Although this is very tragic, why does it matter? People die everyday, even people who die by surprising things, such as lightning strikes or sinkholes, aren't valued as much by the media as the death of an entertainer. Why is William's death so valued by our society? Williams was an actor who starred in movies for our entertainment. He was in many of our childhoods and got us even more attached to entertainment and television.
Reading these books over the summer has made me able to notice things that I have never thought about before. The introduction of television into our culture has made us value entertainment more than almost anything else. We like people who entertain us, because they make us happy, and also because ever since we were little, we learned that being constantly entertained was a normal part of life. This may not be true for everybody, but I know this is especially true for myself, for when I wasn't at preschool playing games, singing songs, and maybe learning a little bit, I was at home watching Sesame Street or Teletubbies. In the past, when our culture revolved around print, writers, educators, and people with knowledge were valued the most. In today's world this is no longer true, entertainers are paid and valued 5 times higher than educators and writers. I now can clearly see how a medium of communication can largely affect our culture, and it makes me wonder, how will future technologies affect us?
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I just wanted to share the news while also relating to the topic we are reading about.
Is it bad for me to be posting about celebrities?
I relate to what you're saying about why Williams' death was so valued in our society. He was part of our childhood on TV shows and movies. His charisma and charm gave us way to be more attached to entertainment qualities. Seeing him everywhere on movies gave way for us to see him as a role model. We normally don't see educators as role models because most of us don't like to be taught lessons when we could be watching more entertaining materials. It shows how we have progressed much like you said from valuing knowledge the most to entertainment values.
ReplyDeleteOn a Side Note:
When I heard the news about Robin Williams it gave me quite a shock. He's one of my most favorite comedians and seeing him suffering from depression was tragic. I hope his family copes through this in the best way possible. We'll miss you Robin Williams!
There are very good points that Robert made about how his death is valued more than others and how educators and writers are undervalued; however, I can't fully agree with this. We are all taking this through our society and basing this off of life experience, but we are ignoring the other side of the story. We take life for granted so we value what we enjoy as entertainment more than what is enforced on us. This is not true in all parts of the world. For example, my cousin came to America 5 years ago, and she could barely care about entertainment. Since other countries value education more than we do, they are taking advantages that we're leaving behind. Those people value educators more than entertainers. People need to understand that we have a great life compared to other areas of the world in poverty. Last year I went to Vietnam, and most of the students there dream to go to a college in America.
DeleteI believe that people who value entertainment more than education lives for the moment, while people that value education more than entertainment lives for the future.
Absolutely. I agree with you with your last sentence the most. It relates to what most adolescents our age do in the spur of the moment; however, I'm slightly hesitant on making such a broad statement because I know there are the non-conformist of every rule. Perhaps I should just say the majority of adolescents live for the moment.
DeleteMay I ask where your cousin came from? I know many students from other countries strive to go to America because America seems to be the symbol of education and wealth. I have my own anecdotal evidence about this phenomenon. My cousins were from Cambodia and they used to tell me about how they wanted to go to America to get a good education and a great job. Happily, they worked hard and they are now going to college.
Most people in America right now don't know how much education contributes to your future and our education system is free! Other people in different countries don't have the same advantages we have so they have to work harder to get it. Most of us on the other hand are so used to free education and technology to guide us that we forget we have these advantages in the first place.
My cousin is from Vietnam. When she came over she told me the difficulties of trying to get education in Vietnam because they weren't a wealthy family and how it was too expensive. After she moved to America she took education very seriously. She took English classes and studied every hour she could. Now, she can communicate and write with everyone she meets. Her dedication pushed her and she went from Cerritos College and transferred to UCLA. The thought that in 3 years she went from a new citizen to a UC school is mind blowing to me.
DeleteYou have made a great observation Robert; taking in recent news and relating to the subjects expressed in our readings. As a restatement, you asked the question, "Why is [Robin] William's death so valued by our society?" My perspective on this is very similar to what you have described. On this focus, I'd have to agree with your view of how our society, all the way down to individuality, has valued entertainment above pretty much all else. Communication through technology has escalated and promoted worldwide. Modernized communities all around the globe do appreciate entertainment for the sake of our joy in life. But is the promotion for live entertainment a real necessity for human individuals to progress through life happily? Why aren't the "educators and writers" valued less than what they deserve? Great observation Robert.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, rest in peace Robin Williams. Your contribution to the world of entertainment was one to be recognized.
Well, if writers publish their work, they are entertainers, too. They publish their talent, just like a singer publishes his voice, a comedian publishes his jokes, and an actor publishes his acting. All that's not really necessary, but I'm glad I can have it.
DeleteAnyway, I always ask why our sports teams get paid more than our teachers. But that makes me think about my parents. I love my parents to the end of the earth, and I know I'll understand more of what they've done for me as I get older. They deserve all the money in the world just for raising me and my siblings, but it's something they don't get paid for at all, and I can't do anything to make that happen. But I can do lots of things to pay movie stars and artists. I can go to an AMC theatre when I'm bored and I can buy a song on iTunes because it's kind of catchy. I unintentionally am paying all the money I can spend on people who do things I only sort of care about, and the only reason is because that's the only way I can get it: by paying for what they sell. Our parents and our teachers do far greater things than any public person could, the only difference being they only do it for a handful of people, and they don't sell it to us. It's understandable that at our age we don't fully appreciate what is done for us, but it makes me wonder; if our parents and teachers did what they do for as wide an audience as our entertainers do, and said audience actually had the ability to understand and pay for their services, how much would they earn? I have the ability to understand and pay for my entertainers, I see something cool and I pay for it with money that I probably got for Christmas from my dad. I won't fully understand what my parents do for me until later, and if I could completely understand now, I can't pay them with anything other than respect. I think the real issue is that we don't appreciate what we have, and I am just grateful that it's given to me out of love or out of a deep passion to do nothing but help me out.
By the way, James, I *really* like the way you write. :D
I think it was Stalin that said that a single death is tragic; hundreds, or thousands, or even millions -- it's news, but we don't feel it.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a tad bit more simple than that. We don't mourn over our favorite entertainers deaths- we don't weep and without them we don't feel empty. We just become a little upset, because something we once enjoyed we can never enjoy again. But this can apply to anything, really. A favorite toy, a gold fish, an old phone, a T-shirt that suddenly became too small. Yes, I am very sad of Robin William's death, because he played one of my favorite characters in any movie I've seen. And ultimately, that is the only reason. I don't think that would apply to one of my favorite teachers, because I've interacted with them and learned from them and I recognize them as a human being who was very important to people I see or hear of regularly in a very real way. That is not the case for a face on a screen I've never said a word to in my life. It's important because we found out about it yesterday, and really, that's the only reason.
ReplyDeleteHi Robert. I just wanted to say that I completely agree with this entire statement. I love Robin Williams, but I obviously didn't know the man. I think we are so "affected" by deaths like this because we all basically grew up with this man, which leads us back to technology. If we all weren't glued to the television growing up, I don't think most of us would be as affected. I hope that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it makes sense. I bet if we had grown up doing something other than watching television, we probably wouldn't even know who he was when we heard of his death.
DeleteI cannot speak for everyone but I personally only have emotions after a sudden celebrity death when I either did not like the person and am glad they are gone or if they were involved in an ongoing television or movie series that had not ended before their life did. I usually am not mourning the loss of the person but the loss of the character that I will not get the closure of seeing on screen in new work.
ReplyDeleteThis just goes to show how attached we are to entertainment. It feels like we know the actors and actresses, but in reality we do not. Once I found out about the death of Robin Williams, I immediately became upset. By watching the movies he acted in, I felt as if I knew him personally. Television and movies take us to a different place and makes us feel as if we know the actors and actresses. When watching movies, many of us find a connection with the actors/actresses and it feels like we witnessed a part of their life. The death of Robin Williams has made me come to realize how entertainment plays a huge role of our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteHello Robert. I don't think we've met before, so it's nice to finally meet you. In response to your post, I think that people feel Robin Williams's death was tragic because Robin Williams may have been a big part of their childhood. People attach certain songs, movies, books, and quotes with certain eras and periods within their lives. I think that movies such as Mrs. Doubtfire are ones that people can say they grew up with. When someone who is a big part of your childhood dies, it is almost like your childhood dies along with it. What is interesting to me, however, is not the fact that people were mourning over his death. It is the fact that people considered him to be a big part of their childhood. When I thought about this, I stood in awe of the technological age because I realized that Robin Williams did not know of these people who said they grew up with him. He didn't know of their names, faces, or existence yet people mourned like they had lost a great aunt. It's amazing how technology can close enormous gaps between time and space and make someone feel very close and right at home when in reality they are very, very distant...
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