The Power of Mass Media

A culture’s values and beliefs reside in the stories it tells. Our stories help define our realities, shaping the ways we think, feel and act. (Baran 2011, p14) The media acts as a cultural story teller by providing stories through books, movies and etc.

The movie, ‘Taken’, former CIA agent, Bryan Mills reluctantly agrees to let his daughter, Kim to Paris with her best friend. Her dad was horrified to hear that she is kidnapped by an Albanian gang whose involve in prostitution ring.

Human trafficking is an illegal act of sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or extraction of organs against one’s will. Just like one of the scene in the movie, teenage girls were caught as  victims of human trafficking. Thus, the amount of people getting involved in prostitution rings had been increasing gradually. Cases of human trafficking have been flooding news headlines and here are some of the recent cases :

Mexican Cult May Have Forced Women Into Prostitution

Hundreds arrested as China police smash child-trafficking ring

Human trafficking had changed the perception towards our society today.  This helps in creating safety awareness towards  our community. This showed us how each individual should avoid from involving themselves in human trafficking.

Besides that, parental love is also shown in this movie. The father to daughter love that we have families is obviously shown. For example, the father, Bryan Mills, who was a retired agent who left C.I.A. (Centre Intelligence Agency), sacrificed a lot to save his daughter. He has strong determination and is willing to do anything to save his daughter out from this danger even if it means risking his life or to kill. Therefore, we should learn to appreciate our parent’s sacrificial love and also to cherish the time spent with our parents.

Not only that, the act that the daughter, Kim was rebellious towards her father was the start point of her being kidnapped. Her  father knew a lot about the wicked side of the world and that he discouraged her to go Paris with her friend. This taught and made us feel how every advice should be taken seriously.  This affect us in a way that every decision and action we make could turn our lives upside down, so we should always think twice before making any decision or taking any actions.

It is obvious that the media has vast influence over the society’s thoughts. One single movie can bring us various messages and culture beliefs, it depends on how we choose to consume it. Taking  this movie for an example, the cruelty and inhumanity of the human trafficking culture, how one simple decision can turn into a disaster is obviously portrayed. This shows how influential the mass media can be. 

Here I present you the trailer of the movie. Enjoy~

So we hope you find our findings beneficial, thanks for reading ciao!

Regards,

Classy X