My illustration may be silly and not of much importance, but
it is beyond a silly sports story because it is exactly what the media has been
doing since the beginning. What we believe and how we see a story is all based
on what information we receive. Who gives us the information and the
information that they give us is in a perspective that can actually give us a
very skewed perspective that narrows our mind.
In the World Series, Justin Verlander, a pitcher for the
Houston Astros, has never won a game. In 2017, his team won, but not because of
him. In fact, the other team in that World Series was the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They have a pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. He won Game 1 of that series. Verlander
was winning Game 6, but fell in the 5th inning and the Dodgers
forced a Game 7. The media has only described one of the pitchers as a curse,
as a horrible playoff pitcher, and that is Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
The media has everyone believing that no one in any era has
done what Kershaw has done. The media makes fun of Kershaw, which leads the
fans in making fun of him. The media gets the faithful Dodger Blue fans to turn
on one of their own, but they never get the Astros to turn on Verlander. They
are gentle with Verlander. They make excuses for him, but not for Kershaw. What
is it?
Both pitchers have amazing records in the regular season and
both fall apart in the playoffs. Verlander has a beautiful model, Kate Upton,
as a partner. Kershaw married his high school sweetheart. Verlander has had
run-ins with reporters. Along with going on mission trips to help a small
village in Africa, Kershaw gives to the urban community of Los Angeles. He’s
not rude to the press, so the press creates a story.
As silly as sports can be, I began to wonder what else and
who else has the media done this to? Do we really get the full story? Or do we
get a version interpreted by someone who wants to create an audience to sell,
as they say in the play, Newsies, “more
papes.”
Here’s the scary part. People believe the stories that are
generated to create an audience more than they believe the truth. People retell
the stories. People refuse to listen to the truth or to anyone who begins to
speak truth, which is frightening. If we refuse to listen or be open to the
truth, then we will allow those who tell their version of the story to control
our minds.
If we allow the media to control our minds, then they will
be able to control our actions. If they can control our actions, we will no
longer think independently, but will be forced to think like those who desire
to control us. I’ve observed this happen with politics, stories in the news,
educational institutions, religion, etc. It leads to division and wars.
So, what do we do? We are careful to what we read and hear,
and we begin to search for the truth before we mindlessly take the word of
someone who wants to make money. We begin to think critically for ourselves. We
look for facts to back-up a story like the Kershaw vs. Verlander one to
discover why one is great and the other is not, even though they have similar
statistics.
May we stop blindly following journalists and bloggers.
Oops. I’m a blogger. Search for yourselves. Read literary works that are truth along
with journalists and bloggers. You may find life to be more informative and
enjoyable. Anger may subside and real answers to problems in our communities
may come to fruition. May we seek those answers and not let the media control
how we think or what we think. May we just begin to think.
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