FUNCTION
OF THE MASS MEDIA – THE CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
The following diagram conceptualizes the process of the construction of knowledge in which the generator by means of questions asked (with some significant ones unasked), produces knowledge that reflects a particular world view, ethic and aesthetic, which is then disseminated via various media, with the emphasis here on the role of the mass media.
CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE
RECIPIENT
Basically, the ideas about the purpose of the media in society center around information, correlation, continuity, entertainment and mobilization as well as the function of mediation (cultural, social and political), which has both negative and positive connotations. Mediation is an attempt to epitomize the nature of the mass media in terms of the content disseminated, as well as the medium used to transmit that message with its particular technology. It refers to the way in which the media come between the 'audience and the original material' on which their content and message is based so that their version is mere representation, a construction of signs, which is not real but artificial (Burton; 1990:180). Essentially it refers to the way in which the media 'connects' us to reality, which includes the following:
- a window on experience to
extend one's own vision in a personal way which may itself be mediated or
biased;
- an interpreter, which offers an explanation to make sense of
fragmentary representations of events;
- a platform or
carrier of information which is either factual or opinionated;
- an interactive link, which relates communicators and recipients by, means
of different kinds of feedback;
‑ a
signpost i.e. giving instruction and
guidance;
- a filter, i.e. selecting
out parts of experience for special attention while simultaneously shutting out
other parts of experience (either deliberately, systematically or not) (also
referred to as agenda setting);
- a mirror which reflects to
society an image of itself with some distortion which is what the public
demands to see about itself or what is believed to be unacceptable and
therefore needs attention;
‑ a screen
or barrier which conceals truth for the sake of escapism or propaganda
(McQuail; 1987:53).
O'Shaughnessy
compounds this by suggesting that television 'constructs a view of the world
but naturalizes that view' and makes it normal by hiding its own means of
construction, i.e. the editing, the selection, the lighting, and
camerawork. It assumes naturally given
values in its 'mode of address' to its viewers and claims that it is the
business of entertaining which is supposedly value-free! (1990:97). The messages
making up the ideology may appear to be naturalized but the ideology is still
there (Burton; 1990:180). The media's own definition of its role is ambivalent,
viz. it vacillates between a socially responsible role in the sense of being a
'watch-dog' with its own set of values which are believed to be necessary for
the survival of a group and its culture, while simultaneously propagating
'socially acceptable' ideas as norms (in terms of their acceptance by the
consensus of society!), that may however, be immoral and essentially
detrimental (even fatal) to the survival of that particular group and its
culture. Agenda-setting implies that those issues that are believed to be
worthy of attention and comment are exposed. The version to be viewed or read is
further edited so that the media's own perception of the issue is given.
Repetition to the masses signifies the significance of an issue. It is possible
that those issues that are inherently serious may be laughed at, mocked or
downplayed. Entertainment may mean systematic trivialization and/or conscious
control. The mass media serve as opinion leaders and opinion makers. Postman's
idea of 'amusing ourselves to death' is relevant as well as his definition of
teaching as essentially a 'subversive' activity.
It is important to note the confusion about the function of the mass media as a powerful social institution, its potential influence, with reference to its sense of purpose - whether it is informing or entertaining; the consequences of its activities - 'how much' and 'what' its recipients are 'learning'; the requirements and expectations of its consumers in terms of the responsibility of the media towards its recipients. The informational purpose can lead to disinformation (intentional or not) and/or misinformation because of bias in selection or misrepresentation. Infotainment and eductainment are two significant concepts as they connote the dangerous mix of that which is relevant, of life and death importance, with that which is trivial and of little consequence so that the attention of the mass man/woman (which would include the anaesthetized, 'uneducated' Christian) is diverted to that which is pleasing. That which is of actual eternal significance to those 'in exile' becomes increasingly unimportant, so that the coming of the Redeemer could be as a thief in the night!
"In sum, youth-oriented popular entertainment constitutes regularly contested ground - contested between generations and contested internally. On the one hand, new media promise freedom, but on the other hand, they contain their own covert system of control that helps to conform youth to a new socio-economic system" (Schultze; 1991:17).
The
idea of conformity suggests connotations of 'mass' with significant
implications.
Mass
‑ an ambivalent concept
The concept mass with
reference particularly to the mass media and its consumers has both positive
and negative connotations. It reflects both the idea of mass production,
technological development as well as the large audience that can be reached. An
important nuance is the idea of an 'amorphous collectivity in which the
components are hard to distinguish from each other', as well as the possible
loss of individuality in the mass as aggregate (McQuail; 1987:29). In the
context of 'mob' or 'unruly group', there are negative nuances of ignorance, a
lack of culture and even of rationality (McQuail; 1987:29). In the socialist
tradition there is a positive aspect of strength and solidarity when the masses
work together, and quantity suggests mass support, movement and mass action
(McQuail; 1987:29). The mass society theory has been built around this concept
of mass and proposes that the media is the cause of and maintainer of mass
society and rests on the idea that the media offer a view of the world as well
as an aid to 'psychic survival under difficult conditions' (McQuail; 1987:63).
The implications of the mass or popular culture on mass man and the reality of
passivity and mediocrity on the Christian are important.
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF... the essences of popular
culture
The term popular culture is
an elusive one to define. According to Rosenberg and White, it is the 'typical
content produced and disseminated by mass media' (as quoted by McQuail;
1987:35). Television is the most dominant medium and its marriage with rock 'n
roll in the music video are significant forces that in both style and content,
reflect the spirit of the age, which therefore need to be understood in terms
of influence on thinking and feeling (Myers; 1989:xvi, xiii). It is difficult
to assess 'popular culture' because it is not only so deeply rooted in our
culture, but there is a desire to deny the 'validity of our own pleasures in
these forms (OShaughmessy; 1990:91). Historically, entertainment has been seen
as 'easy, pleasurable, hedonistic and democratic' in comparison to the more
serious, elitist high culture (O'Shaughnessy; 1990:91). McQuail attempts to
define mass culture by comparing it with high culture and folk culture and
conclude:
1. Mass culture was facilitated by the mass
media;
2. The media have tended to 'colonize'
high and folk culture for content and forms;
3. The mass media are
implicated in the production of mass culture and provide the channels for
distributing it;
4. Culture
is an important element in the conception of a good society and a desirable way
of life;
5. Mass culture is
mass-produced for a mass market in which technology is used in a planned and
organized way;
6. Whereas high culture is
'ambiguous, disturbing and timeless' and folk culture is 'unselfconscious' in
meaning and purpose and although it may persist in time, it
is
not universal, mass culture is
'superficial, unambiguous, pleasing, universal but perishable';
7. The purpose of high
culture is to provide intellectual satisfaction, to enlarge and deepen
experience whereas mass culture is to provide immediate
gratification
and a diversion (1987; 37).
8. Fiske suggests that
popular culture unlike folk culture is 'evanescent and ephemeral' and is
constantly searching for novel evidences and ever-changing
resources
from which its culture can be produced (1989:171). An important distinction
here is that of high versus popular versus folk culture. However, it is
important to note that each is different and that one is not necessarily the
criterion for judging any one of the others. High culture may not provide
criteria for evaluation of the other categories because of its supposed
superiority (Seerveld; 1992:). Within each of these categories, that which is of
quality should be sought out as a means of understanding God, man, society and
others.
Popenoe suggests that
popular culture offers an alternate life with its own life style, which is in
competition (because of its own appeal) with that of the traditional social
institutions, including education and religion, thereby putting pressure on the
child to be a citizen of both cultures (a type of schizophrenia), having
contrary ideas but with no inner commitment to either (1980:385). The idea of
popularity can either be an indication of its positive or negative value
'depending on the 'alignment to "the
people" (O'Sullivan; 1983:174). Therefore the question arises, are the
products of the media 'good' because they are popular, or 'bad' (i.e. 'more
means worse') because they're popular? (Ibid.; 1983:174). The ambiguity of this
concept has two aspects, firstly, the extent to which the popular culture is
imposed on the people (by the mass media or state) or 'derived' from their own
taste, experience and habits, and secondly,
the expression of the powerless as an alternative way of doing or seeing to
that of the dominant or official culture (Ibid.; 1983:175). The popular culture provides many
opportunities for enjoying the best of human experience but simultaneously presents
itself as an obstacle to enjoying the very best because it is trivial,
pervasive, and is the substance of modem life which is often a sad reflection
of that which could have been (Myers; 1989:xiii).
Popular culture is a broad
concept for thinking about the ideological meaning and pleasures of popular
television programmes (O'Shaughnessy; 1990:88). Essentially popular culture has
its own way of making sense of the world and therefore offers its own way of
understanding society. The cultural critics argue that because of its
orientation towards pleasure and entertainment, the popular culture addresses
everyone regardless of age, class, gender so that it must be viewed as a
'crucial site' in which ideologies are produced, hegemony is established and consciousness
is constructed (O'Shauglmessy; 1990:90). Popular culture is actually
contradictory in its effects: it wins the support of the people while
'maintaining the power of the dominant groups and the oppression of the
people'. Ironically therefore, it serves to gratify the people while
contributing to their enslavement. The negative view claims it is the new
'opiate of the people' which keeps the masses 'moronically content with their
lot and their oppression', whereas the positive view sees it as a form of the
people's own cultural values that are separate and more authentic than that of
the high culture and which may serve as a means of challenging the status quo
(O'Shaughnessy; 1990:90,91). For television to be acceptable (to the recipient
or to the disseminator?) it should connect with the actual experience of people
in terms of both their real and fantasy lives so that we can each recognizes
dreams, our desires and ourselves. The way in which television programs
negotiate social issues are actually inherently contradictory as they generally
include several sets of meanings so that for example, a comedy may be read as
socially disruptive, anarchic and subversive (O'Shaughnessy, 1990:94,96).
Essentially many of the television programs actually support the dominant group
because they neglect to question the power of the group so that ideology works
by 'masking, displacing and naturalizing' social problems and contradictions.
There can be no popular
dominant culture because popular culture is formed as a reaction to the forces
of domination (Fiske; 1989:44). Therefore an important aspect to note is that
of the 'interplay of forces' in the 'constant struggle between the power-bloc
and the people' so that the cultural context of popular culture items must be analyzed
in that context. The practices of popular culture 'constitute everyday life'
and that these clashes of social interests are motivated by pleasure, i.e. of
producing one's own meaning of 'social experience' and avoiding the 'social
discipline of the power-bloc' (Fiske; 1989:47). Fiske uses the example of jeans
and shows how that 'whole jeans' connote 'shared meanings of contemporary
America' so that fashionable jeans have to be disfigured in order that
distancing one's self from these values occurs (1989:4).
The
following are believed to be essential characteristics of the popular culture:
1. Consumption and instant gratification so that the consumers
have become passive and have developed a taste which may spoil one's taste for something
better:
"Popular culture has the power to set the pace, the agenda, the priorities for much of our social and our spiritual existence, without our explicit consent. It requires a great effort not to be mastered by it" (Myers; 1989:xiv).
Schultze
remarks on consumption:
"As things now stand, both the entertainment industry and many local authority figures treat youth as mere objects or receptors to be molded by good and bad consumption" (1991:10);
2. Expectation of
everything to be immediate and therefore brief and superficial. Time is no
obstacle and timelessness (classic) is not valued;
3. Contradictory, so that
e.g. jeans can be simultaneously an expression of both domination and
subordination, of resistance and of power,
4. Is part of power relations
and focuses on the popular tactics by which these forces are coped with, evaded
or resisted;
5. Is potentially creative and finds in
the vitality of the people, evidence of the possibility of social change and
the motivation to drive it. It must be relevant to the immediate situation of
the people. Relevance unlike aesthetics is time- and place-bound. Relevance
requires relativity, which means that it denies 'closure, absolutes and
universals'. One of the pleasures of popular culture lies in the 'perceiving
and exploiting these points of pertinence' and in selecting from the range of
the commodities of the culture industries, those items that enable one to make
popular sense out of popular experience (Fiske; 1989:135). Popular
discrimination is determined by realistic hedonism and skeptical materialism
(Fiske; 1989:141). It is a culture, which develops from within as it is made by
the people;
6. Is found to be meaningful through the
activities of buying and displaying products and images so that the mall offers
a sense of supposed community as well as identity;
7. Is characterized by its fluidity;
8. Is engaged in entertainment which is
not merely intended for fun or pleasure, but has the purpose of developing
'dedicated customers by offering... the keys to knowing oneself and becoming
popular' (Schultze; 1991:8);
9. Tends to the excessive which invites
its denigrators to attack it as 'vulgar', 'melodramatic, 'obvious',
'superficial', 'sensational'. The popularity of sensational publications is
evidence of the extent of dissatisfaction in a society especially felt by those
who feel powerless to change their situation. They provide a strange statement
(characterized by abnormality), on contemporary norms and provide a macabre
fantasy from which to escape the drabness of everyday life (Fiske; 1989:116).
Popular texts may be progressive in that they encourage the 'production of
meanings that work to change or destabilize the social order' but never radical
enough to overthrow that order, because these meanings are formed within the
structures of dominance (Fiske; 1989:133). The youth are early 'enmeshed in
adulthood, with the eroding of 'shame' as privacy becomes public and the fine
line between childhood and adulthood is moved back into childhood (Postman;
1982:85). Madonna is an 'exemplary popular text' because she is so full of
contradictions:
"... She contains the patriarchal meanings of feminine sexuality and the resisting ones that her sexuality is hers to use as she wishes in ways that do not require masculine approval. Her sexuality offers both patriarchy and ways of resisting it in an anxious, unstable tension. She is so excessive and obvious; she exceeds all the norms of the sexualized female body and exposes their obviousness along with her midriff. Her equalization of her navel is a parody of patriarchy's eroticisation of female body fragments - she is a patriarchal text shot through with skepticism (Fiske; 1989:124);
10. Is marked by repetition and seriality so
that it is perceived as 'easy' and fits in with the routines of everyday life,
offering popular meanings and pleasures. 'Popular pleasures must be those of
the oppressed, they must contain elements of the oppositional, the evasive, the
scandalous, the offensive, the vulgar, the resistant" (Fiske; 1989:127);
11. Emphasizes the generation gap in which
many parents hand over the raising of their children to 'Hollywood', to the
cultural elite at a critical time in which the family is fragmented so that the
youth are driven to these quasi-parents and heroes for support (Schultze;
1991:5,8). The media serves to 'unite' the youth in a 'generational enclave'
while simultaneously disconnecting them from traditional influences and from
the broader culture (high and folk) as well as from reality (Schultze;
1991:47);
12. Rewards youthfulness and criticizes
maturity so that maturation is not necessarily promoted among the youth and
adults pay tribute to the youth culture in their own trendy dress, romantic
teenage liaisons and plastic surgery (Schultze; 1991:5,6);
13. Distances the youth from their community and renders the ideal of
service ridiculous to the mind of a consumer (Schultze; 199 1:11);
14. Serves as a model for Christian culture
with some 'cleaning up' of the original versions e.g. of rock (Schultze; 199 1:
10). Fischer comments: "Contemporary Christian music allows hip Christians
to roll without straying from the Rock" (1988:141);
15. Confuses the issue of whether life should
be leisure or work so that a distortion of leisure leads to the experience of
less joy and intimacy with a consequent need to satisfy an insatiable appetite
(Schultze; 1991:10);
16. Has resulted in an obsession with images
so that how we appear is more important than who we are. The familiarity with
images spoils our relationships with real people so that we are constantly comparing them with our
expectations of their image instead of appreciating them for their own
uniqueness. It is possible that when the real person begins to break through
the image that disillusionment sets in (Fischer, 1988:44);
However, within popular
culture there is an alternative culture which serves as a commentary on
contemporary society, on its norms and worldview which may however, not be
Christian in perspective, but of importance to the Christian for an
understanding of the various dimensions of these contradictory worldviews that
are so enticing. The consumers of popular culture are in a symbiotic
relationship with the mass media as the media need the youth market and image,
and the youth need the media for guidance and support to replace the loss of
influence of the traditional social institutions. An important aspect to
consider is the power of the media to enculturate.
Media
acculturation
This concept highlights the idea that the media is a
powerful social institution having its own culture, with the following
implications:
1. Essentially the message of the media
cannot assume the characteristics of discourse. The media allow only for the transmission
of brief, entertaining, simplistic, over-generalized, stereotypical messages
with no time for seriousness or detail. Huxley warns that 'omission and
simplification help us to understand' but generally 'to understand the wrong thing; for our comprehension may be only
of the abbreviator's neatly formulated notions, not of the vast, ramifying
reality from which these notions have been so arbitrarily abstracted' (1958:7).
Even the news must be newsworthy, that is visual (the emphasis being on the available
or simulated images) and sensational.
2.
Marcuse
proposes that the mass media are 'engaged in "selling" or imposing a
whole social system' which is both repressive and desirable (as quoted by McQuail;
1987:83). Information may be used as propaganda, but it is also possible that
the media may be implicated in the stimulation of and satisfaction of 'false
needs' for the purpose of assimilating groups who actually have no 'real
material interest in common' into a "one-dimensional society"' (as
quoted by McQuail; 1987:84). Man has extended himself by means of his media and
in so doing has shaped both his world and
himself.
3.
Enzensberger
claims that the media may be viewed as a 'mechanism' for encouraging 'passivity
by receivers' (as quoted by McQuail; 1987:84). The underlying principle of
visual literacy is inherent in the avoidance of an anaesthetized approach to
the mass media.
4. The media's view of the world is
essentially a substitute one, that is a pseudo-environment which is not only
potentially a potent means of 'manipulation' of the people, but also an 'aid to
their psychic survival under difficult conditions' by keeping away the 'real
reality'. C Wright Mills suggests: "Between consciousness and existence
stand communication which influences such consciousness as men have of their
existence" (as quoted by McQuail; 1987:63).
Inherent in the idea of the
mass media is a centralized control over the individual in spiritual isolation
so that the individual does not have a chance to realize his/her own collective
interest.
5. The possibility of a direct link between
economic ownership and the dissemination of messages, which 'affirm the
legitimacy, and value of a class society' is an important assumption. The mass
media are 'commonly regarded' as 'effective instruments of power' because of
their capacity to do one or more of the following:
-
"Attract
and direct attention
-
Persuade
in matters of opinion and belief
-
Influence
behavior (e.g. voting, buying)
-
Confer
status and legitimacy
-
Define
and structure perceptions of reality" (McQuail; 1987:82).
Marx pointed out
that the class which has the means of material production also controls the
means of mental production which makes it the ruling class, to which the others
are subject. Hegemony refers to the 'ruling ideology' and the way in which the
victims are shaped (McQuail; 1987:65).
6. Cultural imperialism or media imperialism
refer to the way in which fashions, styles, cultural values of the dominant
nations are 'exported' by means of films, TV programs, records, news, and
advertisements from 'a highly restricted number of internationally dominant
sources of media production (notably the USA) to media systems in developing
national and cultural contexts' (O'Sullivan et al.; 1983:63). The local
cultures therefore fear the domination of western culture and the displacement
of their own cultural values.
Each of the
media codifies reality differently and therefore each makes its own statement in
its own way because of its unique qualities. The media have been categorized
into hot, cool and cold 'mediums' according to the amount of sensory
involvement by the recipient (viewer/reader) in terms of 'being filled with
data' so that hot media are low in participation and cool media are high in
participation or completion by the audience (Morgan and Welton; 1986:118). The
film is therefore 'hotter' than the novel and the television is considered a
'cool' medium in comparison to the film. A medium that requires participation
by the audience diminishes its manipulative implication, as its views are not
merely imposed on the viewer (Morgan & Welton; 1986:48). Ironically, then
participation is invited while simultaneously directing the viewer to new ways
of seeing! Psychological closure is the action of the viewer who takes a
minimum of clues and mentally fins in non-existing information in order to
arrive at an easily manageable pattern so that gaps are closed (Zettl; as
quoted by Steyn; 1990:3). Therefore meaning comes also from the white spaces
and the gaps, which are left open to the suggestibility and participation by
the viewer. The mass media pay lip service to the distinctiveness of the
individual by providing images of customization while propagating the belief
that personal worth is founded in consumerism - love is like toothpaste and can
be bought or disposed of - thus causing massification. This detracts from the
individuality of each human being.
Mass
man
Ellul refers to the process
of massification, which is the result of the propaganda of the new technology
as follows:
"Man becomes a mass man
in the new framework imposed upon him because he is unable to remain for very
long at variance with his milieu" (1964:333).
The mass man is defined as follows:
"...the ordinary man who rebels against his own true destiny, and dares to stress, with pride, his mediocrity" (Ortega; as quoted by Steyn; 1990:16).
Information has become a commodity and the private, intimate thoughts of human beings can be circulated to a mass audience. The media may make changes in the cognition, norms, values, attitudes and behavior of the individual by bringing each one into contact with new identities and aspirations, as portrayed in glamorized images or 'looking-glasses', of what one would like to be. The individual has been brought into the sight of 'larger, higher reference groups - groups, real or imagined, up-close or vicarious, personally known or distractedly glimpsed' (Mills as quoted by Steyn; 1990:16). This 'public' serves to represent everybody and yet no one in particular so that a personal viewpoint becomes irrelevant as only public opinion is relevant. A frightening consequence is that the standard of comparison becomes the statistical average of the majority to which the individual is expected to conform. Mass man therefore refers to the member of the masses who regards himself as a typical specimen, no different from anyone else and having no special worth. Ironically, therefore the mass media tell man who he is, what he wants to be, how to get to be like that and then provide him with an escape so that he feels that way even if he does not. Therefore modem man has access to volumes of information, filtered through the mass media system and is therefore on the one hand better informed about those issues deemed to be of significance by the perpetrators of mass messages, while simultaneously possibly less informed about those matters that are of great concern to his future and a life of meaning.
Parents may encouraging the
participation of the youth in this process of massification by directing their
beauty and energy towards materialism and consumerism while they actually are
in need of guidance and support and evidence of the Christian mind in the
adults (Schultze; 1991:2).
THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHRISTIAN MIND
The assumption
here is that acquiring the Christian mind is a lifelong process of 'bringing
into captivity every thought' in which efforts are directed towards the
following six characteristics:
1. Theological mind - the focus of the mind on God (Prov 9:
10), which presupposes an openness of mind and a 'both-worldly' (rather than
'other-worldly' or 'this-worldly') orientation to one's reality, which requires
that many viewpoints, be considered;
2. Historical mind - contemporary culture is essentially
existentialist which fosters a hedonistic, momentary orientation, thus limiting
one's historical sense in terms of both the past and the future;
3. Humanist mind - the Christian mind goes beyond selfish
narcissism, impersonal and predatory relationships to an intense concern for
persons and the valuing of human life;
4. Ethical
mind - this suggests an ethical sensitivity to good and evil which is
Biblically-based (Rom 12:9,21);
5. Truthful mind - a recognition of both subjective and
objective truth as claimed by Jesus in John 14:6, and the consequent
responsibility of the knower about the known truth which also provides a
wholeness, integrity and unity for life;
6. Aesthetic mind - a concern for that which is beautiful and
lovely which requires a transcendence of one's own taste or preference in order
that something better can be attained (Gill; 1989:68-75).
An analogy of
the characteristics of the popular culture and the characteristics of the Christian
mind reveals a tension which will give credence to the dilemma of contemporary
man as expressed by Paul in Romans 7:24. Therefore thinking Christianly is
essentially an operative term in which the goal is the restoration of the image
of God in the mind of modem man/woman, enabling him/her to identify the
distortions in the images of the reality presented by the mass media as well as
being criticized by the mass media, while simultaneously living 'comfortably'
and yet not numbly, as a relevant modem man/woman, with an empathic approach to
the needs of the mass man/woman.
MADE
IN THE IMAGE OF GOD...
Thinking
Christianly
The above discussion has exposed a number of areas
that need to be addressed in a Christian Seventh-day Adventist educational
context:
1. The clash between the world views of the
media, the ambivalence and the double-standards needs to be compared with a
worldview that is Biblically-based for the purpose of non-contradictory joy and
to reveal that which is real, true and good (Phil 4:8, Romans 12:2). As
suggested above, the media-mediated view of reality and truth is inherently
unrealistic and deterministic especially to the Christian and the search for
the Truth, which makes one free, becomes a necessity (cf. 1 Cor 2:14, 2 Cor
3:14, Phil 2:5, 2 Cor 10:5, Col. 3:2). It is probable that the unthinking and
fragmented individual is more susceptible to the degrading and destructive
manipulation of the advertiser, propagandist and demagogue. Therefore order
that comes from a Christian worldview and the ability to filter through the messages that are
disseminated from the media are essential aspects of the Christian mind (Gill;
1989:29).
2. The development of a Christian aesthetic
with an underlying motive to empathically understand the 'mass man/woman' who
are insensitive to the influence of the popular culture (ironically as a result
of the inherent nature of the popular culture) on his/her thinking and
worldview. One of the real problems of the thinking Christian is the gap between
what he/she believes and how he/she lives, especially with reference to his/her
involvement with the mass media. Christian communities vary in their outlook
toward the media, but independent of that, daily personal choices need to be
made that will reflect a cultural transcendence and a culture transforming
approach rather than an attitude of escaping from the world. Fischer describes
the dangers of 'fromming' as follows:
"The question is simple
and straightforward. Are you in the world or are you escaping it? The issue is
black and white. You are either walking into the world and into reality or you
are walking away from it and into fantasy - because there's only one world and
it's an ugly one... Jesus instructed Christians to be in the world and not of
it. This position demands a discriminating awareness and yet, to date, the
church's response to contemporary culture has been for the most part either
reactionary (resulting in retreat) or non-existent (resulting in unconscious
involvement)" (1988:129).
Thinking
Christianly about the information-saturated world entails far more than listing
suitable films, magazines, music or television programs for Christians to watch
or listen to. Basic to this approach is the idea in Jesus' prayer of John
17:15:
"My prayer is not that
you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil
one". Jesus did not come to create a world within a world but He came to
understand the prostitute, the leper, the criminal, and the crazy maniac and to
sensitively, where they were, reveal to them the love of God and the promise of
salvation. Christian escapism as an undesirable mark of Christianity; that is
Christians are known by what they do not do rather than by what they do and
warns of the consequences of this attitude as follows:
"When our only
distinctiveness in society comes from avoiding
certain things, we can easily fix our gaze on the evil and view the rest of the
world judgmentally" (Fischer, 1988:141).
Jesus has not saved from the
world but rather to the world just as He came into the world, not to condemn it
but to rather be a Friend of sinners. Developing fragile Christians who live in
a controlled, censored environment is not the answer to the sin problem. The
sacred/secular distinction is actually a matter of eyesight and we always find
what we are looking for (Fischer, 1988:153). What we need then is a deep look
into the Word of God so that our eyesight is reconstructed in order that we can
see things correctly rather than having to be protected from it:
"A pure heart comes from knowing Jesus Christ and having Him recreate our hearts and minds through His Word. It's strictly an inside job. Once that process of change has begun, we begin to see differently. The Word of God becomes a compass that points us toward truth. With our new-found eyesight, we begin to shift out truth from wherever we find it - even in the most unlikely places. "To the pure, all things are pure"' (Fischer, 1988:153).
The approach suggested is
therefore that a curriculum should be established in which various courses will
be taught with the aim of developing Christian thinking about the world as
exposed by the mass media. What follows is a suggested framework.
Philosophy
Based on the idea that
students should be taught to think rather than to be mere reflectors of other
men's thoughts (White; 1903:17), the following diagram serves to visualize a
suitable philosophy of education by which to approach the world of knowledge
and to filter the data received through a biblically-based metaphysic and
axiology.
Method
A significant observation on
the mass media is that it presumes that it has assumed social responsibility by
revealing its own particular methods of mediating reality to the masses so that
there are ample examples of this, which can be obtained from the media to be
used as subject matter for discussion in classes. The suggestion is that class
sessions consist of viewing media excerpts relevant to the topic under
discussion followed by discussion in which students exercise their visual
literacy, critical thinking and discernment skills and relate it to their own
worldview. Thinking Christianly is essentially exploring visual literacy and
the development of a Christian aesthetic with the following suggested
objectives:
Knowledge
of
1. A definition of reality and truth
compared to the mass media's messages and meanings, which includes mediation
and realism;
1.1 the role of and nature of fantasy and entertainment
and infotainment
1.2
The
use of gimmicks, stunts, introvision, montage, glass illusion, simulation,
animation and body doubles in order to establish the nature of constructed
reality
1.3 prevailing ideologies, the popular
culture and the value systems represented
1.4 the study of signs (semiotics) and
images, their denotative, connotative and
ideological meanings (signification)
1.5 the codes and conventions used to represent reality namely, kinesics, proxemics, non-verbal communication, editing, construction of sound, cinematography, the objective and subjective use of the camera, the use of various lenses, angles, vectors, composition
1.6 Psychological
closure
2. The concepts of communication including feedback, which are
essential for achieving intersubjectivity
3. Conformity
and the mass man
4. Stereotypes and myths
5. Empathy as the ability to perceive as others perceive in an attempt to understand their world in order that they may be reached because they feel understood
6. The various media and their unique
characteristics and the nature of the message of each
7. Media power, monopoly and acculturation
8. Agenda‑setting
9. The relationship between the media and
society
10. The audience
11. Media policy and ethics, and censorship
12. Various genre, style and themes
13. Presenters, stars and personalities
14. The production of news
15. The production of narrative
16. Advertising and persuasion
17. The
effects of the media, e.g. on children and violence
18. The historical development of any one of the noted film
directors to establish his worldview and statements on reality, truth and what
is meaningful.
Skills
The student should evidence the following skills:
1. Critical thinking, which allows for the suspension of judgment until the message, as intended is believed to be understood
2. Discernment
the ability to identify the denotation, connotation and ideology being espoused
3. Evaluation
of the meanings of the message
4. Judgment
of that message in terms of his/her own worldview
5. Empathy in which there is openness to the reality of another
so that one's perception of reality and truth is continually being refined,
modified and yet reaffirmed in terms of Truth
6. Aesthetics - an understanding of the use of the techniques
of the media to construct reality in order that an analysis may be made of the
message and the medium.
Valuing
Because the
media is concerned with social issues it forms the basis for virtually any
issue for almost any discipline as it is a major source of information. The
following are a few examples:
1. The value of time is a prime consideration
as the suggestion is that most American people, apart from eating, sleeping,
and working, spend about 80% of their entire lives in the television world
(Fore; 1987:16). This infers the quality use of time and of leisure and a
balance between escapism and reflection.
2. The value of intimacy and the role of the
family in society are important because of the double standards in the
portrayal of love, romance and sex. The idea that love can be bought and
disposed of as espoused in the advertising must be evaluated. Therefore it is
essential to evaluate reel love versus real love. Films such as 'Dangerous
liaisons' and 'Shirley Valentine' are powerful investigations of the results of
unrequited love and disappointment over a lifestyle of promiscuity, which shows
up the consequences of following a lifestyle based on the ideology of 'I want
your sex'.
3. Human dignity and the worth of human
beings in terms of their personhood rather than their image is essential to the
development of sound relationships to offset the loss of identity and personal
worth, isolation and loneliness which leads to conformity.
CONCLUSION
If education is to be redemptive,
and its focus is on the restoration of the image of God in man, then a study of
the mass media must be given a place in the curriculum as it is believed that
it has assumed the role of the priesthood in the secular society and must
therefore be counterbalanced with a Christian perspective on reality and truth.
Its portrayal of salvation is not redemptive but rather it is essentially
damning in terms of its functional and pragmatic utilitarianism and relativism.
Technique has become a morality and a method of problem solving and image has
become the norm for success in politics, in business and socially. Images are
believed to be 'proof of what they represent' as well as of 'currentness' and
yet the fact that we prefer to see reality through its images as encoded by
someone else denies our own dignity and individuality because the person 'who
emits and controls images produces conformity' (Ellul; 1985:142). Ellul
concludes:
"The spectacle-oriented society makes a spectacle of itself, transforming all into spectacle and paralyzing everything by this means" (1985:115).
This availability and
multiplication of images thus results in a demand for everything immediately as
well as the 'dread of the end of the world' (Ellul; 1985:209). The only answer
to these problems lies in a biblically-based view. The ultimate aim of
education is service that is the dissemination of hope-saturated information
about a Savior-hero to a media-dominated world so that life can be lived with
meaning and wisely.
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