reflection

     I think that in this day and age, it is difficult to truly gage the amount of media that we consume on a regular basis. One of the reasons behind this is that we've built up so much immunity to the amount of media that our society bombards us with, because we have been exposed to it our whole lives. After taking this quarter on media literacy, I know that I've questioned my own personality and life and how much of it is genuine and how much of it is has been defined by the influence of the media. It's almost to the point where I wouldn't know who I was had I been born in a different time period, without today's modern technology and mass media-consuming society.
     On this note, I feel as if the ever progressing media of our society will begin to define us, with its advertising, one-sided messages, and unrealistic imitations of reality. If we have already been defined by our consumerism ways and our gross intake of media, how much worse can it get? Sooner or later, companies are going to start renting people for ad space, or creating an entirely new identity for a person in order to represent their company, like the T.V. show Community exemplifies with the character, "Subway" (guess what his motto is. "Eat Fresh." You guessed right).
     I think that from this class, analyzing the media has helped me realize how defined our society has become by the media. It has also helped me to become more aware of the advertising around me and the messages that are portrayed through them. I think this is an essential part to have, of having awareness, as a member of a consumerism culture. Without being aware, we become vulnerable to accepting the messages that the media gives to us as the truth, when in reality, these messages are either fabrications of reality or stereotypes.