Perhaps this is a more culturally-focused, than new media-specific post - but as Axel pointed out recently in acknowledging the prospect of a "Cultural Science" course of study at UQ - these topics are inextricalbly linked and share much common ground.
In our culture of celebrity idol worship, the psychology concept of "performative identity" is changing our perspectives on entertainment. We are more interested in what Brangelina got up to on the weekend, than what they get up to in their latest movie. Children idolize and immitate celebrities, acting out on what they see as succesful behaviour.
In fact, amidst the tidal wave of user-created content entertainment and 'reality' TV, there is an undercurrent of voyeurism and vicarious entertainment practices. Religion is also caught up in the mix. New Age, Interfaith, and arguably religions such as Scientology are heavily driven by congregants' vicarious faith
Dear-God is a hip, new age website allowing people to post their prayers to God - whomever that may be for them. The design and art are top-notch, however, the advice offered by most users is not.
When I first heard about this website I thought it was a nice idea, along the lines of Rosalind's new book of prayers, Mosaic and expected a warm site of inter-faith sharing, full of insight and positivism. Instead, this site is dingy, provocative and voyeuristic. In my opinion, this site is not facilitating an inter-faith experience, it is purely for entertainment purposes - and the evidence of this is the obvious role being played by the editor/moderator of the site - only posting those 'prayers' which will capture an audience - usually for their shock value.
On to television now, and surely, the extremely prevalent excuse circa 2001, "Oh, I only watch Big Brother because I think it is a fascinating social experiment, and my interests are purely from a sociology/cultural integration perspective" is now dead and burried. Anyone still watching after eight series for academic research purposes is a very slow learner. In writing this blog, I was not intending on tirading against social networking and 'reality' TV, but I do believe that beyond marvelling at the wonder of user-led content creation, and 'real' social interaction on TV, we do have to wonder just what it is we are entertaining ourselves with? Are we all just a global community of Big Brother?
2 comments:
From a Marketing and Business perspective, the "00" era, reflects a society driven by idealism. In other words, the term 'success' is often mistaken by financial and material abundance. On the surface this alludes to the notion that our 'consumer culture’ will create prosperity and fulfillment.
In relation to 'Big Brother' and the 'Social experiment,' it is clearly a ploy to fill advertising space, gain ratings to increase revenue. One would suggest that it is not intelligent, however, from a Commercial point of view it bears similarities to the Japanese 'Pokemon', there is no story line, it makes no sense, yet they make millions by producing products which they market to particular demographic groups. This brings me to my next point regarding business law and ethics. Is it right that our children are being bought up feeling the need for MacDonald’s? Or further more, that they look at Paris Hilton as a role model? Personally I think its sick as young tangible minds are easily corrupted, eventually leading to unrealistic idealism. On the flip side, it is rather a controversial topic, in an interview with Molly Meldrum Madonna once said something to the effect of “We would be nothing without the media so what’s all the fuss about”. In relation to virtual cultures and Henry Jenkins notion of ‘convergence’ where the media and internet collide, technological advancements have been beneficial to communication and information accessibility. It is not only the media porthole which is apart of the participatory culture, it is the celebrities which use its capability to promote themselves and in turn the consumers that choose to embrace their product. The influential power of marketing is considered at times to be ‘the root of all evil’, yet there is a lot to be said about how vital it is in sustaining financial flow which adds stability to employment and the success of the business.
I can't say that I agree that 'success' being measured in terms of financial and material abundance is strictly a 00s era phenomenon. I can't say I've been wildly analytical during any prior era (I was 12 at the turn of the millennium), but I'm pretty sure capitalist and consumerist society has been going along, in its various forms, for quite some time.
I also disagree that Pokémon had no storyline and the comparison with Big Brother. They are both obviously, as you say, "a ploy to fill advertising space" - but I don't think there's ever been anything on commercial TV that doesn't fall into this category?
While I agree with your concern regarding advertising targeting children, my assertions in this post are more concerning, as you mentioned, children's idolization of celebrities such as Paris Hilton.
Paris Hilton is famous for her 'real life' - sex tapes, a reality TV show, red carpet appearances and weekly scandals. Nobody cares about her lousy movies or her crappy songs - it's her 'real' life we want to know about. My concern is that children (and many child-minded adults) see the attention given to Paris and see her as a role model for successful ‘liberated’ and ‘independent’ behaviour. Paris is obviously very aware of the fact that her fame is contingent on her remarkable News-worthiness, and accordingly, hires PR to ensure she is kept in the forefront of the news. Next time she breaks down and is plastered across the covers of every trash-magazine, keep in mind, that this is only the backlash of the fame she has sought after herself, and makes a 'career' out of.
Post a Comment