Thursday, October 09, 2003
SPEAKING OF TRASH T.V.
Then after that big old ramble about Wally, I turn to the obituary page in the N.Y. Times and find one of my media mentors, Neil Postman, has died. I never met Mr. Postman but after I went back to school I became reacquainted with him as his highly influential book, "Amusing Ourselves To Death" was required reading in not one but two classes that I took. Postman was a leading critic of television - not for all the "trash" TV, which he admitted to enjoying - but for the way TV had co-opted the whole idea of news coverage. From the Times obit:
In "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" (Viking, 1985; Penguin, 1986), he indicted the television industry on the charge of making entertainment out of the world's most serious problems. The book was translated into eight languages and sold 200,000 copies worldwide, according to N.Y.U.
Dr. Postman was particularly offended by the presentation of television news with all the trappings of entertainment programming, including theme music and "talking hairdos." Only in the printed word, he felt, could complicated truths be rationally conveyed.
He presented a solid case for his views, but not everyone bought into it, and in my media classes some of the most spirited debate revolved around Postman and his repulsion of what he called the media's "Now . . . This" mentality. Even if you don't agree with him, or can even understand half the stuff he lays out, it's worth the effort to hunt down the book and give it a read.
And when I say "reacquaint" himself with Postman I am referring to the fact that as a teenager my brother handed me down a book called "The Soft Revolution" which was a primer on student journalism in the late 60s-early 70s and which was written by Postman, one of his first works, and which I still had although I had long since forgotten the name of the author if, indeed, I ever knew it in the first place.
And it's worth noting that on the 22nd Al Franken will be coming to the Vroman's in Pasadena to plug his new book, the one that everyone knows about, and I wrote a blurb for that week's issue of the Pasadena Weekly and in it I note that where the media watchdog business used to be the domain of textbook academics like Ben Bagdikian and Robert Entman (as well as Postman) now it has been turned over to publicity starved talk show celebrities like Franken and Ann Coulter, et al. And I don't mean to imply that this is a good thing. It all has a McDonalds/Burger King taste to it. As long as everyone is selling burgers, or books, so much the better for everyone.
Somehow, I believe Postman would agree with me on that point, and be able to elaborate on it further.
Then after that big old ramble about Wally, I turn to the obituary page in the N.Y. Times and find one of my media mentors, Neil Postman, has died. I never met Mr. Postman but after I went back to school I became reacquainted with him as his highly influential book, "Amusing Ourselves To Death" was required reading in not one but two classes that I took. Postman was a leading critic of television - not for all the "trash" TV, which he admitted to enjoying - but for the way TV had co-opted the whole idea of news coverage. From the Times obit:
In "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" (Viking, 1985; Penguin, 1986), he indicted the television industry on the charge of making entertainment out of the world's most serious problems. The book was translated into eight languages and sold 200,000 copies worldwide, according to N.Y.U.
Dr. Postman was particularly offended by the presentation of television news with all the trappings of entertainment programming, including theme music and "talking hairdos." Only in the printed word, he felt, could complicated truths be rationally conveyed.
He presented a solid case for his views, but not everyone bought into it, and in my media classes some of the most spirited debate revolved around Postman and his repulsion of what he called the media's "Now . . . This" mentality. Even if you don't agree with him, or can even understand half the stuff he lays out, it's worth the effort to hunt down the book and give it a read.
And when I say "reacquaint" himself with Postman I am referring to the fact that as a teenager my brother handed me down a book called "The Soft Revolution" which was a primer on student journalism in the late 60s-early 70s and which was written by Postman, one of his first works, and which I still had although I had long since forgotten the name of the author if, indeed, I ever knew it in the first place.
And it's worth noting that on the 22nd Al Franken will be coming to the Vroman's in Pasadena to plug his new book, the one that everyone knows about, and I wrote a blurb for that week's issue of the Pasadena Weekly and in it I note that where the media watchdog business used to be the domain of textbook academics like Ben Bagdikian and Robert Entman (as well as Postman) now it has been turned over to publicity starved talk show celebrities like Franken and Ann Coulter, et al. And I don't mean to imply that this is a good thing. It all has a McDonalds/Burger King taste to it. As long as everyone is selling burgers, or books, so much the better for everyone.
Somehow, I believe Postman would agree with me on that point, and be able to elaborate on it further.
HERE'S TO YOU, WAL-LY
My family once had a Siamese cat named Princess, who had the run of the house until circumstances dictated that we adopt a couple more felines, including a younger Siamese that chased and taunted Princess mercilessly. We ourselves perhaps paid too little attention to Princess at this time as well. It was a chaotic time in our family and, during a very hectic week, we forgot all about Princess for several days, and she crawled into a dark area below the bathroom sink and died.
I thought of this as I read the obituary for Wally George the other day. It was Election Day, the day of the thundering, chaotic recall, and I realized that George's passing went almost entirely unnoticed, even as his pioneering brand of taunting, insulting and, above all, right-leaning television theatrics had laid the historic ground work for the recall itself. Conservative talk-show hosts are roughly a dime a dozen these days, but in the early 80's, as the country was just settling into the Ronald Reagan era, Wally George had the field all to himself. And he never booted a chance to milk it.
Before the jeering audience hoots of "Jer-ry! Jer-ry!"became permanently fixed in American parlance, before the likes of Ann Coulter and Al Sharpton came around to bolster any willing cable news show's sagging ratings, there was Wally George, sitting at his modest desk, smiling for the TV camera, with a "USA is #1" picture hanging proudly behind him and a raucous bevy of O.C. youth in front, screaming for satiation in the form of an insult or, better yet, an expulsion from the show. The mob was never disappointed.
In those days, this type of programming was not your standard fare. Just the fact that the Wally George Show, and its spin-off Hot Seat, spent its entire run on UHF bulwark Channel 56 KDOC, should tell you all you need to know about how receptive the industry was to a television program whose stylistic credo was hate-mongering. How naive we all must have been in those days.
Of course, some perspective should be added here. Unlike today's engorged daily menu of screamfests, anchored by self-righteous crusaders who carry only a hint of humor and style, the Wally George Show was a delight to people of all political affiliations. No matter if you stood on the right or the left, you could watch the program from start to finish, doubled over in laughter the whole time. Honestly, it was about the funniest program on TV, in this or any other age. Why?
It had mostly to do with Wally himself and his own stammering brand of on-air ineptness. Simply put, George was perhaps the worst performer in front of a camera in the history of broadcasting. He could barely read copy, he had no discernable interviewing skills and his ability to ad-lib was, well, let's just say that when Wally booted his first guest off the air, it was probably because that was the only thing he could think of to do, save for answer a legitimate question with an intelligent response. To watch Wally George make it all the way through a broadcast was not unlike watching an overmatched prizefighter getting pummeled, round after round, yet somehow stay on his feet until the end.
This meant that even as you raged against Wally and his staunch right-wing extremism, you still dialed him up just to soak in his lame retorts to the mostly befuddled (and no doubt set-up) guests. That anyone with an IQ over 50 would willingly go on the air to spar with Wally was reason enough to root for their dismissal. And for all Wally's moral posturing, and this happened more and more as the show trudged on into the 90s, he never let an opportunity pass to have some busty blond bombshell make a dramatic entry and exit. Porn queen Mary Carey would have felt right at home on the Wally George Show. She would get what she wanted - publicity - and George (and his testosterone-crazy studio audience) would get what they desperately needed - a little harmless T & A.
Sadly, even as Hot Seat's longevity made it sort of the SNL of UHF, it was overrun by all the new kids on the block, and cast aside. That Wally George suffered much the same as my family's poor Princess, says volumes about the current media playing field and our own cynical tendencies to make history a relatively short-term subject. And in so doing we deprive ourselves of enjoying the fruits of a man who, while certainly not a master showman, at least knew he was a showman above all else. I don't know this for a fact, but I figure Wally as an actor first and an ideologue second. This keen knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses paved the way for our present broadcast landscape, except it's all turned around now. Instead of thrilling to an expunged guest, we now slobber over a chance to expunge an elected official, only these exiles are real and not mere publicity stunts (although they wind up being, for all intents and purposes).
Still, Wally would have approved of all this, the recall and its results. It's a shame he had to miss it, but it's more of a shame that no one apparently misses him.
My family once had a Siamese cat named Princess, who had the run of the house until circumstances dictated that we adopt a couple more felines, including a younger Siamese that chased and taunted Princess mercilessly. We ourselves perhaps paid too little attention to Princess at this time as well. It was a chaotic time in our family and, during a very hectic week, we forgot all about Princess for several days, and she crawled into a dark area below the bathroom sink and died.
I thought of this as I read the obituary for Wally George the other day. It was Election Day, the day of the thundering, chaotic recall, and I realized that George's passing went almost entirely unnoticed, even as his pioneering brand of taunting, insulting and, above all, right-leaning television theatrics had laid the historic ground work for the recall itself. Conservative talk-show hosts are roughly a dime a dozen these days, but in the early 80's, as the country was just settling into the Ronald Reagan era, Wally George had the field all to himself. And he never booted a chance to milk it.
Before the jeering audience hoots of "Jer-ry! Jer-ry!"became permanently fixed in American parlance, before the likes of Ann Coulter and Al Sharpton came around to bolster any willing cable news show's sagging ratings, there was Wally George, sitting at his modest desk, smiling for the TV camera, with a "USA is #1" picture hanging proudly behind him and a raucous bevy of O.C. youth in front, screaming for satiation in the form of an insult or, better yet, an expulsion from the show. The mob was never disappointed.
In those days, this type of programming was not your standard fare. Just the fact that the Wally George Show, and its spin-off Hot Seat, spent its entire run on UHF bulwark Channel 56 KDOC, should tell you all you need to know about how receptive the industry was to a television program whose stylistic credo was hate-mongering. How naive we all must have been in those days.
Of course, some perspective should be added here. Unlike today's engorged daily menu of screamfests, anchored by self-righteous crusaders who carry only a hint of humor and style, the Wally George Show was a delight to people of all political affiliations. No matter if you stood on the right or the left, you could watch the program from start to finish, doubled over in laughter the whole time. Honestly, it was about the funniest program on TV, in this or any other age. Why?
It had mostly to do with Wally himself and his own stammering brand of on-air ineptness. Simply put, George was perhaps the worst performer in front of a camera in the history of broadcasting. He could barely read copy, he had no discernable interviewing skills and his ability to ad-lib was, well, let's just say that when Wally booted his first guest off the air, it was probably because that was the only thing he could think of to do, save for answer a legitimate question with an intelligent response. To watch Wally George make it all the way through a broadcast was not unlike watching an overmatched prizefighter getting pummeled, round after round, yet somehow stay on his feet until the end.
This meant that even as you raged against Wally and his staunch right-wing extremism, you still dialed him up just to soak in his lame retorts to the mostly befuddled (and no doubt set-up) guests. That anyone with an IQ over 50 would willingly go on the air to spar with Wally was reason enough to root for their dismissal. And for all Wally's moral posturing, and this happened more and more as the show trudged on into the 90s, he never let an opportunity pass to have some busty blond bombshell make a dramatic entry and exit. Porn queen Mary Carey would have felt right at home on the Wally George Show. She would get what she wanted - publicity - and George (and his testosterone-crazy studio audience) would get what they desperately needed - a little harmless T & A.
Sadly, even as Hot Seat's longevity made it sort of the SNL of UHF, it was overrun by all the new kids on the block, and cast aside. That Wally George suffered much the same as my family's poor Princess, says volumes about the current media playing field and our own cynical tendencies to make history a relatively short-term subject. And in so doing we deprive ourselves of enjoying the fruits of a man who, while certainly not a master showman, at least knew he was a showman above all else. I don't know this for a fact, but I figure Wally as an actor first and an ideologue second. This keen knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses paved the way for our present broadcast landscape, except it's all turned around now. Instead of thrilling to an expunged guest, we now slobber over a chance to expunge an elected official, only these exiles are real and not mere publicity stunts (although they wind up being, for all intents and purposes).
Still, Wally would have approved of all this, the recall and its results. It's a shame he had to miss it, but it's more of a shame that no one apparently misses him.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
BOO HOO HOO PT. 3
Except this time it's me crying.
So I have once again done my civic duty and voted. To those of you just know joining the process, it's good to see you take time from watching Oprah and supporting union-busting stores like Wal-Mart to elect the biggest bully/hump in the history of democracy. Pardon me if I don't share your thrill at having the "Governator" as our official state representative, but you know, as I have seen clips on T.V. of Arnold supporters from up and down the state, I can tell that this particular bloc of voters really know all about the issues, much better than I ever have, hell I feel like a political novice. For one thing, for years now I have gotten used to hearing blathering statements from liberal Hollywood actors that have no "credentials" to speak out on grave matters of state (at least that's what Hugh Hewitt said months ago on the KTLA Morning News about Ed Norton, when Norton very stupidly voiced his opinion about the war - it's good to know that Hewitt and others in the GOP camp have eased that pesky restriction in their blow-job worthy support of Arnold), and now we'll all get to experience first-hand how a washed-up actor with no plans and an aversion to giving direct answers to thorny questions will do as our fearless leader.
What a great three years this will be.
But I'm trying to make the best of it. For the record, I voted no on the recall. Duh. However, on question 2, who shall replace the governor, I had to wrestle with my conscious and go with my heart. Would I vote for Bustamante, and not split the Democrat vote?
Hell, no!
In my viewpoint, Bustamante is worse than Arnold, and he ran about the most inept campaign this side of Bill Simon. Would I vote Camejo, and show some support for the 3-party system?
Sadly, no.
I voted for Camejo last time, in the real election. This time I decided to go back to my own fringe candidate roots, the whole Rock and Roll Mayor thing, and support someone who had at least a clue on how to deal with shameless publicity seeking, while having no chance in hell to win. So then it would be the porn chick Mary Carey, right?
Surprisingly, no! I wanted to, especially since I pledged my vote after finding out about her "put a web-cam in the governor's mansion" promise. That was brilliant and, frankly, I've become a bit infatuated with Carey, I really really think she's hot, and I would love for her to come up sometime and lick chocolate syrup off the Panda Man. Wow!
But I realized that I could not vote for anybody except the sumo wrestler/poet guy from West Covina, I think his name was Rightmeyer. Does it really matter? I mean, anyone whose official picture shows him with a black eye, and yet can still boast a nomination to a Pushcart prize, and have spent time in Japan teaching English, and be from the San Gabriel Valley, that's plenty enough for me.
The question is - did I throw away my vote?
I don't think so. I voted "no" on the recall, so if Davis doesn't make, I don't care who the hell is in the office. I've said it before and I'll say it again - not one person who has ever been elected to any office has had any direct effect on my life. Not yet anyway.
But the "fringe" candidate vote is the wild card here, and seriously, while the media has been falling all over itself reporting on polls and assessing the chances of the big two or three, no one to my knowledge has really investigated how even a minuscle percentage of fringe candidate votes can swing this election - likely to Schwarzenegger. I mean, honestly, some of these people can count on maybe 4 or 5 votes from their family and that's it.
Think about this: for Mary Carey to get what I got, 1.4% of the popular vote, which in my case was a paltry 97 votes, she would have to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 votes! I don't think that's going to happen - for any fringe candidate. In fact, it will be interesting to see how many can even achieve triple figures, and more interesting to see how many votes are cast for fringe candidates total. Everyone said the recall resembled a circus in the beginning, but in the end it became a two horse race - Arnold and Gray - and because of that I believe many fewer voters will vote for a fringe candidate because of the polarization of the electorate.
So whenever they come out with the final tally, I'll be here with the incisive analysis!
Except this time it's me crying.
So I have once again done my civic duty and voted. To those of you just know joining the process, it's good to see you take time from watching Oprah and supporting union-busting stores like Wal-Mart to elect the biggest bully/hump in the history of democracy. Pardon me if I don't share your thrill at having the "Governator" as our official state representative, but you know, as I have seen clips on T.V. of Arnold supporters from up and down the state, I can tell that this particular bloc of voters really know all about the issues, much better than I ever have, hell I feel like a political novice. For one thing, for years now I have gotten used to hearing blathering statements from liberal Hollywood actors that have no "credentials" to speak out on grave matters of state (at least that's what Hugh Hewitt said months ago on the KTLA Morning News about Ed Norton, when Norton very stupidly voiced his opinion about the war - it's good to know that Hewitt and others in the GOP camp have eased that pesky restriction in their blow-job worthy support of Arnold), and now we'll all get to experience first-hand how a washed-up actor with no plans and an aversion to giving direct answers to thorny questions will do as our fearless leader.
What a great three years this will be.
But I'm trying to make the best of it. For the record, I voted no on the recall. Duh. However, on question 2, who shall replace the governor, I had to wrestle with my conscious and go with my heart. Would I vote for Bustamante, and not split the Democrat vote?
Hell, no!
In my viewpoint, Bustamante is worse than Arnold, and he ran about the most inept campaign this side of Bill Simon. Would I vote Camejo, and show some support for the 3-party system?
Sadly, no.
I voted for Camejo last time, in the real election. This time I decided to go back to my own fringe candidate roots, the whole Rock and Roll Mayor thing, and support someone who had at least a clue on how to deal with shameless publicity seeking, while having no chance in hell to win. So then it would be the porn chick Mary Carey, right?
Surprisingly, no! I wanted to, especially since I pledged my vote after finding out about her "put a web-cam in the governor's mansion" promise. That was brilliant and, frankly, I've become a bit infatuated with Carey, I really really think she's hot, and I would love for her to come up sometime and lick chocolate syrup off the Panda Man. Wow!
But I realized that I could not vote for anybody except the sumo wrestler/poet guy from West Covina, I think his name was Rightmeyer. Does it really matter? I mean, anyone whose official picture shows him with a black eye, and yet can still boast a nomination to a Pushcart prize, and have spent time in Japan teaching English, and be from the San Gabriel Valley, that's plenty enough for me.
The question is - did I throw away my vote?
I don't think so. I voted "no" on the recall, so if Davis doesn't make, I don't care who the hell is in the office. I've said it before and I'll say it again - not one person who has ever been elected to any office has had any direct effect on my life. Not yet anyway.
But the "fringe" candidate vote is the wild card here, and seriously, while the media has been falling all over itself reporting on polls and assessing the chances of the big two or three, no one to my knowledge has really investigated how even a minuscle percentage of fringe candidate votes can swing this election - likely to Schwarzenegger. I mean, honestly, some of these people can count on maybe 4 or 5 votes from their family and that's it.
Think about this: for Mary Carey to get what I got, 1.4% of the popular vote, which in my case was a paltry 97 votes, she would have to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 votes! I don't think that's going to happen - for any fringe candidate. In fact, it will be interesting to see how many can even achieve triple figures, and more interesting to see how many votes are cast for fringe candidates total. Everyone said the recall resembled a circus in the beginning, but in the end it became a two horse race - Arnold and Gray - and because of that I believe many fewer voters will vote for a fringe candidate because of the polarization of the electorate.
So whenever they come out with the final tally, I'll be here with the incisive analysis!
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