Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis and Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals and Their Influence.(Book Review)

Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis and Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals and Their Influence. Mary-Lou Galician. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004.

"Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener" goes the wisecrack--funny and, unfortunately, true. Our society is bombarded with mediated images of love--heaving bosoms, perfect woman, heroic man, happily ever after--while more than half of our marriages fail. Mary-Lou Galician, who teaches mass communication at Arizona State University, contends that false illusions and unrealistic expectations about love, fostered by popular culture in movies, magazines, television, songs, books, and newspapers, contribute to the high mortality rate of our love relationships and to a good deal of misery. Sex. Love, and Romance in the Mass Media explores media myths about love and presents media literacy tools to help her readers "dis-illusion" themselves. According to Galician, "False-love images and scripts of coupleship put pressure on both women and men to measure up to media-myth ... Some media-constructed unrealistic expectations can lead to depression and other dysfunctions, and several can be downright dangerous" (x).

Written as a textbook for media communications students, this solidly researched and logically structured work manages to appeal (because love plagues most of us from time to time) to nonstudents as well. Galician (a.k.a. "Dr. Fun") introduces the book with apparent lightheartedness, using her copyrighted "Mass Media Love Quiz" to spotlight some common beliefs about love that the mass media perpetuate. These questions receive serious treatment later, each the basis of a chapter on a particular myth, such as "There's such a thing as love at first sight" and "The love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a 'beast' into a 'prince.'"

Prior to these in-depth examinations of various love myths, Galician provides essential context for newcomers to media analysis. She reviews mass media concepts, discusses stereotypes and media myths about love, and explains why mass media use simplifying storytelling devices. She presents various socialization theories and ...