The+Discovery+Channel

=** The Discovery Channel **=

The media has the power to influence people in countless ways. Although many of the things we see on T.V are unrealistic, it shapes how we think, act and behave. When people think of The Discovery Channel, they envision shows such as //Planet Earth// and //Shark Week//. Although the Discovery Channel sounds like it is geared towards “discovering” new things, this channel greatly commemorates the accomplishments and lives of men. This channel features very few women and portrays men as dirty, gritty and hard-working. It was interesting to watch some of the other Discovery Channels shows because before, I had only watched and knew about //Planet Earth// and //Shark Week//. I feel like those two shows also do not exactly target specific people or a specific gender because almost everyone can find an interest in them. Since these were the only two shows that I knew about, my first opinion about the Discovery Channel was that it didn’t have a specific target audience. It was not until I watched other shows that I realized I was wrong. After watching several different Discovery Channel shows, I found that the majority of them were about men and their lives or adventures. The target audiences of this channel are men and people who like adventure, nature and the outdoors. It is obviously not geared towards attracting business men and wealthy Beverly Hills house wives. Very few of the Discovery Channel shows have women in them, and I have yet to see one that features just women. Most of the shows, such as //American Loggers//, //Deadliest Catch//, //American Chopper// and more, are about manly activities/jobs and document the lives of hardworking men who perform manual labor. Also, a lot of the shows focus on nature and surviving in the outdoors; however, most of them feature men, and few of them have women and men. //The Colony// is a survival show that contains both women and men, but although there are women, they look "manly" and muscular. //Man, Woman, Wild// is also a show about survival that features a woman; however, her male partner does most of the work, and seems to be more knowledgeable in nature than she is (Discovery Channel, 2011). To be completely honest, I could not tolerate about 90% of the other shows because I had absolutely no interest in watching the lives of men who cut down trees (“American Logger”). As I wondered why people would ever watch these shows, I realized that there are probably thousands of other people (men mostly) who wonder why in the world I would watch shows like //Greek// or //Jersey Shore//. I watch those shows for the drama and entertainment, and that is the same reason men and other people watch the shows on the Discovery Channel. The Discovery Channel films “manly” drama and things that matter to men. It documents conflicts between men and the drama that happens in their daily lives. It was funny to compare the drama of my shows such as “Jersey Shore” to the shows about the drama of hardworking, sweaty men that build cars or bikes. The type of drama and problems seemed to be the same, such as competitions and jealously over certain things; however, I found that the reason for certain drama was different. Competitions in my “girly” shows are over boys and who is more popular, while in shows such as “American Chopper” it is a little different. “American Chopper” is drama about “what was once a family business is now a family feud, and all bets are off for what new fireworks await in ‘American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior’. The series captures the renewed rivalry as Paul Sr. continues to build world-famous custom bikes at OCC, while Junior opens up Paul Jr. Designs” (Discovery, 2011). It is entertaining to see what “manly” drama consisted of because before I did not think men liked or cared about shows that were so drama-full. When I think about how the Discovery Channel is geared towards men, I cannot help but wonder: are they implying that only men can “discover” things? Many other questions come to mind such as, is this channel saying that to be a man you have to be dirty and like the outdoors, or able to survive in nature? Is it saying that "real" men have jobs that involve manual labor and are dangerous? Although the Discovery Channel does seem to imply some of these things, of course they are not true, but since this channel has a certain target audience, it must make it seem that way. In order to attract the audience that they are looking for, this network has to make manual labor, nature and the dirty outdoors look like it’s the coolest thing to do. Over all, I think the Discovery Channel is mostly geared towards men, but only certain types of men. There are still other shows that I think everyone would watch, like //Planet Earth// because it is solely about nature and exploring the planet; however, the majority of the shows feature the lives and drama of men. This channel can also appeal to some women, but I assume most women would only watch it to admire the men. The more I think about it, the more I begin to believe that the Discovery Channel is a channel dedicated to showing how cool men can be and all the things they can do that women can’t, or don’t do. For example, the shows //Man vs. Wild// and //Man, Woman, Wild// imply that only men can survive in the outdoors and if a woman tries to do it, she need a man’s help (Discovery Channel, 2011). I could just be thinking about it too much, and maybe the reason this show features so many men is simply because they really can’t find women to play the part, but at the same time, I do not think they are looking for women either. Media Paper Works Cited "Discovery Channel." //Discovery Channel : Science, History, Space, Tech, Sharks, News//. Discovery Channel. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. [].