Quick fire response after watching Miss Representation
At this point I’ve watched Miss Representation a handful of times and always find something new to learn from it. Firstly, I think it really helps to shed light on the fact that we don’t really realize these things and the impacts that they have until we actually examine them and ask ourselves questions about them such as; why does x exist, who does x serve, and how is x reinforced? Once we do this we are able to have a better idea of the negative impacts that huge components of our lives have as well as the negative foundations that they were based off of historically.
Another thing that I took away from watching this film another time was about the idea of having a role model and what it means to have someone to look up to that actually looks like you. Many of the women featured in the film brought up the idea that there was never anyone who looked like them in the media or in the position that they wanted while they were growing up, therefore they couldn’t see themselves ever achieving their goals. Although it’s important for children to find someone to look up tom it’s also important that they know they can be the first to do anything as long as they put their mind to it and feel the passion in their hearts.
Something that really frustrated me about the film was when they were showing all of the research dating back to the 1960s which supports the idea that violence in the media has impactful, negative effects on people in real life. This topic in particular got me riled up because as a Psychology student this is something we are constantly learning about and talking about in an array of classes and therefore it seems obvious that something should be done. The documentary illustrated that despite all that we know about violent media, there still have been no policy changes regarding its regulation to date. This example also connects back to the idea of sexualizing women in the media and portraying all female characters in the same way and how both of these things contribute to our limited understanding of and respect for women in general.
The media was something created when content to feature was limited, and society functioned in a different way. Some of the speakers of the film stress the point that as society and times have changed, media regulation should therefore change with it and I completely agree. Not only does the media have negative impacts on children and their developing brains and sense of self, but it also has negative effects on people of any age. It continuously reinforces ideas that are grounded in the basis of power and profit and in order to try and change the system we need to at least be able to identify and acknowledge it.
