In a society where we mimic celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, it should come as no surprise that children, teens, and even adults will begin to internalize characters like Lara Croft and Duke Nukem as normative. Toys like Barbie clearly send messages about the female body (to be attractive, one must be blonde, white, thin, and essentially plastic) however, in video games, the power of these and similar messages is much stronger because in video games the Barbies talk and practically live. While video games may not have first been an effective tool for socialization – Pong had little to tell us about family dynamics, race, gender, or class – with the immense development in realistic 3-d rendering, storyline, and character, video games have a fair amount to teach us. Studies have been done regarding film and television regarding both socialization and representation of minorities, but computer and console games are typically overlooked as means for socialization. With the infusion of media into mainstream American society, television and the silver screen both became primary sources of socialization, sometimes even stronger than the parental figures in this endeavor. Historically, this job has been undertaken by the parental figures, then later by educational authorities. Within the field of sociology, it is common knowledge that an individual gains an understanding of social norms, mores, mannerisms, and attitudes through means of socialization.
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