Terrence Pearson
Mr. Boczkowski
English 110.01
May 12, 2009
Is it Johnson’s way?

Media can be looked at in many different ways. Some people believe it hurts our society, while others believe that the media helps stimulate one’s thought process. Reading Everything Bad Is Good For You by Steven Johnson and keeping a weekly journal over the television show The Hills has helped me understand the two different viewpoints. The heart of Johnson’s argument revolves around something called the Sleeper Curve. Johnson stated that “the Sleeper Curve is a universe of popular entertainment that trends intellectually speaking, ever upward, so that today's pop-culture consumer has to do more cognitive work, making snap decisions and coming up with long term strategies in role playing video games, for example, or mastering new virtual environments on the Internet than ever before” (Johnson, Everything Bad Is Good for You, page 39). After studying The Hills I can truly say that the sleeper curve is present. Johnson is stating that today’s media makes you work harder at making quick decisions but also educates one’s mind set. Today’s media educates people by providing visual examples of appealing facts about are society. There are television shows in the world that may not serve any purpose to your life; however, it may play a major part in someone else’s. For example someone who is interested in an earth program is more likely to watch the discovery channel than myself; I am an individual that watches ESPN and MTV. Keeping up with today’s media may seem worthless but it can truly be beneficial.

The Hills is a MTV reality program that follows the life of several young people living in Los Angeles, California. The show's current main cast member is Lauren Conrad of Laguna Beach. The Hills presents lots of drama between friends but it also haves its good side. Throughout the first couple of weeks of watching and analyzing this program, I was completely unintrigued. There were days when my mind would just wonder off while the show was playing because I lacked all interest in it. As time progressed, I found myself making predictions, gathering first impressions, and also making comparisons between the different characters’ lives. I finally began to interact with the show. I can actually say that my experience with The Hills supports Johnson’s Thesis.