Monday, October 25, 2010

Media and our behavior

In Brave New World the citizens are encouraged to play sports such as obstacle golf. It is deemed as socially normal to play obstacle golf and anyone who doesn't play obstacle golf is anti-social, and marked off as odd.This is the case with Bernard Marx; he doesn't enjoy playing obstacle golf and because of that is labeled an outcast and a nuisance. In Brave New World the citizens are conditioned to like obstacle golf and are taught that the more apparatuses required in order to play a game the better, that's why they enjoy obstacle golf which is a very elaborate game which requires lots of different equipment.
Now, let us take a look at our own society and what it encourages. I'd like to mention specifically the play 60 tv add. It attempts to encourage children to go outside and engage in some physical exercise at least sixty minutes everyday, the organization hopes that if children play sixty minutes everyday the obesity rate in children will decline, and the average health of children will increase.
The two examples I used are on two completely different ends of the spectrum, while one encourages specific behavior the other disproves of certain behavior, but both show how the media and our society's attitude towards things affect our decisions. In the case of Brave New World not playing obstacle golf is discouraged and for that reason people play it because they don't wish to upset the "natural order" of things. In the case of play 60 children are encouraged to do a certain thing because it's ultimately better for them.

1 comment:

  1. However in Brave New World, everyone is practically forced to play. In our world we aren't forced to play. While obesity is frowned upon and definitely a problem the media tries to help in, it doesn't force anyone to do anything. In the book, Bernard may not like the sport, but because he was conditioned to enjoy it and therefore must like it, he fakes and plays. And if he doesn't, there are ways of getting rid of him. Which form of media is better? Using it to encourage people or using it to discourage.

    ReplyDelete