"The magazines made me do it / make me think that way."
A lot of the 'evidence' for the strength of the influence that the media has on us is fairly weak (not that it has no influence, which is obvious, but that the influence is overwhelming).
For instance, you occasionally read articles bemoaning the observation that five and six year old girls are 'going on a diet'. They are just mimicking their mothers and other adults in a childish fashion and no more going on diets than wearing their mother's high heels means they are going high fashion. But articles taking this seriously appear fairly frequently.
Another example holds that an evening (or years, for that matter) playing Grand Theft Auto will turn a kid into a thug.
The media have superficial influence - hem lines, yes, baggy pants, yes - major changes in lifestyle, much less so.
However, when we fall to vice, it's easier to blame the media than a failure of willpower on our part. |
