Mongoose, 10/22

The idea that stands out to me the most from this week’s class was the fact that ideology exists everywhere in society and will continue to be permeated by the ‘ruling class’ onto those who do not rule. While it is largely agreed upon that those people in the ruling class are those who have the power to influence through ideology, it is not as easy to pick out who exactly is in the ruling class. We saw examples of expensive things (Mercedes and champagne) and more popular items in the same grouping (Budweiser and GM) and the class was split as to which image was a depiction of the ruling class. So does ‘ruling’ mean that you have a lot of money and power or does it simply mean that you have the ability to influence mass amounts of people? In my opinion those who can reach and influence more people are the ones with the most power; given, a lot of times it is those with money who have the means and ability to influence the masses. Sometimes though, it is not necessary to be rich to have influence. One example that comes to mind is a pastor of a church; while this is not a very lucrative field of work, it is a position of power that comes with the ability to influence the minds of many people because of the respect and authority that comes with the title. I think this concept ties in quite well with the writing of Baudrillard, he believed that the writers of Disney movies used the characters to express their viewpoints and create a ‘utopia’ feeling for the children. These writers are the ones in the power position and can use this position in order to influence the minds and thoughts of children who watch their shows and movies.