The changing portrayal of adolescents in the media since 1950

481 Pages·2008·26.03 MB·English

by  Patrick E. Jamieson

The Changing Portrayal of Adolescents
in the Media Since 1950
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The Changing Portrayal
of Adolescents
in the Media Since 1950
Edited by
Patrick E. Jamieson
Daniel Romer
1
2008
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The changing protrayal of adolescents in the media since 1950 / edited
by Patrick Jamieson, Daniel Romer.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-534295-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-19-534295-X (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Youth in mass media. 2. Mass media and youth. I. Jamieson,
Patrick E., 1973– II. Romer, Daniel, 1946–
P94.5.Y72C43 2008
302.230835—dc22 2007052293
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my daughter, Sylvia Jane, for teaching me what really matters.—P. E. J.
To my wife, Lauren B. Alloy, who keeps my spirits up
when it really matters.—D. R.
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Preface
This volume grew out of a project jointly sponsored by the Annenberg
Public Policy Center (APPC) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to
gain a greater understanding of the media’s influence on adolescents since
World War II. The Coding of Health and Media Project (CHAMP) that
began in 2006 has undertaken this objective by first examining the por-
trayal of health risk behaviors in major motion pictures since 1950. Because
not much is known about these and other historical trends in the media,
the APPC convened a conference in March 2007 of scholars who have
been studying various media influences on youth. This meeting highlighted
several themes that paved the way for this volume.
The first theme discussed in the Introduction to this volume and by
Bill Osgerby (Chapter 1) was the increased interest in the teenage market
following the war. Indeed, the discovery of the “teenager” as a demographic
segment was a distinct postwar phenomenon. The emergence of this mar-
ket was an inevitable by-product of the increasing affluence of the postwar
period that permitted young people to control more disposable income
than their parents had only a few years earlier. The increasing affluence also
brought with it a consumer culture that celebrates what Bill Osgerby calls
a youthful hedonism. The expansion of the media, especially the introduc-
tion of television, undoubtedly played a role in promoting this new ethos of
immediate gratification. And the baby boom generation, the largest cohort
of adolescents in the country’s history to that point, came of age and helped
fuel the new culture.
preface
viii
A second theme related to the rise of a youth culture is the growing in-
fluence and presence of adolescents in the media. Andy Bennett (Chapter 2)
describes the development of this trend in regard to the most prominent
form of expression, music, as carried on recordings and played on radio and
in live performances. The music business provided a voice for young peo-
ple to express their concerns and to start new cultural trends. As television
matured and cable provided more outlets for youth content, music videos
also evolved into a popular vehicle of youth expression. Michael Rich
(Chapter 3) explores the development of this form of expression and its
likely evolution on the Internet.
Related to the theme of a growing culture of youthful hedonism is
the increasing concern about the effects of media portrayals on adoles-
cent socialization. As the media expanded during the postwar period, they
played an increasing role in facilitating the new culture of hedonism. This
influence, which was evident in both advertising and entertainment, pro-
moted immediate gratification as the route to personal fulfillment. As noted
in the Introduction, most of the harmful influences of the media that came
to be identified in research had their roots in this ethos. Furthermore, these
influences were likely to be particularly harmful to adolescents who are still
forming their identities and are more subject to impulsive behavior than
adults. Hence, a major question raised by this volume is whether trends in
media portrayals matter enough to be a concern of public policy, and if so,
how those concerns should be addressed?
In the second and largest section of the volume, we explore the grow-
ing recognition of the influence of the media as a socializing agent on
adolescents. The Introduction to the volume summarizes the many mecha-
nisms of media influence that have been isolated in research. In Part II,
several authors review the changes (or lack thereof ) that have occurred in
how the media portray behaviors that are influential in adolescent develop-
ment. The adolescent of today as well as the culture in which he or she is
raised have changed dramatically since 1950. This section explores what is
known about these changes and how they are influencing adolescent devel-
opment.
The opening chapter by Patrick E. Jamieson, Eian More, Susan S. Lee,
Peter Busse, and Daniel Romer presents findings from a large-scale analysis
of behavior trends in top-grossing films since 1950. Although the portrayal
of some risk behaviors, such as tobacco and alcohol use, has steadily declined
since 1970, other behaviors such as violence, suicide, and sex have increased
in explicitness. Furthermore, youthful representation in these behaviors has
either increased or remained the same. The authors also discuss the role of
the Motion Picture Association of America rating system as a mechanism to
reduce exposure to harmful content.
In Chapter 5, Jennifer L. Walsh and L. Monique Ward review what
preface
ix
appear to be very slowly evolving changes in portrayal of gender roles of
young men and women in both advertising and entertainment. This is some-
what surprising given the enormous changes that have occurred in the rep-
resentation of women in higher education and the workplace. In Chapter 6,
Kristen Harrison describes dramatic changes that have occurred in the body
ideals and eating habits of the culture as represented in advertising, en-
tertainment media, and marketing. Many of these trends can be linked
to unhealthy eating habits in youth and the adult population in general.
In Chapter 7, Carolyn A. Stroman and Jannette L. Dates review the in-
creased representation of African Americans and other nonwhite groups in
the media. Although largely invisible in the early years of television, these
groups have grown to more closely approximate their representation in the
population. Nevertheless, stereotypical portrayals remain a legacy in many
media.
In Chapter 8, W. James Potter examines the voluminous literature on
the portrayal of violence in the media, especially on television. This behav-
ior is certainly the most heavily studied of the media influences on youth,
and it poses some of the most difficult policy questions about the role of
free expression and profit-maximization in the media business. A surprising
finding is the increase in verbal aggression, particularly on television, along
with its likely effects on our culture. Potter carefully examines the policy
conundrums raised by the findings. In Chapter 9, Timothy Dewhirst exam-
ines another difficult problem, the advertising and portrayal of tobacco use
in the media. He examines how this portrayal has changed over the years
since the behavior was first discovered to be a major source of disease. He
also reviews some policy questions that remain to be answered as we con-
tinue to grapple with the sale and advertising of this product.
Another difficult issue for media policy discussed by Jennifer Horner,
Patrick E. Jamieson, and Daniel Romer (Chapter 10) is the portrayal and
marketing of alcohol. Although the purchase of alcohol has been illegal
since the 1980s for persons under age 21, advertising and promotion con-
tinue to reach adolescents. The authors examine trends in beer advertising
since the 1950s and identify emerging themes that appear to speak to young
people’s difficulty in obtaining alcoholic beverages. They also review recent
developments in the marketing of alcopops that appear to appeal to adoles-
cents, especially girls.
In the final chapter in this section, Susannah Stern and Jane D. Brown
review the dramatic changes that have occurred in the portrayal of sex across
the media. These changes reflect the greater openness to experience and
youthful hedonism that characterize our culture since the 1950s. Although
sexual explicitness has increased, portrayal of safeguards against pregnancy
or disease seldom receive much attention. Stern and Brown discuss the
emergence of the Internet as a forum for young people to learn about and