Television: Cool Culture, Responsibility, and Credibility?

Talking about Ellen and the effect that her coming out had on her career is interesting. The fact that Ellen was able to tell the truth about herself and still see the great success over the years is a true testament to how funny she is. I myself think she is one of the funniest comics right now. Although her coming out was not a turned into a political spectacle at the time, I think that over the years, Ellen has transformed her personal confession and has begun using it as a political statement for equality and gay rights. Ellen is perhaps the most influential celebrity regarding gay rights.

 

In the NPR recording that we listened to, it stated how (I can’t remember the year) at one point in the past 58% of people did not support gay marriage, and now 58% do support it. I think this could be considered an example of cool culture. Back when Ellen came out, it could be considered very controversial and something to not be discussed in certain ways or too much. The fact that now the majority of people support gay marriage may be attributed to the influence that Ellen and other celebrities have had on the topic. People see that others are gravitating towards support rather than opposition, and they jump on the bandwagon.

 

We briefly talked about if it is television’s responsibility to reveal to us what is considered culturally acceptable now (examples like Modern Family). I think that unfortunately tv has become what sets the benchmark. But my question is: What gives tv the credibility to do so? Why should people believe or support/oppose things based on how situations are portrayed on tv? People need to make their own decisions based on personal beliefs and not what is considered now a part of the “cool culture” or let other mediums, such as tv, create the cultural norm.