If your friend jumps off a bridge, will you jump off too?

Tell me where you think you stand in the war between watching the media and trying to put a sheet over the TV and mute it when a violent message, sexual message, or those yelping “BEEPS” are released on the TV when the cast of “The Real World” are cursing each other out? I’m so afraid of certain horror movies that I keep my TV on channel 54 (which, by the way, is Food Network) just so I don’t have to squeeze my eyes shut to the point where I have crow’s feet and pinch my pointer fingers into my eardrums when a scary movie trailer flashes gore across my television screen. To what extent is the media abusing its First Amendment right of free speech? Do you sit on your couch and silently curse the government for allowing certain topics to be presented on the news? Well, if you do, get your butt up and stop the spiral of silence. Make your voice heard despite the cultivation effect.

Media and society is like that romantic couple walking along the beach, hand and hand, while you’re silently puking in envy watching them. They both need each other. I bet you’re wondering… if they both need each other, then why do they hate each other? Simple. Society feeds the media, who feeds society, who feeds what’s popular back to the media. Take, for instance, the documentary “Merchants of Cool”. Marketing companies are FOREVER trying to survey teenagers to see what’s hot and what’s not. Researchers are going to such extreme extents that they are raiding teenagers’ houses to see what they stock up in. After accumulating the average amount of “coolness”, that’s hot at the time, the media advertises products based on sex, profanity, and violence. Then, the youngsters sell it right back to the marketing companies because they viewed it on MTV, VH1, SPIKE, and LIFETIME. Basically, the media and society are like two peas-in-a-pod and create the circle of life or the food chain, but with money on the line.

Take, for instance, the new “Twilight Saga”. Besides the fact that Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner may be the hottest guys on the planet, Twilight blew through the roof with ratings and media coverage. Everywhere you look there is an advertisement, toy, book, or commercial for the unreal love story. Sadly, I have to say I was sucked into the madness of this fictional story. At one point, I was even hit by the cultivation effect because I actually thought that my love life could be as good as Edward’s and Bella’s. I know that there are a select few of you out there that are TOTAL Twilight haters, but you’re probably pulled into the spiral of silence because the majority of vampire and wolf (or shape shifters-whatever you want to call them) lovers will surely beat you up and call you “uncool” if you admit to disliking Twilight.

Unlike the fictional vampire/wolf love affair, Deepa Kumar (of Rutgers University Media Studies) drills the media on its portrayals of racism against the Middle East. She was greatly offended by the Danish Cartoon Scandal that made Middle Eastern foreigners look like horrible killers. The First Amendment might as well be under arrest for this scandal because allowing people to say and do as they please because they think it’s cool and popular-despite its offensiveness- is permitted in America. I guess being cool is at the top of America’s list of things to do…

Anyways… you may hate some messages that are all over the media, think tons of new reality shows are the biggest load of crap, or totally think that what our world has come down to is like peaches and cream, but unless you speak up, it’s never going to change. Overall, some media messages may be totally obscene, but they are what draws you in and what grabs your attention. You can say you hate it, but deep down you know like it. If you see that the hottest trends are wearing whipped cream bikinis and shaving your head, will you do it? I mean… come on! You know you want to be cool!