The media has a profound impact on our society, whether we know it or not. We are constantly absorbing media either consciously or unconsciously as we are overloaded by various media texts. Media has been known to influence nations and is still doing so today.
Although media may have positively affected a multitude of people and is pivotal in our every day lives it can however be corrupt and is known to reinforce negative values and stereotypes. One way in which the mass media has been criticized is with the over-sexualisation of women. This is particularly common in the music industry. On multiple occasions there have been controversies around the way music artists reinforce negative stereotypes over-sexualising women. For example, Robin Thicke's music video for the song 'Blurred lines' which seemed to endorse and glorify rape whilst over sexualising women in the music video which featured three nude women and three fully clothed men which appeared to be loving life whilst singing and dancing to the misogynistic tune. Another video which also came under heavy criticism was Anaconda by Nicki Minaj which objectified herself as well as other women through her provocative dancing whilst featuring other handily clad women. Similar to this Miley Cyrus also came under fire after releasing her 2013 single Wrecking Ball.
There are numerous theories on how the media affects audiences. I will specifically be focusing on how music videos may influence an audience.
One theory is the hypodermic needle theory. This theory was initially created in the Frankfurt school in Germany which researched the effect the media specifically Nazi propaganda and the implication it had on audiences. This study essentially states that the media directly influences opinions and actions of a passive audience. This is arguably why the media was so efficient as a means of indoctrination in World War Two where many civilians were manipulated into believing Jewish people are evil and that German Aryans are the supreme race.
A modern day example of this is the way in which audiences often mimic dances and actions within music videos. For example, Silento's Watch Me (whip/nae nae) created a craze in which millions of people jumped on board whilst they performed his notorious dance move the whip & nae nae. Although this is admittedly less severe then the thousands indoctrinated by the Nazi's the hypodermic needle theory still can be applied.
Another concept is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This is the idea that there are a variety of needs in which a human is motivated to obtain. These needs are often portrayed in the form of a pyramid. It included the hardest and most highly valued needs at the top and the more basic natural needs at the bottom. There a 5 platforms to the pyramid, them being: Physiological, Safety, Love/belonging, Esteem and at the top self actualization. Despite the fact that this theory is predominately used just to state what needs one desires it can also be applied to music videos.
For example, many pop and mainstream songs often focus on Love/belonging platform in which themes of friendship and relationship are a recurring theme eg Justin Bieber's Sorry and Love yourself. Other music videos might belong to the platform of Esteem which focus' on prestige and a feeling of accomplishment such as Miley Cyrus' - We can't stop. The genre in which I have chosen (Punk/Rock) often floats between Esteem and Love/Belonging.
The Two Step Flow Theory is the idea that there are two stages to the consumption of a media text. Firstly there is the trend setter which are opinion leaders in which others look up too, this could be someone popular or perhaps a celebrity eg Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Beyonce among others. The second step is someone copying that trend setter. For example, in the context of music videos, Stormzy a (renowned grime artist) is repeatably seen wearing Adidas in his music videos such as 'Shut up' and 'Big for your Boots' this thereby influences the audience as they are likely to adopt his fashion sense and buy more Adidas branded clothing.
