In the midst of all the research I've been doing lately, I ran across an article about the way prisons are portrayed in the media. The main point that the author was making was that, for most of us, the only experience we have with correctional institutions like prisons is through what we've seen in movies, or on television shows, etc.

If someone were to ask me if I knew what a prison looked like or what it was like to be there, I would probably answer yes. But have I ever been inside a prison? No. Do I have any firsthand experience with what that kind of environment looks or feels like? No. How, then, can I say that I know what one is like?

This got me thinking... What else have I only experienced through media? What else do I fool myself into thinking I understand, when actually the only view I have of it is the subjective view that some author or producer or reporter has given me?

I think this is a very important distinction to make. We need to be able to differentiate between what is truth and what is fiction. This goes for both entertainment and the news. I think it's so easy to forget that seeing is not believing. I'm not saying that we're naive enough to think that everything we see in the movies is true. What I am saying, using the previous example of prisons, is that we let what we view on the screen influence our idea of reality--I've never been inside a prison, but I believe that the movie sets I've seen of these facilities are true to life. Are they?

Hmm.