Activity #3: Moral Messages in Media About Moral Messages: Daniela Seczon

Daniela Seczon
Activity #3: Moral Messages in Media

About Moral Messages
In this short paper, I will address the different moral messages that humans, through their
development might receive from media. Three significantly different stages will be analyzed
through an episode of a representative TV series. These stages are very early childhood, early
middle school, and later teens. The TV series that have been chosen for these groups are Pocoyo,
Victorious, and Riverdale. The ideas of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” behavior will be analyzed
to better understand how morality tends to change through the years.
Very early childhood: Pocoyo (Season 1: Episode 1: Umbrella, Umbrella)
In this episode Pocoyo meets friends, and as a team will learn what an umbrella is used for.
In this episode, there are very direct and explicit messages of what good and bad behavior are. Part
of this might be to efficiently reach a very young audience. For example, whenever Pocoyo tries to
do things by himself, like explore the umbrella, the narrator says, “Want to find out for yourself,
good job” and “Yes, it opens and closes, very good”. This tells the audience of children, that
exploring and having curiosity is “appropriate behavior”. Another positive behavior that is praised in
the episode, is in the ending. When it starts raining Pocoyo and all of his friends get under the
umbrella, this portrays a sense of unity and collaboration, indicating to children watching that they
should share, and work together with their friends, teachers, siblings, and parents.
Late elementary school/early middle school: Victorious (Season 1: Episode 1: Pilot)
Looking at this episode we see a lot of themes emerging around the idea of fitting in. The
main character seems troubled about getting into a new high school, Hollywood Arts, where
everyone seems to be artsy and creative and she feels just normal. The main moral message that is
transmitted to the audience as the episode unrolls is that it is possible to get over people who might
want to bring you down and the importance of self-confidence.
The main character faces two problems, one, the lack of self-confidence and two, being
targeted by a mean girl at school. Tori, the main character gets to this new school and on her first
improvisation class, is purposely thrown coffee at by the mean girl, Jade. We know her feelings as
she posts on social media “Feeling conflicted and lost”. The next day, however, she is encouraged
by a friend telling her that she is not normal but in fact special, and that fixes one of her problems
that is the lack self-confidence of fitting into this school. The next thing that happens is that in class
she will take the initiative to be the group leader and gets back on Jade. This fixes her second
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Daniela Seczon
problem, the mean girl. The good behavior portrayed in this episode, and probably the whole TV
series is that it is good to be different and that positive rewards will arrive if this is embraced. On
the other hand, we see bad behavior as being a bully who prevents success from happening to
others through shaming.
Later teens: Riverdale (Season 1: Episode 1: Chapter 1: The River’s Edge)
Moving on to analyze a teen's drama, more complex interactions emerge. We are presented
with a group of high schoolers, and with a drama story that is about the mysterious death of Jason
in the river. There are several groups of friends and these have very intricate dynamics.
For one, Betty is a nice girl who focuses on school and has a crush on Archie. It is hard to say
that in this series one character is completely good or completely bad. For example, Betty is seen as
a studious girl, and her mother representing strong moral messages. She believes that what a girl
should focus on is GPA, extracurriculars and so on for applying to college, and what a girl should not
focus on is boys. Nonetheless, by the end of the episode, this girl rebels against her mother’s wishes
saying, “I do everything for everyone, I am the perfect daughter, the better sister, and the better
students” and that she will no longer follow her rules. The show portrays “appropriate behavior” as
also being able to stand up for one’s needs and beliefs.
Another example is Archie, a boy who has a conflict with not wanting to pursue his initial
college plan and instead wants to study music. He has been lying about working with his dad to miss
football practices and lying about football practices to avoid working with his dad. Once his father
finds out about this, he says he doesn’t care and says that he has to “be confident enough that he
doesn’t have the need to lie”. This moral message is not saying that is bad to lie, instead, it is saying
that it is bad to not be confident in one’s decisions. This message is further emphasized as he later
goes to the music teacher to set up an independent study that he will be able to fit into his
schedule.
Other characters can also be further analyzed to find more moral messages, but these two
characters were the main focus in this episode.
Concluding Thoughts
In conclusion, the presentation of moral messages through the different developmental
stages change in complexity and presentation. While in the very early stages they are more direct
and focused to enhance and promote child development, these change as they get much more
indirect and blend with different opinions on what is good and bad.

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Activity #3: Moral Messages in Media

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