media and the pictures in my mind

I think that some media influence the pictures in our minds more than others. Television is powerful in creating and perpetuating these pictures because it affects multiple senses at once and can present ideas through visual images that one might not pick up on consciously. I guess most things are subtle in this area, but my thoughts are lingering on television. Sitcoms, for example perpetuate typical/stereotypical roles of gender, race, age etc. through dialogue and situation. I think the more media engaged the more messages one ingests.
I heard somewhere that when a ship landed for the first time, the people on the shore did not see it because it was foreign to them. In other words it was invisible because in the minds of the viewers it did not exist. They were looking at the ocean expecting to see just ocean and this is what they saw. I am not sure where I heard this, what the context was, or if it is at all true, but the point speaks to our class discussion. We see what we expect to see and are often blind to things that are out of the norm. We interpret the world every day and create our own reality. I was thinking the other day about how I react to things. I found out last week that my grandmother in all likelihood has only a few months to live. I cried, I was upset, most would be, but my life has not changed. Later that day (after I was told "the news") I was talking and laughing and having fun. It seems like I should have been more affected for a longer period of time. I guess what I am thinking here is that, like with other things, I create a reality. I am not explaining my thought well, probably because I do not want to expose my soul or anything like that. Have you ever had something terrible happen and then wonder at how unaffected you are? Or wonder at how you could be so "normal" so fast? I think that this "pictures in your head" idea connects to many things. I think that the stereotypes and expectations of the world that each of us have are safe. They are what we perceive as normal. When something shocks us or jumps outside of that box we strive like mad to get back to that picture because it is what we understand. I only understand a world that my grandmother is in, existing and living. It's not real to me that she will not be there/here.
I think this links to the media and our interpretations because we do the same thing there. I think that we absorb from the media things that alter the reality we perceive. I think that it is easier to alter and change your reality unconsciously rather than consciously. I think that analyzing the messages we see and hear everyday can help the process become a little more conscious. I also think that we compartmentalize things that do not fit with our picture (sometimes).