The hypodermic needle is the theory that the media acts as a needle and injects us with content. We receive this passively. This can have big effects on people, usually negative. As the content is 'injected' into us we see it as a positive thing. For instance in this Madonna video she is being a 'bad girl.' We see her using a tazer on people to steal money from their ATM. She also runs people over in her car. As a passive audience we could see this as a positive thing and then try to emulate her actions.
An instance of this in the media was of the movie 'Childs Play.' Two children saw this movie and then reenacted certain scenes on another child, killing him.
There was also a radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. People in the past had trusted the radio and thought that the 'Alien invasion' was real. This created mass hysteria and widespread panic.
We see content and have no choice in how we interpret it, the media is always correct. In the video Madonna is a criminal. As a passive audience we don't see the negatives of these actions.
