Cognitive Dissonance

Mass Media, Part II

Finally, at long last, after a whole year, and with out any ado whatsoever, I present....


Those of you who have read Brave New World will know what I mean when I refer to soma. For those who have not read it, soma is a drug used in Huxley's future that is taken to keep the people happy and in line. This element appears in many future-tales of this type, such as the sedatives that the populace used in George Lucas's film, THX 1138, and so forth.

In Mass Media, part I, I focused on news agencies, and the problem of maintaining independent reporting when sources are primarily corporate-funded. Tonight, I want to look more generally at television and pose this question: Is television the soma of our culture?

Imagine, if you will, Joe Sixpack. Your average American working citizen. He gets up between six and seven in the morning, takes his shower, pours a bowl of cereal and brews a cup of coffee, then sits down and tunes his TV to one of the local morning news stations.

Once upon-a-time, his early-morning dose of television would give him local and national news, wrap up the happenings of the previous day, discuss international events that occurred while his part of the world was in darkness, etc.

Today, however, what he sees and hears is vastly different. Stories of the day consist primarily of easily digestible blurbs about recent celebrity goings-on, advertisements for other tv shows or movies (loosely disguised as "features"), cheesy interviews with stars or cute kids, and other such things. Oh yes, and the weather. "Every half hour!!!!" advertises one local station. I agree that the weather report is important, but should it be the most important and most apropos segment in a so-called news broadcast?

After his breakfast, and his "news," Joe Sixpack heads to work; where his friends and colleagues discuss in depth and detail the events discussed on the morning program. Featured topics are celebrity marriages/divorces/affairs/pregnancies/drug busts, the performance of the local/favorite sports team, new movies, last night's tv shows, etc.

Sixpack heads to lunch.... either with his friends at a local restaurant or in his office's break room. In either case, there is a TV somewhere in the vicinity. This device is tuned to either the mid-day soaps, or ESPN, and even though he doesn't really give a rat's ass about what is happening on Days, he finds his eyes inexplicably drawn to the flashing, multicolored screen.

Lunch over, he heads back to his desk, and continues performing his compartmentalized, mindless job-function until 5:00, then he goes home.

At home, he pops at TV dinner into the microwave and retires to his couch with his faithful remote in hand, and encounters.....

"the warm, the richly coloured, the infinitely friendly world of soma-holiday. How kind, how good-looking, how delightfully amusing every one was!" (Huxley's Brave New World)

He finds himself drawn into this world where everything seems so wonderful: He does not have to think, he simply observes as character after character is born, lives a brief moment, then passes with an almost seamless transition into the next. He is comfortable in this world. Nothing challenges the beliefs he has been taught to believe. No new ideas, or new information is presented. No problems occur that cannot be solved within the episode's half-hour bounds.

Comfortable and unchallenged, he floats in this dreamland until time for bed. Then, the process repeats.

Friends, this is the manner in which too may of us whittle away our lives as the very fabric of society collapses around us. Have you ever been listening to the news, hearing what is going on within our government and our world, and wonder to yourself, "Where is the public outcry?" "Why aren't the people responding?" "Where is the outrage?" Perhaps this is part of the answer.

In the past few years, we have borne witness to some of the worst, darkest acts in our nation's history. Our government lies to us, and we do nothing. Our government lies to us again, and we do nothing. We have invaded and overthrown the soverign governments of two countries, are trying to economically destroy several more, and are currently targeting yet another, and the public opposition is nearly drowned in the silence of millions of Americans silently nodding their heads or shrugging their shoulders.

Our civil liberties are stripped away, and we do nothing. Congress passes far-reaching and draconian legislation, with no regard for future consequences, and we do nothing. Our President wipes his ass with the US Constitution, and tells us, outright SAYS TO US, PUBLICLY, that he can and will do whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences or the people's desires, and we simply shrug our shoulders, chuckle, and say to each other, "He's so funny. He can't say 'nuclear.'"

Friends, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Do I think TV is evil?
No.

Do I think that escapist entertainment is wrong?
Not in moderation. But, an entertainment or informational diet consisting solely or primarily of this "junk food" will kill us as a society, just as a diet consisting solely or primarily of Mickey D's will kill us physically.

However, I do believe that TV is being used, intentionally or not, to delude, degrade, and distract from reality. If we continue down this path, friends, our society will die not from collapse or destruction, but from stagnation. Terrorism is not the true threat to the American way of life.

We are.