It is well known that the images and ideas presented in the Media can have a strong impact on the views of society; this phenomena can sometimes have quite damaging effects. The concept of cultivation theory allows me to better understand the effects of images of terrorism presented in media and how they "cultivate" an irrational fear of Muslim and Middle Eastern people.
Cultivation theory asserts that one's exposure to the various forms of mass media can effect one's world view. The "mediated reality" of popular TV, for example, can be very different than what really goes on off screen in terms of prevalence. As one takes in the images and ideas presented in the media, the frequency of these images makes them seem common or ordinary, so the viewer begins to assume that what he experiences through the media is comparable to what actually happens on average to people throughout the world.
One example that helps me understand the concept of cultivation theory is the unqualified fear of Muslims and other Middle Eastern people in the United States. Since the 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers, increased attention has been given to terror and terroristic groups by the media. Countless press articles, television news stories, TV Shows (such as The Unit and 24), and movies (Black Hawn Down, Jarhead, Hurt Locker, etc) have been dedicated to this idea of fighting terror. The overwhelming presence of the types of images by the Media has caused many Americans to develop an overwhelming fear of Muslims and Middle Eastern peoples because it greatly over exaggerates the implied number of people who take part in these terroristic acts and makes the acts themselves seem much more common than they are. Sadly, to many people in America, every Muslim (or not even Muslims, but Indians, Hindus, and, as the video below shows, Sikhs) in an airport is a possible terrorist and a threat to public safety. This unfortunate happenstance, though regretfully common, is not grounded in reality. Besides the fact that the Muslim extremists responsible for the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terror are just a very small group of people in the Muslim world with ideas and objectives that in now way reflect the view of the great overwhelming majority (and not the mention that this extremist sub-sect is not the only group responsible for terroristic acts), many groups of of people that have been racially profiled and discriminated against because of the effects of cultivation theory aren't even Muslim!
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