Tel·e·vi·sion n. - a system of capturing images and sounds, broadcasting these via a combined electronic audio and video signal, and reproducing them to be viewed and listened to. (Encarta World English Dictionary) First it was the written text, then it was little beeps going from one place to another, and then it was voices coming across the air waves, finely along with these voices came a picture.
Television being a word coming from mixed Latin and Greek roots which actually means far sight. Television and its many other names, TV, The Tube, The Box, The Small Screen. Has been Since the 1930’s in all of our homes, and we have become accustomed to having this neat lavishly looking picture box for so many things. What once had been sign of success and or wealth in having a TV in your house, could not have been blown any further from the truth now that we can carry them in our pockets and the average American family has 2.24 TVs .
We have become a media driven society with messages all around us much of this made possible with the invention of the TV. No longer do we just have to read, listen, and use our imaginations to build up great visions of all sorts, we now have something to show us. Yes what is a great tool for getting out valuable information in the news, which has helped educate and sculpt our minds or given the recent sense I don’t know if you can say sculpt.
Which brings me to quote Roland Barthes in Wine and Milk “wine (TV) will deliver him from myths, will remove some of his intellectualism” I liked this quote because it immediately made me think of the new genre of TV that we have fallen into. As well as the fact that you could almost compare the falling into the drunkenness of a beverage, to the drunkenness of mind numbing TV. You know the whole lets pick a suitcase game show catwalk reality drama TV series, that we all can be mindlessly sucked into only to be awaiting that moment where we snap out of it going what the heck and why am I watching this.
Ok I am lost again, I don’t really remember how I started this, or how I can end this, so…. I guess I’ll just go watch some TV now.
1 comment:
Hi Greg, you're onto something here when you start talking about Barthes and TV as a (seeming) escape from myth. It needs more explaining, though? What if that was your opener instead of that sketch of the history of TV? That part is too compressed (and unsourced) to be all that useful for me as a reader. A detailed example of contemporary programming like you gesture towards when you mention Deal or No Deal could make this read even more like an actual review.
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