Transcript Chapter 3 – A Critical Approach to Popular Culture

SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION OF
REALITY THROUGH
POPULAR CULTURE
Lesson 5
SOC 86 – Popular Culture
Robert Wonser
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
OF REALITY
Recall what social construction of
reality means.
Bananas anyone?
What kind of a world does mass media
and popular culture create for us?
One of racism, sexism, classism,
ableism, homophobia and fear.
NEWS ALERT!
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I don’t mean to
alarm you (or,
actually I do) but
…..
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DUH DUH DUH
DUMMMM
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KILLER BEE ATTACK!
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LOOK BEHIND YOU!
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Ebola is coming to get
you…
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ZOMBIE ATTACK!
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THE CDC HAS A ZOMBIE
PREPAREDNESS SECTION
MIAMI ZOMBIE
ATTACK
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The Miami cannibal attack occurred on May
26, 2012, when Rudy Eugene assaulted
Ronald Poppo, a homeless man on the
MacArthur Causeway in Miami, Florida.
During the 18-minute filmed encounter,
Eugene (who was himself stripped nude)
accused Poppo of stealing his Bible, beat
him unconscious, removed Poppo's pants,
and bit off most of Poppo's face above the
beard, including his left eye, leaving him
blind in both.
Alll in 2012 alone…
A Bellwood man in La
Grange, IL allegedly
grabbed an 18-year
old woman by the
neck, twisted her
right arm and bit her
cheek while
threatening to kill her
if she called the
police. The man,
Lloyd Cortez, 18, was
arrested.
This was the day after the
Miami ‘zombie’ attack.
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Zombie Apocalypse in
Illinois on May 21,
2012
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THE EVENING NEWS
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‘news’
THE CULTURE OF
FEAR
Beware!
Killer bees!
Swine Flu!
Ebola pandemic! Ahhhhhh!
Scary “inner city” “thugs” are plotting to get
you by hiding in your back seat under your
cars!!!!
Zombie outbreak!!!
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Why do we live in a culture of fear?
It’s a mean mean
world
What kind of world does media create for us?
Mean world syndrome is a term coined by
George Gerbner to describe a
phenomenon whereby violence-related
content of mass media makes viewers
believe that the world is more dangerous
than it actually is.
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….. A very scary one.
CULTIVATING A
WORLDVIEW
Mean world syndrome is one of the
main conclusions of cultivation
theory.
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Gerbner argued that people who
watched a large amount of
television tended to think of the
world as an intimidating and
unforgiving place.
A direct correlation between the amount
of television one watches and the
amount of fear one harbors about the
world has been demonstrated
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As always, the direction of causality
remains debatable in that persons fearful
of the world may be more likely to
retreat from it and in turn to spend more
time in indoor, solitary activity such as
television watching.
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Gerbner once said: "You know, who
tells the stories of a culture really
governs human behaviour. It used
to be the parent, the school, the
church, the community. Now it's a
handful of global conglomerates
that have nothing to tell, but a
great deal to sell."
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REALITY
CONSTRUCTION