The development of the media in the twentieth century shaped the global cultural environment, and this sparked a discussion in which opinions differ, and in which there are many directions about the influence of the media on culture.

Among the most important of these trends is blaming the media for the decline in the level of culture, the spread of popular culture, the declining interest in high culture, and the focus on drama based on crime and violence.

Therefore, interest in the link between communication and culture has increased. In his book "Communication as Culture," James Carey, Professor of Communication at Columbia University, defines communication as the process in which culture is produced, modified, and transmitted. Therefore, communication has a significant and effective role in building society.

And because the media has come to control the communication process and the public relies on it to obtain knowledge, these means constitute culture, but although this saying carries a degree of exaggeration resulting from bias towards Western culture, it carries a degree of truth that has become the focus of agreement as the media changed the methods that People and societies communicate with it, and every medium has become a means that determines the form and type of message and the symbols that are used in constructing it. Television has also become the main source from which people get culture.

The third wave of civilization

Since the beginning of the nineties, the world has witnessed a communication revolution that turned information into a source of strength, and countries aspired to build information societies as a basis for economic progress. Therefore, Alvin Toffler - the American futurist - described this development as the third wave of civilization, as humanity relied in the first wave on agriculture and in the second wave on industrial production. In the third wave, there was a shift to the service economy, which is based on the production and exchange of information.

But what effect does this have on culture?

This led to the voices of many American scholars warning of the danger of cultural disintegration and the destruction of cultural unity due to the decrease in interaction between people using direct contact and extensive exposure to the media, one of the most important results of which was the decline in the role of family, friends and school in building human identity and shaping his culture.

business culture

The development of the media and its increased need for content that attracts the masses led to the link between culture, economy and consumption, as film and television production companies presented cultural products aimed at attracting advertisers. Therefore, culture became governed by advertisements, so advertising formed values ​​that are based on consumption, luxury, pleasure, vacations and beautification. Focusing on the body and satisfying material desires.

This cultural and artistic production, which promotes these values, attracts advertisers as it plays a cultural role in creating a suitable environment for consumption.

Therefore, advertisers learned how to address people as individuals and take advantage of their desires for social acceptance. Therefore, culture was associated with materialism and a focus on the importance of ownership in determining a person's value and position in society. Then, this evolved into pushing individuals to own products bearing famous and expensive brands to emphasize a person's status and influence.

Don't be you

Thus, commercial advertisements contributed to the formation of modern culture and affected the values ​​that bind society and prompted man to redefine himself.

The messages carried by the advertisements push you to change and become a different person, so do not be you. This is the permanent message that the advertisements always try to deliver, because in order to be accepted, you must be graceful with a body whose characteristics are excellent and standard, and be handsome according to the standards of beauty that they set and always successful at all levels. And that you look attractive and always wear the most expensive and best clothes.

Advertisements make you subconsciously feel that you will only be happy when you buy, shop and own luxury products offered to you by premium branded companies.

Television channels have always besieged you with messages that push you by all possible means to search for a way to get fame and consider it the thing that will bring you happiness and importance, which means that everyone recognizes your importance, distinction and success.

Thus, an identity is formed for you that has nothing to do with the values ​​of your society, its historical experience, and its higher goals. According to the consumer culture promoted by the media, you can create your identity, mental image, and success regardless of your society. You can change yourself and your reality, so you will be different, and society will resort to imitating you when you are successful, famous, and rich.

Your appearance in the media is your path to fame, success, and power. In light of this, we discover how the individual materialistic consumer culture affected the identity of societies and the relationship between individuals, even within the same family.

Do you want to be a star?

Cultural studies that focused on the influence of the media revealed that cultural production glorifies heroes and gives them a great deal in society, and this makes all people strive for that heroism.. But what are the characteristics of heroism that deserve to be celebrated?

All cultures throughout history glorify heroism and look at heroes with admiration, but societies evaluate heroes using a system of values, principles, goals, and cultural and scientific criteria.

But television channels presented a quality of heroes with material commercial standards, such as football players and movie and series stars, so the media formed the star system, where fame is achieved for people through media and advertising campaigns, and these stars became the private property of the companies that made them famous.

star culture

The star industry has become part of the cultural, media and advertising industries, and this has led to many intellectuals and real artists not being introduced to society because they lack the conditions of the star system or refuse to submit to this system, and this has led to the waste of a lot of cultural production that does not respond to the requirements and conditions of material consumer culture.

Using stars, production companies are shaping the visual culture in which heroes move in front of an audience, and people are eager to imitate them in the way they speak, eat, dress, and behave.

Postmodern culture

Commercial consumer culture has become the basis for a "postmodern" culture based on relativism that Frederic Jameson describes as the end of capitalism, in which intercontinental corporations control and produce entertainment and information.

Television was the media that was used to spread the "postmodern" culture based on image culture and entertaining reviews, but the Internet has become a strong competitor to television in spreading that culture.

cultural change process

Despite the importance of studying the cultural influence of the media, especially television, during the twentieth century, there are indications that the world is heading towards a process of cultural and social change, one of the most important manifestations of which is the search for new ideas that differ from those that prevailed during previous centuries. There are many warning signs that we must study. Deeply because it threatens the media, culture and entertainment industry.

Among the most important of these indicators is that people desperately need an alternative and a culture in which they find themselves instead of being forced to change according to commercial terms, and for real heroes who work and sacrifice for the sake of principles and values ​​and are not manufactured according to the system of stardom in intercontinental companies.

A revolution against the status quo

One of the most dangerous roles played by film and television production companies is that it pushed people to submit to the current situation and work to achieve success within it. A person must toil, strive, and work to obtain money according to capitalist conditions.

But the majority of humanity failed to achieve success or even the necessities of life within that reality, so many people felt powerless and failed, and the individual lost the meaning of life, and many people fell into depression, frustration, self-hatred, misery and poverty.

And because the media considers the revolution against the status quo a deviation, a crime, and a departure from order and law that deserves condemnation and punishment, people have begun to feel that they are deviant according to the standards of the ruling regimes and according to the conditions of the consumerist commercial capitalist culture, and they wish for the collapse of the status quo even if they cannot revolt against it.

Therefore, the culture of the revolution is formed outside the framework of the commercial media and the means controlled by the authorities, and this culture includes hatred and rejection of the status quo, deviation from its laws and provisions, and the search for new means to express that new culture.

The legacy of violence and the destruction of reality

However, the culture of the revolution against the status quo derives from the legacy of violence presented by film and television production companies with many means and methods to destroy the reality in which they live in a state of misery, poverty and misery.

Did transcontinental companies - through their exaggerated use of the media in spreading consumer culture - push the world to produce a new global revolution culture that would be the basis for building a new world based on principles and values, the most important of which is the rejection of capitalist and commercial conditions and dealing with people on material scales?!

This revolution can produce a new media culture on the basis of which media systems are built that open the way for the expression of the culture of revolution and change and allow new civilizations to advance to repair what was corrupted by the capitalist Western culture.

Islamic civilization can lead the process of cultural change by upholding human dignity and evaluating it on non-material grounds, and this can explain the Western media’s attack on Islam, spreading Islamophobia, and depriving people of their right to know Islam, which can build a new world in which man finds meaning in his life.

The world has come to need a new media and cultural revolution that restores human respect and self-esteem, and Islam is the one that can lead this revolution during this decade.