How does television create and skew our views of what life is like? While I sit here, writing my reflections, I have thought, now and again, that they sound a bit like pieces that Carrie from Sex and the City might narrate over the course of her show. They’re just short, personal essays on a particular topic, the like of which you could read in many magazines. Also, exactly the sort of piece that weaves together the stories in her TV show. So why is it that when I hear my voice writing these pieces, I find my voice can sometimes sound a bit like hers.
The average salary that people in the States make is 16,000 dollars per year, and the most typical job American’s have is that of a Cashier. But if you look at the television that broadcasts American culture all over the world, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would represent that demographic, save a high school student with a part time job. We’re definitely not all easy breezy journalists, high flying advertising agents or upper middle class housewives.
People outside of the states are often really surprised if you bring up poverty in the States. That’s hardly surprising however—those images don’t travel overseas—they don’t come through the airwaves or the cathode tubes, and the many images that do, are far more eye catching and fun to watch than those of real life.
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