One of the reasons that Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been opposed is that characters in the book engage in negative behaviors. Huck, for example, runs away, and casually smokes with his friend Tom. The idea is that because readers see these actions coming from Huck they will begin to repeat what they read.
A Superbowl commercial called "Pepsi MAX -- Love Hurts" that I viewed reminded me of our class discussion of imitating what we see in the media. It's a comical commercial in which the wife is constantly monitoring what her husband eats and making him eat healthier foods. She is portrayed as bossy and controlling, while he is sneaky but submissive.
While I enjoyed the commercial, I'm not going to become controlling like the wife, or start eating unhealthy foods like the husband. In the same way, reading about a boy who runs away and smokes does not mean that I will do either of those things. I do not believe that teenagers are as influenced by the media as many people believe we are. What do you think?
I think that you made a pretty good argument here, Liesel, but I think that one viewing of the commercial will have no affect. However, seeing many commercials with the woman being bossy and a character eating lots of unhealthy food could make you believe that those things are normal and ok. It has been proven in studies that kids who play violent video games are more likely to be violent. If a person who watches their character shooting and killing and stuff for a few durations of the game, they will be less sensitive to violence and may think it is ok. In the same way, I think that attitudes rub off from the media even easier. Just because one character on television treats their parents a certain way, some teenagers probably believe that it is ok to treat their parents with disrespect as well. These are messages that they have seen for years on TV, and I think the repetition has ingrained certain beliefs about what is ok and what is not ok to do.
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