The impact media has on influence.

99% of houses in the US have at least 1 TV, with the average being 2.24.  Is there any doubt that mass media in the form of broadcast news, television, and movies have such an impact on our lifestyle and understanding of the world?  Looking at perceptions of climate change, popularizing the issue can have the profound effect of muscling up support from numerous sectors all at once.  That is not to say that they understand and sympathize with the message as portrayed but rather with the medium through which it is conveyed (McLuhan). 

The most (in)famous of media pieces is of course An Inconvenient Truth with Al Gore. This film brought the issue to the forefront of popular movie media, launching it to be lead topic for many months to the point where even today it is the launch point from which many current discussions on the subject are born.  What makes these films so impactful?  Are they really effective in inciting change?

Only if they can draw people in so that they feel empowered, not enslaved.  Feelings of fear, despair, hopelessness and loss are prevalent when provoked with the emotions that the messages and imagery of the these films can evoke.  I came across a new and yet familiar term when recently evaluating a piece on chemical contamination and cancer.  The term is hardening off, and it really resonated with me.  It refers to a horticultural process whereby the gardener slowly and systematically brings young shoots out into the outside from the green house, a little bit more everyday.  It is in this process of hardening off that we can find coping techniques in addressing dismal conversation topics such as climate change.  Little by little, we can become more and more exposed to the harsh world around us, slowly developing coping mechanisms to deal with that world.  This is particularly useful for those of us that have a disability in acknowledging the world around us, or our feelings as they pertain to it.

We cannot stay in our sheltered greenhouse forever…

My hope, though, is that this hardening off does not make us callous and impervious to understanding of these conditions.  What may occur with the hardening is a deafening to the voice of the issue, and if we close our eyes and ears, then that is worse than dealing with it in a disabling manner.  That would be a form of suppression, and not a form of engagement with the emotions at hand.