The Impact of Television Programs on Lifestyle - Essay Example

? Lifestyle TV and Its Impacts Task Introduction The entertainment industry has been incorporated in an individual’s mode of life in the recent time. It does not only depict the life as individuals live, but acts to predict what is expected from the society. Normally people would live according to their capability with less strain on how the society would look at their lifestyle or their behavioural adaptation towards the economy. The greatest pinch has been felt among the economically unstable families, and the middle-income earners who place effort in completing the desire found in luxury fulfilment. The lifestyle and identity of the various lifestyles existing within the society has been portrayed through the advanced communication channels that have been developed (Turner, 2006). Through the internet and majorly television that offers advertisement of the latest trend of merchandize, individuals have adapted to new modes of living. The decades are defined by the technological advances and most importantly fashion. People in the 90s have a different fashion trend when compared to the 21st century. There has been tremendous change in the mode of dressing speech and the home equipments possessed by individuals from these separate ages. Through television, there has been a high rate of transfer of the required trend by the society as leading manufacturers and market competitors strive to indulge clients in the new trend of products. Lifestyle television has been improved to the level that delivers the producer’s expectation and a reflection of the living conditions within the 21st century (Malik, 2011). The channels that lifestyle television dwells on have been linked to the healthy individuals and issues that may lead to uncomfortable living providing solutions to various challenges faced. However, the television channel normally fails to reflect on the opinion of the viewers as it provides a general outlook. This paper seeks to define lifestyle TV, its implications and answer the question of its contribution to individual identity with its contribution to social control. Lifestyle TV and Identity Lifestyle TV has been a prime source towards providing concrete answers that the modern society can find the proper structure for their own. In these programs, individuals are taken through a series of events that occur around their homes and the proper conduct to be observed when responding to situations around the home. Lifestyle TV has contributed to emotional development of individuals, intriguing their curiosity towards development and personal improvement. There is a better life depicted in their programs that promise a solution to the majority of the constraints within the society (Banet-Weiser & Portwood-Stacer, 2006). Lifestyle TV mostly features the state of living within the society, but dwells on the economically stable individuals. The depicted scenes are mostly in reality TV that handles events around the homes and the manner that defines progress. In the recent decades, companies used advertisements to inform the public of the desired products for purchase, but it rarely spoke to the consumers. Most individuals were concentrating on the concrete merchandize preferring to buy products that they were already familiar with their use. With the development of lifestyle TV, majority of advertisers found a channel that could directly communicate to their target audience. The development of lifestyle TV presented a development in communication and learning process. Individuals could be taught on the nature of performing basic tasks that a person found difficult to handle. An example would be on utilizing a current blender in the kitchen and a means to plant flower seeds in the backyard garden. Through introducing these entities in other users, in the program, lessons are taught to the viewers through imitating the procedures and state of the actors within the program to apply in the real life (Reijnders, Rooijakkers & van Zoonen, 2007). In some cases, the entities emanate from real individuals who undergo the presented subjections in real life. It may not be acted, but a real event happening concurrently to the viewer’s lifestyle. The topics that are featured in lifestyle TV are normally all rounded as they tackle each aspect of life. The channels revolve from the emotional scene to the business development. The producers always strive to explain the proper means in living with most of them trying to make the society better. However, like any other channel on TV, these are partly meant to entertain and utilize measures that sell various merchandize. A brand may feature their latest product in a reality television or serve as a testing format by the manufacturers as they utilize the characters. Lifestyle TV provides is viewers with an opportunity to test the presented conditions within their lifestyle, as they are updated on measures to undertake when selecting their mode of living. A careful boundary is drawn between the inappropriate measures to be implemented when selecting various products. As its name suggests, there is a lifestyle created to predict the successful lifestyle when adapting to the harsh economic presentations. In these programs, individuals that observe the presented lifestyle normally thrive in the society. They are packaged in a manner to suggest success. The topics discussed are normally reflective of the current presentation the society informs its members, talking on political, social and economic developments. To boost success of programs, successful icons who obey the presented conditions are placed at the center of programs to inform the public of the possible outcomes of imitating their behaviors. Through combining the life experiences and imitating the lifestyle presented, a trend is created that would define better standards. The audiences are introduced to new behavioral pattern and lifestyle conditions to live within the current presentations of the society. They are drawn closer to economic and social developments within the society that are needed to be embraced. The characters are normally under the instruction of the producer to be precise in relaying the conditions subjected upon them within the script. Some programs are spontaneous and rely on the experiences of the actor to produce successful scenes in relaying the message. Careful planning to limit on harmful scenes and create fairness to the viewers promotes success of lifestyle TV. The type of moral and practical lesson within lifestyle TV is related to the current events. The trend set by lifestyle TV over the decades has suggested on the appropriate measure to be followed in achieving success. Individuals have been able to identify the social class that they belong to with the familiar settings selected with the arrangement of various scenarios. It has defined identity by defining the roles of each class within the society. People belonging to the upper class have been given a different appearance and lifestyle as compared to the lower class individuals. Lifestyle TV has given people in the society their identity and role towards shaping progress within the society. The emotionally and economically weak have been alienated as the underachievers promoting urgency to rise above their ranks. Humanity has needs that reflect on the need to achieve success and progress and with lifestyle TV, comes a sense of alienation and social discrimination. It gives the society a choice of introducing biases towards certain presentations within the society. Therefore, lifestyle TV acts as a cannel towards identity (Lunt, 2008). Individuals can relate to their status in the society, especially economic, in the quest to achieve development. Lifestyle TV as a form of Social Control It has been suggested that with the inclusion of lifestyle TV and the policies it presents to the lifestyle if individuals, the decision to choose a comfort zone is taken from the individual to this program. Lifestyle TV predicts of the proper nature of life by giving examples of successful participants. They dictate on the position offered when the viewers imitate their provisions. Social control would mean an individual would choose their mode of behavior, conduct and the principles that govern their behavior. Normally, people who fail to observe certain presentations within the channel are depicted as weak and mostly unsuccessful. The society punishes these individuals by singling their appearance and moral practices that are undesirable. It serves as a means off social control because it informs individuals of the desired outlook. The proper morals and principles to be guided when responding to various environmental subjections are advised on the audiences. The majority of the viewers are given an opportunity to respond on the desired physical outlook that they find socially comfortable (Taylor, 2002). The undesired traits are considered socially inappropriate with the perpetrators becoming social outcasts. This provision becomes hazardous because individuals who fail to meet the desired expectations are included amongst the less developed, old fashioned or poor. Lifestyle TV negates individual choice because the majority who predict the current social trend harbors its progress. Just as the switch is used to change the channels, lifestyle TV dictates the popular items and behaviors as it evolves with the decades. An example may be presented to the afro hairstyle associated with the 80s being replaced by the modern haircuts (Palmer, 2008). Individuals seek to imitate the current fashion and behavioral traits to gain favor from their friends and society. Lifestyle TV dominates the social behavior of individuals within the society as it provides a direction to healthy and stable living (Everett, 2004). The examples that it provides are constituted of successful individuals and it offers a counter measure of the failures that involve failure in delivery of the presented conditions. To have control would mean that person the condition is subjected upon would have limited freedom in making their individual choices. The lifestyle TV audience faces this predicament. They often rely on the instructions of their favorite programs to carry out activities that they could have chosen to undertake. Lifestyle TV requires a set of rules in completing the requirements that it dictates. On the quest to achieve success and progress, the programs it presents serve as a mirror in the rules needed to stay ahead of the other societal members. The pace is set to be followed and would require individual efforts to achieve these developments. An individual who would choose to apply his or her own techniques in achieving development has difficulty when relating to the society. This presentation occurs due to the society’s involvement in observing the presentations by lifestyle TV. They become socially and morally alienated as they are dubbed to be out of fashion and unethical. Therefore, to achieve a similar level to the societal changes, individuals are forced to imitate the events within the lifestyle TV that are considered updated. Moreover, the producers of these programs normally carry out research on existing facts before presenting them as a compilation within the selected channels. Lifestyle TV advises individuals of a different class to adapt new behavioral trends within their lifestyle to achieve success and be capable of fighting societal changes. The middle-class normally strives to achieve the upper class level while lower class taking their place. There is a lack of stability and comfort within individuals that could have been achieved by independent decisions (Lunt & Lewis, 2008). It acts as a form of dictating the desirable condition by individuals and shunning the poorly applied developmental strategy. Conclusion Lifestyle TV is an outstanding platform in achieving individual and societal development (Brunsdon, 2003). A mirror for the individual to observe progress is created as it helps to relay the current trend of progress within the society. For an individual to be considered successful, it presents a form of lifestyle to be achieved. Its limitation would lie in its inability to accord societal members the opportunity to create their own personalized lifestyle. This provision would give people a chance, for a realized individual progress making adjustments when desirable. However, this would create a lazy trend witnessed in the need for progress within the society. I argue that lifestyle TV creates the desired identity because it keeps individuals working. The efforts applied in constantly correcting the flaws that people possess are the attributes required in achieving growth. Though the steps individuals take to achieve progress are self-centered, the overall implication is and advanced society. A society that is full of competing individuals to achieve the desired identity would be filled with opportunity and development. Lifestyle TV is, therefore, necessary to achieve the desired reflection of a better society. 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