Discuss The Merchants of Cool

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The Merchants of Cool
The documentary’s introductory remarks that today’s youths more than any other generation are captives of the media raises concerns whether indeed today’s young people have lost their cultural identity. Studies show that American children are spending close to 14 hours of television per week. The studies further reveal that by the time the average teenager graduates from high school he/she would have consumed more TV than classwork (Russell 89). Based on these revelations I think it is true that today’s young population lacks a cultural identity considering that children become what they are told, see or taught. Unfortunately, the media does not teach the youths about the true societal norms and values, but rather it manipulates the continent they air to lure youths to buy certain products.
As evident in the documentary, at the heart of the media’s manipulation games is the concept of being ‘cool.’ To sell the concept of ‘cool’ the media has found that advertisements, music, and violence are the greatest selling points. However, researchers contend that the word ‘cool’ started in the 1920s and has been passed down to generations to date. The media depicts people who are violent and alcoholic as being cool a trait that is then picked by teenagers watching such content. In fact, recent studies indicate that the amount of violence on TV is increasing (Anderson et al. 4). It is argued that…