Mind over Media

Our mind is a wonderful gift, we can nourish it and let it flourish into something wonderful, or we can choose to neglect it and let it distinguish very slowly. Your mind is a muscle, and like a muscle, if you stop using it, it will start to suffer from atrophy and slowly become useless altogether. As human beings we should  be able to prevent this, through books, games, television shows, magazines and not to forget music but all these forms are now pure dribble( except for videogames which are amazing)! Every types of media we are exposed to can influence what we think is worth doing and guide us towards what is actually important.

The media covers a broad spectrum, it consists of the more obvious like films and television shows to magazines, newspapers and advertising. And because it is in nearly every aspect of our lives, it should act responsibly- shouldn’t it?  The media which was once a source of information has now become a great tool to distract the masses. One simply has to look at the so called hit TV shows, where once they included strong characters, a masterful story that not only entertains you but also encourages higher thought and provokes serious debates. Films and programmes such as: Battlestar Galactica, The X Files, Lost, Minority Report, V for Vendetta, The Day after Tomorrow, Crash, Donnie Darko, The Bourne Trilogy, Gladiator, The Lord of the Rings.  The latter which is 10 years old and is still enjoyed by many, and you know why?? It’s rather simple actually….more effort was made on the story telling that simply having big set- pieces to put in the trailer
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The X files is even older and is still relevant to the world today. It started in 1993, and yes the fashion may need to be updated a little  but that's it. They discuss Government corruption, the effects of GMO's, poverty, human behaviour, religious fanaticism, corporate greed,mass surveillance  etc. It may have to come in the form of aliens, but that's just to bring some entertainment value!

Each film deals with a serious issue in society from Crash which deals with racism to V for Vendetta, which is a take on George Orwell’s dystopian reality in his book 1984. Even The Bourne Trilogy, which some may coin as a “ pop corn” film has a serious theme- the misuse of Government power and a whistleblower on the run- sound familiar???     The Day after Tomorrow is about the human effect on the planet and how everything, no matter how insignificant they may seem, they all still matter. These films dealt with real issues and forced you to engage with the issues, rather than being a passive spectator.

Films that are made now are all either about sex, romantic relationships or this false idea of what it is to have a family. All the movies push this idea that getting married is the answer to all your woes and having children is what life’s all about, none of them show the hardships in family life and what sacrifices have to be made, if it is, it is usually glossed over. All these movies tell you to just party and how buying things will make everything better, whether they’re shoes, a car or a house the message is the same- consume.

Which leads me to the enormous amount of advertising that is designed in a way that makes you crave this crap but also it make you feel ashamed or guilty for not having it. The adverts place such an importance on the products, which you end up feeling like you can’t function without them.  And it’s now as if you can get away from them, they’re everywhere; on TV between your favourite shows sometimes they even pop up during your shows!! They are even on the channels that are meant to be dedicated to news, they are also junk mail that you receive on a daily basis in your e-mail and your post, and there are billboards and also adverts on the sides of product that you have already purchased! All this is designed to empty your wallet and make some “ fat cats” very wealthy indeed!

One would think that with the economy the way it is that people would be smart with what little money that they have, yet with all this oversimplification of the world around them, people are starting to lose the ability to identify and ignore these cheap ploys used by the marketing world designed to make a small percentage of society very rich while the rest of us are living in the gutters.  People should start to question more things around them or they’ll risk having everything done for them by the major corporations, and we all know who they really look out for….let me tell you, it’s not the well being of the people!!!