FloRida, 10/25

Media has become such an unconscious part of our mindset. By that I mean that we do not even realize how we are affected daily through our thought and speech. In class, Dr. Rog asked us to come up with ideas on how to promote a new movie with the infamous “TarsMan.” What boggled my mind was how all of us knew without hesitation the vast amount of products that would reach specific consumers. Billboards, movie theatre posters, websites, internet ads, school supplies, theme park rides, and food products were all ideas mentioned. The creation of media convergence has allowed the possibility of using all of these outlets to promote new societal phenomena’s. So much interconnection within society is caused because of this. Jenkins states that, “People who may not ever meet face to face and thus have few real-world connections with each other can tap into the shared framework of popular culture to facilitate communication.” Mainstream media gives society a common basis without them even realizing it. This idea relates to Marx ideas of ideology. Marx clearly states that, “It is not the consciousness of men that determine their being, but, on the contrary, their social being which determines their consciousness.” The reason we believe so much and have so much interconnection is because of the ruling class that Marx discusses. “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, consequently also controls the means of mental production” (Marx).