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Hollywood's Influence on People Today

Hollywood's Influence on People Today

Society today is full of ideas and ways of life for the average person to live up to. Are these principles accurate for the average person living in today’s society? No, these standards are unrealistic and they are weighted by the major influence of Hollywood, such as Hollywood celebrities, television shows, and even television advertisements. These outside influences not only sway a person’s normal view, but they also can damage the average person, usually woman, physically and emotionally. Hollywood’s influence is not a healthy one, leading the typical person to conform to these so-called standards.

Elliot Aronson, the author of The Social Animal, defines conformity as “a change in a person’s behavior or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people” (1999, p.19). Some may say that this supposed pressure does not affect one’s judgment, but indeed it does. Although it may not seem like pressure, the slightest circumstance could compel a person to conform to the dominator’s way of thinking.

One of the three different responses to social influence is Identification. This is a response to social influence brought on by a person’s quest to be like the influencer (Aronson, 1999). Aronson says that humans adopt a certain behavior because it creates a relationship to the people to whom we are identifying with (Aronson, 1999). Even though this “satisfying relationship” is what a person is looking for, it may not really be satisfying; it just seems to be.

Take, for example, the television show Ally McBeal. The main character, Calista Flockhart, seems to be as thin as she could possibly be without being hospitalized. Is this how the ideal woman in today’s society should look? No, but because Ally McBeal is such a frequently viewed television show, more and more people want to look like, and even act like, the character Calista Flockhart plays on TV. This unhealthy look is so desirable now because it has not only been seen on Ally McBeal, but is now the look of celebrities. It has been called the “lollipop look” because these women’s bodies look like sticks of a lollipop, and the pop being their heads.

As women are more likely to conform than men are (Aronson, 1999), the person’s education, self-esteem,...

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