KFL@MIT-MC.ARPA (10/09/85)
From: Keith F. Lynch <KFL@MIT-MC.ARPA>
From: rti-sel!wfi@topaz.rutgers.edu (William Ingogly)
Date: 27 Sep 85 19:08:47 GMT
>"Meanwhile, in the outside world, science fiction finds work as a
>commercial fetish, substituting for religion. Consumers are shown
>a field of stars blazoned with the device "Beyond!" When
>associated with breakfast cereal or pickup trucks, the image of the
>cosmos suggests masculine adventure while promising oblivion.
>Anything can and does get sold this way.
When's the last time you saw an ad of this nature? I have a sneaking
suspicion this yoyo (1) doesn't own a television set and (2) never
reads "popular" magazines. The commercial approach he's talking
about went out around 1958 (which is probably the last time he sat
down in front of a TV to see what the 'masses' are into).
I am afraid I am going to have to agree with him here. Not that this is
a valid criticism of SF, but of TV commercials.
I seldom watch TV, but I watched the episode of Amazing Stories last
Sunday because of the SFL comments on the previous episode.
(I found the episode, about a teenager who becomes magnetized by a
meteor and gets stuck to school lockers, total trash.)
During the episode there was an ad for a car, which showed the car being
driven around Saturn's rings. I wonder who this ad was meant to appeal to.
I can understand (but not condone) that sort of thing when in an ad meant
for 8 year olds, but 8 year olds do not buy cars.
I guess I should put off buying a TV for another decade or two. I hope
Kornbluth's _The_Marching_Morons_ does not come true, but some days I have
little hope for us.
...Keith