Mean world syndrome is a term in which George Gerbner created to explain the phenomenon where the violence in mass media makes the viewers believe the world is more dangerous than it actually is. Mean world syndrome is one of the key conclusions of the cultivation theory. According to the documentary, Mean World Syndrome, “cultivation is a stable system of messages and images that shapes our conception of the world and ourselves, life, society, and power,” and, “cultivation studies show that heavy viewers of television are more likely, than light viewers to perceive the world as a frightening and dangerous place.” As stated by Gerbner, a heavy viewer is someone that watches over four hours of television a day and a light viewer watches less than two. Another concept in the cultivation theory is “mainstreaming” – in which heavy viewers develop the same or similar outlook through the constant exposure to the same images/labels/messages, regardless of the viewer’s age, race, gender, etc.
An example of
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Latinos are fastest growing ethnicity in America, making up 15% of population, while only 6% of Latinos are represented as characters on television, and when they are they are characters that are violent or news stories about illegal immigrants. They are portrayed as very violent and deserving of white justice violence. Also mentioned over and over in the news with illegal immigrant stories, there is no balance for the Latino/Hispanic people. Heavy or light viewers that are not this ethnicity may believe that Latinos are truly violent or all illegal immigrants. After watching Mean World Syndrome, my eyes were opened to how little the Latinos are represented in television and when they are its typically negative and