Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism and Media Culture

In the reading “cultural studies, multiculturalism and media culture” Douglas Keller discuses about the power of media, and how it helps us shape our view of the world and our deepest values. He breaks the essay down into three components; production and political economy, textual analysis, and reception and use of cultural text. Keller explains the power that media stories have over us. “Media stories provide the symbols, myths, and resources through which we constitute a common culture and through the appropriation of which we insert ourselves into this culture” (Keller 7).  Basically what I got from the reading was that media is a form of education that teaches us how to think and feel. Through media people forget their very own identity or sense of selfhood. We become who the media wants us to be.  I feel like this reading was bit difficult and confusing for me and This is kind of what I got from the text. In my opinion I don’t particularly 100% agree with Keller.  I believe that yes media does have a huge impact I our lives and in a way corrupts us into thinking that we should be a certain way. But I also think we have self-will and we choose to follow the media.  When I read this essay I thought about reality TV and how it is everywhere now. Most shows that are aired are reality TV. These shows give out the perception that certain people have a certain life style, providing the audience with an idea that everyone should live the same life.