Stuart Hall's Cultural Studies explains how elite and dominant groups use their power over subordinate groups. Antonio Gramsci's in depth idea of hegemony is defined as influence, power, or dominance of one social group over another. In America's society the most powerful people are usually the most famous. Since television makes such an impact on viewers, the ideas and messages conveyed by celebrities are a major factor on how the American Culture is shaped. One negative effect of viewing celebrities as powerful is that teenagers try to emulate them. For example, since most celebrities and famous people are beautiful, skinny, and flawless many teens especially teenage women feel pressured to look like this.
Jackass, a show where celebrities become more famous and wealthy the more they hurt themselves, is one recent phenomena that has a negative effect on its viewers. Since the stars of Jackass like Johnny Knoxville and Phil Margera are seen as celebrities they are at a higher class than the rest of the public. This is a concern for many because teenage boys who see these actors as role models are trying to emulate them.
This clip below demonstrates what is seen on television and in movies by millions of teenagers.
This clip below shows how many teenagers try to emulate actors like Johnny Knoxville and hurt themselves. A main reason why these teenagers feel as if this is the "cool" thing to do is because they view Knoxville, Margera, and many other famous actors as dominant and powerful figures.
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4 comments:
This is really interesting because it shows how extreme and ridiculous the media's effect can be. People will go as far as hurting themselves because of dominant culture.
These are good clips because it shows the direct cultural relationship between powerful tv characters and kids. If all kids watch is jackass then they will think that is how the world really is. The kids in the video decode the images from Jackass as being a good idea to emulate.
I think the show Jackass is a prime example of how the media can so easily influnece adolescents and teenagers alike. Many teenagers interpret this message as an opportunity for them to become famous by attempting the same inappropriate and dangerous stunts. It sets a bad example that in order to be famous you do not need to be well educated or a decent individual. That anyone willing do extreme or idiot stunts can become famous and make money. It says to our children and teenagers around the world that they should emulate these stunts in order to become popular wiht friends and make money. It shows MTV's powerful influence that even with horrible shows they still get their message across to their audience.
Interesting clip, from the perspective of audience's decoding.
Which position does the audience take while decoding the media message in this specific case?
"Dominant-hegemonic position."
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