Documentary Analysis: An Electronic Story

The documentary An Electronic Story serves as a representation of the massive impact and influence that television has on our cultural perceptions, understandings, and beliefs. Gerbner defines culture as the “stories and messages that create images that govern our conception of life and our behavior” (Jhally). The documentary draws to attention that for thousands of years stories, the fundamental method of conveying culture and preserving society, were told orally. Technology, specifically innovations over the past three centuries, has intrinsically impacted and changed the way stories are told. Beginning with the printing press, the process of storytelling became staunchly mechanized. Massive quantities of fiction and stories began being produced
The documentary contends that, with this power, television thoroughly disseminates properties of fear, violence, and anxiety. Endlessly shown murders, rapes, car chases, and theft, coerce viewers into accepting these displays of crime at face value, making viewers believe that these distorted acts occur in real life as shown in the cinematic context and, therefore, apply to their personal lives and unique cultural contexts. Gerbner claims that every watcher “sees about three hundred and fifty characters a week,” with these characters often representing and advocating oversimplified, hackneyed, and inaccurate gender and racial roles (Jhally). Television, in this way, not only propagates fear but also advocates acceptance of and submission to both stereotypical gender and racial roles. The film extends the implication, arguing that television raises the overall level of insecurity, worry, and misinformation in individuals through the continuous proliferation of fictitious constructs, figures, and statistics. By blindly accepting the misrepresentations of television as truth and reality, we entirely subject our perceptions and interactions with the world around us to the dishonest accounts displayed by these electronic