Bourdieu

I'm not entirely sure that I have to do a reflection for this week, so I'll make it short. I'm choosing to reflect on Bourdieu and the discussion we had in class Tuesday.

We talked about how Bourdieu argues that television and the news has desensitized us as a culture. News anchors and castors tell us how to feel and how to react to certain situations that they highlight and bring to our attention. Because of this, the things that we see in the news don't typically come to a surprise to us.

Bourdieu argues that TV news "suits everybody because it confirms what they already know and, above all, leaves their mental structures intact". This ties in with what Zizek is saying, that the media directs our attention to specific events and situations, distracting us from other things that are more important. The media acts like a puppet master, controlling what we do and how we think.