The Power of Storytelling in the Media

Human society and culture – even their perception of reality - is shaped by the information and images humans receive via the media. A few generations ago, culture’s storytellers were people – family, friends, and others in communities. For many people today, the most powerful storytellers are television, movies, music, video games, and the internet. While some people do not like to admit it, everyone is affected by advertising, news, movies, music, video games, and other forms of media. That’s why media is such a powerful cultural force, and why the media industry is such big business.

All media messages try to persuade people to believe or do something, for example; advertising tries to get people to buy products while novels and TV dramas go to great lengths to appear realistic. To do this, they use specific techniques like flattery, repetition, fear, and humor. At other times, media can inspire human imagination; advertising constructs a fantasy world where all problems can be solved with a purchase, and media literacy helps people to recognize fantasy and constructively integrate it with reality. Sometimes, media does not have to have verbal communication in order to send some sort of message.

The old expression that states “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true is most cases. Sometimes, verbal communication alone cannot describe what a person thinks and what one’s imagination is like. Before photography was invented, people painted what they saw and how it looked, they then began using painting to show a different reality, one inspired by imagination.

A painting by Canadian painter of magic realism Rob Gonsalves, depicts the Earth’s sky which turns into the Earth itself and space, and a pine forest with a clear la...

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...llar travel? Maybe the purpose of this painting is to give people imagination and motivate them to make whatever comes to their head a reality, and that the woman in the painting could be them in the future, but on another planet. The message of the painting could be telling humans to hurry up and invent interstellar travel already, so that they can leave the earth. If so, why would humans want to leave the earth? Perhaps something terrible for human life will happen, such as natural resources being depleted, and humans having to look for more outside of Earth, and that is why humans need to speed up the process of intergalactic travel.

While fantasy can be pleasurable and entertaining, it can also influence human minds and inspire them to do wonderful things. Media can send messages through any manner, and the meaning can suggest something important and necessary.