Today's discussion really helped me understand Andrejevic. Our class revolved around the issues Andrejevic raises in iMedia and to some degree iPolitics. iCulture was the chapter that I was 'responsible' for, for this past Tuesday and I admit I got a little frustrated with his insistent talk about his example of Television Without Pity. I clearly missed his point about 'the savvy consumer' and our complacency of having knowledge, but not insisting change. To reiterate Professor Dean's point of , "We all like to be insiders " is something I can absolutely identify with. We have an attachment to our submission.
Andrejevic's claim about the sense of contributing to our demise may be too strong a criticism of America's citizens. A point that was brought up in class, by JD (correct me if I'm wrong) was, who cares if in my free time I go and watch a crappy television show and then review it online?Andrejevic seemed to be overly concerned with this phenomenon. I do however disagree with the statement that was made in class about how Andrejevic didn't have a standpoint. He absolutely does, he is concerned but perhaps he is overly critical? What do others think?
4 comments:
Interesting comments, Anna. I'm glad that class helped clarify aspects of that chapter. Here's a question: what is 'too' critical? That is, if he has explained a practice whereby people stage their own submission, should he look on the bright side of this practice?
Also, I was wondering if another example of 'staging own submission' would help. We might think of movies about the military, particularly the marines. Nearly always some kind of sergeant is featured who screams and yells at his troops. He makes them do all sorts of exercises ('drop and give me twenty'). And then he makes them say: "thank you, sir! can I have another!"
Yes, it absolutely helped with my understanding of the reading. I think he is being 'too critical' in his claims that all of American culture is attached to our own submission, not all of us watch crappy reality television and then write on Television Without Pity, so I think it's an over generalization.
-Anna-
I have to admit, I watch crappy tv but why is that so wrong? I do not really think that watching crappy tv will be our demise as long as it is not everything we do. I go to college and I discuss things there. This class particularly is a great discussion issue outside of class. So why can I not watch crappy tv in my free time just to get my mind off of things?
It is just like in the book Feed we had to read for another class (People lost their ability to talk and think because they had the "feed" in their head which was like a computer). But in that book classes we given about the feed and America revolved around the feed.
As long as were thought in schools about things and we discuss things with parents, what does it matter that we watch crappy tv and discuss that with friends?
The second discussion point is my question whether this is a good argument OR am I just too far in the process of being a couch potato that I do not realize the demise anymore?
By
Merel van Helden
Merel,
I agree with you- I think that as long as we have other things going on in our lives (you said going to college) I think it's ok to watch "crappy television". I I watch American Idol and things like it, but that is not my life, which I think is what your point is?
-Anna-
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