“Ideology has shaped the very sofa upon which I sit.”

                                                                                 -Mason Cooley Although it is the nature of an individual to invest him or herself in the concept of originality, the truth of the matter is this—there is no such thing as a truly original thought. All that we are has evolved from what we absorb from our surroundings; even as a child we identify ourselves with the place of others in our world. I know that I am Annie Plowman, because I am not the girl sitting next to me in Media Criticism class, I am not the woman standing at the register at my work, and I am not my best friend who lives in the room next to mine. I am also not the table upon which I am doing my homework. I am not the soup heating up in the microwave, nor am I the microwave. And so on, and so forth. Since I am not all of these things, I know I am me.

Seems obvious, even infantile, does it not?

This clarification does not stem from condescension, but rather from enlightenment. I want to take you to the root of the idea that we are shaped by our surroundings. When you step outside of the comfort zone that you occupy on a daily basis, it is shocking to realize how influenced we are by our culture.

Let us consider some basic questions; questions that perhaps you have never had the opportunity to consider.

How do you know what is right or wrong when faced with a difficult decision?

Why did you buy the specific clothes that line your drawers and your closet?

What is it that makes you seek companionship from an intimate source?

As a female, do you feel an innate sense of longing for a man to take care of you?

As a male, do you feel as though your masculine place in this world is that of serving your wife and your family?

The list could truly continue into an infinite future, but I will stop there and let you chew on those thoughts, while I introduce you to the radical definition that explains how all of this has come about; this is the concept of ideologies.

Ideologies are a set of ideas that serve as the instrument for hegemonic forces. The dominance of the elite over the masses is solely effective due to the consent of the dominated. Often, we do not even realize that as a society we are being dominated, and this is where ideologies come into play.

Through various texts, concepts and ideals are expressed to us, and we absorb those concepts in the same way we absorb the context of the world around us. Through insight we find in the media, we identify aspects of our reality in accordance with that which we have observed and absorbed. And finally, through this identification, the ideologies expressed in the media begin to seem like common sense; we do not question what we are seeing, but rather recognize aspects of our own life in the texts.

The majority of ideologies thus remain unchallenged, because as a society we do not realize that there is anything out of place in the texts. What we are hearing, viewing, and reading seems to be reflective of our reality, rather than the root of our reality. There is a direct correlation between the media texts that pepper our lives, and the way we associate ourselves with the ideologies of our culture.

This leads us into the Political Economy Theory, which helps us understand how the ownership of media helps shapes its progress of distribution. Which hegemonic forces are determining the impact of ideologies on the economy? That’s what this theory helps us identify. There is an undeniable link, one that is perfectly exemplified in the form of Disney and its multitude of movies. Let us now consider the work of Disney…

A flawless example of ideologies comes from absorption of media at a young age.  This fact is not a coincidence; children are still in a delicate state, during which they are molded by their surroundings. They become a product of their environment. And when their environment involves Disney movies, we begin to see the evolution of certain ideologies.

We live in a culture of consumption, which means that we are constantly influenced by advertisement and marketing in media, even when it is not a blatent advertisement that we are looking at. Not sure what I mean? Here’s an interactive exercise for you:

Consider any Disney movie. Have you seen a Barbie of the main characters? A Halloween outfit for a little girl? A lunch box? Clothing with the character’s faces on it? Again, I could continue forever. And yet this does not seem out of the ordinary, it seems to fit in flawlessly with the way our society operates. From a young age, children want more and more, and the adults are perfectly willing to give that to them. The way is paved into adulthood; a road upon which consumption and need are not only an emphasized ideology, but an encouraged one as well.

In Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, as well as in Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Child, and Corporate Power, it is brought to light how susceptible children are to the power of ideologies and consumption through what seems to be innocent sources. And the children are not the only victims of this—after all their parents are the ones buying the movies and the products, are they not?

After watching Consuming Kids, I cannot imagine one parent who would not dive across the room to turn off their child’s television. Sexuality, violence, and overall manipulation of malleable minds are rampant throughout the media we find natural in our culture. Nothing is independent, rather everything is interconnected, and surrounding our children in a web of ideologies that we are unaware they are even absorbing.

In Mickey Mouse Monopoly, we see ideologies run wild in movies that defined the children of my generation, and children to this very day. Princess’s swoon in the arms of strong, handsome prince’s who hurt the bad guy in order to save them. At least one parent dies, leaving an evil step-parent in their wake to make the innocent protagonist’s life a living hell. Caucasians are the stunning majority, leaving Asian representations to obnoxious Siamese cats, and African-American representations to hyenas and crows. Women are rewarded and supported for finding a husband, and looked down upon for independence.

It is important to understand how ideologies shape our culture, and understand the theories of political economists. From a young age, we soak in concepts that shape our identity as adults, and the cycle repeats as we pass those ideologies on to our children.

It’s time to take a step back, and identify yourself as an original, not as a product of this overpowering monopoly. It is one thing to appreciate media, it is another to become yet another product.