The Media and the Masses

There is an evil spirit in the world that has an iron grasp on most people, and gains influence mainly through the media.

Profane music and lame Netflix series have overturned the dignity of past cultures. This is especially true in the United States, where postmodern pop culture originated. Yet nations such as India, China, and even Saudi Arabia also try to be “cool” by conforming to American exported pop culture. The whore of Babylon has fornicated with the kings of the earth.

In particular, the glorification of the gangsta in the 80s and 90s brought culture to a lower level worldwide. As a result, common courtesy has become a historical artifact. A general lack of respect toward others has seeped into even the highest levels of society. For example, President Obama took selfies at Nelson Mandela’s funeral instead of paying attention:

This type of behavior, along with Obama’s promotion of celebrities like Jay-Z and the Kardashians, forever eroded any dignity the Office of the President once had.

Thanks to the media’s influence, women around the world now speak with an annoying vocal fry, wear provocative clothing, and cake their faces with bright, dramatic makeup to draw attention to themselves. Men either act effeminate or exhibit toxic masculinity, like the actors they see on television. If people allow the media to alter their very identities, should I be surprised if the same impersonal conglomeration of sound and electronic images convinces them to alter their genetics by taking an experimental mRNA vax? If their favorite celebrity does so, they will undoubtedly follow like lemmings off the edge of a cliff.

Society favors those who seek the limelight…the flashy, the gaudy, the unsubtle…because society worships entertainment. Pop stars have the world spellbound, pied pipers leading humanity down the path of unapologetic narcissism. Satan enticed these people with promises of money, fame, the praises of men…all the world has to offer. He knows our weaknesses and uses them to tempt us.

No one is completely impervious to the media’s influence; almost everyone I know conforms to one image or another they’ve seen on television. Perhaps instead of feeling frustrated with society, I should see people as victims of a vast brainwashing cult I once belonged to as well. Only after I stopped watching television for several years could I see that the media consists entirely of propaganda, and nothing more.

The world is quickly moving toward greater evil. Many people sense this, even atheists who claim not to believe in evil as an objective reality. Yet resistance…even slight resistance…is powerful, just as even a small glimmer of light can help one navigate a pitch dark room.

Hollywood Sexism Is Alive and Unwell

“The media have really over represented how far women have come. We don’t have a range of images of women, some of whom are working-class or single mothers or struggling. The media continue to [suggest] that full equality for women is a done deal.” -Susan Douglas

The media is notorious for misrepresenting important issues, and sexism is no exception. However, women-according-to-Hollywood reflect lingering sexism that continually morphs into different iterations. The exaggerated and unrealistic portrayal of women in movies, television shows, advertisements, and etcetera isn’t the same form of sexism as the pre-1960s, yet is just as blatant.

Prior to the Civil Rights Movement, women in movies were usually portrayed as obedient housewives with a minor role in the plot. If women had more significant roles, they only served as love interests for the leading men. Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life had a major role, yet no character development beyond her relationship with James Stewart. When Stewart saw a vision of what would have happened if he never existed, Reed is shown to be an unhappy old woman who never married…because apparently women’s lives revolve around men, and their happiness depends on marriage.

I’d rather be a spinster than be married to an abusive psychopath!

Though women wear skimpier outfits in the movies now, their main purpose is still to be attractive love interests for men; they’re portrayed as objects of desire and not much else. Character development is still limited to their femaleness….The writers focus on what they are rather than who they are.

The modern iteration of sexism is apparent in the ubiquitous Action Girl: “The Action Girl is, essentially, Action Heroism molded into a female frame — a female character who is spunky, agile, and can take you down with an array of kicks, punches, or diverse weapons of choice.” Wonder Woman is a classic example. Like any superhero, she fights crime, rescues innocents, and has superhuman powers — but she also happens to be female. Other than her long hair and female figure, though, nothing distinguishes her from her male superhero counterparts. The same applies to female heroes such as Laura Croft and Quorra from Tron. They have cool weapons and slick moves, but does that equate female strength?

(Plus, despite her skillz, Quorra still must be rescued by Sam — who is inexperienced at fighting in cyber-land, yet also happens to be male.)

Women might be granted superhuman powers or lofty corporate positions in movies, but true and realistic female strength is nowhere to be seen. The portrayal of highly successful single women in the media is absolutely ridiculous compared to the reality that poverty still has a female face: “Over half of the 37 million Americans living in poverty today are women. And women in America are further behind than women in other countries — the gap in poverty rates between men and women is wider in America than anywhere else in the Western world” (Cawthorne). Yet in Must Love Dogs, the female lead is a single preschool teacher who lives in a two-story house, despite the fact that preschool teachers typically earn minimum wage.

Of course, women in movies also must be flawlessly beautiful; after all, they are essentially prizes for the male leads. Movies about overweight or even average-looking women are almost unheard of, besides indie flicks here and there trying desperately to be counter cultural. We are all aware that the media portrayal of women as impossibly thin and attractive has ill effects upon women’s body image. Anorexia nervosa is a modern epidemic, and many would venture to guess that it is a direct result of the endless bombardment of movies, magazines, and advertisements constantly reassuring women that they aren’t pretty enough.

True female empowerment isn’t found in these physically strong, gorgeous women who are still ultimately dependent on men’s approval for a sense of purpose. The weapons and martial arts moves are shallow features that seem tacked on in the same way a company may insert racial minorities in billboard advertisements to prove they aren’t racist (which is ironically quite racist). True strength arises from within. A woman doesn’t have to be a supermodel with a black belt in karate to overcome obstacles and be heroic in her own right…yet that might be dangerously similar to reality.