The Hypodermic Syringe Model

Marxism, Effects of media on the audience

What effect does the Hypodermic Syringe have on audiences?

Direct, immediate, and inevitable effect on audiences.

What is the Hypodermic Syringe Model?

Media messages go straight into the brain of the audience member and change the way people think and act.

Marcuse - Media used as a form of social control

Capitalist controlled media sends messages directly into the passive minds of the audience, as a form of social control.

Global Culture of Distraction

``Marcuse claims that transnational capitalist media is now creating a global culture of distraction and mind numbing content.

Dominant Ideology

The dominant Ideology is spread through the Myth of Meritocracy in media.

Evaluation of The Hypodermic Syringe

Philo, criticises this approach and argues the audience aren’t all the same and respond to media in different ways. There also may be a range of factors like age, family, religion which also influence how someone responds to media content.

Jamie Bulger Case

The murder of Jamie Bulger has been linked to a Chucky Horror Movie, with an imitation of the killers doing the same acts which Chucky did to Jamie.

Evaluation of the Jamie Bulger Case

Whilst it is possible that the murderers of Jamie Bulger were affected by watching a violent movie, there was a significant number of other more important factors.