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Monday, August 11, 2014
Things Will Never Be the Same
Thanks to Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death I can no longer watch television the same way again. I can't help viewing television as the Monopoly board game. The channels are the properties and the viewers are the play money. Whatever company owns the most properties and has the most money is in control of the game. I am writing this post with the movie Mean Girls playing in the background. I absolutely love this movie (I have a quote from it on my shirt today), but now I kind of see it as just stupidity slapped together used to engross and entertain. I can't even watch a commercial without thinking of the clever colors, images, and music used to hold someone's attention and get them interested in the product. Starbucks rarely has commercials, but when they do I am completely hypnotized by it. I end up craving it until I get some. I think that's what all food companies want when they advertise. I mean there are loads of time when I see a food commercial and think "ooh that looks good!" and I usually end up getting it. Behold my friends a monopoly! By the way, I still love Mean Girls. "You go Glen Coco!"
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Hey Alex! I think you've got an excellent point. The media (particularly the television and its various shows and commercials) really plays mind games with its viewers when you think about it. Think of the people who pitch commercial ideas for instance. Their job is to literally come up with ideas to help the businesses entice/hypnotize potential customers. It's pretty messed up when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your monopoly analogy. This was a very interesting breakdown of television. I also believe that it is somewhat of a game to them. Of course on the other hand this game they're playing is their job and their livelihoods are on the line. These networks always have the thought of money and power in their minds so some trickery and mind games to entice more viewers or customers. This has always been the way of things as far as I can recall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alex. Thanks to this book, I can't watch television without thinking that I am stupid. One of my favorite shows is "House Hunters" on HGTV because I love looking at different houses and dreaming of my future home. However, I read online that the show was completely scripted and that the people searching for a home already bought it beforehand. That takes the fun out of watching so I chose to ignore it. In my opinion, the act of watching the show isn't what makes me stupid, it's the fact that I refuse to accept the truth that the show is scripted.
ReplyDeleteAlex you're right about how you crave after you watch a food commercial. That's the main reason why America has the highest obesity rate out of the entire world. We use most of our time watching TV which most of the time are commercials. How can we not buy something if we see it over and over again?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point. Because of how visually satisfying a commercial is I end up wanting whatever product they are trying to sell, especially the Apple commercials. Food commercials unfortunately hold a lot of power over Americans, including me, making me want to buy it instantly.
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