2 things that i am proud of are my conclusion and my second body paragraph because i felt like i used the information well and provided some interesting ideas

2 things i need to Improve are my use of the term social media within the text because i was using it to refer to a part of the media but as i read back through i understand how it didn’t make sense entirely, also my transition words were pretty much absent throughout the essay.

Mattias Clark
Synthesis essay
English 11
Block X

The Affects of Media on Identity

Most people use social media everyday whether it’s to post a cute picture of a cat or maybe to comment on a video, there are many positives to social media but most people don’t stop to think about the negatives like how media can influence identity? In the Netflix comedy Homecoming King Hasan Minhaj talks about his experience trying to live in America as a minority. In the ted talk “What it Feels Like to be Transgender” Lee Mokobe is a South African LGBTQ activist and slam poet who talks about his troubles growing up as a transgender. Both speakers from Homecoming King and “What it Feels Like to be Transgender”, talk about their experiences in trying to seek acceptance from the majority without media representation. But whereas Hasan Minhaj felt that the media was inciting violent outbursts, Lee Mokobe felt like the media just wanted to use him for their own personal gain. Regardless though both speakers explain the difficulties of growing up as a minority in a world ruled by the majority.

When minority groups are lacking media representation it can result in those groups feeling like they have no support and that the majority is ignoring their problems. Mokobe talks about how trans people are almost invisible to everyone else, because he feels that the rest of the world ignores them and their troubles: “No one ever thinks of us as human because we are more ghost than flesh,”(Mokobe). Therefore this clearly provides some evidence that shows how he feels that trans people are considered to be different and the more ghost than flesh part shows how trans people are left behind and forgotten. Minhaj explains how he felt that the Muslim community had no real support until the Bill Maher and Ben Affleck dispute: “We got our first A-list celebrity to back the Muslim community. He may not be the hero we want but he’s the hero the Muslim world needs,”(Minhaj, 105:34 – 106:22). Subsequently Minhaj’s quote shows how he felt that until Ben Affleck’s support of the Muslim community there weren’t any major Hollywood actors supporting the Muslim community and this shows how he feels that they were almost ignored and forgotten similar to how Mokobe felt that trans people were treated like they were invisible.

When the media tries to cover stories based on minorities, due to their lack of the minority’s perspective it can result in misinformation or exaggerated information that can lead to them adding fuel to animosity against that group. Throughout King it becomes clear how Minhaj feels that he and his family has to almost prove themselves constantly. This becomes evident after the 9-11 tragedy occurs when Minhaj’s household receives a phone call: “Hey 2631 Regatta Lane, that’s where you live right? I’m going to F***ing kill you,”(Minhaj, 27:14 – 27:19). Furthermore this quote shows how after 9-11 there were many people who held animosity to those who they considered to be of the same ethnic group, but its likely because of the media trying to rally the American people in an effort to promote the end of terrorism, but because of their lack of specifics and knowledge of the minority groups they end up grouping together the loyal citizens with the terrorists that want to see the downfall of America. This only gets worse as Minhaj’s father explains, “Hasan whatever you do, do not tell people you’re Muslim or talk about politics,”(Minhaj, 26:43 – 26:45 ). Likewise, because of how badly 9-11 affected people they took out their grief and anger on whoever they could, whether they had any involvement or not. Which caused minority families like Minhaj’s to feel like they had to hide their identity and personal ideals because they felt like their loyalty to America was being questioned.

When someone wants to promote themselves its become a common occurrence to use different minority groups for their own self promotion and unfortunately the media is no stranger to this. Mokobe talks about how news sites are using him and others as an attraction to get more viewers without bringing to light the problems that people like Mokobe faced. As Mokobe states, “News headlines have turned my identity into a spectacle, Bruce Jenner is on everyone’s lips while the brutality of living in this body becomes an asterisk at the bottom of an equality page,”(Mokobe). For this reason it becomes evident that Mokobe feels like trans people like Bruce Jenner are being used to promote different news sites that draw people in without focusing on how difficult it is to live as a transgender. Unfortunately it seems like the media doesn’t care about how they use trans and other minority groups because they have shown how little they care for their causes through their click bait titles and click bait pictures that are used to entice people to click on the headline. Something that Mokobe also says, “And once they have fed off my queer, they’ll regurgitate all the parts they did not like, they’ll put me back into the closet hang me with all the other skeletons, I will be the best attraction,”(Mokobe). Other than further hammering down the point that he feels used it also becomes more evident that he feels abandoned. That once he has served his purpose he is no longer needed, so they cut ties with him. in this case skeletons in the closet from what he suggests seems to mean that they want to hide away trans people because usually if someone has skeletons in the closet it means that they have a secret or secrets and in this case it seems that Mokobe is saying that people like him are the secrets.

In conclusion Minhaj and Mokobe both grew up as minorities that lacked representation within the media and because of that lack of representation it resulted in them feeling like they were being ignored and lacking support. In the case of Minhaj this also resulted in him and his family feeling like they had to hide their identity because of the violence against them. While Mokobe felt that his minority group were being used as headlines for their own gain. But media can have a great or terrible affect on identity it can make or break it. But the media be used for good, Minhaj and Mokobe show through their works how they are using the media to tell stories of their troubles to bring these issues to light.

References:

Mokobe, Lee. “What It Feels like to Be Transgender.” TED, 28 May 2015, www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender?language=en.

Storer, Christopher, director. Homecoming King. Performance by Hasan Minhaj, Netflix, Arts & Industry, 23 May 2017, www.netflix.com/ca/title/80134781?source=35.