People are always being pushed and pulled in many different directions, whether it is by their parents, friends, teachers, or even themselves. But, it seems that the largest impact is derived from the media, and what it has to say about our lives, our paths, and what we should and should not do in life. It’s as if the media is a rulebook on how to live the right way, and if you have to make the decision to be someone and to get somewhere, you have to follow its guidelines and fit the criteria. To be on the cover of many popular magazines, you must be covered in make up and have your image be battered with editing software. You have to fit the criteria of what the people want to see; you have to give the people what they want. But, what about what we want as individuals? When will we have our own minds and be influenced by our actions? It almost seems impossible in today’s society to think for yourself because everyone seems to be influenced by the same thing: the media and the many ways it chooses to portray this.
Television has changed over the past 10 years. When I was younger, I could watch Nickelodeon and Disney Channel without thinking about how I could be like the pretty girl on the television screen, or to be as smart as the nerd who secretly attracts all the beautiful boys with her charming wit and intellect. Today, it seems like this is all what entertainment is about: being someone else. Although it isn’t said flat out, it is implied. On an episode of the late Disney Channel original show "That’s So Raven" there was an episode called “That’s So Not Raven.” In this episode, Raven has the chance to model her own clothes that she designed, and has the opportunity to be the centerfold on a popular magazine. The only problem is, once the magazine was published, the sponsors of the magazine company photo shopped a different body that wasn’t hers onto the cover. The body was taken off of a smaller sized model and plastered on Raven’s silhouette.
This action implies that Raven’s outfit may have been satisfactory, but her shape was not up to par with her design. Actions such as these make people feel terrible about themselves. It screams that although they have good intentions, they might not be that good at the end of the day. The media likes to take over peoples lives and mindsets to make them think that being smaller is the only way to be on the cover of a magazine and feel good enough for something. I’ve noticed that, over the years, issues like this on television shows for children aren’t being discussed like they should be. It is assumed that the slimmer female or male gets to have more privileges than the heavyset person because we, as a people, allow this to happen.
The media also implies in films that you have to be a certain way to fancy your crush or anyone that you’re interested in or just to be more acceptable in society as a human being. In the comedy Date Movie, the writers and directors took a fat suit, put it on actress Alyson Hannigan, and created the character Julia; a carefree young woman who was living life to the fullest. But to the outside world, she was just a fat woman who had no future in a relationship. She was even told by her parents that she wouldn’t amount to anything if she didn’t become prettier and find herself a man to get married to. Julia then decides to go to a specialist to get a make over to become more appealing, and that’s exactly what happened.
After the alterations that were made to get her to be the person the society wanted her to be, she was perceived without the fat suit, with curled hair, and in a skimpy dress with red lipstick and extremely tall heels. She went on a dating show and found the man of her dreams. This is what the audience wanted to see. This is what they pushed her to do. While the movie was created to make the viewers laugh, it screamed many volumes to me that were deeper than just a good laugh. It is, again, perceived that some people have to lose weight in order to be accepted by people and to not be an eyesore to the society. The real meaning is sugar coated by the funny tag lines, or even the small things that make the movie.
Being on the heavier side, I have always thought that I wasn’t “pretty” enough or worthy enough to “fit” the part. I’ve been unhappy with the way that I looked on the outside because, I, too, was influenced by the media. In middle school, I always thought that I would not be able to accomplish stardom because the celebrities that were my age all looked a certain way. It was not until high school that I began to realize that I am what I am, and that I can either accept that, or change it. Battling between the two is still a constant conflict, but I manage to maintain a positive mind when I feel embarrassed about my outward appearance.
We as humans must remember that life is what we make it. We have full control; all that matters is how we choose to go about it. The media uses different forms of communication to fiddle with our thought processes so that we begin to think certain ways that results in negative feelings about our very beings. Furthermore, there is no such thing as “the perfect look." We are all distinctive, unique, and matchless beings. Living in a multi-modal society will always have some effect on us, but we must decide if we will let it prevail in the end.
