Log #1

2017.03.07

Log #1

The topic of my team’s project is misleading media. This week I read a paper and several articles on the Internet which I have listed them in the references section at the end of my log. These reading materials really make me ponder on how serious this social issue has been and the impact it has been making on everyone. Yes, each and every of us. In other words, misleading media are ubiquitous.

The paper that I read for this week is The portrayal of mental illness on prime-time television by Donald L. Diefenbach, a professor of mass communication at UNC Asheville. Let me skip to the result of his study. According to Diefenbach (1997), the television characters with mentally illness are found to be nearly 10 times more violent than the general television characters, and 10 to 20 times more violent (during a two week sample) than the mentally ill in the U.S. population (over the course of an entire year). How shocking is this. His findings immediately remind me of the iconic supervillain Joker in the DC comics Batman.

(Joker. Source: more-sky.com)

In terms of the characterization, Joker was originally an unpopular comedian, but once upon the time he got involved in a robbery because he was desperate to make a fortune for his expecting wife. Caught red-handed, he fell into chemical waste during his escape from Batman, emerging with bleached pale skin, bloody-red lips, green hair and his signature permanent grin. This archenemy of Batman is portrayed as a sociopath who kills for his own amusement. There are more. With his traumatic childhood, Freddy Krueger, notably recognizable by his red and green striped sweater, bladed gloves, and the severe burns to his face, displayed sociopathic behavior at a young age and was thus teased by his classmates. Even Batman, the popular mortal superhero with no superpower, is one of the fictional victims of misleading media. He is incapable of connecting with people and maintaining a long-term relationship, which suggests that he has Schizoid Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder.

(Batman. Source: pinterest.com)

What is the impact this phenomenon can have? First, I think the mental disorders of these fictional characters are depicted in a way that makes the viewers, especially the young who are not mentally developed, are installed the stereotypes of mental illness: Being numb to others’ feelings, being merciless crime-makers, and being unsociable, and so forth. The viewers may be unfriendly to the mentally ill and stay as far away from them as possible. Chances are that they go hard on themselves and do crazy things. Misled by media, we could make the scenario in the cartoons come true. It is definitely not an easy task to judge whether mental disorders are good or bad. It depends on the angles you look at them. Some people who live with mental illness appear to be of great attentiveness and have excellent performance in certain fields, such as Christian Wolff in the movie The Accountant. He is very sensitive to numbers and figures, and he is autistic. What I want to convey is that only a few of the beneficial traits of mental illness are presented in these types of media, and on the other hand, mental illness is often taken as an excuse of why the bad guys are bad guys and how cruel and violent they act.

Crime making is associated with mental illness by the mass media in reality. Take the heartbreaking MRT knife attack. On May, 21^th, 2016, four people are dead and 22 injured after a knife attack occurred on the Taipei MRT system. It was the 21-year-old Cheng Chieh that carried out the crime. The media were saying, ‘Does he have any mental disorders?’ and ‘He is mentally ill, isn’t he?’ On the same evening the coverages related the murder to mental illness. They said he lost his mind at that time. Nevertheless, it was later proved that he was conscious then. See? The mass media was misleading us once again.

(Source: 有話好說)

To make a long story (really) short, Diefenbach (1997) highlights the media’s negative effects on mental illness. I firmly believe my examples, including the fictional characters and the news, echo with his study. The mentally ill on television are much more violent than not only other television characters but also the mentally ill in the real world. With the ever-changing nature of technology, not only the ways but also the pace we obtain information has advanced. It is an era of social media and information explosion. Misleading media are omnipresent. As a result, in my next log I would like to share what we are able to do regarding this social issue.

References

The portrayal of mental illness on prime-time television

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.20142/pdf

Batman Wiki

http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_Wiki

Freddy Krueger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Krueger

10 Psychological Disorders of Batman, the Superhero

http://www.wonderslist.com/10-psychological-disorders-of-batman/

Formosa News

http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/Read.aspx?sno=D8530CCB50501B922633523A1C031F72