Manjoo- 11.6

Making the Selective Perception and Using Selective Exposure to Do It-

In pages 71-74, Manjoo tells a quick narrative about a main character in the 1970s TV show All in Family. Discusses the surveys that were taken and the perceptions others had towards Archie and his attitudes, behaviors, and (by my understanding since I’ve never seen the show or heard of it) how the show is about a parody of a bigot man? The part selective perception plays in this narrative was the way different audiences received the same information with different lenses and came to differing conclusions about what the show was really about.

And then Manjoo says:

In the fall of 1971, the novelist Laura Hobson published a scathing critique of the show in the New York Times….[she said] Archie was a ‘loveable bigot,’ and of the millions who regularly turned in to the show, there were likely many who didn’t realize that it was actually meant to be a parody- not a celebration- of Archie’s way of thinking. In other words, Hobson believed that the series was provoking selective perception on a national scale. Well-educated cultural commentators enjoyed the show because they through it affirmed their beliefs. But to perhaps a vast number of Americans, Archie was someone to look up to- a hero of the working class- and these people loved All in the Family because it affirmed their beliefs.  (Manjoo, 72).


Aside from the fact that later this idea is turned into a study that goes to prove or disprove the thoughts about the show, that later show that Hobson was right, my mind went to the idea of how writers can do the shaping of selective perception. Rhetorically, we do it all the time when we write. We take the bits and pieces of information that we want to use to analyze or disclose in our work in order to put out the message that we want readers to see. It’s not a 100% perfect plan that makes readers automatically agree and see what you see in your writing, but it is something that we do when we write. We are contributing to selective perception and we also do that through selective exposure.
For example:
During my freshman year here, I was in the US 101 class, and there was this big deal about urging us to “really push the boundaries with ourselves”
“It’s college, just do it”
“Really, go there!”
In my seminar class we had to pick a very controversial topic to debate and give a presentation on it, there was a list (I think) to choose from and I decided to debate child soldiers and advocate for the use of child soldiers. Please guys, don’t hate me because I did this not because I sincerely thought that using children as soldiers is a sane and humane thing, I actually took the above quotes and thought to myself “Alright! This is what is being asked of me. Debate a controversial issue, push the envelope.” Everyone was having subjects like “donor babies” (where siblings are made simply to donate parts to their older, sick sibling) and were taking the “obvious approach” and advocating against their subjects…. But I wanted to argue for child soldiers just because. Until then, I had always taken the “obvious” route where it’d be an easy project to write. So I went the other way to see if I could come up with an argument that suggested that child soldiers was a smart decision.
Because it is a horrible thing, a lot (if not all) my information about child soldiers were coming out negative and I needed to use that information to mold my argument- I had to create the selective perception- or at least try to. To do this, I also had to be selectively exclusive about the data I used or read. I sometimes would wander down a source for too long and then it would start steering me towards wanting to advocate for the children and their safety and well-being. So I would have to “tune out” certain sources while I skimmed through the internet. …. I’d like to say that I think my argument/project was pretty good (but it was awful) and Manjoo’s quote made me think of this particular incident of how/when writers  are the one’s attempting to make a reader’s perception selective and exclusive……

Thanks. 

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