"Is the media dumbing down?" - how can we apply theories to this?

Below are a few ideas of points I would make in the question: "Is the media dumbing down?"

• Male Gaze theory (the assumption that it is a hetrosexual man behind the camera)- the media is dumbing down to the point where it portrays the idea that only appearance is important, disregarding intellectualality etc. In my case study this might link to the way that woman are portrayed on posters, but Bridesmaids would contradict the idea that the media is dumbing down, because they try and focus more on woman's other qualities such as comdey, rather than emphasising looks. Some of the main characters are purprosely made through the mise-en-scene to look less attractive, which suggests that some media products aren't actuallydumbing down. Bridesmaids challenges perceptions and stereotypes in society and therefore it could be seen as an intelligent film.This contradicts the question and I could argue against it.
• I Give It A Year- is this an example of dumbing down in relation to the reception theory?-
• Media is dumbing society down because with new and digital media, we do much more of our communication through e-media and social networking, as oppose to old fashioned discussion and face to face conversation. The Bridesmaids facebook page has over 14,000 likes.
• The media is dumbing us down because it dictates what we talk about, rather than us creating our own conervsation topics. What is spoken about in daily life is often what we have seen on the news/in a film/in a music video. We are spoon fed opinions through reviews and podcasts of films (Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo podcasts of I Give It A Year and Bridesmaids), rather than constructing our own.
• Marxism- what are our ideologies and how are they changing? They are become much more shallow, perhaps.