According to George Gerbner, Cultivation Theory is the belief that heavy television viewing influences society to believe what is portrayed on television, as reality. Because of their exposure to television and the reality that comes with it, people have a false sense of what the world is like. An example of the cultivation theory that I have experienced is with shows dedicated to conspiracy theories. A friend of mine, who was a heavy TV user, watched so many conspiracy theory documentaries and videos on television, that over time he began believing in them and now thinks that the majority of events in this world are all conspiracies. His world as he knows it has been shaped by television and his concept of reality is now a misrepresentation of true reality.

The cultivation theory was created by George Gerber, and cultivation is defined as “the process of trying to acquire or develop a quality or skill.” George Gerber believe that violence “is the simplest and cheapest dramatic means to demonstrate who wins in the game of life and the rules by which the game is played. At heart, television in society shapes the way we live. There are different types of TV watchers: the heavy viewers and the light viewers. The heavy viewer are the one who spend most of their day watching television, while the light viewer only spend a few hours. Gerber believed that heavy viewers watch so much television that they start that how the world around them was shaped.

George Gerbner, creator of the Cultivation Theory, stated “that because TV contains so much violence, people who psend the most time in front of the tube develop an exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world.” In essence, television shapes the society we live in. There are different types of TV watchers: the heavy viewers who watch on average four hours of television every day, and light viewers who watch at least two hours of television everyday. Since the heavy viewers watch so much TV everyday, they begin to view the world as they do on TV. As Nancy Signorielli said, “those who spend more time ‘living’ in the world of television are more likely to see the ‘real world’ in terms of the images, values, portrayals and ideologies that emerge through the lens of television.” These heavy viewers are more prone to violence on television since they watch such a large amount everyday which then as a result causes them to have the mean world syndrome. This cynical mindset is when heavy viewers have a “general mistrust of others” because of all the violence they have been exposed to.

In this comic, you can tell the little boy is so entranced in watching the television show, which seems to be violent, because his eyes are huge and he is very close to the screen. This little boy is obviously a heavy viewer because of how he responds to his mothers comment about his head exploding if he watches more violence. The fact that the little boy thinks his head exploding is “cool” shows how the television watching and violence has affected him.

George Gerber states that violence “is the simplest and cheapest dramatic means to demonstrate who wins in the game of life and the rules by which the game is played.” He believes that the more frequent of a violent TV viewer one is, the more their world is shaped by it. If one were to watch a very heavy amount of violent television shows, they will start to believe that the world around them is just as violent. They will also develop feelings regarding those beliefs. He has done lots of research that has proven that the amount of violence in everyday television is at very high levels that are very unrealistic of real life scenarios.

For example, in Willy Wonka’s, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mike Teevee, one of the golden ticket holders, completely proves Gerbers point. It is known from the start that Mike is considered a heavy user. In fact, he eats all of this meals right in front of the television. When the interviewers asked Mike if he liked “the killings”, he replied with, “isn’t that what lifes all about?” He then proceeds to pull out a toy gun and pretends to shoot at all the people around him. Having watched far too much violent television, Mike is under the impression that life is all about committing violent acts.

This is a perfect example of how Gerber predicts that heavy violent television viewers perceive the world and shape their beliefs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlA2hACf6G0

The word “cultivation” is defined as “the process of trying to acquire or develop a quality or skill.” The Cultivation Theory is considered a social theory that delves into the long-term effects of television. Cultivation Theory is about the misperception/misinterpretation of what is true in our world. Gerber believes that modern television has surpassed religion as the key storyteller in our culture and that heavy television viewing creates an “exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world. J. Cohen and G. Weimann argue that “the primary proposition of the cultivation theory states that the more time people spend ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social ‘reality’ portrayed on television.”

George Gerber argues that the Cultivation Process is like the pull of a gravitational field and the magnitude of TV’s influence is not the same for every viewer, but everyone IS affected by it.” Gerber describes three prongs that constitute the Cultivation Theory. The first prong is the Institutional Process which includes research that addresses scholars’ concerns for the reasons why media produce the message they do. Secondly, is the Message System Analysis which utilizes content analysis to study what exactly are the messages that TV projects. The third prong of the Cultivation Theory is the Cultivation Analysis which deals with how TV’s content might affect viewers.

http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023%2FA%3A1018709905920.pdf