Amused to Death
Neil Postman's groundbreaking report about the effects of TV on society might as well have been dropped in a bucket of fire, because things have gotten much worse.
Americans are the best-informed people in the history of the world but are also the most entranced by entertainment. This has created the unexpected side effect of distancing themselves from any real unpleasantness that they could be exposed to. Most of them behave as though they bear no personal responsibility for the deep human suffering all around them, and no obligation to try and alleviate it.
The world is like one big media show, featuring Paris, Jacko, and Saddam, a made-for-TV spectacle. They can change the channel if things get too ugly or uninteresting. Or just turn the television off. Genuine social consciousness has disappeared into the void.
For example: we are still at war in Iraq and Afganistan and the people who masterminded the attacks that killed 3,000 Americans are still living fat. Here in America, which is just now emerging from the recession, there are more homeless people than at any time since accurate records started being kept in the late 1970's. "It's the greatest number of homeless since the Great Depression," says Patrick Markee, a policy analyst with the Coalition for the Homeless. A survey of 25 cities showed an increase of 17 percent in requests for emergency food assistance and an increase of 13 percent in requests for emergency shelter.
A surge in botox and breast implants is news. Surges in hunger and homelessness are not. Issues like infant mortality, children in poverty, teenage suicide, heath insurance coverage and homicide rates are simply not at the forefront of social issues discussed or even known by Americans precisely because those issues are a downer. Why discuss that when we can discuss whether Tom and Kate’s relationship is a publicity stunt or whether the person voted off of the Bachelorette as a good decision or not?
The problem is not that people aren’t discussing these issues 24/7 because we do, after all, need to enjoy ourselves as well. The problem is that most people know much more about reality show news or celebrity gossip than real issues that are considerably more important to the well being of our country’s social, political and economic fabric. “Reality” has come to define pop culture instead of the living history of the modern world which, put simply, is an inaccurate view of the world and is twisting the human identity into mimics of the very TV personalities that are supposed to reflect “reality.” The results are people copying copies. Bush should worry more about these clones than the beneficial clones from stem cells that can cure diseases and solve some of the very problems that the public is unaware of. Perhaps the solution to making people pay more attention to real problems doesn’t lie in erasing the throng of mind-numbing programs, but instead finding a way to make reality amusing.
Americans are the best-informed people in the history of the world but are also the most entranced by entertainment. This has created the unexpected side effect of distancing themselves from any real unpleasantness that they could be exposed to. Most of them behave as though they bear no personal responsibility for the deep human suffering all around them, and no obligation to try and alleviate it.
The world is like one big media show, featuring Paris, Jacko, and Saddam, a made-for-TV spectacle. They can change the channel if things get too ugly or uninteresting. Or just turn the television off. Genuine social consciousness has disappeared into the void.
For example: we are still at war in Iraq and Afganistan and the people who masterminded the attacks that killed 3,000 Americans are still living fat. Here in America, which is just now emerging from the recession, there are more homeless people than at any time since accurate records started being kept in the late 1970's. "It's the greatest number of homeless since the Great Depression," says Patrick Markee, a policy analyst with the Coalition for the Homeless. A survey of 25 cities showed an increase of 17 percent in requests for emergency food assistance and an increase of 13 percent in requests for emergency shelter.
A surge in botox and breast implants is news. Surges in hunger and homelessness are not. Issues like infant mortality, children in poverty, teenage suicide, heath insurance coverage and homicide rates are simply not at the forefront of social issues discussed or even known by Americans precisely because those issues are a downer. Why discuss that when we can discuss whether Tom and Kate’s relationship is a publicity stunt or whether the person voted off of the Bachelorette as a good decision or not?
The problem is not that people aren’t discussing these issues 24/7 because we do, after all, need to enjoy ourselves as well. The problem is that most people know much more about reality show news or celebrity gossip than real issues that are considerably more important to the well being of our country’s social, political and economic fabric. “Reality” has come to define pop culture instead of the living history of the modern world which, put simply, is an inaccurate view of the world and is twisting the human identity into mimics of the very TV personalities that are supposed to reflect “reality.” The results are people copying copies. Bush should worry more about these clones than the beneficial clones from stem cells that can cure diseases and solve some of the very problems that the public is unaware of. Perhaps the solution to making people pay more attention to real problems doesn’t lie in erasing the throng of mind-numbing programs, but instead finding a way to make reality amusing.
posted by -R at 12:29 PM
2 Comments:
Very true commentary...I especially like the idea that conformity in our society has created "cultural clones." It interesting to consider that this American identity has permeated international boundaries as well with the introduction of the Mickie D's, Wal-Mart's, and MTV's of America to the world. Do you mind if I link to your blog and vice versa? I find a lot of similarities in our viewpoints...share the wealth. Dig back to 8 1/2 x 11 in my blog. I think you'd like it a lot.
Sounds very similar to the themes in Fahrenheit 451. I like your views. you are on the road to becoming some form of a diplomat. good luck.
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