Commercialization...Not Quite Buying It

This is a strange book. At first glance, the idea of commercialization is interesting. But the concept is so statist. There's too much of a top-down model analysis as if people have no say as to how they are portrayed, as if they have no choice in what they watch. Mass Media is not some omniscient untouchable thing. We created it and we define to some extent what it is and what it portrays. Now I do believe that there are people in more of a position to influence what we consume,but like so many institutions, media is hierarchal and that is where the problem is most apparent. If everyone can consume it but not everyone can produce it, then those at the bottom are portrayed through the lens of those at the top. And so the stereotypes of the working class and other cultural groups are reproduced.