The Media made me do it.

I hate the "Media".

I hate it because it is great at what it does. It is pervasive. It is ubiquitous. And worst of all, it affects every single one of us, even those of us who think that it does is not. It affect everyone who has access to Media, be it books, television, the internet, posters, text messages or even smoke signals.

Before I began my foray into Media Studies, I wasn't as aware of the media mechanism as I am now. At this point, I can trace back the roots of several of my own personal traits. For instance, my cleverness can be attributed to two things: my genes and the Animaniacs. Everyone (give or take a few) in my family is sharp and witty. Maybe that's what drew me to the Animaniacs in the first place. But I know that from the time that I first heard Yakko say "Good night, everybody" after Beethoven told him that he was a pianist (obviously because it sounded like another non-children's show word), I was hooked. Since then, I've used comedy and sharpness more than I ever did.

Down to this day, I genuinely believe that many of us watch things and listen to things that we think do no affect us, but have a direct or indirect correlation to what we eventually think and do. For us to think that these things do not, is pure folly. If knowing something is not real is all it took not to be affected, then there would be no advertising industry. But billions are spent on this every year.

America's next top model is chauvinistic garbage, but women and men watch it all the time. Why? Mainstream music is pretty woeful, but people listen to it anyway. Why? Lady Gaga is the most popular artist right now. Why? Most rappers degrade women and minorities, but are extremely popular. Why? 80+% of the Media pumped to us on a daily basis are controlled by 12 companies. Why? Do we mold our media or did the media make us?

The Media is exceptional at what it does. It is perpetually and consistently molding our minds and conditioning us. We need to break the mold. We need to stop being the puppets of the commercial world. We need to produce things that do more than pander to base desires, but elevates our existence. And THAT is precisely why I chose to take Media Studies.

I hate the "Media".

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