Cause and Effect: Theories



WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon shown after hit
with a chair



As a psychology student, I come across theories all the time on the human behaivor, emotion, thoughts, etc. It was strange to find out that mass communication has some appealing theories. It is foolish to think the media has a limited effect on people. How could one even think so? Former President George W. Bush once said, "We cannot blame the schools alone for the dismal decline in SAT verbal scores.  When our kids come home from school do they pick up a book or do they sit glued to the tube, watching music videos?  Parents, don't make the mistake of thinking your kid only learns between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m." Nichloas Johnson also said, "All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?" T.V. is suppose to be make-believe but is it? A show like Law & Order is not real but is based off of real-life situations. It is not like there is a big sign on the credits that say it is not real. A lot of people use to watch wrestling when they were younger. It wasn't until they got older did they realize it was fake. I myself could not understand how it was fake but the wrestlers bled. The neighborhood kids and us use to wrestle in a ring, with stage music, on table, whatever. If it was in the WWF then we did it. How do you fake a person falling off a 16 foot cell,twice? Take a look. (Cage fall) That was entertaining alright. It made me want to do so. Families, schools, churches, and other socializing agents do not influence this stuff. The media does it all.

Thousands of people saw The Undertaker throw off and chokeslam Mankind off the Cage. The beauty is that I came home after church one Sunday afternoon to watch this. At anything in my life I can match some sort of violence whether it is on the TV or the internet. The transmissional perspective of media sees media's purpose to control and they do that by having people tune in to their shows. With all the advertisements about that match, I begged my folks to get that Pay-Per-View.  Sure I could have done some studying but something told me I had to see it. There are a number of theories to help explain this phenoman. I remember when the first finale of Flavor Flav came on everyone was talking about it at school. My friend even told me that he was going to watch it because that was going to be the topic of discussion at school.

It is impossible to not be influnced by the media. Even if a person choses not to subscribe to its ways it is still influncing just not in the way the media wants. The mass society theory says the media is corrupting the social order and it is. Society is getting dumber. Like the President said, kids are going to watch a mindless video game then read a book. There was a time when people wanted to read. Now people can read but they choose not to. I am gulity as well. I rather play video games then read The Giver. We are dependent on the mass media. Without it, soicety would be in solitary confinement. Basically, in a cell with no light all alone with no one to talk to. There was once a Simpsons episode when Homer went on a rampage and started killing people because they where stuck in a house without beer or television. Just watch. (Homer Goes Crazy) This might just happen if there was no form of mass media nowadays. TV is like a drug and people are hooked to it.