MTV: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly It would be hard for anyone to dispute the fact that MTV has influenced every trend in pop culture since its inception in 1981. You could even say that MTV is pop culture. No other media network has the power to control popular cultural evolution in the palm of its hand like MTV does. What other media network has influenced and helped shape public opinion, cinema, newsgathering techniques, presidential politics, and world politics the way MTV has? In addition to that, MTV can take credit for rebuilding the music industry (Rushkoff 126). You would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn't like a certain type of music. Therefore, television "Music" was built on a virtually united foundation from all over the world, and its popularity was inevitable. MTV has chosen popular music as its beating heart, instead of classical music or jazz. Young people across the country could now see their favorite musical icons 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, young Americans were given a national/international platform to share their common voice, a voice that still wants to be heard today. Because MTV plays such an important role in shaping today's young minds, it is important that both parents and children are aware of the impact MTV has on their daily lives. In assessing the impact and effect of popular cultural forms such as MTV, it is important to recognize the extent to which, rather than having them imposed on us, we can instead appropriate or assimilate parts of them, choosing to reject or ignore the rest. This, of course, causes the consumer or viewer to act (or perhaps interact more accurately) rather than simply passively receive (Philo par 16). Even though MTV critics strongly object to the passive consumer, the fact remains that MTV has done wonderful things for America's youth. Yet, where there is a “Good”, there is also a “Bad” and an “Ugly”. One of the many good things that MTV has done is serve as the voice of young people in today's society. Demographic groups such as young African Americans had been socially silenced prior to MTV's ability to commercialize urban music. Therefore, MTV's ability to bring the voice of the unheard minority internationally has helped break down some of the cultural barriers that have hindered humanity for centuries. Rappers like Ice T and Public (E)enemy have raised eyebrows around the world with their lyrics protesting government biases and other social issues. In turn, the contributions of these artists help make rap/urban music an important and influential cultural movement, and have also raised the voices of young African Americans in political issues. Such an achievement deserves worldly praise and appreciation (Rushkoff 161-165). At the same level, MTV has contributed to young people's involvement in modern social issues. While segments like MTV News keep young viewers involved in global issues like the environment, safe sex, racial tolerance, and the AIDS virus, MTV has also played a role in presidential politics. In the presidential election year of 1992, MTV launched a series of public service announcements under the campaign title "Rock the Vote". Rock stars have championed the phrase, "Choose or Lose," in multiple on-air segments, giving awareness of the issue marketable value. While incumbent President George Bush refused to appear on the "teenybopper" network, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton held an open forum with the MTV audience. Whereas Bush was a favorite among young adultsin the 1988 election, many people believe that Bush's dismissal of the pop culture generation was a major reason for Clinton's victory in 1992. While MTV continues to make wonderful contributions to society like those mentioned above, it can also have a harmful effect if we as a society do not recognize when things cross the line of Good and Evil (Rushkoff 158-161). This line is crossed when people don't realize that in the grand scheme of media interaction, they are just consumers. The only reason television exists is advertising. Think of it this way: if no company wanted to advertise their product during the Superbowl, it wouldn't be televised at all. In order to make money, networks need paid advertising. In turn, the more viewers the network watches their programs; the more companies will want their product to be advertised on said network. Keeping your audience “tuned in” is key to establishing a loyal following and therefore a loyal paycheck. Because music videos are relatively only a few minutes long, they generally cater to the shorter attention spans of younger viewers. Due to the randomness of MTV's programming, children are pulled away from linear thinking and the end result is Beavis and Butthead. Beavis and Butthead are two great examples of what happens to kids when they watch too much MTV. For those who have never seen the show before, Beavis and Butthead were two very unproductive teenagers who spent most of their time watching music videos, insulting each other, and taking part in childish pranks. While most of society simply thought the show was about senseless violence and vulgar jokes, they didn't even realize that the show was slapping us in the face with our own cultural decay. Additionally, Beavis and Butthead's show could be considered a blatant advertisement for Anti-MTV, yet most of us didn't notice. Instead we were too busy blaming Beavis for starting the fires. Which brings us to the ugliness of the entire MTV phenomenon, the lack of responsibility we as viewers take on when watching such popular programs (Rushkoff 153-157). Just like soap operas and movies, MTV creates a fantasy world for its viewers to slip into. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This escape from reality can only be harmful if the idealisms depicted become reality for the viewer. For example, the famous musical entertainer, Cisco, can be seen hosting shows on MTV with his extremely attractive entourage of six half-dressed women called "The Six Pack". These images of luxury and fantasy are implanted in the subconscious of our most impressionable young people. Consequently, for those young people who are unaware of MTV's purpose in creating these luxury images, the result is accepting the fantasy as reality. A young male might think that the more half-naked women follow him around, the more successful he will be. This is a little extreme, but sells extreme. However, the underlying theme is the point here. The theme is that MTV/television at any given time is trying to sell an image or product that appeals to its intended viewers. Without these sales, MTV and television would cease to exist altogether. In conclusion, it is essential to raise the level of cultural and media awareness in today's hyper-consumerist society. No one wants to be an idiot, and if increased awareness leads to decreased passive media consumption, we will be more practical in our decision making and less biased in our consumption of our products. We have the, 1994.