INTRO TO VISUAL CULTURES FINAL

ESSAY 1:
Television has had a significant impact on the evolution of civilization. Television has had such a
profound impact on the world's cultures that it is impossible to deny its significance. When we
ask our grandparents or great-grandparents about life before television, they will tell us about
listening to the radio and reading newspapers and books. Today's television has become an
integral part of every household. It serves as a source of news, entertainment, and education.
Television has evolved into a vital medium for communicating cultural values. Television can
influence public opinion and culture. The main issue with the conventional media was that it
took time to reach people; for example, print media took years to shape society, whereas
television had an immediate impact because it is a mass media. Images on television have a lot of
power; they may change our ideas, sentiments, methods of thinking, and how we interact with
others worldwide. Since television became a part of people's daily lives, human cultures have
altered. Television shows and programs can now be watched on digital platforms (no need for an
actual television). Netflix, for example, is a subscription-based streaming service that allows
members to watch TV shows and movies without commercials on an internet-connected device.
Accordingly, I chose to discuss '13 reasons why, a teenage TV series that was firstly released in
March 2017 on Netflix, and how it influenced cultures and beliefs.
Thirteen Reasons Why is an American Teen Drama TV series based on Jay Asher's 2007 Novel
under the same name; four seasons have been released. The series follows Clay Jensen, a high
school student who returns home from school to find a mystery package with his name on it. He
finds cassette recordings recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate, and crush, who committed
herself two weeks before. These recordings explained why she chose to take her life and who she
feels is responsible for her death. The following seasons show the aftermath of the release of
Hannah's tapes and the effects it had on the people surrounding her; some additional characters
come, and the fourth season shows how Clay has developed mental health issues due to the death
of two other main characters in the show. I honestly believe that this show is a recent example of
how TV shows have the power and ability to change or influence cultures and behaviors.
As stated before, mass media is reached a large number of people of different ages, and it is very
hard to control who watches what; therefore, topics such as suicide, bullying, and violence
(topics that were discussed in the show) were shown to a vast amount of audience. According to
a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
the Netflix show "13 Reasons Why" was associated with a 28.9% increase in suicide rates among
U.S. youth ages 10-17 in the month following its release (April 2017), after accounting for
ongoing trends in suicide rates (National Institute of Mental Health, April 2019). As a matter of
fact, due to mass media, it is not very surprising to observe the negative impacts such shows can
have on societies. According to the American Library Association, 13 reasons why (the novel)
was the most banned book in American schools feared that it would have similar effects to the
publication of "The Sorrows of Young Werther" in 1774, which caused a big wave of suicide
after its release (Stephan March, May 2019). I honestly believe that such shows affect people so
much, especially adolescents (the show's target audience), because it can either give them the
idea of committing suicide even if they did not think about it or by giving them ideas on how to
take their lives. In other words, shows like 13 Reasons Why show the youth how easy it is to
take their lives away and make the lives of others miserable. It teaches them how to give up
easily and that nothing matters.
That being said, I will now speak of this show and how it affected MY culture. Such shows are
very uncommon in Egypt and do not resemble our culture. Taking your life or anyone else's life
is considered one of the biggest sins in Egypt and Islam; therefore, the topic of suicide is taboo
and is not commonly discussed in Egypt. The show was very graphic and included sex, violence,
drugs, rape, and many other topics that are usually very controversial, especially in Egypt, where
these topics are prohibited and very taboo to even talk about. When I first saw this show,
everyone was talking about it. People my age (16 at the time) thought that it was 'cool' to be left
without parental attention and that they wished they lived like this (without the drama, of
course), but with all the freedom, drugs and alcohol available and easily accessed. Due to TV
shows and globalization, societies lost their core cultures and values. Speaking of Egypt, some
things that were not very much accepted are becoming more and more okay and acceptable.
Henceforth, this show was very impactful in a negative way. I believe that it was too graphic to
be screened, let alone for a target audience of adolescents. Additionally, people are becoming
more and more naive due to the high rise of social and mass media and therefore are more
affected by these shows. Finally, I believe that TV shows have the power to influence or change
our cultures, beliefs, and behaviors, not necessarily negatively, but they can also have positive
effects. Although TV shows have the function of entertaining and informing, it creates structures
of meaning. In other words, TV shows ask us to participate in ideological ways of seeing
ourselves in the world and buy into certain ideologies or lifestyles, whether real or imaginary.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/netflix-and-suicide-the-disturbing-
example-of-13-reasons-why#:~:text=The%20study%20stated%20that%20%E2%80%9C13,the
%20same%20thing%20as%20causality.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2019/release-of-13-reasons-why-associated-with-
increase-in-youth-suicide-rates

ESSAY 2:
For starters, everything now is turned over to new media, which is a type of mass media using
digital technologies (internet) to publish information. Social media plays a big role in new media.
Social media is a web and mobile-based internet applications enabling users to create and share
content and participate in social networking. In other words, it allows the creation, access, and
exchange of user-generated content. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook,
Twitter, Snapchat, Tiktok, and YouTube… We will mainly focus on Instagram because the two
pictures provided are from Instagram. According to Kevin Systrom, the CEO and co-founder of
Instagram, "Instagram has become the home for visual storytelling for everyone from celebrities,
newsrooms, and brands, to teens, musicians, and anyone with a creative passion." Instagram is
available 24/7 and always accessible because it is a mobile app, meaning that as long as you have
your phone, you have Instagram.
Additionally, it is not only visual but also aural and written and reached globally to everyone.
Finally, it is a popularly known form of participatory media. Participatory media is any type of
media that allows members of the public to play an active role in collecting, reporting and
analyzing content (Howard, 2008).
In these posts, we can see first a post of Harry Styles (a famous English artist) and another post
of a woman called Jane stating her political stance.
The picture provided of Harry Styles's account shows that he has 41.5 Million followers; he has
44.5M, 3 million extra followers in a few days. His social media following connotes that she's
someone of great interest, charisma, and influence, which can pour into what she does and how
she does it having influence over many people in a single post. The blurring of audience borders
is one of the roles of participatory media. Instagram breaks down social barriers by enabling
public access to celebrity profiles and stories. It is ultimately up to the celebrity to decide
whether to utilize the public or private function available to all users. However, most celebrities
make their profiles public to promote their fame and communicate directly with followers. The
post by Styles is a reflection of his beliefs; recently, he has been advocating for the fact there are
no lines between femininity and masculinity and that everyone is a little bit gay, and that gender
differentiation borders are starting to fall. This is obvious in his post.
On the other hand, the comments on his posts show exactly how divided society is. Some people
praise him and applaud his 'unusual' and controversial behavior. In contrast, others state how
'sick' and 'crazy' he is and how it is a sick society to accept such things.
On the other hand, the other post shows a baby girl smiling, and her aunt is who posted the
picture. She says that she wants everyone to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because they
can guarantee a promising future for the new generation (her niece).
Although I believe that social media is both a reflection and a shaper of reality, it shapes reality
more than it reflects it or tries to fake reality. The fact that most pictures and videos are filtered
shows how much social media is not a reflection of society. The most trending things on social
media are usually unreal. We see pictures of perfect body models and forget that they are
photoshopped; we see videos of crazy-in-love couples and forget that they fight like any other
couple. Social media only shows the 'perfect' and filtered version of people's lives. Even in the
post by Jane, she is saying her opinion and stance, which can be a reflection of her 'reality,' but it
can also affect someone else and therefore 'shape' their reality. On that account, the post by
Harry Styles has opened many discussions and topics about genders and sexes, even though a
few years ago it was somehow taboo and a few decades ago it was completely taboo. In other
words, social media has eased the way to talk about buried issues, and no one talked about them.
In addition, famous people are considered influential, and their fans usually believe all that they
say. Noting that Harry's behavior may be unacceptable for many people, his fans see him as
always right and may be inspired by him. They would want to look like him even if it is unusual
and unfamiliar.