Propaganda- pre post

After reading "A Propaganda Model", I immediately thought to relate it to that show Modern Family.. more specifically, the most recent episode. Mitchell and Cameron adopt a Vietnamese baby, Lily. Cameron wants to put Lily in a commercial for a baby furniture store, but Mitchell is against it, so Cameron goes behind his back and brings Lily anyway. The commercial is Lily and another Asian baby sitting in sailor costumes, with stereotypical voiceovers with Godzilla "slashing prices" and "knocking down crib sales". When Herman and Chromsky talk about the automatic pull towards stereotypes companies use in order to meet their advertising goals, this scene totally stood out to me. It's entertaining in the aspect that we all know how wrong a commercial like that would be-- even though it proves for good television in a great show, the value comes from the fact that we, as spectators, know for a fact that it's an offensive commercial- yet everyone on set has no problem with the stereotype.

The word "propaganda" has an obvious negative connotation, and when it comes to media, especially the media I am accustomed to, it scares me. Before this minor I had little to no idea what exactly ads can do, and what power they actually hold... and now that I know, it's very daunting. I completely agree with what KHughes posted at the conclusion of her post --

"This lack of knowledge allows the values or ideas to seem natural and become a part of the dominate ideology of the culture. This idea of ownership is only the first filter that information must pass through before the public can become aware of it, but it is a powerful filter."

Propaganda has been used to completely alter cultures, ideals, ethics and morals. I used to think the ads just passed me by, that I wasn't affected by the flawless faces and Pleasantville families.. and now looking more critically, even a split second has the power to change me. That's seriously daunting. I feel like Herman and Chromsky reiterate what we've been learning from the beginning of our CMC courses, and it rings true. The advertising does its job, but if little things like ads for face cream and Disney movies have the power to change the way we think, then think about how easy it can be to affect us in a bigger, more powerful sense.