By BILL YEE
“The medium is the message.”
— Marshall McLuhan
Baby Boomers were the first television generation to be impacted by mass media. What is the impact that mass media has on society, popular culture, and even us individuals?
The news coverage of iconic events that we shared as a people surely have had an effect on our world view. Depending on your age, do you remember where you were when it happened?
From Elvis and The Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan, to The March on Washington/MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech (1963), the Kennedy Assassination (1963), to man landing on the Moon (1969), the Challenger disaster (1986), and finally 9/11 (2001) are just a few of the iconic events we have witnessed as Baby Boomers.
What would be a movie that had a great impact on how you think about a subject? For example “Days of Wine and Roses” and “The Lost Weekend” tackled the subject of alcoholism. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Defiant Ones,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” and “In the Heat of the Night” changed attitudes toward race in the ’60s.
One of my favorite movies was “Brian’s Song.” One of the few movies that I have shed a tear watching besides “Field of Dreams.”
Beyond issues like alcoholism and race, movies have had a great impact on our habits, fashions, sexual behavior (pornography was one of the biggest reasons people bought VCRs in the ’80s).
For example, in pre-’60s media smoking was very cool. All the major movie and TV stars did ads and commercials for cigarettes. Tobacco commercials are taboo today!
Television was called “the vast wasteland.” But there is no denying its impact on American popular culture.
Like iconic movies, TV changed our attitude toward race and gender. Landmark shows like “All in the Family,” “I Spy,” “The Cosby Show” and “Modern Family,” just to name a few examples, affected our attitudes toward big social issues.
Television inspired the mass consumerism of Baby Boomers. We bought cereal, toys, Barbie dolls, and other indicators of 1950s American affluence from Saturday morning cartoons.
What images of mass media had the greatest impact on your youth or inspired you to pursue a career path or hobby, dress in particular way?
For me it was the TV show “Room 222” that inspired me to become a teacher. I also loved a show called “Then Came Bronson” about a guy traveling America on a motorcycle, solving people’s problems. I didn’t want to solve societal problems but really wanted a motorcycle. Sadly, that never happened, I had to settle for a 10-speed bike!
Seeing James Bond movies and watching “Flower Drum Song” was pretty cool. Sean Connery sold a lot of toys and shaped our ideas on masculinity (not very PC today!). As a Chinese guy, seeing a movie about my community was definitely uplifting.
We all grew our hair a little longer in the ’60s because of The Beatles. The mini-skirt was a welcome addition for male eyes.
Again for Baby Boomers, Top 40 radio and television definitely had an impact on our musical tastes. Who remembers watching “American Bandstand” and “Soul Train”? For later generations it would be iconic music videos like Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
The impact of talk radio has led to balkanization of American politics!
It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. I used to look forward to getting our copy of Life magazine, which was photojournalism at its best.
Probably two of the most iconic pictures of the ’60s was the Vietnamese girl running naked after being hit by napalm and the Apollo astronauts taking the first full picture of Earth from the Moon. Both had a big impact on American public opinion.
Today it’s social media that has the greatest impact. More people are spending more time online than watching TV. Kids no longer want to be policemen, firemen, doctors or lawyers, but influencers. Having a channel or multiple social media accounts generates income and brings you fame.
People will do dumb things on the web to go viral for that 15 seconds of fame. For example, teens eating Tide soap pods.
So mass media has the impact to be both positive and negative. I use Facebook to keep in touch with former students. Unfortunately, one error in judgment on social media can get you cancelled.
I look forward to see how things in the future will evolve and what impact it will have on society!
Bill Yee is a retired Alhambra High School history teacher. He can be reached at paperson52@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.