Advertising: GoPro

            Mass Communication and the Media have both evolved from the modern era all the way to the digital age. Recently, the majority of information we receive, is received through different forms of broadcasting. For example, the news stations that broadcast the information we receive, are broadcasted on TV. We also get this information from the internet as well. Information is rarely attained from the TV any longer. However, the TV is kept alive today because of entertainment and TV shows. While watching these shows, companies pay for commercial breaks. The breaks allow companies to show off their products as a way of advertising. According to Merriam-Webster, advertising is the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements (Merriam-webster.com, 2014). With that being said, commercials draw the attention of potential consumers in hopes of enticing them to buy certain products. Advertisement is a growing business in Mass Media, and without it, people would be less informed, therefore causing a decline in sales for certain products.

A sample ad during World War II

           

Early developments in American advertising have been dated back even before 3000 B.C.E. Researchers claim that early Egyptians carved stones and wood in hopes that others would see their stores. Before the Industrial Revolution, 90 percent of Americans lived in isolated areas and they produced most of their own tools clothes and foods (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2014). Advertising was minimal back then, but began to expand after the 1800s. During the Great depression, World War II brought on a sudden rejuvenation in advertising (Campbell, Martin and Fabos, 2014). In the 2000s, advertising merged into online marketing. YouTube is a prime source, and a perfect example, of advertising products via ads and videos. According to Fastcompany.com, GoPro is the number one most innovative company in Advertising and 39^th most innovative company as of 2014.

GoPro Offical Logo

 

Nick Woodman, CEO

GoPro is a company specializing in motion picture cameras. GoPro is believed to be the World’s Most Versatile camera. DL Cade, A writer for Petalpixel.com states that, “The very first GoPro was sold by company founder and CEO Nick Woodman from his van, back in 2004; this first form of GoPro took 35mm film (PetaPixel, 2014). Fast forwarding 9 years to now, Woodman is a billionaire whose creation is officially the best-selling camera in the entire world” (PetaPixel, 2013). Even with the company being such a success, everyone has their own faults.  In a recent interview with BloombergTV, Woodman announced his biggest fear as being CEO, “We as a team don’t realize our full potential or even worse neglect it” (Bloomberg, 2014). GoPro is well known for “The Doggy Dash” video. The video places a huge emphasis on the innovative technology of the camera, which includes perfect resolutions and qualities. Most of the videos advertised show a first-person point of view.

         

The Weeknd and GoPro HD HERO+3

 

A very effective, and also very common source of promotion is through celebrities. Celebrities with a large fan base are perfect candidates for advertisement. When they’re promoting products, many viewers are fans, and they can be convinced into getting certain products. The Weeknd is a rapper that teamed up with GoPro to help promote his tour. Every scene in his videos is shot with the GoPro HD HERO+3 camera. Both the Weeknd and GoPro mutually benefit by introducing their products/events to the YouTube community, which can be seen worldwide.

 

            

"The Domino Effect"

         Advertising is a major business industry when it comes to Mass Communication in a digital age. Companies like GoPro make their living by selling and convincing potential consumers to invest, and buy into their company. Although they may struggle, day by day, companies become more and more successful. Advertising has now given opportunities to every company to sell their products. On the other hand, there are other sources that believe that advertising has more cons than pros. However, without advertising, the business world would not be what it is today. Companies would be producing products but consumers would not be informed well enough to know of these products. This domino effect would ultimately lead to an unruly crash in the economy. Although it isn’t exactly fun to have your favorite TV show interrupted by an advertisement about the latest indigestion medicine, commercials, infomercials, and other advertisements are the most effective ways to get a product to sell .

           

Works Cited

Bloomberg, 2014. Ask a Billionaire: What Is GoPro CEO's Big Fear?: Video. [Online] Available at: <http://www.bloomberg.com/video/ask-a-billionaire-what-is-gopro-ceo-s-big-fear-HYsKCj5gQSyPecaHNAR6XA.html> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

Campbell, R., Martin, C. and Fabos, B., 2014. Media & culture. 1st ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins.

Gopro.com, 2014. GoPro | World's most Versatile Camera | HERO3+ Black Edition. [Online] Available at: <http://gopro.com//> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

Merriam-webster.com, 2014. Advertising - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. [Online] Available at: <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertising> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

PetaPixel, 2013. A Fascinating Look at How GoPro Became the Best-Selling Camera in the World. [Online] Available at: <http://petapixel.com/2013/11/12/fascinating-look-gopro-became-popular-camera-world/> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

Staff, F. and Staff, F., 2014. The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Advertising. [Online] Fast Company. Available at: <http://www.fastcompany.com/3026329/most-innovative-companies-2014/the-worlds-top-10-most-innovative-companies-in-advertising> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

Vilaga, J., 2014. GoPro. [Online] Fast Company. Available at: <http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2014/gopro> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

YouTube, 2014. GoPro: One Night with The Weeknd. [Video] Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkpYLemrgBQ> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

YouTube, 2014. GoPro: The Doggy Dash. [Video] Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHoAWG6wPRA> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014].

Film and TV

       

            In the Modern era, the development of TV and Film has not only impacted mass communication, but it has also impacted the views of the world. In Media & Culture Mass Communication in a Digital Age, Chapter 6 refers to Television as the final link to true “mass” communication (Campbell and Martin et al., 2014, p. 193). Research shows that most people turn to the Television as a source of research. Additionally, the development of film has begun to increasingly impact mass media. Television and Film are two crucial components to modern society; without them, Communications, Mass Media, and the Entertainment industry would not be as booming as it is today.

           

"The Big Three" 

   During the mid- 90’s the Network Era, the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) was the main entertainment division that was moved to Hollywood while the information divisions remained in New York. Prior to the 1950s, Television shows were only broadcasted through radio stations. For example, The Lone Ranger derived from radio to television. Since the 1950s, the television gave people a source of entertainment by producing sounds as well as images. The pictures on the television were developed with the Cathode Ray tube, a picture tube created in the late 1800s. The first TV transmission was tested in 1927 by Philo Farnsworth. The Electronic technology consisted of a complex patent battle between Farnsworth and Vladimir Zworykin in 1907 in Russia. Vladimir Zworykin invented the iconoscope, the first TV camera tube to convert light rays into electrical signals; he received a patent for it in 1928 with Westinghouse and RCA. (Campbell and Martin, p. 197).

          

RCA CT-100 Television Design

  In 1952, the Federal Communications Commission tentatively approved an experimental CBS color system (Campbell and Martin, pg. 199). In 1954, RCA’s color system produced images in color, but the older sets could only receive black and white. This made CBS the color standard. More than 90 percent of U.S. household owned at least one set by the 1960s. (Campbell and Martin, pg. 199). Broadcasting was soon threatened by Cable television because it introduced narrowcasting—the providing of specialized programming and fragmented groups (Campbell, p. 202). 

             In 1999, cable penetration hit 70 percent. (Campbell and Martin, p. 205). Direct Broadcast Satellites brought up a bigger challenge to Cable services by install transmitters outside of households that would connect to receive signals from the sky. Later on, Television converged with the internet and mobile phones, making watching television available literally anywhere. Television is broken down into many different genres such as drama, comedy, and episodic/chapter series. With all of the different genres, public television struggles to find its place simply because they come off as “less attractive” (Campbell, p. 217). 

   

         Movies and film are the two base points of broadcasting media. Dating back to the late 1800s, the evolution of film helped enhanced the TV industry. Theaters were used to show the motion pictures. Thomas Edison’s kinetograph and kinetoscope made motion pictures viewable by looking through a hole. The viascope enabled filmstrips of longer lengths to be projected without interruption and hinted at the potential of movies as a future medium. Just like in the TV industry, Hollywood was known as the prime city where companies wanted their shows, movies/film promoted or showcased. Any film through Hollywood Studios turned out to be successful.

          Smaller companies later produced independent films. Eventually, Movies began to make their way into theaters and began racking in money. The older films later made a digital approach, which is shown today. Movies can be seen in theaters, DVDs, and even on blue ray. Not only did this bump up the movie industry, but it gave television an opportunity to bring people to theaters through commercials from movie companies.

        

          Both Film and TV are examples of how mass media has impacted society. With Mass media now being worldwide, many people can receive the same programs, movies, and information. For example, TV shows developed in the United States can now be translated and broadcasted online in different languages for other countries to see. With technology improving every day, Mass media will only continue to be successful with the help of the TV and Film industries.

Works Cited

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R. and Fabos, B. 2014. Media & culture. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins.

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R. and Fabos, B. 2014. Media & culture. 9th ed.

YouTube. 2014. PHILO FARNSWORTH "SMALL SCREEN, BIG DREAMS" part 1. [Video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMwEhrRmIVE [Accessed: 14 Apr 2014].

YouTube. 2014. Edison's Kinetoscope. [Video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9qRGsgtYsA [Accessed: 14 Apr 2014].

YouTube. 2014. Edison Kinetograph Horizontal Camera Replica. [Video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjDXrsgOwUw [Accessed: 14 Apr 2014].

Digital Gaming and the Media Playground

            Mass media has changed the world over time through a process known as globalization. A major subdivision of mass media is digital gaming. In the late 1800's, digital gaming evolved from the rise of amusement parks as a way to make it a more game-based environment. Believe it or not, most if not all people in the US have played at least some type of digital game in their life. Many people would believe playing games is a way of defining humanity. Digital gaming around the world has not only made an outstanding impact on the minds of humans, the economy, and even mass media, but it raises questions about the role in our democratic society. Even with such a question, I believe gaming will become even more coveted in everyday life as time progresses.

            Digital gaming was an indirect result of the Industrial Revolution. The earliest form was the penny arcades of the late 1800's, which are more commonly known as the pinball machines. The most basic form of digital gaming was the tennis-like game of Pong. The designer, Atari designed the game using 2-D graphics. This eventually became the most successful game for the home market in the 20^th century. These later evolved from the basic forms into more controversial forms, which in some cases included violence. Later on, The Nintendo Entertainment System was released, introducing the popular game, Super Mario Bros. This best seller is still sold all over the world today. Mario and Luigi, the main characters in this game, not only changed digital gaming, but they laid the foundation for future games.

            The first video games were described as CRT. Although this isn’t exactly, well known, the CRT provided images for TV and early computers. From home television games, arcades began to take the spotlight. They attracted many to compete against each other side by side rather than at home. A prime example of this would be the games Space Invaders or PacMan. Numerous arcades still have these games up and running simply because people can compete against each other one on one. Later, Consoles and Advancing graphics began to take over. These consoles eventually collaborated with the Internet and allowed gamers to play online.

            The Internet transformed gaming by allowing people to interactively connect with each other. This gave digital gaming the upper hand. Unfortunately, gaming has strongly influenced the social life of humans. Coming from personal experience, my middle school years consisted mainly of Halo, the famous MMORPG, Runescape, Football and Basketball. Anything other than that was irrelevant to me. Consoles were then converged to mobile gaming--apps. When people are not playing on consoles or the computer, they would easily turn to their phones or iPads for entertainment.

As far as the media playground, video games are classified into different genres ranging from action, to stimulation games. The two communities of play are both in and out of the game. The inside communities are PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. For instance, the term “Noob” refers to beginners. To avoid "noobs," gamers make clans to team up against these "noobs” On the other hand, the outside community refers to collective intelligence, game sites, and conventions. With gaming being such a high demand, it is very easy to recruit new players to buy these consoles, or memberships.

            Although gaming is a successful phenomenon, many opposed it. These issue raise concern about addiction, violence, and misogyny. A 2011 case study in Singapore, argued that one out of every ten children are pathological gamers. As far as violence and misogyny the games series Grand Theft Auto reveals male characters picking up prostitutes for sex, drug deals, and killing people. This led to the regulation of games. Entertainment Software Rating Board now rate games to prevent underage issues.

           The future of gaming really consists of competition in the business world, more than anything. According to the structure of digital game publishing, the publisher only receives a 1.5% profit, which is shocking to many, because games are sold around the world, creating a market for them. With technology evolving every day, digital gaming will always be successful in the economy.

            

Wells Fargo

     

       Many wonder exactly how the developments of banks have affected modern society as a whole. Slowly but surely, banks have became a second nature to humans. Everything from Debit and Credit cards to loans goes through banks. One of the most common banks throughout the entire world is known today as Wells Fargo. From Northwest Corporation in 1998 to Wells Fargo & Company upon the purchasing of Century Bank and Wachovia in 2008, Wells Fargo became the fourth holding company in the United States based on the National Information Center with an astonishing $1,488,055,00 Total Asset, most currently on December 31,2013 ("Top 50 holding," 2013).This media company is expanding rapidly each day with more than 9,000 stores and over 12,000 ATMS, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy ("Wellsfargo shareowner," 2013) With banks being such a high demand for money reasons, Wells Fargo & Company’s media holdings will continue to grow successfully.

            Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William Fargo. This bank is one of the most vastly known banks in the world. Many have heard this banks’ famous slogan, “Together we’ll go far”. Indeed this slogan is correct. Upon ample amounts of research of the company, an article from Galileo in November 11, 2013 is titled, “Wells Fargo Expands Commercial Banking in Madison” Julia Voss, who has been building the company’s commercial banking business in Madison, Wisconsin since 2010, was promoted to regional vice president and head of the new Regional Commercial Banking Office for south and southwest Wisconsin ("Wells fargo expands," 2013). Not only did this promotion help Voss, but also Wells Fargo as a whole by showing its commitment to the region and production of more customers ("Wells fargo expands," 2013). Basically, more customers equal more money. Fortunately, this will lead to even more media holdings in the long run.

            A popular branch of Wells Fargo & Company is the Shareowner services. These services include both stocks and investments. Many people in the United States invest in stocks. For example, Apple came out with the iPhone series. Believe it or not, the sales of these products skyrocket every year, simply because of the genius idea of developing a newer version of the phone that comes out every year. The latest iPhone is the 5s. Coming for a current user of the phone, I personally think it is an astonishing phone. However, I purchased this phone through T-Mobile after making the transition from AT&T back in January of 2014. Needless to say, the iPhone 6 is already under construction with even more technological gadgets and perks. With stock and sales rising, one should definitely consider buying stocks through Apple. Although companies have their bad days, you are more than likely investing in something positive rather than negative.

            In a recent article from Business Wire, a new study by GROUP FIVE states that Wells Fargo Shareowner services had received the industry’s highest satisfaction rating from corporate customers of U.S. security transfer agents (“Wells fargo shareowner,” 2013). GROUP FIVE is well known for their research poll studies. Every year, the company conducts studies to find out personal opinions of services provided by United States security transfer agents ("Wells fargo shareowner," 2013). Surprisingly, Wells Fargo produced an 88% percent consumer ranking and the highest overall ranking in satisfaction service and client fees and a 22.5% mortgage market share rate in houses ("Wells fargo shareowner," 2013) (Derousseau, 2013). With that being said, Wells Fargo contributes to pretty much everything from money to stocks, to even home mortgages. However, the mortgage market share is ridiculously high. “[Wells] has a lot to gain from a housing recovering,” says Morningstar analyst, James Sinegal (Derousseau, 2013). Even though Wells Fargo is the leading bank in home mortgages, the percentage shows the negatives of the holdings of the company as well. Although Wells Fargo is productive and successful, it will always have its faults just like any other large company in the world.

(Wells Fargo, 2014)

            In Conclusion, I believe that Wells Fargo is in fact one of the biggest media companies in the United States, if not the whole world. Whether a good or bad cause, media companies will always be around simply because it is an easy investment and source of money. For instance, you can drive through any city and there is at least some type of bank there. Furthermore, many banks compete against each other to try and collect customers. What made Wells Fargo like it is known as today was because of promotion of stores and ATMs. Wells Fargo will always be a relentlessly growing bank regardless of any of its negatives. If you do not believe it, next time you are in public, take a look around. More than likely, you will see the infamous red and gold sign or even the blue debit cards being swiped away.

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Works Cited

Eds.a.ebscohost.com. (2014). Wells fargo expands commercial banking in madison: discover galileo. [online] Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=70239fe1-aa10-4afa-9f6f-0a43d89af8cf@sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ== [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Eds.a.ebscohost.com. (2014). Stock x-ray: wells fargo: discover galileo. [online] Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=ce421b2b-d800-4b47-b8ff-1a945b40863a@sessionmgr4001&hid=4113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ== [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Eds.b.ebscohost.com. (2014). Wells fargo shareowner services rated industry’s top transfer agent: discover galileo. [online] Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=82efb378-d934-46a8-b1c3-6a7c7d605c14@sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ== [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Ffiec.gov. (2014). Top 50 holding companies summary page. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/top50form.aspx [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Wells Fargo. (2014). [image online] Available at: https://www01.wellsfargomedia.com/assets/images/photography/product/413x185/dcr_debitsweepsconspmf-cd3200_413x185.jpg [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014].

Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research



Media & Culture

Mass Communication in a Digital Age, 9th Edition,

Bedford/St. Martin's. 2014

             How much has media affected individuals and the society as a whole? Now-a-days, media is more of an issue than anything. In Chapter 15, through extended case studies and ample amounts of media research studies, mass media is broken down in such ways that questions individuals on whether or not what they see, research or watch correlates to what they do in their own life. A quote in an extended case study states, “The relationship between make-believe stories and real-life imitation has drawn a great deal of attention.” Media has affected many people, and further research about it causes more questions that are needed to be answered.

Before modern days of the United States, early media research methods were performed. It is believed that media historian, Daniel Czitrom, played a major role between 1930 and 1960 in the rise of Propaganda Analysis, Public Opinion Research, Social Psychology Studies, and Marketing Research. According to Merriam-Webster, propaganda is “ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.” Harold Lasswell, a researcher, defines propaganda as “the control of opinion by significant symbols, by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other forms of social communication.” People believed Propaganda and Public Opinion Research both tied in with the government based on mainly polls. For example, the use of unreliable Pseudo-polls caused problems within same sex marriage. Approximately seventy percent of Americans opposed it and constantly grew. However, Pseudo-polls were used as a source for public opinion. Rather than collecting data for government purposes, it was used just for entertainment.

          Social Psychology Studies and Marketing research shows the effects of TV. In the United Sates, every movie, TV show, or video game is now rated between youth (Y) to mature (Mature Audiences Only) Media brings up the issue that people act out what they watch. Theories such as the Hypodermic-Needle and Minimal-Effects Model suggest that the media directly influences people unswervingly. Researchers argue that people expose themselves to material that they are familiar with. In fact, people select messages towards attitudes and values that they already have. The Gratifications Model gave researchers a reason to do experiments and surveys to go along with their beliefs of media impact. Over the years, a content analysis was developed to study the messages in films.

          In the 1960s, the social learning theory helped explain media effects as well as agenda-setting, cultivation effect, the spiral of silence, and the third-person affect. The social learning theory involved four steps; attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. This made researchers see the overall behavior and how it links to mass media. Agenda-Setting is what the mind thinks about when it is focused on particular events or issues. The Cultivation Effects suggests that media perceives an image that the world is the same way it is portrayed on television. For example, Television violence makes Americans believe that the world is a bad place simply because of what is seen on TV. The spiral of violence proposes that people who believe their views in the minority will keep their input silent, while the third-person effect states that people are more affected by media than they are themselves.

In Conclusion, researchers will always argue about the impact of media towards people as to whether or not what they watch will affect how they act in their own life. When evaluating the cultural studies research, there are two concepts; the public sphere and the idea of communication as culture. German Philosopher Jürgen Habermas states that media is "manipulative" whereas James Carey argues communication is more of a cultural ritual. Whether people like it or not, media will always be a controversial issue. I believe what you see does not really affect how you act unless someone has a mental issue or disorder. Media will always be around and try to influence people in any way. However, people have the common sense to know what they do. Although media is broken down in ways that it is understood, one question is left unanswered: Can media really affect your life? You decide.

Privacy

            Have you ever thought or realized that anything you post on the internet can be seen anywhere on the world regardless if private settings are set on? Believe it or not, many people around the world literally revolve around the World Wide Web simply because anything can be researched as simple as a click away.  An extended case study in Media & Culture Mass Communication in a Digital Age Ninth Edition, the study talks about our digital world and the self-invasion of privacy. Media philosopher, Marshall McLuhan wrote, “Publication is a self-invasion of privacy.” What did he mean by that? I believe that he means that anything one posts is basically their own consent as to their privacy now becoming public for everyone to see. Whether people like it or not, privacy will never be “private”.

 

            Millions of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube users contribute to social media around the world by posting statuses, tweets, and even uploading videos in bulk simultaneously. Have you ever thought about how society has changed in the past decade? Teenagers of this time no longer have a face to face conversation with people. Instead, people are more adaptable to typing behind a device. Rarely, kids play outside now. In fact, it is more a “Hey, come over my house and we can play Xbox all night.”

             As far a social media standard, sites do not truly take privacy very strictly. Facebook have settings where a user can make things private, but before even being able to post status, a profile must be created with a name, age, date of birth, and sometimes even cell phone numbers in order to use their app. In addition, a user must accept the terms and conditions knowing they will overlook it. There is a reason why fine print is included. Many sites try not to stress the negatives about their products. Instead, they try and influence people to create sites as an easy to meet and talk to people around the world.

 

            The case study breaks down self-invasion of privacy in five steps; Description, Analysis, Interpretation, Evaluation, and Engagement. Description is the research on multiple privacy statements.  Individual control is what the user decides to post on websites, particularly personal data. Transparency is whether or not you believe the website will keep your personal data concealed rather than sharing it for profit to larger companies. Respect for Context gives consumers the right to expect companies to provide protection for their data whereas security gives the consumer rights to demand a policy for their own safety from any disclosure or hacker crimes. Analysis is basically what the company brings to the table in which companies explain their policies whether it is cookies, personal data, and the importance of children 13 years or younger as customers of their company.

 

Interpretation is what is analyzed. A prime example would be the terms and conditions, especially anything listed in small, fine print on the bottom of documents. If read, the consumer should be able to understand what they’re agreeing to before moving on. If a user cannot understand, chances are the user must take their own risks and anything is posted, the company has nothing to do about it simply because the user agreed to follow by their policy. Evaluation is all about making judgments such as considering every single privacy statement and determines whether or not the information listed is fair. Once an evaluation is made, the act of engagement comes into play. This is where the user creates a profile and enters the website.

In Conclusion, I believe consumers should be responsible for what they post. However, consumers should also have the right for protection if needed. If a business does not provide that security, more than likely, it will run out of business. Although media is mainly meant for the public, personal data should be kept private unless consent is giving by the user. There will never be true privacy, making it always a controversial issue. However, if users simply watch what is posted, there would not be a need for such demand on privacy. Always remember, anything posted online can be seen.

Issues raised by The Truman Show

           How would it feel to be watched every second, minute, hour, and day?  In the movie, The Truman Show, a rather strange story is told about Truman Eubanks. Everything from his birth on was secretly televised on national TV as a prime source of entertainment for people around the world. Eubanks was a star in this show that he knew nothing about. This movie shows the importance of media and how it can be considered an issue in modern-day society. Everything from the view of media, line between public and private, and the border between real life and performance all contribute to how much the role of media really impacts people and the ethics of reality TV. Although the show was entertainment to others, it showed the negative effects media can have one someone in the public eye.

The commentary and characters, specifically Marlon and Meryl, look at the show in a utopian view of media. Truman’s best friend, Marlon states, “It’s all true. It’s all real. Nothing here is fake. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It’s merely controlled.” Everything in the show is staged, making everyone an actor in which they perform the same task every day. Truman does not realize that and is forced to think that he lives in a perfect world. Meryl, his wife, believes the show is a “lifestyle” and “noble” life and even “a truly blessed one.” Halfway through the show, Truman sat in his car and noticed the same three people in the neighborhood: A woman walking, a man with flowers walking the other way, and a car with a dented front. To make matters believable, he showed Meryl the act happening and starts to believe something is up. Expectantly, as they try to leave, the people in the town block him from leaving the town of Sea Harbor Island because everyone including his own wife was afraid that Truman would find out the truth about the show going on around him. Many do not see the negative effects of media, but this movie is a direct example of invasion of privacy. 

According to Meryl, there is no line or difference between a private life and public life. Whether he liked it or not, Truman’s life was public for the world to see. Once he realized that he was being watched in his basement, he devised a plan to trick the producers of the show into thinking he was sleeping when in fact he was escaping to Fiji—the vacation spot he wanted to go to on the other side of the world. This is a prime example how important it is to have private life and public life kept separate. Another example would be when Truman tried to schedule a vacation to Fiji while he was at work and his boss caught him easily because he was being recorded. This made privacy nearly impossible.

 

Last but not least, I believe the ethics of reality TV should solely be based on reality and not just a script. Everyone was told exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. With this happening, Truman believed that his life was nothing less than ordinary. When Truman attempts to sails to Fiji, the creator of the show modifies the weather in an effort to stop him from finding out the truth. Fortunately enough, Truman finds out the truth and puts an end to the show forever.

In Conclusion, The Truman Show raised many issues such as, a view of a perfect life, the lack of privacy, and the ethics of reality TV as more of a business rather than entertainment. The show portrayed a young man being harassed in a way that led others to believe that he was crazy. I believe reality TV should only be about actual events in life. Life isn’t scripted; you don’t get to rewind it and you can’t pause it. To me, Truman’s life wasn’t reality, it was torture, and media biased. Truth, and the line between what’s right and what’s wrong, will always be an issue with the media, but no matter what, the media, and reality TV will never go away.