BYU–Hawaii students said their media preferences, such as books, movies, and music, are significantly influenced by peers, family and environment.
Kailey Fisher, a senior from Arizona studying psychology, said about personal media choices, “It’s super subjective and it depends a lot on where you’re from. Coming here to Hawaii has helped me learn to appreciate more media than I even could just by being in Arizona.”
Rachel Rowley, a freshman from California studying biology, talked about her taste in books and movies. She said, “I like ‘Persuasion’ by Jane Austen, and I really like old movies. My favorite would have to be the Abbott and Costello series.” Rowley said her parents also love Jane Austen books along with other classics and old movies.
While Rowley has entertainment media choices similar to her parents, Kyle Lau, a senior from Hong Kong studying hospitality and tourism management, has more entertainment media preferences like those of his peers.
Specifically, Lau discussed his enjoyment of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, both the books and the movies. “When I was in elementary school and middle school, the school bought the Chinese versions of the books and let students borrow them, so I’d often read those books,” said Lau.
Lau saw varying trends in popular entertainment media in Hong Kong over the decades. “For the ‘90s, they loved to watch the criminal kind of movies, but for our generation, we love to watch … Hollywood and British movies like ‘Harry Potter.’”
This is all different from the entertainment media Lau said his parents enjoy. “They love traditional Chinese stories. Ones that talk about heroes who know a lot and save people, kind of like superheroes. Those writers are pretty creative. They create lots of characters and then some are even filmed and directed by some of the television broadcasts in Hong Kong.” In that way Lau’s parents’ taste overlapped with Hong Kong pop culture.
Kyla McMore, a freshman majoring in social work from Kapolei, gave examples from her own life of her music taste being influenced by what her friends listen to. McMore said when her friends like songs she doesn’t know, she’ll listen to them a few times before “really getting into them.”
Ivy Wade, a junior studying international cultural studies from Indiana, said, “I like to watch anything that’s critically acclaimed or on a ‘Top Movies’ list. I try to get into classics. The same with books.” Wade said the popular entertainment media where she comes from does not influence her. “Where I live it’s like a weird mix of rap and country and I don’t like either of those too much. And books are whatever’s assigned in English class.”
Wade said her mom thoroughly enjoys ‘80s music, and that had a major influence on her musical taste. “I love Bowie and The Shins. I would kill to see them in concert, but I never have.” As for books, Wade said she enjoys works by the author of “A Thousand Splendid Suns.”
Sungsoo Kim, a sophomore computer science major from Korea, said video games are his primary form of media. He said he regularly plays computer games such as “Starcraft” and “League of Legends.” Kim mentioned a means of developing media taste that was not commonly stated: social media. In today’s society, people are constantly surrounded by social media.
There is really no set time in life that people discover their favorite entertainment media. Rowley found hers in middle school, Lau in elementary school, and Wade in late high school.