Understanding the World Through Art Today, more than ever before, the media influences how the world is perceived and interpreted. Films, television, and the Internet display images and stories with relentless speed that bring the viewer into contact with people, places, and experiences that would have been inconceivable once upon a time. But how impartial are these media representations? Are they depicting a complete and uncompromising view of an event or situation, or a limited view that tells a story from a particular slant or point of view? During the recent presidential election, the news media was accused of biased reporting that favored the man who would ultimately emerge victorious, Barack Obama, over his opponent John McCain. Media, in fact, all art, has historically offered one particular point of view, from which viewers are expected to draw their own conclusions. If I was a supporter of John McCain, I might have been likely to agree that the press coverage of the election was unfair; however, being an Obama supporter, I saw nothing skewed in terms of perspective. Increased sensationalism by the media to exploit a person or story to make money is considered by Heinrich Boll in his novel The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum: Or How Violence Develops and Where It Can Lead. Boll‟s protagonist, Katharina Boll, is transformed from an ordinary housekeeper into a media fixation after she assists her boyfriend accused of robbery to escape the police. Her family and friends face a similar blinding and unwanted gl