“Ideologies and Power” by Branston and Stafford describes how power in society determines what values and ideas are “universal.” According to our society, there are certain things we should believe and particular goals we should have. The Marxist perspective is that the dominant ideas of society are developed in the best interest of the upper class who wields the power, disregarding the input from the working class. According to pluralism, the ideas and values found in media are not controlled by political or social power, but they reflect the views of the majority.
A dominant idea in our society is that we should have new gadgets. There are tons of commercials for iPods, Blackberrys, and other gadgets or accessories. The persuasion goes beyond television or the internet when I see someone using one of these and I notice it.
Even though I don’t actually think to myself, “This is materialistic,” I often find myself wishing I had a more expensive cell phone, for example. No matter what phone I had, I would still do the same things I do now (call some people, text a few times a day), but it doesn’t stop me from wishing for something different. We probably never stop to think that these thoughts are encouraged by the influential people in our society who are affected by how much money Americans keep spending.
A dominant idea in our society is that we should have new gadgets. There are tons of commercials for iPods, Blackberrys, and other gadgets or accessories. The persuasion goes beyond television or the internet when I see someone using one of these and I notice it.
Even though I don’t actually think to myself, “This is materialistic,” I often find myself wishing I had a more expensive cell phone, for example. No matter what phone I had, I would still do the same things I do now (call some people, text a few times a day), but it doesn’t stop me from wishing for something different. We probably never stop to think that these thoughts are encouraged by the influential people in our society who are affected by how much money Americans keep spending.
1 comment:
Yes! "Having gadgets" is, I think, just one 21st century aspect of the larger hegemony of mass consumption. It's incredibly compelling because the gadgets always seem to improve so quickly--much more quickly than our actual "need" for them increases.
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