Task 6

Think about this honestly - are your opinions about television, films or groups ever influenced by other people?


Ask a family member on their views about how media has been influenced by other people.


Do you think a friend's ideas about a media text could ever effect your behaviour in a way? This is what some people have suggested happened in the James Bulger case - that one of the two children talked about a film he had seen and influenced the other's behaviour. How could you present these findings in your blog?


Answering the first part of the question in my own opinion, yes I do think that sometimes I am influenced by the views of other people. For example, if there was a film at the cinema that I wanted to see but someone had told me it wasn't very good, I wouldn't risk going to see that film. Our thoughts about media are based around critics and reviews. We wouldn't buy a book if a critic has said it was rubbish. I know I wouldn't.

As the task said, I was to ask a family member on what they thought about a certain media text. So I asked my Dad what he thought about people influencing each other e.g. television. His answer surprised me as he said that people don't necessarily influence each other about what we watch on television, television influences us. "What we see on the news really happens. Yes people can sometimes influence what you want to watch but that would be contradicting what I'm saying. What we see influences us." This was a very helpful answer because not only does it widen the range of answers but it is also so relevant to the James Bulger case referred to in this question. One of the boys had seen a film, as a result he acted out what he saw. In conclusion, I think that we are influenced by what we see and hear around us. Society and the World in general influences us.