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Y2 Hey! Nothing Happened: The Media Jeff Davis | Vent Section Manager I am not a big Marilyn Manson fan. That guy looks pretty funny in all his make-up, and his music sounds like a car dragging its muffler. He does have an interesting insight, however, on the topic of media and the human mind: "God is in the TV." I know what some of you are thinking right now. "The dude is the freaking Antichrist!" I don't know about that. It would seem that Manson believes that media, particularly commercial media, has become too prominent a force in our everyday lives. If we allow the media to completely overtake our decision-making and play too large a role in the formation of our morals, there may truly be an apocalypse, but not a physical one. This is a thesis of mine as well. I am sure many of you saw all the commercials on TV about how there were big millennium sales going on. "Buy this, you will need it." Well, 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2000 came and went and there were a lot of dissatisfied customers. ALL SALES ARE FINAL was a sign that one normally sees associated with a going-out-of-business sale or a major clearance event. I suppose the proprietors of these businesses were going to "clearance" away with everyone's money. Of course, if they thought the Y2K events were going to be so catastrophic, why would they need all those signed checks and large bills? The banks were going to be haywire anyway... The media is way too big a grandfather in the world of wisdom. Nike tells you to "Just Do It." Do what? Go out and buy shoes? It is a real strike at my character to be told that I will not succeed without Air Max tennis shoes that cost more than $130. How much do they cost to make? Sprite, while being refreshing in their slogan "Image is Nothing...," says that a person is not an individual if that person does not drink Sprite. Believe me, I know the downsides of the purpose of advertising. My father is a very successful advertising executive who often has morbid insights on the companies in the nation who will do anything to get a customer. When that is the case, the sale comes first, never the customer. I do not want to seem like a jerk about all this stuff. I drink Sprite; I have two, very worn pairs of Nikes. I don't seem to care when I am the only person in the room wearing those shoes, or if I am the only person at a restaurant drinking Sprite. My life will go on if my habits are a sore thumb among the habits of others. Don't let the media sublimate some sort of message into your head about how you will be nothing if you do not wear this, eat this, or go to this particular place. Everyone will survive if they think for themselves. How much you survive is up to you. Responses: Refresh frame to view latest entries.
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