How has media affected people in BNW and today's world?

How has media affected people in BNW and today’s world?

In today’s media dominated world, one can not escape the impact of it no matter where you live. This impact can change the lives of both the target subject as well as the audience. Despite the intention of the media, be it good will or personal greed for fame and wealth, the outcome is more like the same. That is: it does more harms than good to the persons involved.

Although in Brave New World, People of different castes were “conditioned” to behave in a certain way from the day they were “created”, media still played an important role in affecting their lives. The effects of media are depicted in two different areas. For instance, in Chapter 11, the Director of Hatchery was exposed of having a son, which is considered a sin in their world. Within days, this shocking news was known around the world. Without help from television or radio, this news would never travel as far in such a short period of time. As a result the director had to resign. The downside of media can be also seen In Chapter 18. Darwin Bonaparte, a photographer, hid among woods for three days, just like our modern world paparazzi, and invaded John’s private life. He captured John’s painful behavior and published his information to the public, which brought him fame and profit. The impact of Darwin’s film The Savage of Surrey was immediate and enormous. As mentioned in the book “it could be seen, heard, and felt in every first-class feely palace in Western Europe.” And what was the result of John? He tragically killed himself. There is a clear similarity between this incident, and the death of Princess Diana. She too, was pursued by paparazzi on the street of Paris. In an attempt to escape from them, their car crashed into a tunnel barricade at high speed. She died on the spot. John and Princess Diana both in one way or another died in the hands of hungry reporters.

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Media not only affects the lives of those concerned, but also the public. When John was hiding in the lighthouse, people from different places came to see John as if he was some sort of tourist attraction. Why? Because in the film The Savage of Surrey, John was probably portrayed as an insane beast which was pathetic yet fascinating in the eyes of Alphas and Betas. It’s no surprise that some would even go through the trouble of paying a visit to the savage in person. Media caused their fascinations. In our society the power of media is far greater than we think. Sometimes the effects are immediate and obvious. Like a child imitating actions of a super hero after watching a cartoon. But other times the impact isn’t noticeable right away. For instance violence, the use of drugs and early sexual behaviors, are three main problems that emerge only during teenage and young adult years. This is due to the fact of media influences from our childhood.

One big part of media is television, due to its popularity. Good, or bad? In the case of BNW, negative effects are on the heavier side of the scale. But in their society where stability out weights all other aspects. People lived an identical life everyday. Their minds had already been molded into a fixed form. What they were allowed to see, hear or feel couldn’t prevail over their beliefs. Whereas in our society, freethinking and individuality are encouraged. So whatever messages we receive from media manipulate our mind. Instead of being controlled by hypnopeidia, we accept ideas through TV shows, movies, news in our conscious mind, and through subliminal messages in the unconconcious mind. Studies show that television not only changes people’s values but actually harm the physical structure and function of the brain, especially for children under 12. “Even educational programs such as Sesame Street may do more harm than good because they bombard them with sensory stimulation without allowing for the interaction that is essential to the development of the language centres in the brain”*. These flashing cards of letter without any meaningful context teach little to the children. Researches show that too much television can result in shorter attention spans and poorer listening skills.

In both BNW and our world, exaggerated or even false media messages are sent out. These messages once misinterpreted can cause disastrous consequences. Different forms of media continue to endanger our minds on daily bases. Instead of letting the government censor our TV programs as in BNW, we should sift messages from the media consciously. After all, our mind, our control.

How has outside sources such as the media affected people in BNW and today’s world?

In today’s media dominated world, one can not escape the impact of it no matter where you live. This impact can change the lives of both the target subject as well as the audience. Despite the intention of the media be it good will or personal greed for fame and wealth, the outcome is more like the same. That is: it does more harms than good to the persons involved.