Amusing Ourselves To Death covers the idea of the public falling into the hands of the corporate media quite well. One of the topics that Postman brings up that is quite noticeable and concerning to me is the topic of public appearance. In the first chapter, Postman talks about how our society affects celebrities like normal people becoming enslaved to the media. They see something on television that gives off a conforming vibe, making them feel like they should act or look the way the person looks. He discusses how the types of people that run for a political office are not as varying as they used to be. Not as many people on the heavier side or none with little to no hair. The public has become so consumed by vanity and up-tight, that it does not matter what your intentions or capabilities are for our country. If you do not look like what is generally expected, no one will listen or care. I agree with Postman in this sense.
This book was written in the eighties, a decade that celebrated excess and vanity. It is relevant to a lot of issues in modern everyday society. Something that reminds me of this constant vanity issue among us is the one hit wonder song "Video Killed The Radio Star". Released in nineteen eighty, the start of the decade, the song talks about how many "singers" so to speak were pretty and handsome-looking. However, when revealed, they were not the ones singing on their track, just posing as the voice. The reason for this is because that people sing were not as good looking or "cool" as the ones posing. This song addresses how much our society depends on looks rather than what is really important, just like Postman.
Despite this book being published in nineteen eighty five, it covers a lot of the issues we still face today. Do you think Postman is right? Is our society focused on appearance too much? Or reality all based on the concept of perception?
I think Postman is right about public appearance. Postman explains that back before television William Howard Taft was a presidential candidate, but he believes that now the grossness of a three hundred pound image on television would overtake the logical ideas he is expressing. This reminded me of an article we read about job discrimination last year in English. The article contained many examples of people not being hired for a job position because of their looks. One example was about how a popular clothing store, Abercrombie and Fitch, would hire people that are attractive with no business experience over someone who was not as good looking but had plenty of experience. Although I argued that a company should be able to hire anyone they wish to suit their “image”, it still goes to show how much public appearance matters to society. Even in Brave New World, Bernard Marx was downgraded and put down because he was too small and different looking for an alpha male. I think that society focuses too much on appearance, and appearance will always be focused on, even in the future.
ReplyDeleteIronically that song was the first song that was accompanied with a music video on MTV, presently the television channel that controls a huge portion of society's form. Appearance is very important to humans. We all need to accept the fact that our senses are what makes us. Our eyes especially, since that's what comes first for most of us. We see something, and the immediate judgement, based on all our experiences, is planted in ourselves for the rest of our lives.
ReplyDeletePostman generalizes the human population by suggesting the idea that we are obsessed with a specific aesthetic that society trends. Thus there are those whom control society using instruments such as television, radio, and THE MALL(a place based on consuming what big businesses propaganda throw at us). There are people who were raised with much more of what society trends, and there are those raised with much less of that and more of lifestyle based on building yourself off of your organic life, meaning less media.
Reality is that there we all have the potential to be intelligent and see life with truthful meaning, yet vulgar shortly lived pleasure is what makes all the money. Money is what makes this world work now. If we keep expanding ourselves, as caring intellectuals, and live a lifestyle uninfluenced by media, then there is chance that this world isn't that bad of a place.