"Only through Art can we get outside of ourselves and know another's view of the Universe."
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
Marcel Proust
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
Marcus Aurelius
Having been inundated with show upon show upon documentary upon made-for-TV movie upon opinion column upon article upon soundbite in regards to the looming anniversary of the attacks of the World Trade Centre, I had to stop and remove myself entirely from having any contact whatsoever with any form of media and/or entertainment medium. The spin doctors have been quite busy as of late but aside from the spinning revolving around this one event, I found myself looking deeper and having my greatest fear be realized.
Many of us have, in fact, have become gerbils. Many of us await in our well defined little environment and wait for the next pellet to be dropped into little hands. Movies, music, books, magazines...anything remotely connected to culture is no longer sought out. On PBS there is The Charlie Rose show. Yes, he can be quite boring if politics isn't your bag baby, but he insists on having guests from every walk of life, guests that will inspire you, intrigue you, and God forbid actually make you think. His is pretty much the only TALK show worth watching...well that and the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; his show matters simply because I swear 99% of it is completely unscripted. from his ad lib opening monologue to the sketches throughout the show.
And THAT, my cheeky little monkeys, is what we as viewers need. Unrehearsed content, the unexpected, the real deal. Enough with the visual pablum that is safe and comfortable and TOTALLY predictable. We don't want to think or learn before we go to bed... Yeah, but we do want to laugh, we do want to be able to relax but does that mean we have to do it in the same manner EVERY night. BORRRRRRING. We become desensitized, mindless nubskulls that run the risk of even knowing what we like after awhile.
Anyway, Charlie had on the editors of Time and Newsweek last night and he was asking them how do you get readers to read your magazine. and they both said fresh new storywriting, the story will capture the reader. A fresh new way of EXPLAINING events on top of reporting them. They had both found that people weren't reading their respective magazines because they didn't know the history behind what was being reported. So, they felt compelled to provide explanatory articles, primers if you will, for the reader to peruse and get caught up to speed with.
And that got me thinking. Most of the people I know, as well as you yourself know, aren't so much ignorant of certain facts or events. They just aren't INTERESTED at all. And that one little fact is what both editors and Charlie, the man himself, failed to bring up. In fact, it's a sad thing to admit that I myself and you out there can be hardpressed to think of ANYTHING that interests quite a lot of people we know. Scary hey? If it isn't part of their carefully constructed environments, who gives a rat's ass? Iran has a bomb, so what? Doesn't affect me. New movie doesn't have a car crash/car chase/explosion/sex scene/whatever in it? Not interested.
My question is this. Since when did so many people stop being interested in discovering new things? Or stop wanting to learn, to know? We are all too well aware of how our governments, media outlets and entertainment providers have been slowly pulling the wool over our eyes...and we let them. Hell, so many of us prefer it. Less to see, less to know, less to think about....sounds peachy. And now the problem lies not with the wool puller-overs, they have done their job. Mission accomplished. No, I think the problem lies with us underneath the wool...we don't want to come back out. Too boring...too much effort...too scary?
Pretty much everything around us today relies on a simple premise...a formula. Just like Enfalac or Pablum...just the basic requirements to keep you from dying...not really enough to grow on but you will maintain relatively healthy. You don't need anymore than just that and you don't need any less than just that. And that's where a lot of us are...content with just that.
Many of us have, in fact, have become gerbils. Many of us await in our well defined little environment and wait for the next pellet to be dropped into little hands. Movies, music, books, magazines...anything remotely connected to culture is no longer sought out. On PBS there is The Charlie Rose show. Yes, he can be quite boring if politics isn't your bag baby, but he insists on having guests from every walk of life, guests that will inspire you, intrigue you, and God forbid actually make you think. His is pretty much the only TALK show worth watching...well that and the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; his show matters simply because I swear 99% of it is completely unscripted. from his ad lib opening monologue to the sketches throughout the show.
And THAT, my cheeky little monkeys, is what we as viewers need. Unrehearsed content, the unexpected, the real deal. Enough with the visual pablum that is safe and comfortable and TOTALLY predictable. We don't want to think or learn before we go to bed... Yeah, but we do want to laugh, we do want to be able to relax but does that mean we have to do it in the same manner EVERY night. BORRRRRRING. We become desensitized, mindless nubskulls that run the risk of even knowing what we like after awhile.
Anyway, Charlie had on the editors of Time and Newsweek last night and he was asking them how do you get readers to read your magazine. and they both said fresh new storywriting, the story will capture the reader. A fresh new way of EXPLAINING events on top of reporting them. They had both found that people weren't reading their respective magazines because they didn't know the history behind what was being reported. So, they felt compelled to provide explanatory articles, primers if you will, for the reader to peruse and get caught up to speed with.
And that got me thinking. Most of the people I know, as well as you yourself know, aren't so much ignorant of certain facts or events. They just aren't INTERESTED at all. And that one little fact is what both editors and Charlie, the man himself, failed to bring up. In fact, it's a sad thing to admit that I myself and you out there can be hardpressed to think of ANYTHING that interests quite a lot of people we know. Scary hey? If it isn't part of their carefully constructed environments, who gives a rat's ass? Iran has a bomb, so what? Doesn't affect me. New movie doesn't have a car crash/car chase/explosion/sex scene/whatever in it? Not interested.
My question is this. Since when did so many people stop being interested in discovering new things? Or stop wanting to learn, to know? We are all too well aware of how our governments, media outlets and entertainment providers have been slowly pulling the wool over our eyes...and we let them. Hell, so many of us prefer it. Less to see, less to know, less to think about....sounds peachy. And now the problem lies not with the wool puller-overs, they have done their job. Mission accomplished. No, I think the problem lies with us underneath the wool...we don't want to come back out. Too boring...too much effort...too scary?
Pretty much everything around us today relies on a simple premise...a formula. Just like Enfalac or Pablum...just the basic requirements to keep you from dying...not really enough to grow on but you will maintain relatively healthy. You don't need anymore than just that and you don't need any less than just that. And that's where a lot of us are...content with just that.
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