This was a very interesting
article. The author discussed points about cartoons and Disney movies that were
created by a society driven secret. Many
people, myself included, have been blinded to the “secret education” that these
movies and cartoons are displaying. I’m not even so sure if blinded is the right
word to use… maybe denial is. I didn't like how they were picking apart the
childhood movies that I grew up watching and still enjoy to watch as being
something unfair and unfriendly. I didn't want to believe this article but you
also can’t ignore the issues they presented. I decided to talk about three
quotes from this text that stood out to me. “Our society’s culture industry
colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream.” This point
is saying that we are given the “vision” of how to be an average person instead
of being an individual and creating our own thoughts about the world and
ourselves. This is relevant to the text because it is explaining how our minds
are being warped by society’s influence and can play a role into what we think
about media and its influences. Another
quote I choose is “the second hand information we receive has often been distorted,
shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete.” I found this to be a very
powerful message. If you think about it, most of the information you here
probably comes from another person. When you hear that information you often
take it as being the truth, for some things this can be very naive. This is
relevant to the text because as children, you grow up listening to your parents
and expecting that the information they tell you is true. You are less likely
to question things when you are being influenced. Just like watching a movie or
cartoon show, you are less likely to ask what the really meaning behind it is
or if there is one. My final quote is “many
students don’t want to believe that they have been manipulated by children’s
media or advertising.” This was another strong statement because I can relate
to this. This pretty much speaks for itself. The students are getting upset at
the fact that they might not be the individual they are because media and
society has played a huge role in their decisions. Its relevant to the text
because it could be one of the main reasons why students/teens have not been
able to see the “secret education” in these movies/cartoons.
*Class discussion comment- p.134,
fourth paragraph; “Don’t you ever get tired of over analyzing everything?” I think
this would be very interesting to discuss in class and see how many people
either analyze everything, analyze some things, or don’t think about things at
all.
