When reflecting on our program’s title, Media, Self, and Society, it becomes obvious that media plays a significant role in my own personal life, as well as in society overall. Through media, I can become more conscious of important issues, I can learn more about other cultures and dynamics through movies and television shows, and I can form my own opinions regarding the world with respect to the media that I consume. As a result, with everyone consuming mass amounts of media everyday, society as a whole is affected as the way we operate and communicate shifts. My understanding of this role has deepened over my past three semesters as a Media Scholar. Before starting this program, I was aware that the media influenced my life and our society, but I failed to recognize the multitude of ways we are impacted and the complexity with which this can be analyzed.
For a class assignment, I engaged in a critical analysis of the movie “Bend it Like Beckham.” Specifically, I focused on how this film redefined classic Hollywood stereotypes and how it produced more accurate and beneficial representations. Moreover, I referenced how the movie portrays the idea that girls are just as capable as men are to be successful athletes. Also, this movie emphasized that women shouldn’t be limited to traditional gender roles that can be influenced by their culture as well. My experience as a Media Scholar was sufficient in assisting me to conduct this analysis. Being a Media Scholar, I was thoughtful about the tremendous impact that movies and entertainment have on society, as much of our course content focuses on this idea. When movies and other forms of entertainment revolve around and perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, the viewers’ mindset can be altered for the worse. Therefore, it is important to have media that provides an accurate depiction, as well as characters which all types of people can relate to. This knowledge, which I have gained throughout my time as a Media Scholar, allowed me to reflect on how “Bend it Like Beckham” broke gender and racial stereotypes.
A common misunderstanding, especially among teens, is that social media is an accurate depiction of a person’s life, encompassing every moment. This notion is present in the popular statement, “if you didn’t post about it, it didn’t happen,” which is frequently used in reference to social media. This statement and idea can be extremely harmful to believe, as it can produce false viewpoints and representations of others. Just because someone isn’t posting about something doesn’t mean the event didn’t occur, and it doesn’t make it any less real. Additionally, when viewing a person’s social media page, it can be easy to assume that they are happy and enjoying their life without any hardships. As a result, the viewer can become more dissatisfied with their own life and have negative thoughts about themselves. In reality, social media is more of a collection of the highlights in a person’s life, as many choose not to include the low points. Understanding this concept can be increasingly difficult, but my Media experience has allowed me to become more aware about this issue, and recognizing when I am in this pattern of thinking. For instance, when we tracked our social media usage for a class assignment, I realized how I was only sharing the happy points of my day, and rarely showed the times when I was feeling down and upset. I was also able to apply what we learned about the construction of the news to how people construct their social media profiles. As with the news, people tend to select more of the events that they think people will want to see and be interested in when deciding what to post about. Also, it can be challenging for people to want to show moments where they don’t look their best, with the growing pressure to look ‘perfect’ online.
Being a critical consumer and producer of media means engaging in thoughtful reflection and scrutiny of the media that you take part in and create. As a consumer, it is important to consider whether the media you are consuming is harmful or beneficial to your life. For example, if you find yourself feeling insecure after looking at certain social media pages, then as a critical consumer one would assess that this content could be detrimental to their mental health, and therefore should stop dedicating time to looking at this content. When being a critical producer of media, one should contemplate whether their type of content is particularly needed or could be advantageous for a consumer. It is important that any media which could be particularly damaging shouldn’t be created, as it would cause more harm than good, thus making it unnecessary. I sometimes view myself as a critical consumer of media. There are various occasions when consuming media where I stop to ponder whether I am utilizing my time wisely and engaging with positive media that I enjoy and is furthering my personal development. However, there have been several times where I continue to look at media that negatively affects my mental health. For example, I find that when I spend hours on social media, I can develop a negative view of myself, but it can be extremely difficult to recognize this issue and stop myself from going on social media in the moment. Personally, I am not a critical producer of media because I do not actively create and publish media. If I were to start producing media, I believe that I would be a critical producer of media because of my experience and knowledge that I have gained as a Media Scholar.
Prior to being in Scholars, I held the belief that technology and social media is extremely beneficial, and that it brings people together, not apart. However, after we read and discussed the “Alone Together” reading and idea, this belief was altered. In our discussion, we talked about how people nowadays are constantly on their phone, even sometimes while having a conversation with someone else. Additionally, it was referenced how social media is connecting us to people who are far away, but is disconnecting us from the people who are present in our lives at that very moment. Because of this, I was able to see social media and technology use in a different way. I became more conscious of the times when I would be with my friends and we would all pull out our phones, despite being in front of one another. I now try to limit my time spent on social media, especially if I am in the company of other people. This has caused me to realize how it is much more valuable to spend time with people in person rather than online, and that online connections can often be superficial and not as deep as in person connections.
My learning substantially improved through interacting with my fellow Media Scholars both in and out of our class time. Since the University of Maryland is such a large campus with a considerable amount of students, being part of a small community was helpful at making me feel more comfortable academically when adjusting to college. The first year colloquium experience provided me with a space that promoted learning while also fostering friendships among other Media Scholars. These friendships weren’t limited solely to our class time, and aided me in other academic situations as well. Specifically, during my first semester of freshman year I was in an English 101 scholars section, and two of my classmates were also Media Scholars. Over the course of the semester, we were able to assist each other in our school work both in and outside of the classroom. Having the common ground of being Media Scholars facilitated our discussions and aided us in our learning. Additionally, hearing about other Media Scholars’ work and achievements, such as music or podcasts, was particularly motivating and encouraged me to learn about other ventures or possible personal areas of interest.
Unfortunately, I do not think that I have had substantial opportunities to contribute to the Media Program. With half of the second and the entirety of the third semester being online, it was difficult to be an engaged and active learner. Additionally, having the courses online limited the opportunities to contribute to the program. I think that if we had been able to have in person classes and hadn’t been affected by the pandemic, then I would’ve been able to add to the program.
I think that my Scholars experience will have a positive impact on my future, as it has allowed me to become a more informed citizen. In Media Scholars, we were taught to think critically about media content and its implications on society as a whole. This principle is extremely important, and will be applicable in my post-grad and professional life. As the media and its mediums are exponentially growing, and we are spending more and more hours engaging with media per day, this issue has become much more prevalent and pressing. When we are engaging with media, we must be thoughtful consumers and producers, and the Media Scholars program has taught me how this can be achieved. The media is present in all areas of professional careers, and has the power to alter the public’s viewpoint, so it is paramount to understand the ways in which this is accomplished.
