Blog #517: How Much Media is Too Much Media? (Part 1)

Yeah, I think Mama Bear’s face says it all, that so many of us are taking in the delight of absorbing so much what is going on in the world today presented by the media outlets.

With several shocking events in the past week still fresh in our minds, I wanted to take a moment to once again highlight the importance of how much both mainstream and online media are we taking in. I get the fact that many of us thrive on watching media whether it is on television or on our mobile phones. However, little do we know that we are causing ourselves more harm than good if we let the mainstream media rule our daily lives.

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I bring this up because I want to remind ourselves that by cutting back or getting rid of harmful mainstream media will be beneficial in the long run. You hear of an event that is major and you want to focus on that nonstop, getting into debates that will exhaust not just yourselves, but those around you.

For neurodivergent individuals, taking on too much information can result in believing everything you hear to be true. There are media outlets out there that don’t have people’s best interests at heart and would much rather focus on increasing their viewership ratings at the expense of the viewer. The fact is, believing everything we hear to be true is never good for anyone.

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I mean let’s take a look at “Rugrats” for example as each episode is told from the view of a group of babies that might otherwise not be true. One episode called “The Sky is Falling” is about Angelica (the main antagonist) trying to convince the babies that the sky is actually falling and they create a mess in the kitchen to demonstrate that the sky is definitely falling:

Angelica tells a story of a bleak future, where “End of The World” happened two years ago and she is now President. Will the Rugrats be ready when the sky falls in?

Taking a look at this synopsis, you might ask yourself one of two questions: “Should I believe this right away?” or “Should I believe this right away when I get all the facts?”

Obviously, the characters in this episode went with option A when they really should have gone with option B.

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HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, The Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, 1966

The same is also demonstrated in the 1966 tv version of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” where the Grinch (Boris Karloff) succeeds in making Cindy Lou Who (June Foray) believe that he is taking their Christmas Tree away to fix when in reality, he is stealing the tree in an effort to get rid of Christmas once and for all. Here again, you see that Cindy Lou Who is believing everything the Grinch says to be true.

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The truth of the matter is again, watching too much media and exposing yourselves to the harsh realities of the world is never good for anyone’s mental health. That’s why people fail to understand that there is more good media out there than bad media that teach morals, lessons and overall just provide a sense of safety for us.

If you do have to be exposed to the harsh realities of the mainstream media, do it only for highly important moments such as being used as a lesson in school or limit your exposure to the 6:30 news like we did when Walter Cronkite hosting the evening news.

In Part 2 of this blog, I will demonstrate which programs families and individuals should be watching as part of a structured mainstream media environment that is good for the mind and soul…

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Catch you all later!!

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Author: Jeff Snyder, Autism and Neurodiversity Self-Advocate