Fear the Right Things

So far this has been one of the most intriguing classes I’ve taken in the two years I’ve been at UMass. From the local news, television shows, to films we can see how our media perpetuates the culture of fear in our society. I’ve always been rather skeptical about certain representations in the media, but as a white, middle class female certain things were just invisible to me. I think the readings and films we have viewed this year definitely have opened my eyes to the facts rather than the mask that politicians and media outlets parade in front of me. Overall the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that money sticks with money, and the rest can just eat cake.

One of the most interesting articles to me this year was Sharrett’s analysis of film in our neoconservative culture. No doubt it was definitely one of the most difficult reads, however it revealed so much about our culture’s economic system and the media representations used to keep it in place. One of my favorite points he made was how liberal rhetoric gets used to make people believe that are system accommodates to disparate groups in society, yet as he says the ‘neos’ just make our corrupt system follow a lawful course.

This has been one of the most challenging courses, but I feel I’ve learnt so much from the material and also my peers. I think the discussion helps a lot in expanding my thoughts because to really understand our culture is to garner multiple perspectives from diverse backgrounds. Some people mention things in class and I just think, wow I never would have seen it that way, but it makes so much sense. The culture of fear can be seen everywhere, and personally for me I see it in my parents the most. Perhaps when you have kids you begin to fear the world they will grow up in more than your own. I hope this class will ease my own exaggerated fears, as it has thus far, and allow me to concentrate on more important things like global warming and economic disparity.