The media controls us all. I can see it branded on your Nikes and carved into your Von Dutch hats. I see it swinging with those designer bags and tacked onto jean labels. It’s the mirror that whispers you’re too fat. It’s the size 0 that beckons on the rack. We’re all slaves. Now, that everyone’s aware of it a new attitude has emerged. It’s not shocked or disgusted or even bemused. It’s a much scarier emotion than hate. It’s called indifference.

That’s right. Our generation has adopted a new motto. Not “Peace and Love” like my parents not “Be rich” like the yuppies but an all-too-simple everything inclusive slogan of “I don’t care.”

Honestly, I have to say it’s not really our fault. Remember when you were a kid? Didn’t you really want that talking doll you saw on TV? And didn’t you cry for that sparkly pink bike in the window? I did. You should have heard me scream that I wanted a Barbie doll-house. I wailed and hollered that I wanted that ugly pink plastic 90s contraption. And you know what? I never even liked Barbie all that much. I was much more interested in play-mobiles. But they made it look so pretty and perfect and princessy that my tiny mind decided that I needed it. Pretty scary, eh? I find it freaky now because those Mattel advertisers knew exactly what they were doing. They’ve been targeting us since we were this high. I don’t know about you but I don’t like the idea that I’ve been brainwashed since I was a toddler. So really, when it’s been programmed into our system forever, it’s hard to fight. It’s like combating a subconscious enemy. A traitor that we’re the first to have to attack.

Okay, maybe it didn’t start with us. Consumerism was all the rage in the 1980s. But we’re the children of it, the ones who were born with a pre-target tag by media giants. I can see it now…on my head they must have written “music geek” so that for the rest of my life they’ll stalk me and lure me with promises of good music. And I bite the bait. I pay I-Tunes their 99c a song though it’s overpriced. Anything for my music.

I have to say that it is hard to care. Just walk down Saint-Catherine and catch a glimpse of the half-naked Lasenza girls on their massive posters. It used to bug me but now I have to zone out because I see them almost everyday. We develop a sort of immunity to it all. They have to be careful about overexposure of “good advertisement” though. For example, I’ve heard anti-smoking ads so often they tend to go in one ear and out the other. They should shock us with electrifying but inconsistent doses. Then I’ll be scared!

When radio and TV first appeared, they were hailed as instruments to connect humanity and make us more aware of each other. That was true at the beginning but now look at the shows we watch: Desperate Housewives, the OC. And don’t even get me started on the Extreme Makeover! The OC, I watch it, I love it but come on. Who lives like that? What am I learning by watching a bunch of very rich kids OD, break up, make up and get drunk? I’m learning about a different society…not really. Sorry to break it to you but did you know that those sparkling beaches are actually stained by terrible pollution? Most of the waters in the real Orange County are rendered unsafe for swimming. And you think a place like that would accept a boy like Ryan? According to actual OC residents…no way. But the show presents it as a scenic paradise where most of the little rich kids are actually accepting of other people. Problem is…I don’t care. I still love the show and believe in the stereotypical characters. I don’t care if it’s unrealistic and that I’m being brainwashed into wanting to live like them. I figure I’m smart enough not to think that way. But then why do I have to stop myself from copying one of Marissa’s outfits?

Speaking of our OC actors, the media concentrates on pretty people. According to them, these are the humans that we all should care about and idolise. How many shows are devoted to the lifestyles of the rich and the famous? They know that pretty people attract us. They’ve done their research. It’s true the more attractive individuals do get served first in restaurants, they do get the door held open for them more often and they are more likely to be successful during job interviews. Why? It doesn’t even make sense scientifically. The beautiful people of today’s society are not the ones that our prehistoric ancestor’s would prize above others. But we want to look like them We long to be like them. The media wants us to love them. At first sight, this doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. What’s wrong with loving pretty people? My answer is what about the rest of us? We don’t want to be banished to a world of mediocrity just because we don’t have the perfect genetic makeup of Britney Spears. So we pour money into that swallowing media system to try to make ourselves look like that. It’s a waste of money and for many it’s unhealthy. But what do the media giants care…it means more money for them.

But back to our indifference. Though I often feel the need to shrug off negative influences I know that it does not bode well for the rest of my generation. I think that through our indifference not only to the bad but also the good we are depriving ourselves of some of the greatest gifts this world has to offer. During our hiking trip to the Adirondacks, I found myself alone for a long space of time. I was in the middle of a lonely, dark and dense forest but instead of feeling scared I was awed. Did you ever have the feeling that there really is something else out there? Something that planted those great trees and sculpted those blue hazy mountains. I have. In the rush and tumble of the modern world it’s very easy to forget the inimitable treasure that is a tree. It’s easy to forget that loyal friend who, with outstretched hand helped you over one of life’s mountains. That’s when I think that our indifference is a curse. We remember the ugly and the crude but never the beauty. And that is what’s really worth living for.

Sometimes, in my more pessimistic moods, I feel like a tiny piece of the huge robot of humanity controlled by the media by a mere click of a button. I get very frustrated because it’s so hard to break away from this smooth, easy-riding vehicle. Charlie Chaplin once said to soldiers to break away from their dictator masters, “don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder” and I say the same to you to break away from the media. You’re a number to them, a mere number in the vast field of humanity just ripe for conversion. We all love our designer shoes and our Parasuco jeans but would it hurt to stop and think about why we feel the urge to buy them? Or better yet, walk right by that store. Because right now, they’re winning, they’ve got us. Do you really want to live in a society plagued by conformity and consumerism? You may not think it’s cool but let me remind you that the really cool people are the leaders not the followers. The ones who created “cool” were taking a risk. So take that risk and be different, be passionate. Step away from that overpriced shoe store, turn your head. Ernest Hemingway once wrote that “One man with courage makes a majority”. You can be that one. You can be courageous. Something many people forget is what courage it takes to care. Stop in the woods on a snowy evening. Believe in the beauty of all people…not just the sexy ones. Take an interest in something other than shopping and television because listen, you’re throwing yourself right into their hands. Let’s break down that media robot, break down their majority and bring the power of choice back into the hands of the people, bring it back to us. Thank-you.