Media Effects

Jenkins article was very interesting. It showed us how as viewers (of media) we tend to focus on one part of media and accuse it of being the only influence of our children's imagination. Why is it that as people, we tend to make accusations of people base on how they look? What are the media influences that people are inspire by and how does it affect them.

In Jenkins reading, he mentions that we shouldn't judge our children but rather learn to understand them. Just because someone wears a certain attire, or listens to a specific genre of music, that SHOULD NOT identify who the person is, as a whole.  In Paradise Lost, a man was accusing a student of committing a under simply because he was wearing black attire, while listening to music that talked about "taking blood". What stood out for me was when the man was at court and was actually trying to blame the violence on witchcraft, attire etc without having actual examples to show.

In Bowling for Columbine, we actually get to see an interview with Marilyn Manson and what was his thoughts. "Media wants people to fear ....because your being pumped with fear and consumption. Keep everyone afraid and they will consume." This is a man who plays music and yet, he gets the blame for being a "bad influence" to children. He gets to express who he is and yet, media has put in people's mind that he is to be feared of. The fact that Marilyn Manson spoke out really struck me, in a good way. It is a reminder to all that we shouldn't judge people. He knows what the media is doing, and informs the viewers that he is not to blame.

I think Jenkins would have been happy with the way that Manson responded. Not just for him, but for those who follow his music as well. Those people should not be getting all the credit for committing crimes and gun violence. We should also put a) the environment that a person grew up in b) the personality of  a person and c) a person's experience into consideration when 'debating on who to blame for influencing people towards violence'.