Research Assignment About Media Saturation And Youth Identity (Essay Sample)

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The Youth Identity and the Media
Part I
The aspect of human consumption has existed around for a substantial period of time and this has seen the society of the United States experience a sea transformation with respect to children's daily lives. In this regard, the major transition has been witnessed in which social protections, as well as an innocent culture, were shifted to commodification culture. Youths have now been subject to assaults through a proliferation surrounding marketing tactics that appears not to cease and hence resulting in the colonization of the daily lives and consciousness of youths (Linn 593). Under Disney's guidance and tutelage of other jumbo corporations, children have demonstrated an audience captive to traditional types of media, which include television, films, prints, as well as other new digitized media that have been made readily available through laptop computers, PDAs, internet, and mobile phones.
It is, therefore, undeniable that the entertainment, cultural pedagogy, and information dispersed by these mechanisms of multimedia corporations largely influence and shape the daily lives of children. In this context, the consumer culture has showcased elements of degrading ideals responsible for a happy and secure childhood (Linn 595). Therefore, a culture that is corporate-controlled distorts and exploits the desires and hopes of individuals, as well as abusing the general public benefit for their own private gains. Disney is one of the mega-corporations features in the society as among those least frightened in an effort to control the public dialogue and hence, disparage those political and critical potential needed for the sustenance of institutions responsible for maintaining the construct of democracy.
Additionally, the exposure of children to this marketing machinery that is fervent to transition them into full-grown members of the consumer society, precious time of childrenis, therefore, enlisted by the world of market defined by corporations such as "Walt Disney Company." It is also imperative to mention that the time expended in this type of world is disturbing with reports suggesting that children view at least forty thousand ads in one year on television alone.
With respect to its powerful function in the realm of media-driven communications, Disney's exercise of control regarding the modes of creating, distributing and final exchange of information is highly disproportionate, particularly to children. The change that the company underwent from once primarily catering to a crowd of kids between three and eight years with its theme parks, television shows, and animated films is now taking the lead through aggressive marketing of products for toddlers, tween, and infants. Based on its pop music that is established around “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical,” Disney TV, video games, and websites are now made available online and thus sustaining its fans (Linn 598). Furthermore, Disney’s alliance with Apple, Inc. proves that it is undoubtedly powerful in the twenty-first century.
The understanding of Disney Company and its cultural role is neither a trivial nor a simpler work as the company not only epitomizes profound and famous symbols of “capitalist consumerism,” but also asserts to provide its customers and consumers a known quantity and stable products. The company like other mega-corporations centers its efforts on popular culture and this explains its continual expansion in its services and products to get to every media platform that is available. The uniqueness of the company is built in its "titanium-clad brand image" which is a vivid synonym of the perception of the innocence of childhood, as well as its wholesome form of entertainment that deflects at each turn. Disney being understood as a portrait of family values of middle-class and American culture appeals to youths and parents as it claims to work hard on transitioning every teeninto its lifetime customer of ideas and goods of the firm. Nonetheless, a thorough scrutiny of the company would reveal a contradiction between its reality cruel commercial philosophy and the culture it presents as the epitome childhood innocence and virtue.
The exclusions, values, and choices that emanate from Disney’s trade inform its storyline regarding pleasure, joy, survival and living in the global world are challenging to comprehend. It is, therefore important to address the entire corporation within a broad space of awareness in order to position Disney with regards to its meaning, history, and influence beyond its own developed constricted interpretive pattern that denies critical analyses of its actual engagement in the realm of commercial carpet that appears to bomb teens and children (Linn 600). Therefore, to appropriately discern Disney, attention needs to be drawn towards hidden corporate lenses that entail production, distribution, as well consumption of its culture. The efforts will adequately arm all the stakeholders especially children, educators, and parents with tools capable of encountering Disney through critical meditation.
The firm has proven itself strong in worldwide distribution of certain type of cultural politics and thus, acts as a teaching machine that exerts pressure on children in the American society, as well as waging forceful campaigns for the aim of peddling its cultural and political influence overseas. With the pervasive influence of the global capital that goes devoid of checks by the national government, as well the international community, the privatization of citizenship increases with children being educated as "consuming subjec...