Media/TV/Music. Do they influence society or are they a reflection of society?

Both.

You can always go back and listen to music from different eras and get a general gauge of the mood of society during that time.

But on the other hand, media has definitely attempted to and succeeded in influencing society. I think about the tv sitcoms all through the years that portrayed some family situation that was always happy and positive. Leave it to Beaver, Lassie, My Three Sons, The Brady Bunch, etc.

Agree with tideengineer, its a bit of both. For example, I have heard that The China Syndrome helped influence US opinion on nuclear energy enough that it brought the development and expansion of nuclear power plants almost to a halt (3 mile island having influence as well). So instead of the US being at the forefront of the nuclear power industry, it has moved on to other countries like France.

Then there are other movies that reflect society, such as Act of Valor- I would say that movie is a representation of American attitude towards the military (...... white knights). Also, in the realm of video games, the new Rainbow Six storyline supposedly centers around a group of home-grown terrorists who are are ticked about the economy and decide to take vigilante justice on politicians and bankers they feel are responsible.

Both. Media itself, however, consists of those born in the golden age of journalism, where instead of getting elected and being accountable you just spin the story the way you want. It worked before Fox News and the Net because the sheep couldn't question what the TV told them was true. Now they can.

As far as music, I'm familiar with the old rock and roll is the devil's music and in my teens you could listen to Zeppelin backwards and hear Satanic messages. But the junk being sung reflects reality as interpreted by the musicians. Chuck Berry said it best when he said the dollar dictates what is written.

TV violence etc - well, I know it's fanciful in the Obama Error to point fingers and blame stuff, but I hold the view that the killer at Sandy Hook is to blame - not guns, not video games, not even mental health counselors. I also doubt there's a connection between watching Lethal Weapon and going on a killing spree or porn leading to rape.

There were Reds under our beds! And, still are!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t7hhf

David Aaronovitch thinks the unthinkable about the McCarthy period.

The hunt for the so called 'Reds under the beds' during the Cold War is generally regarded as a deeply regrettable blot on U.S history. But the release of classified documents reveals that Joseph McCarthy was right after all about the extent of Soviet infiltration into the highest reaches of the U.S government.

Thanks to the public release of top secret FBI decryptions of Soviet communications, as well as the release under the fifty year rule of FBI records and Soviet archives, we now know that the Communist spying McCarthy fought against was extensive, reaching to the highest level of the State department and the White House.

We reveal that many of McCarthy's anticommunist investigations were in fact on target. His fears about the effect Soviet infiltration might be having on US foreign policy, particularly in the Far East were also well founded.

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McCarthy was right about influences in government and Hollywood, too.

Thus, IMO, media/TV/music are influenced by people with a political agenda, foremost. Do they also reflect society, yes. But, not me. Most of the movies are just crap. Mainstream media is not longer independent. It is an arm of the Democrat Party. A good example is the Benghazi Attack cover-up, which seems to be unraveling.

Beginning in the '60s, I noticed how TV shows didn't just reflect society, but had an agenda to shapes opinions:

If all you saw of America was what you see on the news, you'd think it was an incredibly angry and divided country. The presidential election offers a stark choice between two different philosophies of government, and the polls suggest that the country is torn down the middle over which one is correct.

But there's also plenty to be learned from America's comedy output. Written to attract as many people as possible, US sitcoms don't just succeed by being funny but also by being real. As a result, they do a good job of capturing the true complexity of people's opinions.

On cultural issues, for example, they show that much has changed in the last 10 years. But some traditions and values remain that are as American as apple pie.

In terms of change, one of the most startling developments is the growth in the number of sitcom gay characters and their acceptability to the viewing public.

Modern Family is a mega-hit comedy that features three families - a white couple with 2.4 kids, an interracial marriage between a white man and a Hispanic woman, and a gay couple who are raising an adopted daughter.

The show isn't about politically correct cliches. In one episode, the gay couple - Cameron and Mitchell - want to get their toddler into a popular school. Worried that their sexuality isn't enough to win over the ultra-liberal headmaster, Cameron pretends to be a Native American. His improvised "injun" accent is met with a stony silence and the daughter doesn't get her place.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20067565

It is no longer "Father Knows Best." Over the years, men have been portrayed as Archie Bunker and Al Bundy types. What examples can you submit?

This is a question that can be easy to answer..... Yes to both..... It has been the same as since the earth was created.... Does the climate change make any difference to a leaf? Yes!!...... Did Jesus or Mohammed etc., reflect anything that you have faced or read about influence... Yes they have!!!!! It is the speed what information you get is the key..... Are you informed faster now than you were when you were born? Of course you are!!!!! To put it in easier terms, the Stagecoach, a means of information, influenced man more than a wagon and a mule.... Then the Pony Express came along and your info came even quicker..... So you knew more of the world when that form of information got to you....... Do you think that we have better or quicker info now as opposed to WW11 era?? Of course, influence breeds reflection on certain eras in time.... How can it not????

Personally, I have changed my thought process through my years due to information and how fast it comes and I have changed the way I live as opposed to 55 years ago to just to survive all of this info that is taking up just a third of my brain, or even less..... Were we all changed somewhat to peer pressure? All of mankind has buckled under peer pressure from the beginning of life..... You are lying to yourself if you deny that fact....

To me, it is a moot question.... This is not to deflect Buzz`s question as it a good question, as it is..... The real question is has it changed you as an influence or a reflection..... The answer is yes it has, because it begins to get worrisome when this much info is bombarding your brain..... Does it change your spirit? No it doesn`t..... All it does is offer an opinion as to what has been en-grained in you since birth.....

Don`t get me wrong here.... Children cannot handle this much information and they tend to lock on.... That has been going on since time for man had began..... As an adult, I have more control of my brainworks to make it as good or bad as I want it, the information I receive..... Of course there are people that has no control over there brain at all due to a defect who might want to shoot up a school or a movie theater, but that has nothing to do with influence or information.... Thank God that there is only a few out there who are like that when you look at the whole scheme of life.....

Yes to both questions.... We are indeed influenced, and as a society do reflect, we always have from the beginning of time........

Media has gotten away from reporting news and is now pushing their agendas. 24/7 cable news networks have played a large part in bringing that to fruition. The "news" used to be a half hour broadcast at the end of the day and now it's a constant bombardment at all hours of the day.

TV is probably more of a reflection. Music is both. There are those that will always try something new and there are those who can connect with their audiences on a much simpler plane. Today I heard the 1980's song from Duran Duran "Girls on Film" and thought about how trendy and fashionable Duran Duran was in their prime. Just a few years down the road that song would have had to be titled "Girls in Megapixel."

sheeple tend to believe whatever colorful flashy crap is in front of them.

I pray that the current programming on The Learning Channel is not a reflection of society

TexasBama said:

I pray that the current programming on The Learning Channel is not a reflection of society

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Every now and then I will flip over to 345 on DirecTV to RFDTV just to get away from the shouting and noise. It's like a high brow version of Hee Haw.

What about sammiches? Reflection or result?

selmaborntidefan said:

What about sammiches? Reflection or result?

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Stop with the thought provoking stuff already! Just stop.

Bamabuzzard said:

Now I don't know if I can think of a tv sitcom with a traditional family setting. I think it is both as well. I think tv is used in many cases to condition the masses to things or an idea that traditionally hasn't been acceptable. I guess the idea is that the more you see it the more accustomed you are to it. The kids call this an agenda in the political realm.

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Ever watch The Middle? Its on ABC on Wednesday nights. Its not the greatest show in the world, but its about a small town middle class family. Two of them are in high school, but neither has ever had sex. They've never had any mention of drugs or alcohol, though the dad sits around with a beer sometimes. There are no gay couples in the show, either.

I graduated from a very diverse high school in Tampa, Florida in 1989. The racial make-up was about 30 percent white, 30 percent black and 30 percent Hispanic, with ten percent “other”. The areas that the school drew from were a similar mix of lower to upper middle class families. If there were kids being bused in from housing projects, it was a very small percentage of the student body. There was no gang activity in the school. The “gangs” were service clubs whose members would sometimes fight to blow off steam.
NWA had started to become popular, but while I was there, Public Enemy, L.L. Cool J, and De La Soul (all of whom I’ll be seeing at the Fox in a few weeks) as well as 2 Live Crew and Run DMC were much more popular. Starter jackets – especially Raiders – had started to appear, but they were vastly outnumbered by Afro-centric medallions and fake Gucci.
One year later, I went back to visit some of my teachers and everything had changed. The day I visited there was a crew sandblasting the outside of the school to remove graffiti. One of the teachers that I visited told me that it was a common occurrence now that the school was overrun with gangs. He told me that new gangs were cropping up all the time and that it was a constant struggle to remove all of the tagging that was happening.
The demographics of the school had not changed. It still drew students from the same neighborhoods as it had when I was there, and the neighborhoods had not changed demographically either. The same people were living in the same houses. What had changed was the main influence on the teenaged males living in these neighborhoods.
No doubt, gangs were a problem in places like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, and to some degree, NWA and the like were a “reflection” of this. However, this reflection of a small segment of society soon began to set the trends and MTV was at the forefront of it. “Gangsta” rap was cool, and “street cred” became the most important thing to a generation of teenagers.