does the media depict you? or who you should be?

I believe the media doesn’t go out in search of what people truly are, discovering how people live their lives, how people solve problems on their own, and the different reactions people have to certain situations. I believe the media rather goes out and decides how the people should behave, how to react when in a certain situation, what music they should listen to, what clothes are considered “cool", and what jokes should be considered funny. The media to me is a trend setter; the media is a leader, not a follower. The media does not depict me and who I am; the media depicts who I should want to be. It is almost impossible to escape all the outside influences, for example the television. If I choose not to watch an episode of the jersey shore, I will still know what happened in that episode due to the rest of my friends watching that episode. Everyone talks about it, the cute little catch phrases will be repeated, all the hilarious moments will be laughed about. Before I know it I will be laughing along even though i did not see it, and then will have the urge to go home and watch it on Hulu. That is how strong the media has a grip on people. Even if you yourself want no part of something, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world is going to have the same opinion. The media shapes our thoughts and perceptions, even if it’s not directly; it can be though our friends under the influence of the media. For example, if someone starts humming a song, you will start tapping your foot without even realizing your doing it. As mentioned before, I do not see any type of media that adequately depicts me; however I do see that it depicts who I should want to be.