This chapter focuses solely on the idea that audiences are objects to the media texts and the effects that these messages has on a mass scale. As I come from a film background, I will center my focus on the ideas and theories presented in this chapter that pertain to motion pictures. The premise of this notion of audiences as objects is that the general public is unable to construct their own ideas and opinions furthermore, it considers the audience to be easily influenced by what is being transmitted. This ideology brought forward concerns over what media messages are being produced and how they can have a negative and potentially damaging effect on the human psyche. With this, a number of case studies and research on media effects were introduced and concluded that the media does carry information that if exposed to, can lead to changes in a persons ideas, behaviours and beliefs (Sullivan, 26). Charles Horton Cooley was one of the first to observe the impacts of media by linking an individuals psyche and worldviews with 1) their surroundings which include where they grew up, when they grew up, their social group, the institutions they are apart of etc.; and 2) the communicated messages delivered by mass medias (Sullivan, 27). The motion pictures was one of the first mediums to market at a much larger demographic of people as tickets were affordable and pictures were distributed and exhibited across the globe, therefore creating mass audiences which Sullivan explains as individuals who are dispersed across time and space, act separately and have little to no knowledge of each other (p.6). As a result, those in powerful positions of creating the media messages realized they could use the medium to control and influence audiences to side with their beliefs at a more efficient and larger rate than indicated prior to the 19th century. Cooley’s emergence of mass media and its potential impacts led to a number of systematic studies and theories that would highlight the idea around audiences as outcome.
Hugo Münsterberg is an important film theorist who was attracted in researching how audiences engaged with moving pictures. In his book, The Photoplay: A Psychological Study, Münsterberg examined early cinema and came up with a certain theory on how audience members sense of reality became altered while watching a moving picture. Münsterberg argued that spectators had to escape the realities of their world in order to be fully engaged with the films story which meant having to accept, for the duration of the film, the constructed images projected (Sullivan, 28). This theory concerned Münsterberg who suggested that in time, the practice of entering the altered reality implemented in movies and becoming vulnerable to the images and messages could leave a lasting impact as the medium could be an effective tool in humans psychological formation of the world. The ideas presented by Münsterberg created a proliferation of studies on the effects of mass media that began in the 19th century as America was becoming more industrialized and people were moving to urban environments for job opportunities.
German sociologist, Ferdinand Tönnies analyzed the large shift from rural to urban environments that produced a social organization he called Gesellschaft which refers to a large group of individuals that live together in an urban environment (Sullivan, 30). Tönnies argued that those living in urban environments felt a sense of displacement as they were surrounded everyday by different people whom may not share the same culture, background etc. Unlike those who resided in smaller rural communities that were deeply rooted in social connections which Tönnies coined as a Gemeinschaft, individuals in larger cities were in fact isolated more which established the Mass Society Theory that examines the role media has on industrialized societies and poses the statement that the media is harmful as it has “the capacity to directly influence the attitudes and behaviours of individuals” (Sullivan, 31), which links to Tönnies thoughts on the vulnerability of audiences when confronted with forms of mass media.
A quick background on the early history of cinema:
Films in the beginning were very short in duration due to the belief that audiences could not concentrate for a long period of time. People watched them either individually or in small groups, as they were shown in temporary locations usually positioned in front of storefronts. The shorts consisted of single shots that portrayed everyday life and activities whether staged or authentic such as people getting off a train which was a short created by The Lumière Brothers in 1895.
There were hardly any cinematic techniques however people were fascinated with the introduction of moving photographs and by 1914, theatres that allowed for larger audiences and wider screens were constructed along with the public demanding lengthier films with storytelling and narratives. As the need for information, education and entertainment was strong, companies saw a commercial value in the industry and began producing large numbers of films annually and by the 1920s, film became the most powerful mass medium on societies around the world. As a result of this growing mass media, studies on the perception of how movies affected viewers were performed in the late 1920s referred to as the Payne Fund Studies which is important in the understanding of media effects as the comparisons between the 20s and today are evident.
The Payne Fund Studies was organized by social scientists with the goal of examining the impact of films mainly on the culture of America’s youth with scientific evidence. Questions of whether films inspired acts of violence, what ideas do children receive from watching movies, how emotionally effected are children after watching, and how often do children engage with this form of media were addressed in the studies. The subjects used in the studies not only responded emotionally, but they also mimicked many of the acts and attitudes they experienced. Another finding in the research was the increased emotional impacts that were established through the viewing of content that evoked fear and anxiety thus creating moral panic.
In the 1930s, government intervention in cinema grew, symbolized by the enactment of the Film Law, which gave the state more control over the film industry. The government encouraged the production and promotion of propaganda films which was a tool used to install fear into American audiences about the ‘enemy’ that as a result influenced their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Sullivan describes media propaganda as a “deliberate attempt by one party to control or manage the information environment of another through the manipulation of symbols or psychology” (36). During the Vietnam War, American cinema was embedded in telling stories about their military systems and portraying their country as the heroes in contrast to the Orient’s image, idea and personality which were presented in a negative light. The way Hollywood narrates the events of the war in Vietnam is a classic example of Orientalism. Hollywood commercialized the war and cultivated a dominant discourse to Americans that there was an external threat that should be fear which ultimately dominants the publics feelings and thoughts. The most effective approach to inject propaganda theories into the minds of the public is to use entertainment as with this type of means, individuals do not realize they are being manipulated by the media. And as I do not intend to ruin your childhood, this practice was used by one of the biggest contributors to popular culture, Disney. In its earlier years, Disney displayed various racist stereotypes which contributed to American ideals of the world.
Walter Lippmann explored the notion of stereotypes and the effect that mass communication has on our knowledge as we are presented with images of what is considered reality before we even get to experience it for ourselves and therefore, through these dominant stereotypes that are continuously projected, thoughts and beliefs begin to form about the world around us that are not our own which then become self-perpetuating, meaning we do not question them. Often marketed to a younger audience, these films are vital in shaping their expectations of the world based off the representation and narratives provided which effects their psychological viewpoint. This brings me to my final theory in this chapter on the effects of media messages, Cultivation Theory. The media provides people with perspectives into environments that may be vastly unfamiliar plus the media could potentially be their only exposure, and the cultivation theory looks at the long-term effects of media on children behaviours and their attitudes towards reality, suggesting that television is to be held accountable for the conceptions of social reality. Therefore, it is important for voices that are excluded, censored, suppressed and silenced to be given the opportunity to be represented through mass mediums in projections that do not illustrate negative stereotypes in order to fight back against the hegemonic ideologies.
Sullivan, J. L. (2020). Effects of Media Messages. Media audiences: Effects, users, institutions, and power, 25-52.
