Sunday, July 4, 2010
Hey, I'm not done thinking about that!
You know when you're watching the news and you hear about a killer on the loose, and then all of a sudden they start talking about a recall on cookies? Yeah, I hate that too. I wasn't done worrying about that killer on the loose and you decided to talk about cookies. Doesn't that seem a little odd to you? In chapter 7 of Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman talks about how the news anchors use the phrase "now...this" to transition into another topic. What I don't get is why they talk about something life threatening first and their next topic is about rainbows and butterflies. It would be better if they transitioned by saying "For more information on that, visit our website." What if that killer is right outside my door, but I didn't get a chance to hear that because you just had to talk about cookies. Postman is absolutely correct when he says that the media controls what we think and for how long we can think about it. I feel as though the news program is telling me what I should think about and when I should stop thinking about that issue. It's as if they spend less time talking about the important things and more time on the irrelevant topics. The media does indeed control us. Did you ever realize that the television producers can make us come to the t.v. whenever they want? A new episode of Glee is on and we blow off the best party of the year just so we can watch. I'm guilty of situations like that and it's weird how Postman knew exactly how we would react to television when he wrote this book before we were even born! If the t.v. can control us through television shows, what else in our society has been controlling us, and for how long have we been going with out noticing?
Labels:
controlled by the media,
cookies,
glee,
killers,
Neil Postman
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Charles I totally agree with you. You really made me laugh when you said that they go from life threatening situations to rainbows and butterflies. I have seen this happen however. I also notice that when watching the news they show previews of what's up next and they will show a really interesting topic and a few other minor ones. When the program returns from the brake it starts by showing all the minor topics that I could care less about but the one interesting topic I was waiting for isn't shown until the end of the newscast. I think this is another example of how they control us. I could care less about the other things but I continued watching in fear that I would miss the one thing I was waiting for. I think as far as television shows like Glee and Degrassi for example, they show the most suspenseful moments of the season to lure us in and keep us glued waiting to see something that turns out not to be all that exciting. Like on American Idol, right before they announce who is moving on to the next round they go to a commercial break and we have no option but to stay tuned. You're absolutely right Charles, what else is controlling us?
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with both Charles and Janae. I have seen pathetic transitions on the news countless times. They are so annoying! I was laughing about what Charles said about the cookie recall! And Janae brought a good point to mind; trailers and teasers like to cram all of the suspenseful moments of a movie or T.V. episode into two or three minutes. Then, when you actually watch it, you are disappointed. So yes, in a sense, the media is controlling us!
ReplyDelete