norm is, where everyone goes to church and does exactly the same thing everyone else does. So these boys were viewed as outcast solely based on how they dressed, what music they listened to and how they were perceived in the community, not being conservative Christians. Marilyn Manson was in the documentary, and clearly is stereotyped solely based on his appetence, and an ever changing society, people who are ignorant of something they do not understand fully are scared to understand or embrace something new or different from what they are used to. Seiter also had a good point in which she believed that exposing the kids to all kinds of different things including all types of media might be beneficial to them in the long run. I think in “Bowling for Columbine “ even the title just proves that yes, we can blame music, and “Goth “ or “Emo” culture on the terrible tragedy. Did people fail to realize that the environment they grew up in is a huge gun community? Have they realized that maybe the kids had that as a factor in their doings? I think environment and parenting and maybe mental illness should be a factor that should be examined more thoroughly before blaming the media at all.

The Effects of Media on Youth

Both Paradise Lost and Bowling for Columbine portray a very specific view of the media and the effects it has on American youth. As we discussed with the Jenkins reading, there is a big difference between causation and correlation. While the media may have had an effect on these horrible killings, it most definitely was not the single causing factor. As Jenkins mentions, people are very quick to blame the media for the issues in society such as violence. Using the same logic but reversing it to a positive effect shows just how ridiculous this is. For example, can you attribute an adult’s love of reading to their watching Arthur as a child, where there are constant mentions of the library and how cool it is? Or can you attribute an environmentalist’s beliefs to their watching Captain Planet as a child?  There are countless factors that could have affected the way these adults turned out, such as their home life, friends, and schooling. Similarly, there is no way Marilyn Manson or emo culture could be blamed for causing the death of three young children. While the music and look of emo culture may bring up concepts such as death, violence, anger and fear, it certainly doesn't encourage murdering children. But even if it did, people still have agency; it is up to the individual to decide what actions they should be taking. I think that Jenkins would take one look at the situation presented in Paradise Lost and roll his eyes at the lack of evidence to back up the claim that the media caused this tragedy. The footage in Bowling for Columbine brings up another usual suspect in the effects of violence on the youth- the presence of weapons in the community. How can the youth be surrounded by a community producing a significant portion of America’s atomic warfare, yet only the media is impacting their violent actions?  This just proves the point again that there can be many correlations between environment and violence without pointing at the media and claiming it is the single causing factor.  

The Effects of Media.

                  Paradise Lost and Bowling for Columbine exemplifies the direct effects the media plays on our lives. After watching excerpts from these documentaries, I believe Jenkins and Seiter would observe how the kids in Paradise Lost were labeled deviant for their hobbies and interest. The media reflects societies standard way of living and what we consider to be normal. We can see this by watching television shows and advertisements. Bowling for Columbine explains how the government manufacturers fear and is distilled by the media. The documentary also shows how the fear is built into our minds and shows how America has been the aggressor nation when it comes to conflicts and war. Jenkins and Seiter would tell us how this manufactured fear and influence from the media contributed to the massacre at Columbine and the kids being convicted in Paradise Lost.

                  What I found interesting about Paradise Lost was the statements made by the kids being convicted and the way the media portrayed them. If the media was absent during the trial; the whole case would have played out differently. Since there was heavy influence coming from the media, the scope and focus was on why the kids would commit these murders and what caused them to do it. The media focused on how they dressed and their hobbies; wearing black, listening to heavy rock and roll music, the Wicca religion, and Gothic activities. Since this was not the popular culture and considered abnormal behavior amongst our society, the media synchronized their way of life as the cause to their actions.  

                  The interesting part about Paradise Lost was how and what the media focused on. They outlined the News reports to certain statements made by the kids that was Newsworthy. "If it bleeds it leads", is a term mostly used to describe a story like this but it also relates to a large demographic on the scale of newsworthiness, not only the youth. Overall, the media was mirroring the characteristics of the mass.

                  Bowling for Columbine mocks the Government and also uses music to relate and show irony. Moore's  choice of music for the Beatles to "what a wonderful world", while showing the aggressive action America has taken on the world over the years. He examines how America has a higher rate of violence, especially with guns, compared to other nations with even higher rates of violent games, less restricted gun policies and Gothic groups. Yet, America still manages to has a higher violent crime percentage. He gives us insight and reason to question why this is occurring and what role the media is really playing in our society.     

Deadly Stereotypes & Scapegoats: Media Effects & The Anxieties Which Encompass & Distorts Pop Culture

The population's relationship with pop culture has not only been unhealthy, but incredibly dangerous. As seen in Ellen Seiter's essay Power Rangers at Preschool: Negotiating Media in Child Care Settings, the population is divided into two distinct groups: Group One has people who harbor anxieties and distrust towards television and pop culture, like Gloria Williams; and Group Two has people who utilize pop culture to their benefit (compatibility) and trusts television, illustrated by Sara Kitses. Of course, there are neutral parties between this War on Pop Culture who teeter on the tight rope which both groups have created in order to persuade the Neutral Group to their side. Nevertheless, Group One seems to demonstrate the most destructive and dangerous behavior in regards to their actions towards themselves and others, specifically providing injustice to their victims due to their bias and anxiety formerly known as their 'witch hunts.'

Group One's hatred and anxiet perpetuates the hostile environment in pop culture. With this said, the Gothic world has been the most attacked and ostracized social groups (excluding race) in pop culture, with singer Marilyn Manson as a prime example. In the documentary Bowling for Columbine, which documents the disturbing high school shooting of two seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who murdered twelve students and one teacher, while injuring twenty-four others, illustrates Group One's mob-mentality of scapegoating and finger-pointing pop culture than investigating crimes objectively. During the investigation of the shooting, the news media and Group One were quick to point their fingers towards the unique Gothic appearance and music of Marilyn Manson (he was one of the singers which Harris and Klebold listened to). As a result, Marilyn Manson became the scapegoat for the two shooters' crimes, instead of everyone's attention focusing on Harris and Klebold's life, specifically the intensity and quantity of being continuously bullied. Although getting bullied by others does not justify murder, the media and Group One could have utilized their time and energy by understanding the circumstances which pushed the two shooters into their killing spree, and attempt to prevent such atrocious actions in the future. Instead, Marilyn Manson's Gothic appearance and music were unjustly critiqued and blamed for persuading the shooters to create the Columbine shooting. This relates to Henry Jenkins' essay Mr. Jenkins Goes to Washington, where Jenkins was invited to the Senate to analyze and explain the correlation between video game violence and child violence. His words were unheard by the majority of the population of finger-pointers, yet he continues to show the population that pop culture does not control us. Furthermore, Jenkins relates to media coverage of Columbine because by the end of the day, true objective justice is not pursued because, as Jenkins expressed: "all the media wants to talk about is[...]violence."

Jenkins comments about the Gothic culture becoming unjustly attacked and the negative effects Group One had on the population in his essay: "Goth kids [were] harassed for wearing subcultural symbols and pushed into therapy. Kids [were] suspended for writing the wrong ideas in essays or raising them in class discussions. Kids [were] pushed off line by their parents. And I wanted to do something to help get the word out that this was going on." In this sense, Group One becomes the bully and the victims they accuse are bullied even further (yet Group One wonders why their victims snap and the vicious cycle of victim-blaming continues). Jenkins fits into Group Two which understands the benefits of pop culture and takes into account that the population is not a hoard of zombies who absorb and reenact all social media without intellectual decision-making. With this said, it is safe to assume Jenkins would have defended pop culture and would have attempted to explain that "the key issue isn't what the media [is] doing to our children but rather what our children are doing with the media." Furthermore, Seiter would also fit into Group Two through her insistence in following Sara Kitses' example, utilizing pop culture to our advantage and understand its benefits, than Gloria Williams who provided her students with a negative connotation towards television through her refusing to acknowledge pop culture and strictly regulated television (even though she recollects positive experiences of television in her childhood). Seiter also sheds light on the social hierarchy of class which is seen in the documentary Paradise Lost, which sheds light on the corrupted and bias trial towards the West Memphis Three (Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr, and Jason Baldwin) about three young children who were beaten, sexually assaulted, and murdered.

Echols, MissKelley, and Baldwin were victims of the Gothic stereotype by listening to metal music, dressing in black, believing in Wicca, and refusing to become the cookie-cutter individual our society wants us to become. What was moreso in their disadvantage was their low economic status. With little to defend themselves from Group One's anxiety and distrust towards the pop culture, as well as their desire to scapegoat others, the three young men were found guilty on killing the three children even though there was strong evidence which proved their innocence time and time again. The media effects were distorted by Group One by their bias. Evidence found by the police were "accidentally" discarded, actual witnesses were denied to speak during the trial by the judge, and even the case number was changed to "666" to increase the anxiety pop culture provides. Even during the trial, Damien Echols was questioned on why he changed his first name to Damien, the lawyer hinting at devil's child having the same name in "The Omen" (1976). Just like what Jenkins saw of individuals isolating twenty-seconds of the "Basketball Diaries" to emphasize their case of violence and create bias to the Neutral parties and others, the young men were attacked by Group One and the news media by the manipulation on pop culture as a prime persuader. This alone proves quite ironic due to their intense dislike for pop culture.

With all of this said, blaming pop culture for the actions of others not only discredits the perpetrator(s) but also ignores the emotional, physical, and psychological instability of the perpetrator(s). Because people of low economic status, such as the West Memphis Three, already have a negative stereotype surrounding them than if they belonged to a higher economic class. Thus, what Seiter properly discusses in her essay is how the children in lower-class areas need to use pop culture to their advantage and learn from it. Although television continues the lower class status since it is "cheap," being like Kitser by providing a safe environment for the children, an environment with no judgment towards the children, can help the children grow with little bias of others.

What stuck to me was the sheer bias, hatred, and animosity Group One continue to perpetuate towards Gothic culture. They took 'negative' Gothic stereotypes and distorted them in order to continue their circus in talking only of violence and censorship. Marilyn Manson was attacked for his appearance and was seen as "satanic" and a danger to children. The West Memphis Three were attacked and thrown in jail (Damien Echols on death row) because the individuals investigating the crime they were accused of were too focused on making the three young men murderers (because they were easy targets) than finding the actual murderer(s). Harris and Klebold were continuously bullied and harassed until they snapped and exacted 'revenge.' Yet these events could have easily been avoided if others listened to Group Two and analyzed the other variables which lead to the crimes and these witch hunts. These injustices and distortion of pop culture are exactly what needs to be addressed, yet others would rather censor everything and remind blind, bias, and uneducated. As Henry Jenkins tells us: "Listen to our children. Don't fear them." As a whole, we need to understand everyone's environment, what they are going through, and look through the manipulation of stereotypes and social media in order to provide proper justice and social improvement. If not, there will be more censorship as a result of deadly stereotypes and scapegoats -- and, like Damien Echols, Group One may attempt to end your life in order to enforce this unneeded witch hunt for censorship.

A Trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The films Paradise Lost and Bowling for Columbine both show how we consistently blame the media for negatively influencing our children, instead of thinking about what society has done to these troubled kids to cause them to want to be violent in the first place. People blame goth culture and angry music like Marilyn Manson for making kids angry, without understanding that it is more like the other way around: angry kids find solace in music that is equally fed up. But I think what I find most interesting about this whole discussion is Henry Jenkins' point that we as a society are afraid of our children, due to their culture being different than our own.
At first I found this concept hard to understand, but a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame changed all of that. This weekend I attended a wedding in Cleveland Ohio and decided to stop by the museum before the wedding. Besides depicting the origins of Rock and Roll and the direction it has taken more recently, it also had an entire section dedicated to the initial backlash against rock and roll when it began. Several monitors depicted experts, much like those in the films we watched, speaking against the negative influence of rock and roll and how things like the beat would lead the children to satanism. I was shocked. I never realized that Elvis was almost as controversial in his day as Marilyn Manson is in ours. The generation that grew up listening to rock music that their parents railed against is the same generation railing against goth culture now. But it only highlights the fact that, as Jenkins pointed out, it is not the content of teen culture itself that scares society, but the fact that it is different than their own.