George Gerbner's concept of cultivation through television programming is an idea that represents a skewed perspective of the world outside of the consumer's living room. Because television is such a widely used medium, it is only fair to say that it's content has an affect on its viewers. While Marshall McLuhan would argue that the television, itself, has the largest influence over its viewers, Gerbner found the theme of violence to be a great influencer in the lives of viewers. “Gerbner was convinced that TV's power comes from the symbolic content of the real-life drama shown hour after hour, week after week.” (Griffin, pp. 349)
It seems important to note that, although television programming can often be violent, people are generally smart enough to differentiate between a staged violent occurrence, on TV, and something that might occur in real life, on the street. Even more important is the constant and consistent exposure to the violence on TV. Essentially, the television serves as a conditioning device for people who watch a lot of programming. Over time the attitudes and events, which take place, on TV, become a way of thinking and understanding the outside world. Since the television is a staple in most homes, it seems fair to say that pretty much everyone is influenced by television, in one way or another. Those who spend a lot of time watching TV are more susceptible the conditioning and cultivation of false ideas.
The video below is an example of how cultivation theory affects a person who is a heavy television viewer (4 hours or more a day). The character expresses his fear of leaving his house and credits his discomfort, with the outside world, to the content on his television. His place on the couch is his haven. “That's guaranteed reliability,” the character says. “It's dangerous out there, man.” His entire existence is maintained through the mediated environment of his own house. The character would rather live inside than venture outdoors into the world of the unknown where anything could happen at anytime.
It is interesting to note that Gerbner's studies took into account the fact that television enters people's lives at infancy. Therefore, his experiments retrieved information based on the amount of time spent watching television rather than a before and after test for the effects of violence. Cultivation Differential is the term used to describe the data that Gerbner was able to collect based on different watching habits. Just as represented by the paranoid character in the video below, he found that heavy viewers indicated that they thought their odds of encountering violence outside of their house was 1 out of 10 on a weekly basis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn6phBkcyqk (embedding was disabled, sorry)
This second video (below) is basically a montage of violent scenes from television and movies. This video is a representation of how TV conditions viewers over time. Gradually people become more and more connected to the violence that is depicted, and eventually accept it as truth. Because these people have come to accept these acts of violence as regular occurrences, it becomes difficult to actively participate in society without fear. These are the types of violent scenes that Gerbner would attribute to cultivating a television viewers way of life.
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I was that guy in the first video once, briefly in my life. i would have been what Gerbner would call a heavy viewer. It was when there was that sniper in the va/maryland area. I sat and watched coverage on that for hrs and hrs.I think it was CNN.I literally watched for hrs,and hrs, and I remember actually having a sense that the guy could be in Pennsylvania the next day, or in my neighborhood. Granted it was a violent act, and truly was scary, but it was the coverage that created these fantasies in me. I am definitely a light viewer these days, no time.I stick to lost, which I love, but that one too has gotten boldly violent. one episode showed a brutal execution of a young girl, but I wondered then why it didn't effect me that much. i think because with Lost I accept it as fantasy,as entertainment.Is it easier to accept as such when it is fantasy vs Law and Order, or CSI,which are sometimes ripped from the headlines. Since there are two media texts here I'd like to comment on the second one,as a second post. it's interesting to me, that this montage shows mostly fantasy violence. i don't know if Gerbner broke the violence down categorically, but I would argue, that fantasy situations like star wars, don't effect one the same as, again Law and Order or Grand Theft Auto, like the difference between Tatoine, in Star Wars, and Atlantic City in The Sopranos, to me I'm more affected by a real place.
ReplyDeleteThis theory reminds me of the Traveler's Insurance commercial that came out in 2008. I tried to find a clip on youtube, but it was not posted. The basic premise is that the characters are afraid and extremely paranoid to leave their houses due to ridiculous fears, like ninjas attacking. I believe this relates to Gerbner's Cultivation Theory. I believe Gerbner's Cultivation Theory to be true, although I am not sure I agree with his definition for the exact hours a heavy viewer watches as opposed to a light viewer. I believe people do become more influenced by the violence and stereotypes portrayed on television. I think we, as viewers, are unaware of the affects consciously, but always are affected on at least a subconscious level. I think some people can even be influenced to the degree that it changes their lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI was never that guy or have known anyone to be like him. I think that clip showed an extreme case of what the mean world syndrome has done to someone, but entertaining to watch nonetheless. I agree with Gerbner somewhat in that I do think that heavy TV viewing could numb us down through the constant shoving of similar images and labels down our throats. And what we see on TV could be a sort of portrayal of what the real world is like. But I think that most viewers would be able to differentiate and categorize the different types of violence, between what's realistic and what's there for purely entertainment purposes.
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