Mike Dedwylder is a junior majoring in architecture. He can be contacted at [email protected]. The prevalence of a few forms of media led me to question the artistic and, indeed, general characteristics, which might cause such a mass response and following.
I’m specifically referring to modern television, music and literature, although the latter seems to be failing in importance as the digital age marches forward.
Each of these mediums has the ability to reach a massive amount of people, imparting information and value. For this reason, I feel there should be a certain level of responsibility and quality inescapable in such a forum.
However, the more I analyze the current state of these fields, the more a sense of despair and disgust washes over me. It seems that quality and artistic value have fallen to the wayside in music and literature and have been completely eradicated in television.
Of course, there are exceptions, but I am speaking of the majority.
In describing television, one simple statement explains it completely: If you are watching television, you are watching advertisement.
I’m not speaking about the commercials that interrupt the scheduled programming every three minutes, killing attention spans, but every second of everything aired.
No matter what channel, except for possibly the History Channel, there is a constant bombardment of better products, better investments and better lifestyles.
This poses a major problem for me, as it imparts no useful knowledge whatsoever, and in fact creates a sense of inadequacy.
Possibly even worse are the stations that pose as reputable sources of information, which are entertainment-driven and biased. They serve no function other than exploiting scare tactics.
Unfortunately, it seems there is no hope for finding actual value in television, as the system grows closer to the mindless, hypnotic screens proposed in “Fahrenheit 451.”
Music at least has a chance of redemption, as bands that show incredible artistic senses surface sporadically. However, these bands are usually quashed in the tidal wave of mindless corporate puppet bands. How can any progress be made if bands are simply vying for their position in the new Pepsi commercial?
Beyond this, there seems to be a general disinterest in finding and supporting musicians who aren’t on the Billboard top 100, which could be in part due to the soulless marketing of human beings, pioneered by MTV. It is impossible for a certain form of art or entertainment to produce meaningful work if the sole motivation is monetary benefit.
Finally, the subject of literature arises. There once was a time when writers used literary devices, metered their speech and wove incredible tapestries of stories, powered by the readers’ own imagination. This form of literature could cut through the everyday bullshit, reaching a part of the soul usually reserved for self-reflection.
But it has been largely replaced by material with the characteristics of television transcriptions. “Harry Potter,” “The Da Vinci Code” and anything written by Steven King, while entertaining, are little more than well-written movie scripts, pandering to specific demographics. It is a terrifying concept that someone such as Ann Coulter could write a novel that is taken as anything more than mindless, hateful drivel created for the purpose of shocking people into paying her attention.
I’m not sure how this state of affairs came to be or if there is any way to stop the hypnotic, mind-numbing effects of modern entertainment, thanks to the juggernaut of corporate America. However, I do believe that people can realize what they are being fed.