The biggest thing I've learned about media in this class is that most content is created to serve a certain ideology. To go even further I realized that media helps shape modern culture and helps viewers come to terms what is "normal" in this new era of society.
Show writers have this unique opportunity to help redefine what the world sees as acceptable. Shonda Rhimes has constantly pushed the boundaries with her revolutionary shows. Her shows have showcased everything from inter-racial relationships to LGBT relationships to women and people-of-color in power. These ideas used to be ignored by the popular media for a very long time until Rhimes decided to put them on display on prime time TV. Rhimes also "makes fun" of the typical character that is used in shows (e.g. white male coming from an upper-middle class background). She makes this character look weak or sometimes gives them a less significant role in the show. By doing this, Rhimes has given a voice to a huge portion of society that has been ignored for the past two decades by pop culture.
Another show that has redefined societal norms is Modern Family. In the past, a "normal" family consisted of a mom, a dad, two kids, and maybe a pet of some kind. In Modern Family, we see that traditional family along side the "modern" family (i.e. two dads with their adopted daughter) and a family that is made out of an interracial relationship.
These two shows are showing viewers around the country that the traditional story line of TV shows have become a thing in the past. By doing so, the media has helped shaped a new tradition and helped society evolve into something more inclusive.
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