"Are television myths changing the way we think?"

Introduction

Mythology in some way or the other is embedded in our daily lives, be it in the books we read or the movies we watch during our leisure time. Superstition is a form of myth, and humans do believe in superstition to some extent, e.g., to avoid breaking mirrors since it will cause 7 years of bad luck, if a black cat crosses your path you have to careful, etc. Some people follow such beliefs very strictly and arrange their lifestyle around it, while others just keep it in their conscious mind and use it when they find necessary.

Television is a big medium through which people enrich themselves about the outside world. Television and movies have taken over the oral traditions of yesteryear. They are creating their own universal myths that almost everybody who is plugged into the globalised village can relate to.

People get affected by the things they see in television. It can be seen that celebrities lead a high end lifestyle, and follow some rituals that is sometimes quite impractical, however, ordinary people get influenced by such actions and try to include it in their lifestyle. In movies, soap operas, reality shows, there are a lot of myths. They show things for entertainment purpose that are morally impossible and absurd.

In the following, there will be explanation of what television myths are and how it affects people’s way of thinking.


What is myth?

‘Mythology’, a Greek word, refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true. It uses the supernatural to interpret the natural events that occur and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity.

The general use of ‘Myth’ is often interchangeable with legend or allegory, but some scholars strictly distinguish the terms. This term has been used in English since the 19th century. The newest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary distinguishes the term:

• "A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces or creatures, which embodies and provides and explanation, or justification for something such as the early history of a society, a religious belief or ritual, or a natural phenomenon. (citing the ‘Westminster Review of 1830 as the first English attestation)
• "As a mass noun: such stories collectively or as a genre." (1840)
• “A widespread but untrue or erroneous story or belief". (1849)
• "A person or thing held in awe or generally referred to with near reverential admiration on the basis of popularly repeated stories (whether real or fictitious)." (1853).
• “A popular conception of a person or thing which exaggerates or idealizes the truth." (1928).


Ancient Myth

Two of Mythology’s primary goals are, the description of creation, and the understanding of who’s in charge of such creation. Just as the human minds seeks to find stability in the midst of instability, the collective seeks to find the fundamental underlying reason for the state of affairs the universe finds itself in after eons of existence.

A key to understanding ancient myths is dependent upon understanding the Paradigms which the myth scriptwriters use as a mean to explain the state of the universe. However, to understand or describe some ancient myths, it is essential that the assumptions being used by the ancient myth writers and the modern man be understood. There will definitely be consequences if a modern man judges the reality or fantasy of the creation and deity stories of ancient myths by using a set of assumptions different from the ancient myth writers.
Examples of ancient myth in medieval tales include Iliad and Odyssey, Gilgamesh and Chanson de Roland.



Modern Myths

Film and book series like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien), Tarzan etc, have strong mythological aspects that sometimes develop into deep and intricate philosophical systems. These items are not mythology, but contain mythic themes, that for some people, meet the same psychological needs.

Also, it is worth mentioning Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology. In this publication, Campbell discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies. In the 1950s, Roland Barthes published a series of essays examining modern myths and the process of their creation in his book Mythologies. Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1873-1961) and his followers also tried to understand the psychology behind world myths. Jung argued that the gods of mythology are not material beings, but archetypes — or mental states and moods — that all humans can feel, share, and experience. He and his adherents believe archetypes directly affect our subconscious perceptions and way of understanding.

Examples of modern myth in films and books include:

Comics like Spiderman, Superman, Batman and Robin, Iron Man, The Hulk, X-Men, etc.
Harry Potter (J.K Rowling)
Lord of the Rings (J.R.R Tolkien)

Myths in modern day TV series include:
The Heroes
The Supernatural
Roswell
Smallville, etc.

Myths in Television

Television doesn’t need any definition but it is said to be a widely used telecommunication medium for broadcasting and receiving live, moving greyscale or coloured images with sound. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek interpreting it to ‘far sight’. Greek ‘tele’ meaning far and Latin ‘vision’ meaning sight.

Commercially available since the late 1930’s the television set has become a common household communication device in homes and institution particularly for entertainment and news purposes. Since the 1970’s videos, recordings on tapes and later digital playback systems such as DVD’s have enabled the television to be used to view recorded movies and other programs.

Since its existence, television has been affecting viewers’ lives in both positive and negative way. People get to know what is happening in the other side of the world while having breakfast in the dining room. And due to this technology, people have been exposed to multicultural activities and it has broadened their general knowledge and opened up their eyes and changed the way they saw the world.

There is a never ending list of television programs -- advertisements, news, educational shows, reality shows, game shows, daily soap operas, movies, cartoons etc. and all these does not always show true and practical events, but people still love them, because it takes them away from the harsh reality and into the fantasy world, even if it is for a few moments.

Advertisements

Advertisements on television cause a bigger hype than on any other media. And majority of the time, these advertisements are quite unreal. For example, take Coca Cola or commonly called Coke. It is a carbonated drink which is filled with sugar and other ingredients which are not friendly to the body, but people still consume them. Why? Maybe because it tastes good and feels refreshing or maybe because of the way it has been advertised with the ‘perfect body’ models consuming it. It has consciously or unconsciously made a statement that if the fit, health conscious model drinks Coke, then it cannot be that bad and hence people consume it neglecting the negative effects.

Reality shows or game shows

In reality shows, although the actions and events are occurred by real people, they are trained and prepared beforehand. Therefore, whatever we see on these shows are often dangerous and impractical but still followed and believed by many people and creates a fantasy or dream in them that is sometimes impossible to achieve. Some popular reality shows are American Idol, The Amazing Race, The Survivor, Who wants to be a Millionare, etc.

Daily Soap Operas

When soap operas, now commonly called soaps, started out as radio dramas, the timeslots were during the weekdays and at daytimes, when only housewives were home. It inevitably created a target audience dominated by females. Soaps were usually romantic serials but were also described to be naturalistic and unglamorous. Since it was a continuous series of episodes with unfinished promising conclusions for each episode, it sort of developed into an addiction or habit and people started to relate to it in an excessive manner.

These soaps had a lot of unreal and mythical characters, events and occurrences which can very rarely be seen in real lives. But due to the consecutive episodes, people or specifically women started believeing in them and started thinking in that manner, which sometimes have gone to such extreme levels that it created chaos and havoc in between family members and friends and in those viewers lives. However, this is just a small percentage of the population and there are people who just like to watch it for a source of entertainment and break from reality.

Examples include: Days of our Lives, General Hospital, Bold and the Beautiful. Recent ones include The Heroes, Supernatural, Desperate Housewives etc.


Movies

Film-makers have given to the society another form of entertainment –movies. These 2 hours (approx) films have gone a long way in terms of storylines and it has created a niche for itself in the world. Everyone watches movies. There are different classifications of movies and therefore there is a wider target audience.

Some movies are based on comics or cartoons, some are fiction and some are based on true events. In any form, a good movie can affect a viewer’s opinion.

Fiction movies are full of myth. They make events seem like its possible but if one is thinking in terms of reality, it is sometimes quite untrue.
Take for example, Star Wars – the extravagant appearances of the actors, the high-tech gadgets, the out of the world locations are all a fantasy, but people still love to watch them and kids, and even sometimes elders like to think of themselves as a Jedi, fighting with toy Light sabers.

When it comes to using metaphors and symbols to tell stories that define humans’, there is one popular medium that has been doing it for years without any recognition and that is COMICS!

Comics are read by young, old, geeks, smarty-pants and almost anyone of any age have read comics at least once in their lifetime. The most read ones are the superhero comics which are full of fantasy and myth, but comic-fans still worship it. Now that film-makers are making movies based on these comics, the audience in large have extended certain borders. Non-comic fans watch these movies and relate it to their life. These comics and movies define our thinking and portray how we want to lead our lives in a positive context.

Superman, is the ultimate personification of all those noble virtues that we like to aspire to. He does good to the society, and strives to do good without taking the easy route out. Batman has a similar intention but with a darker past and issues to be solved. Same goes for our friendly neighbourhood hero Spiderman, whose intention is to save people from the ‘bad guys’ and take revenge on those who have given him a painful scar during his past regarding his family and friends.

The mutants of X-men can be seen as representative of the alienated phase almost every adolescent goes through, and the hope that they are misunderstood because of a certain degree of envy from the people who just do not get them.

Looking at Ang Lee’s Hulk, we can relate to the identity crisis that we sometimes go through and the ego problems and how dangerous it is to unleash that primal force.

There is no end to the list of superhero comics and movies available out there in the market and it is curious as to how such mythical stories create so much hype in people who read and watch them.


Conclusion

Myth is something that will never vanish. Mythical stories have been passed on from our forefathers and from generations to generations with alterations following the present. It will always stay a mystery as to how such unreal events and myths caused such a big impact on human beings’ lives.