Student interviews: TV and Movies’ Influence on our Politics

In addition to the quantitative data I gathered in my surveys, I also wanted to gather qualitative data that would give me some more insight into my peers’ opinions of media influence. I interviewed three of my friends, asking them the following two questions:

1) Do you think that TV shows and movies influence your thinking in any way (read: your worldview, your beliefs, your perceptions, etc.)? Why or why not?

–> All three of my interviewees answered yes to this question, but each for different reasons. Colton said that he chooses movies and shows that confirm his cultural biases, which is a form of influence. Sam believes in the power of visual media and pointed out that any message will result in a response of some kind. Grace pointed out that one of the reasons media is so powerful is because it allows us to see things from a different perspective, thereby making it more accessible to us.

2) More specifically, do you believe that TV shows and movies influence your political views at all? Why or why not?

–> The answers to this question were more of a mixed bag. Grace and Colton both said that they strongly base their political views on other factors, like religion, and therefore feel like media plays less of a role in shaping their opinions, though both acknowledge that it’s not impossible. Sam was more confident that movies and shows do play a role – however subtle – in the formulation of our political beliefs.

The interview transcripts can be found below:

Colton (junior ag leadership and development major):

Q1: “I feel like I prefer movies and shows that reflect my culture, and influence areas of thought based on that. Outdoors shows (Hunting and fishing), westerns, and some historical dramas often confirm my cultural biases, and therefor do influence my perception to a degree, however minute it may be.”

Q2: “My political views are pretty far off from the norm, so naturally many movies don’t resonate with them- recently, however, some have. Notably V for Vendetta, Shooter (it deals with elements of the military industrial complex and how it relates to political power), and some recent dystopian fiction like the Hunger Games contain libertarian elements, but I don’t watch enough movies lately to say whether or not they influence my beliefs. I lean toward ‘no’, because my beliefs have been chiefly influenced by my religious values and philosophical thought.

Actually, on second thought, some better, more accurate westerns have spurned thought on the Homesteading Principle, so the last question should probably be a bit of a ‘yes’ after all.”

Sam (junior telecommunication media studies major):

Q1: “Yes, I do think that TV and movies affect the way I, and other people, think about certain topics. I say this just because any sort of message will result in a response and, sometimes, whenever a message is formulated correctly it will get the response it’s supposed to. Media can be very effective persuasive tools, particularly visual media.”

Q2: “Yeah. I believe that fans of certain shows, like The Daily Show, may be initially drawn in because they agreed, politically, with some type of idea on the show. After they find some common ground on something, then they’ll probably be more likely to consider another idea on the show. Other TV shows may have more subtle ways of influencing values that could affect political leanings–through narratives that highlight social problems or taboo topics.”

Grace (junior international studies major):

Q1: “I think probably all things we see or hear or observe influence our thinking in someway. But yes, I think especially through TV shows and movies, can influence the way we think. We’re seeing situations through another person’s perspective we learn things which may change how we think about the same situation. Seeing something I don’t really agree with being portrayed in a positive light doesn’t necessarily change my opinions to agree with it. But it allows me to see how other people might feel about the same situation. Its all just interesting information.”

Q2: “I don’t think they really influence my political views…seeing as my political views are more largely based on more religious beliefs and actual facts rather than what I may see in a TV show or movie. If I see a particular political party portrayed in a bad or good way in a TV show or movie doesn’t mean I’ll think of them better or worse.”

Student Survey: Media influence on Political Views

For this survey, I once again spoke to ten different college students in the student center of Texas A&M University. This survey was multiple choice rather than open-ended like the last one, and its purpose was to ascertain how strongly my peers believe that TV and movies influence themselves and others. I asked each one of them eight questions:

1) If you could only pick one, which of the following best describes how you receive television news about current events?

1. Comedic talk shows (ex. Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert)  [3]
2. Comedy shows (ex. Saturday Night Live)  [1]
3. News channels (ex. CNN or Fox)  [5]
4. Other television source (please explain)  [1]

–> As indicated by the numbers in brackets to the right of each question, three students answered (a), one student answered (b), five students answered (c), and one student answered (d), indicating that he got his news from the Internet, on sites such as Reddit.

2) How often do you think that TV shows attempt to persuade you politically?

1. Always  [2]
2. Very often  [3]
3. Somewhat often  [3]
4. Every once in a while  [1]

Never  [1]

–> Two students answered (a), three students answered (b), three students answered (c), one student answered (d), and one student answered (e).

3) How successful do you think that TV shows are at affecting your personal political views?

1. Extremely successful  [0]
2. Somewhat successful  [4]
3. Mostly unsuccessful  [5]
4. Completely unsuccessful  [1]

–> Four students answered (b), five students answered (c), and one student answered (d).

4) How often do you think that movies attempt to persuade you politically?

1. Always  [0]
2. Very often  [3]
3. Somewhat often  [5]
4. Every once in a while  [2]
5. Never  [0]

–> Three students answered (b), five students answered (c), and two students answered (d).

5) How successful do you think that movies are at affecting your personal political views?

1. Extremely successful  [0]
2. Somewhat successful  [3]
3. Mostly unsuccessful  [4]
4. Completely unsuccessful  [3]

–> Three students answered (b), four students answered (c), and three students answered (d).

6) In your opinion, do the majority of news channels (such as CNN and MSNBC) have a liberal bias?

1. Yes  [5]
2. No  [2]
3. Undecided  [3]

–> Five students selected (a), two students selected (b), and three students were undecided.

7) In your opinion, does Fox news have a conservative bias?

1. Yes  [9]
2. No  [0]
3. Undecided  [1]

–> Nine students selected (a), and one student was undecided. It is interesting to note that even the students who said that news channels were not their main source of news had an opinion on this question. The one student who was undecided had actually selected news channels as his main source of news.

8) How often do you think that TV shows and movies affect the political beliefs of other people (besides yourself)?

1. Always  [0]
2. Very often  [8]
3. Somewhat often  [1]
4. Every once in a while  [0]
5. Never  [1]

–> Eight students chose (b), one student chose (c), and one student chose (e). Interestingly, eighty percent of the students surveyed believed that media affects other people’s political views, but the majority of them also claimed that television and movies are either mostly unsuccessful or completely unsuccessful at affecting their own political views. This demonstrates a theory called the Third-person Effect, which posits that people believe that they themselves are more resistant to media influence than other people are.

Overall, I found that the majority of students I surveyed believe that TV and movies do attempt to persuade us politically, but they believe themselves to be more resistant to media influence than other people are. Next, I conducted several interviews in which I asked a different group of students to elaborate on their perceptions of media influence on their political views. I will relay my results in my next post.

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Student survey: Political knowledge vs. pop culture knowledge

For the last few months, I’ve been exploring the ins and outs of how TV shows and movies influence our political beliefs. I have used experts to back up the points I’ve been making as often as possible, but this week I wanted to get the input of another important group – my peers. This group is especially important because I focus on them as a target audience/recipient of television’s influence. Therefore, I was especially interested in seeing how my peers perceive media’s influence on themselves and others. But to start off with, I did a simple survey designed to test people’s knowledge of current events as opposed to their knowledge of pop culture. I surveyed ten of my fellow college students in the student center on campus, asking them ten questions:

1) Which actor is cast to play Batman in the upcoming “Batman vs. Superman” movie?

–> Five of the ten students surveyed knew the correct answer: Ben Affleck

2) Who is the current vice president of the United States?

–> Nine of the ten students surveyed knew the correct answer: Joe Biden. The student who got it wrong said Dick Cheney, so he wasn’t as far off as he could have been.

3) Name the five main characters (including Scooby) in the original Scooby-Doo series.

–> An impressive 70% of the ten students surveyed could correctly name all five characters: Shaggy, Fred, Velma, Daphne, and Scooby. Only one student did not know any of them, and the remaining two students knew three of them: Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby.

4) The Senate just voted on the fate of “Keystone XL.” What is Keystone XL?

–> Three students knew that Keystone XL is a pipeline. Seven students did not know what it is.

5) Name one actor or actress from the cast of Saturday Night Live.

–> Two students put celebrities who had past rather than current involvement with the show – Adam Sandler and Conan O’Brien. But three students named current cast members, and one guessed Kristin Bell, who has actually never been on the show. Four of the ten students left this answer blank.

6) Name one of Texas’ two senators.

–> Eight students either left this question blank or got it wrong. Only two students answered this question correctly (Ted Cruz and/or John Cornyn).

7) Which famous actor recently committed suicide?

–> Four students did not know the answer. Five students said Robin Williams (the answer I was looking for), and one said Heath Ledger, which was not the answer I was looking for, but it still effectively demonstrates the student’s knowledge of pop culture events.

8) Which area of the world contains the Gaza Strip?

–> Three students did not know. The other seven said some variation of the Middle East/Israel/Palestine.

9) How many Pirates of the Caribbean movies currently exist?

–> Four students said three, and the other six (correctly) said four.

10) The recent midterm election resulted in Democrats losing control of which governing body?

–> Four students got this question wrong, and six answered correctly – the Senate – but at least one of them was just guessing, as indicated by the question mark after her answer.

The final tally: the odd-numbered pop culture questions were answered correctly 58% of the time, while the even-numbered political questions were answered correctly 54% of the time. I was expecting students’ pop culture knowledge to outshine their political knowledge by a long shot, but I was glad to be wrong in this instance. But the point we can take away is that pop culture is just as influential, if not more so, than politics, so just imagine the effects when the two of them are combined. In my next post, I will examine perceptions of media influence more in-depth.

Government of the people according to “Madam Secretary”

In addition to movie reviews, Plugged In also reviews TV shows. Here’s one about the new political series Madam Secretary. From the review:

“Madam Secretary asks us, in our super-cynical age, to think of government as truly being of the people, the sort of people who we might pass in the supermarket—only smarter and better dressed. It suggests that Washington can be better at times than we give it credit for, and that it could be better yet with a little more common sense. And while some have called Madam Secretary a CBS commercial for a certain impending political campaign, Elizabeth’s political leanings aren’t always that clear, and not particularly alienating even when they are”

Bill Cosby – America’s dad or lowlife criminal? Television gives us conflicting answers.

Bill Cosby has been under fire lately for numerous rape charges, a development that flies in the face of the fatherly persona he crafted over decades of stand-up comedy routines and acting.

This article from CNN explores the history of Bill Cosby as we know him, and it includes a link to an article from The New York Times entitled, “Before Obama, There Was Bill Cosby.” It’s safe to say that Bill has been influential in our popular culture over the last half century.

I grew up listening to my father’s CDs and cassette tapes of Cosby’s comedy routines. I didn’t watch much TV as a child, so I knew Cosby through his comedy routines rather than his role as Dr. Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Nevertheless, as a result of his family focus in his stand-up comedy, I still grew up viewing Cosby in the same warm, fatherly light that he crafted for himself in his role on The Cosby Show. I was extremely saddened to hear of these allegations, and while Cosby should certainly be considered innocent until proven guilty, the charges brought against him have not helped his reputation.

What I’d like to focus on is the role of television in enabling Cosby to be viewed as a father figure by millions, for decades on end. In the above CNN article, Cosby’s biographer, Mark Whitaker, has a telling statement about the influence of TV:

“Cosby was very aware of the power of television,” says Whitaker. “(When) coming into your living room to 35 and 40 million people a week, presenting a positive image — not only to white viewers but to black viewers — was deeply powerful and healthy.”

I believe that’s the reason these charges as garnering so much attention. So many people in America view Cosby as a sort of father figure that it hits us all in the gut to be told that he might not be quite the man we all think he is. Television, the medium that skyrocketed Cosby to widespread fame in the first place, is not his friend now that these allegations of rape are being aired.

Like I said before, he’s innocent until proven guilty. He’s helped millions of people through his family-friendly comedy (laughter is the best medicine!) and philanthropic work, and I would be very sad to see the public turn on him now. But the power of suggestion is causing many distressed fans to reevaluate the Cosby they thought they knew.

Television is a powerful medium. It can propel people to fame. It can destroy that fame by airing damaging information. And you can bet your farm that it’s influencing your political views.

Kiss Goodbye to Advertisements with AdBlock

I wrote another post about how influential advertisements can be. Ads are ubiquitous, screaming for our attention from all sides and sources – television, billboards, newspapers, magazines, and most alarmingly, the Internet. I say the Internet ads are the most alarming because they are often tailored to our individual preferences, and I don’t like that idea of Big Brother watching and knowing me so well. This problem can be remedied somewhat by doing things like disabling cookies on your browser, but in my experience, advertisers somehow seem to find a way around that.

AdBlock is here to shield Google Chrome and Safari users from some of those invasive Internet ads, including sidebar ads and those pesky YouTube ads. Advertisements can be influential in many areas, but our political views can definitely be one of them. I prefer to have my political views influenced by content I seek out myself, rather than advertisements that seek me out, so I was excited when I found out about this. I encourage everyone to go check it out and download the program. It works like a charm, and the program creator claims that it “requires no personal information to run, and doesn’t monitor your browsing.” I cannot vouch for the truth of that statement, but advertisers are tracking me anyway, so I’d rather run the risk of being tracked by one more party in order to avoid seeing many annoying advertisements.

Just to be clear, this program does not claim to stop advertisers from tracking your browsing data. That’s up to you and the settings you enable on your browser. But it does largely stop those marketers from reaching you, and that’s worth a lot.

You can also find AdBlock on Facebook.

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“The Theory of Everything” shows us what living with ALS is really like

If you have been anywhere near the Internet this past summer, you probably saw people doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Big-name politicians, like George W. Bush, Chris Christie, and Paul Ryan, did the challenge and shared videos of the experience online. Even president Obama got involved, declining to do the challenge, but pledging to donate money to the cause.

It was a fun activity for people to do with friends, and it seemed to do a lot of good for the cause by raising both awareness and funds. But absent from the trend was a good sobering dose of what ALS is really like. Here to remedy that is The Theory of Everything, a film about famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking and his inspiring struggle with the disease.

While this may not be a political issue, politicians certainly saw it as worthy of their individual attention over the summer. They even reached across the aisle, so to speak, challenging their colleagues from both sides to take the challenge.

Rock the Vote: Movie Stars Meet Democracy in Action

Not only do movies and TV shows influence our political beliefs, but the actors and actresses that star in them can influence us as well. If you don’t believe me, check out the YouTube videos below, which feature celebrities encouraging everyone to do their civic duty by voting. Many of them emphasize specific political causes, like abortion, environmentalism, and prison reform, and imply that you should care about those causes too.

Rock the Vote, the non-partisan, non-profit organization that produced two of these videos, is dedicated to informing and registering potential voters. According to their website,

“Rock the Vote works to mobilize the millennial voting bloc and the youth vote, protect voting rights, and advocate for an electoral process and voting system that works for the 21st century electorate. Since 1990, Rock the Vote has revolutionized the use of pop culture, music, art and technology to inspire political activity.”

Their website includes helpful resources and opportunities for you to get involved.

This is a pretty cool organization, and they certainly made an effective choice when they enlisted big-name actors and actresses to promote their cause.

Interstellar

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If you haven’t already seen Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, I highly recommend it.

I’ll warn you though, the movie contains so many plot twists and moves so quickly that it was often hard for me to follow it. When I walked out of the theater, I felt exactly like I did after I watched Inception, one of Nolan’s other blockbusters. It was a really entertaining and visually stunning movie, but a decent amount of the plot was confusing. Interstellar clocks in at almost three hours, so there was certainly a lot of plot to keep up with.

Nevertheless, the movie raised fascinating questions about mankind’s place in the universe, the value of humanity, the value of family ties, and the future of the human race. I was inspired, saddened, and cheered, often all at the same time. One of the things I found interesting about this movie was its complete lack of any sort of government presence. On the brink of human extinction, the characters in the movie are wrestling with ethical questions about who to save and how to save them, and the only authoritative entity that makes an appearance is NASA – an organization that most people are not even aware still exists.

One of the film’s messages is that ultimately, our destiny is up to ourselves. Not government, not outside forces. Each decision that we make has infinite ramifications, not only for us, but for those we love. Unfortunately, Interstellar makes no mention of God or other divine forces, though several astronauts and scientists speak of a group of benevolent, mysterious beings from another dimension known only as “They.” Our destiny, it claims, is ours to craft. This view is problematic, but I did appreciate the implication that government is not ultimately what will save us.

See this movie review from PluggedIn if you’d like to find out more about the film before you go see it.

TV Preferences by Party Affiliation

I write a lot about how TV shows and movies try to influence our political views, but there’s also the flip side: our political views influence which programs and films we seek out. One of my professors talked about this the other day, and he showed us some extremely interesting graphs that detail TV show preferences according to party affiliation. As soon as I find those charts again, I will share them on this blog, but in the meantime here are two lists by Entertainment Weekly about Democrats’ and Republicans’ favorite and least favorite shows.