My Relationship With Media

The manipulation of media is ridiculously prevalent in my daily life.  However, as per usual, I succumb to it. I let myself and my perceptions be twisted and distorted.  My laziness and lack of effort to filter the messages of the media is overwhelming. Why do I let myself be lied to?  Why do I let myself be exploited? Why do I give in? Maybe the answer lies in the deceptive appeal of the advertisements, of the news, of the internet, etc.  For example, the advertisement embedded below, for the iPhone 6, says, "Because you deserve nothing less than the best."  A few years ago, when this phone had just been released by Apple, these types of advertisements were infesting my television, invading my mind.  I had just been given my mom's old iPhone 4, that was significantly incompetent, so naturally I wanted something that "I deserved". That Christmas I opened up the perfectly rectangular box that contained "what I deserved"--an iPhone 6.  My parents spent hundreds of dollars because they, too, were positively enraptured by the enticement of Apple's advertisements. These ads purposely target the audience, making them feel as if they are being understood by the company. As absurd as it sounds, I felt that Apple somewhat understood that I did not deserve a crappy phone that was given to me.  Of course, that is false, in so many ways: Apple doesn't understand me, they understand what I want, and I should’ve been much more appreciative of being given a phone, no matter how slow or glitchy it is. What is to be said here is that my relationship with media is contrived of a power complex. The more superior factor, of course, is the creators of the media; the companies, newspapers, internet, etc. I am the less superior, sometimes by choice, sometimes not.