Media Literacy Essay Example

As opposed to general culture, which is the shared tastes of a particular group of people, popular culture is the shared tastes and interests by the majority of a population. An impressive aspect of popular culture is anyone can determine what is considered "popular." Pop culture can include anything from entertaining films to fashion trends. A prime example today would be HBO's original show Euphoria. The award-winning show has impacted the way people look at topics such as cinematography, makeup, and sound. The show has also sparked media challenges and trends that have plagued sites like TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube. Makeup challenges have spiked as the show uses intriguing eye-shadow looks to express the characters' personalities. The fashion portrayed has also had an impact on today's culture. The out-of-the-box fashion choices made by the characters have also influenced its viewers to dress as they do. This impact is evident in the fact that "every single item that we see on the show can be found online, and almost all of it has already completely sold out" (Media By Imogen Learmonth London et al.). As Euphoria enjoys its spotlight in today's culture, the popularity of previous trends has deteriorated despite maintaining their cultural effects. An example of this would be the boy band One Direction. Despite splitting up in 2016, the band continues to live on music playlists globally. Although no longer releasing new content,  "the impact they continue to have on their fans is what has set them apart from every other musical act" (Barnes and Nashid). That lasting effect with their fans is a product of One Direction being a part of the popular culture at the time.

In today's political climate, racism and its effects have a profound impact on what is seen as acceptable vs. unacceptable. Popular culture uses soft power by persuading people's opinions and ideas through words instead of force. Numerous social media sites such as TikTok and Twitter allow civil rights movements to spread to the masses with little effort. As these movements move more into the light of popular culture, this allows "movements like Black Lives Matter to gain global traction and provide[s] activists like Greta Thunberg with a platform to voice their opinions" (Seisun). An example of soft power in popular culture is the movie Hidden Figures. The Academy Award-winning film is about three African American women who had a significant part in the space race. This movie brought attention to the discrimination of African American workers at that period. By defying the stereotypes of Black women workers in the 1960s, the film "becomes a humane representation of black women, and an important source of empowerment for young black girls" (Islam).  Through these examples of soft power, popular culture is actively combating stereotypes and influencing the views of others.

The concept of media literacy is rapidly becoming more crucial in today's society. As more media platforms are surfacing, the ability to identify and understand the message they are sending is getting more difficult. By studying media literacy, a person can recognize bias and consume factual information. The media industry is constantly growing and a product of this is misinformation. As younger consumers have grown up with and learned to see past a lot of the fake news, older consumers might have trouble. Boomers grew up in a world where they could trust the media and the news they were broadcasting. Due to this, in San Francisco, "40% of older adults do not have basic digital literacy skills" (Klein). Although boomers have the lowest media literacy rate, everyone must study it. It is crucial to see past the fake news and become an educated consumer.