Media Within Us
Media is all around us. The world has become a place where there is a constant flow of ideas through various mediums. A person’s thoughts, ideas, and portrayals of concepts are all influenced by the intense power of media. Every encounter that an individual has is covered with media; his ideas are shaped by mediums. Because of its large presence and power over society, media is inescapable. Individuals may perceive and express media differently. These claims are supported by McLuhan through his passage “Understanding Media”. Media is the subconscious or conscious awareness, acceptance, and individual perception of all ideas portrayed through various mediums.
All ideas and thoughts are shaped and morphed by media. A person may think he is being original, but every thought and concept he ponders reflects an impact that media has had on him. Every image that passes through the mind is dripping with media. Because “medium is the message”, the content and thought required to put together that message is influenced by media (McLuhan 13). For example, if Jack sends a text message to Eric, he puts together what he considers to be his own thoughts and ideas in a manner which he believes is creative. What Jack does not realize is that every thought and word he considered and wrote contains history and impact of other mediums. Furthermore, he is also imposing these mediums upon Eric. Jack’s thoughts and wording of messages are reflections of what he’s seen and been trained to think. The medium is the message from which no one can escape.
Media is inescapable. Everyone is subject to media-- it is unavoidable to all beings. This power is held strong by media due to its presence in all aspects of life, as well as its persistence. If a man is placed alone in a room where he is isolated from society, media is still all around him. Although he is alone, media lies within simple things such as the color of the paint on the wall; it is essentially in the air that he breathes. Media is extremely powerful because even if people attempt to ignore it, media is still surrounding their every move and imposing ideas on them. This is why propaganda is so powerful. Even if a person doesn’t believe it, the media “pounds” the ideas into their head. This can be done through many different ways.
Media can take diverse forms by being perceived and portrayed differently by individuals. Each person sees media differently and the ideas formed by it are not set in stone. “In other words, cubism…drops the illusion of perspective in favor of instant sensory awareness of the whole” (McLuhan 13). The artist Picasso portrays things differently in his medium that contrast with the social norms. He breaks down one image into pieces in a perspective that challenges traditional styles. People start wondering how this process is formed and how it connects to the world. He is a rare example of something different than the effects media has on most individuals. Although he expresses the effect media has on him differently than others, Picasso is still effected by many mediums, and this is shown uniquely through his artwork.
Media shapes the ideas of society and largely shapes civilization. Its powerful essence is inescapable to all beings and even those who react differently to media are still formed by it. Society may or may not be aware of the encompassing influence that various mediums have on them, but their ideas and thoughts are reflections of what the media allows.
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