Media Effect Theories
SELECTIVE EXPOSURE: In The Accused we are only given a slightly twisted story of Cheryl Aruajo, we are only given what the media wants us to see. Which is “white trash drunk women deserve what they get”. First off the four accused men that raped Tobias were let off with “reckless endangerment” because Tobias was a floozy drunk woman without enough credit to speak from the stand so she her attackers could not be charged with “rape”. When in reality if the media gave the full exposure we would see that Cheryl’s story and that of Tobias’ is not even all that similar.
GATEKEEPING: The film lacks full truth. This is because the media decides what goes in the movie and what is not shown. Cheryl’s true story is not told. We are not told that her boyfriend was actually a loving man and that she has children with him. We are not told that she actually left the house to buy a pack of cigarettes. We are only given that she is raped at a bar by four men. That is honestly the only similarity between the white Tobias and Portuguese Cheryl.
AGENDA SETTING: Of ten times the media always has an agenda. In this particular film you can tell that the media wants to frame rape victims. In one scene we see the tortured Tobias lashing out at one of her previous raptors. We see Tobias as a white trash drunk woman dancing around in a bar with her clothing practically falling off. The media wants us to believe that rape happens to women who are careless or drunk. When in reality rape is more likely to happen to women by someone they know. Also rape happens to many types of peoples and cultures. Not just “white trash” drunk women who go to bars.
FRAMING: This story is a framework. We see Tobias as a sloppy drunk blonde woman, even though Cheryl was a Portuguese woman. This could be viewed as a racist act because the media was not portraying the victim’s true background. By not sticking to the true story behind Aruajo and by not giving her race we see that the media wants this movie framed a certain way. They want you to think that rape only happens to those who “deserve” it. That it can only happen to drunk woman, in a bar, after a fight with their boyfriend.