Week Ten: African Media

This past week's class discussed the types of media that are accessible throughout various nations of Africa. As cities and countries across the continent become more developed or "modernized," citizens are exposed to more and more media, whether local, international across Africa, or global. One aspect of this increased exposure to various forms of media discussed in our readings was the idea of "mental modernization.' One young African shared that he was not aware of how poor he was, or how rural his surroundings were until he saw a television program featuring well-dressed characters in an urban environment. It was after seeing this bright and idealized television world that he began to desire a 'better', or more modern life.

The discussion of this phenomenon in rural Africa made me reevaluate Western reactions to media influences, influences which I experience first hand as a born-and-raised American. It is nearly impossible to discern exactly how we are affected by our media in the West, for we are incessantly bombarded with idealized imagery and manipulative messages through our media. I seriously doubt anyone would want a fancy car or a thin body if either were not portrayed as ideal in a variety of media outputs. In a society whose social norm is, to an extent, created by the media, real life often seems not good enough, leaving citizens dissatisfied, in a constant state of want. Now, with British TV shows tackling a few of these issues--for example 'Supersize vs. Superskinny' where two real-life unhealthy eaters are given the tools to reshape their bodies and their diets--I wonder if there will be a shift, however small, in the values of mass society. Can the representation of real people struggling with specifically Western issues (half of the world struggles to feed itself on a daily basis--obesity is the furthest issue from its reality) snap us out of our mental modernist mentality? And how will rural, undeveloped communities compromise their reality with increased Western media exposure? I guess we'll have to wait and see.