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Danielle Swauger

Professor Heather Johnson-Taylor

English 1201

23 June 2019

The Influence of Television and Movies on Americans Over Time

Growing up, television and movies have been a pretty large part of my life. I grew up on

a lot of Disney classics, Mulan being my favorite, in which I decided at a young age I was a

descendant of a great Chinese family and was destined to change the world. As I grew older, I

transitioned into different shows. At the time, Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana

were my two favorites. I would be at daycare mixing pretend potions and waving imaginary

wands with my friends one day, and acting as popstars the next. As time continued to move

forward, I moved towards more “grown up” shows, most of which my dad introduced me to.

Every week he would record all of “our” shows and we would watch them together when I

would visit for the weekend; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CSI: Las

Vegas, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: New Orleans. I’m sure you see a pattern here, and

it was quite a jump from imaginary spells to realistic crime. This time period lead me to my - at

the time - dream job, and one that definitely stuck with my parents: becoming a doctor. Let’s be

honest though, how many young kids say they want to be a doctor when they grow up? The job

stuck with my parents, and for the next few years I was believed to be the next great doctor. In

other words, my life has been influenced in many different ways by the things I had been

watching at the time. Of course there were many different ways I could have taken each thing

that I watched, but I also had amazing parents to help guide me along my way as well. With all
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of the shows and movies, now way more readily available than they were when I was young,

how do they affect Americans over time?

I am excited to research this topic, as television and movies has always been a pretty

large part of my life. I never thought about how it really has affected my life until now, and it’s

interesting to be able to reflect on myself both a statistical basis as well as an abstract basis. I

think what people watch, especially at a young age, affects them in many different ways. Other

factors affect how people take what they watch and interpret it, but if someone is watching

something every day or consistently, it becomes a part of their lives, and maybe even their

personality. I believe that social factors also play a part in how television and movies affect

Americans as well. For example, in lower income areas, people cannot afford extra things such

as cable and internet. Therefore, they are left with a select few channels to influence them, but

this is something that will definitely need further researched. However, what I do know, is that

movies and television has changed and will continue to change throughout time and history.

Within each generation is a “generational gap”, and I believe this to be largely caused by what

people are watching at a young age.

There are many different ways this topic can go and many different research perspectives

to take. Ultimately though, I hope to learn specifically in what ways do movies and television

shows affect Americans, particularly from a young age. What age in particular is the most

vulnerable to ideas and concepts that are in movies and television? Do more action and violent

shows watched from a young age lead to a tendency to violence later in people’s lives? Most of

my research will be from the internet and scholarly research, as well as possibly from books and

accounts from my friends and family.