It is clear that, media and society
affect every individual. What ways do you think you are or have been
impacted, weather positive and negative?
We will all most probably
contemplate many different ideas about how people are influenced or persuaded but
may all agree “everyone is”. This includes the makers, creators and everyone
involved behind the scenes, as well. But being manipulated personally can steer
you blind of who are affected.
Do you think being behind a camera, or behind the scenes of entertainment changes the way a person is influenced?
To give you a different perspective
of this I sat with Deb A., a recent graduate, and Master Control Operator for
Viacom/MTV Networks, specifically networking for MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central.
She is an average 25-year-old ordinary girl outside of work and school, no
different from any of you.
Deb suggests there are many angles
and ways to interpret media and how it affects you; she chose’s to let it
inspire her. Deb's job makes her responsible for assuring that there are no complications for airing TV shows. The pressure and importance of her job has given her the opportunity to build
on her confidence and experiance differently everyday.
We can usually find Deb in her
control room; in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers. Her comfortable casual work
attire doesn’t make her feel like she needs to impress anyone or get extra
“beautified”. She feels she has great relationships with her colleagues and she
doesn’t particularly think the media in any strong negative sense affects them,
this is possibly the attitude you may need to be a working as a professional in
this type of field environment.
She also stated strongly, that if
she did not suggest days were she might have felt, “ugly or pretty” she’d be
lying. Aside from her job, Deb feels that just like every girl in the world we
feel up’s and downs. No matter the type of pressure we feel, if we
remember that even the most beautiful, successful and popular girls the world
have the same struggles time to time, everything else is easier to
digest.
In the most simplistic way
Deb’s attitude suggests that to be affected by the media, society or each other
is being “human”, it is also a decision solely on the individual to choose what
will affect you and what won't.
Spoken in her words from behind the
scenes of entertainment TV,
“Perception is everything, the
media can affect me but I choose how. I choose to not let the media control how
I feel about my body or self-image in a negative way”.
Just yesterday Deb was a little
girl who was usually found in front of a TV with big dreams and a growing
passion, growing up all to quickly to find herself on the other side of TV as a
grown working professional.
She learned that over the years
your confidence and self-reflection change and grow, but today Deb finds
herself confident in her own light and vision even if she is surrounded and
involved in a job that keeps her right in front of the creation of spotlight
entertainment.
On a concluding thought, I’ll leave
you with this powerful statement, that tells us a lot about Deb’s character;
“I choose to look at the powerful
women in the entertainment industry as inspiration and motivation. If they can
achieve their dreams, look great and raise a family, so can I. The media can
put pressure on you to be many things but if you see those things as negatives
then of course you’re going to feel controlled by it. But if you see some
things as positives and use it to better yourself as a person and who you are,
then you can feel inspired, motivated and empowered.”
These images were taken with oppurtunities D.A had during internships in college, not at her current job.
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