The problem emerges precisely when television moves beyond harmless “junk” and becomes the primary vehicle through which a society grasps religion, politics, and education: “when it presents itself as a carrier of important cultural conversations.” However, the problem lies not in the existence of the television itself nor of entertainment. Other surveys found a similar trend among Americans. A study in the Netherlands found that from 1955 to 1995, time spent reading decreased by half, and especially so between 1955 to 1975, identifying television as the culprit. Television, unlike the printed word, is discontinuous, rarely requires prerequisite information to understand what one’s viewing (and therefore doesn’t expand depth of knowledge in a subject like a book would, chapter by chapter), appeals heavily to visuals, and primes for preoccupation with optics instead of substance. The presentation of content and the content itself in television is largely shaped by the medium: how we receive public information transforms how and what we determine to be knowledge. As a result, television became the dominant medium of discourse, much to the alarm of Postman, as print-based epistemology eroded into a television-based epistomology.
NEIL POSTMAN MOVIE
Cable channels like CNN and MTV enjoyed popularity, and VCR and home movie systems quickly became permanent fixtures in the American household. Postman wrote in the 1980s, a decade riddled with Cold War tensions and fears of a potential Orwellian dystopia. This is the argument of Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Yet, this should not be surprising, because that is what popular mediums of media are oriented towards: subordinating ideas to entertainment. It turns every facet of serious discourse into a vaudeville act for a laugh or two. There is almost no sanctity it is unwilling to violate. The mainstream, as we call it, is largely that which entertains.
The recent debates around religion and representation shed light on the following quandary: whatever good is in mainstream media must eventually submit to the demands of entertainment. A Book Review of Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
0 kommentar(er)
