taylor@hplabs.HP.COM (Dave Taylor) (03/30/88)
[This interesting article was submitted by a C&S Digest reader from the Usenet newsgroup ``rec.music.classical''] From: seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Seltzer) Television is being used largely to manipulate people, but that's because of the commercial use to which it has been put, rather than because that's the role which is best suited for it as a medium. The commercial sponsors of television use this medium to establish money as the predominant cultural value in our society. In order to do this, television shows must belittle or ignore other values and beliefs. "Family" shows depict families engaging in every activity except studying and creative art. The children in TV situation comedies never read, practice the piano, draw, etc. The violent shows are used to stimulate the viewers' fear and anxiety. Just at the high point of anxiety (for example, a chase) a commercial enters and offers security - if one uses a certain deodorant, drives a shiny new car, or uses the right mouthwash. The violence on television is also used to keep the public from adopting values and ethics. Such violence is also prevalent in movies shown during flights. If people remain basically amoral, they will just buy and consume. If the streets aren't safe, then they'll go to shopping centers as islands of safety, the only places where they can walk at night (especially women). But I recently read an article which described a large public demand for purchasing videocassettes of great performances. While such offerings would compete with live performances for the public's leisure time (which has decreased from about 23 hours to about 16 hours per week over the past few years), it also competes with the broadcasters' offerings of junk. Linda