The media has always been a strong influence on all of us. Sometimes we buy a brand of shampoo not because we know it is made of good quality, but because its commercial has convinced us that that particular brand of shampoo is really good. By the way, congratulations to the people behind those ads, because they really had you eating right out of their hands. Anyway, that just goes to show how strong the media’s convincing power is. When it comes to our idea about camping, tents, and caravans, most of them are based on what we see on TV rather than what we were taught in school.
We learn a thing or two about the history of most things as we go through school. For the most part, as far as we know, they were all taught to us by media devices. For example, in our history class, we learned that Native American settlers like the Indians and Cherokees used tents as a form of shelter. That, being associated with history becomes boring for most of us. Give 5 minutes after the bell rings and all that talk about temptations by American Indians will be hidden in the storage area of our memory. We may think at some point that it is hardly worth remembering, unless there is an upcoming test on the subject.
Now the media has really effective ways to help us remember. Movies featuring the tent include Walt Disney’s Pocahontas featuring Native American Indian towns. Another Walt Disney animated movie is Mulan where you can see men training to be soldiers living in tents in the soldiers’ camp. In this particular movie, you would also see Mulan’s troops caravaning through the mountains. They keep their weapons in their caravan. Caravans are very common when you watch movies that feature stories in medieval times. Caravans were not only used to transport weapons and armaments, it is also used to transport crops. Also, the maidens ride the caravan to protect themselves from the eyes of men. Gypsies are mainly associated with traveling in a caravan, as well as assaulting innocent people traveling in caravans.
The media portrays the camp in many ways. Some definitions of camping would define it as the king of activity in the forest. However, its definition goes further. Camping is also defined as any form of recreational activity undertaken by groups of people. There are so many movies that present different ways of camping. In the movie Mulan, there is a soldier camp where men are trained to be soldiers. In the movie Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants, one of the main characters went to join a summer soccer camp where all they had to do was practice soccer. In the movie Camp Rock, camping was all about singing and music.
Media is really a great mode of teaching. Movies can touch us in ways that reading doesn’t. Since movies have meaning, we associate meaning with common ideas. After seeing Camp Rock, you will never say that camping is all about nature and wilderness.
