Infotainment Freak Show

AHAAAAA. That's a combination of Information and Entertainment. I've got a knack for the obvious, obviously.

Martin Kaplan, you're a genius. I thought it was super interesting. It's about "entertainment [substituting] juxtaposition for order, storytelling for truth telling, graphics for text, sensation for reason, spectacle for seriousness, combat for discourse, play for purpose, sizzle for steak" (137). He pretty much states that it's not Big Brother who rules us, but entertainment. He then goes on that it's very important that every domain of human existence grab and hold the attention of its audiences. In politics and in news, it's pretty much just a popularity contest. He talks about how everything has to have some sort of entertainment aspect, otherwise we won't get sucked in.

After I read this, I was like, "WHOAAAA, you are so right! How could I have been so ignorant all this time?" So yeah, he was pretty much right about entertainment substituting almost everything. If you suck at parenting, turn on the TV, buy a game console, and voila! You've got a substitute mother (or father. I wouldn't want to generalize now). Kaplan says that "objective knowledge is a mirage" (139) which just means that there really is no such thing as objectivity anymore, because according to him, all reality is socially constructed, and that everything, including truth, is politics. We're all pretty much screwed then. I wonder how long it took him to realize everything that he's written? He just might be my new savior.

Everything that's being done nowadays are pretty much for entertainment. In class, we talked about how the media decided to put so much airtime for balloon boy, instead of something really newsworthy. That family didn't need any more additional 15 minutes of fame. They were in freaking Wife Swap. OOOOOH, the lenghts people would go through just to get some airtime. Seriously, go pull a William Hung and audition for American Idol. That would be much more entertaining.

OH NO!

I said a baaad word. I am falling into the media's trap!

UGH, I go to church at 12:30 today. Damn. Yay for family not giving you room for choice.