Reflection on Media and Fear

Comm 497AJ was definitely my favorite out of all of the classes I have taken at UMass.  The class was so interesting and not only helped me further my education but it gave me a different perspective of life.  One of my favorite parts of the class was analyzing movies, news media, and television shows.  It helped me so much to actually watch programs with the mindset of analyzing the culture of fear.  I literally sat in front of my computer with my eyes wide open shocked and overwhelmed at all of the fear tactics that were being used.  Even analyzing local news stories was almost sickening!  Out of all of the headlines on my local news media website were about deaths and fires.  Analyzing Oz was also one of my favorite parts of the class.  I always watch shows similar to this one, specifically the show Prison Break.  I actually always thought that the way they portrayed prison was reality.  Reading Yousman’s examination about Oz and than analyzing a few episodes myself was mind-boggling.  Learning about what prison life is mostly like in comparison to how Television shows like Oz and Prison Break is just one aspect of the culture of fear.  We are not shown realistic images and facts, but everything we see is exaggerated and thrown out of proportion.  

“I’ve never wanted the violence to be sensationalistic in the sense of ‘Oh boy I cant wait to watch that show and see what kind of violence they are going to do today’ My attitude is if your going to show violence you should really show it for how horrible it is” –Tom Fontana, Creator/Executive Producer of Oz

Although I thought both of Hall’s essays were challenging to relate to our culture today, I thought the readings were a great way to introduce the ideas and concepts of the class.  It was definitely a smooth transition into my now favorite book, “The Culture of Fear” by Barry Glassner.  Glassner’s way of explaining the culture of fear was more than intriguing. I never even thought about the fearfulness injected in our lives until I took this class and read Glassner’s book.  Ranging from road rage, to metaphoric illness, Glassner provides details and facts about Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things.

Before taking this class I was definitely a victim of the fear tactics that are used in our culture.  The more I listened to the news or read the newspaper the more I saw myself afraid to do anything.  Stories like kidnappings, school shootings, and even local bomb threats in my high school would terrify me to say the least.  I also notice my mom falling for these fear tactics.  I remember when I was little she wouldn’t even let me go trick or treating or eat any candy on Halloween because of the anthrax scare.  Learning about the exaggeration and false facts that media and politicians implement just for their benefit is appealing.  Like Yousman said, if we share with people the important things we learned in this class we can help them understand and give them an entirely different and healthy perspective of life.  I now notice myself not as anxious of fearful when I am home alone or when I walk down the street alone.  I can actually sleep with knowing I forgot to lock my door! I am so happy I took this class because it is the important things I learned that I will continue to utilize throughout my whole life, and I hope to plant the seed for other important people like my mom!