Reference no: EM133477124

Question: Television and film producers have editorial control over their media products; they control all aspects of the TV program and/or movie with the intent to impart a specific set of values to the viewing audience. This is especially true for character development. Certain characters are made to look attractive, smart, kind, generous, and altogether likeable. Others, less so. The characters, likeable or not, are automatically associated with their lifestyle choices and, importantly, the outcomes those choices produce. People tend to like the characters whose decisions lead to desirable outcomes. TV and film producers can develop characters whose appearance and lifestyle choices reinforce familiar stereotypes (e.g., the careerist female who, having forsaken marriage and children, seems destined to live a lonely life). In this way, TV and film producers convey messages about what kind of people we should aspire to be and what sort of lives we should aspire to live.