The Power Of Mass Media - 2392 Words

Randy Butler Gender and Culture December 16, 2014 Final Project The Power of Mass Media in Todays World: The Perceptions and Realities Behind the Curtains It’s a Thursday night and Jessie is sitting down, munching on some chips and dip, and watching the weekly episode of Scandal with her friend Mary in the dim light of their living room. A scene comes on the television with two gay men intimately approaching each other, about to have sex. For a minute, the girls are tensely sitting in silence, not speaking, but awkwardly staring at the television. As the scene turns to a commercial, the girls begin to loosen up and start giggling. Blushing, Jessie interrupts the awkwardness, â€Å"Well you don’t really see that too much!† Scandal is just one of the recent shows featuring gay characters and themes. Slowly, television and motion picture movie films are striving to be inclusive. Gay characters on prime- time shows and in top rated, popular films are trying to generally become the norm rather than just the exception, whether as regular characters, or occasional ones. As the world is becoming interconnected and as glob alization is at its full peek, people are increasingly being influenced by mass media and popular culture. While society is changing through each decade, so has the media’s portrayal of the LGBT—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer—community. But, do these depictions truly reflect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer reality? And are theseShow MoreRelatedThe Power of and the Powers Behind Mass Media901 Words   |  4 PagesThe Power of the Powers Behind Mass Media Mass media is a powerful method of communication, entertainment, education, and socialization. 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