Book Review on "Sociology Book Review Postman Neil Amusing War"

Book Review 6 pages (2103 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Sociology book review Postman Neil "Amusing

War, murder, terrorism, random and premeditated violence, religion and in the more modern, as one small example of the evolution, even dangerous high speed police chases have become the stuff of entertainment. Our culture has effectively desensitized ourselves to the element of humanity in all these issues and more frequently see them as a way to sell the modern human condition to itself. Seeking a way to engage viewers the media as well as the entertainers themselves have marketed the world condition, with all its poignant dramatic moments and made it more closely resemble fiction. Postman's work is a classic, along the lines of Futureshock and though it was first published in 1985 the parts that are dated can easily be filled in by a modern television and movie viewer, which includes most of the nation at the least to see within it the foreshadowing of what Postman thought was to come, and what has actually transpired. Postman, using examples form the 1980s, points out in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, that the summation of all messages that are offered us through, not the message of the facts but through the development of the entertainment value of the facts.

This work demonstrates principles that are obvious to a modern viewer, dependent on a highly glamorized and frequently over entertaining renditions of the conditions and occurrences of our lives and culture. He points out that the principles of advertising, or the development of the message as superseding the importance of the product, an early principle in advertising, has become the principle that allows the highly competitive medias to keep the viewer engaged, and that it will likely be a downfall. (3-6) Postman also points out that the decline of print media and literature is foundational to American dependence on these entertaining offerings, or more importantly that we have embraced these entertaining offerings as an easier and more engaging alternative to print.(8)

Postman states rather eloquently that the manner in which we receive and engage in such media, leaves us with a difference as to how we respond to immediate social situations. The changing environment of information has left the culture with a progressively different view on the need for the message to engage, rather than be factual to be retained. (4) "In both oral and typographic cultures, information derives its importance from the possibilities of action. Of course, in any communication environment, input (what one is informed about) always exceeds output (the possibilities of action based on information)." (68) the modern viewer feels insulated from the human condition, through the manner in which it is offered us, and therefore regardless of the level of awareness there seems to be little real need to act. We do not need to seek out information any longer, we simply need to turn on the television, where all of our modern interests are simultaneously given us, without much effort and where we can switch back an forth between canned war coverage and home improvement topics, without guilt.

Postman argues that because information has become so plentiful, (a fact even more apparent today with the embrace of the internet) the individual has much less ability to realistically act to change it, good or bad, and therefore for the viewer to fully engage, i.e. To create value in the message must be entertaining. In other words, if we cannot change the Middle East conflict, ourselves, or a foreign war or human rights atrocity then it has no intrinsic value, unless it is amusing. As a reader it is easy to develop this idea, using more modern examples. There is some indication that the developments of social and political unrest in places such as Rangoon or more recently Rwanda were not highly publicized, as the information was not pleasing to the Western publics, and therefore to take the message home, films about the atrocities came out, with the intent of the filmmaker being to build awareness, and possibly make a little money in the process. The films probably made the scenes as accurate as possible in the medium afforded them, with the inclusion of stressing the entertainment factors to a higher degree. These human dramas were highly acclaimed, even after there was not any real way for a modern viewer to act, as the moment for action that would have changed the very real human drama had passed, so the only way to make the publics aware of the human drama, even their own failure to act, once it has long died in opportunity, was to give the story the value of entertainment, using popular American actors and a Hollywood movie set and as Postman points out directive music that tells the viewer what to feel and expect. (88)

The fact that the book is dated, and doesn't even mention the internet, as it was so new in 1985, does not make its message any less true. In a sense some portions of the internet can be seen as a way to combat the phenomena of non-print entertainment feeding the public only that which is engaging. Here I speak of the more underground internet, and the vast areas that attempt to bring real time conflict of reality to the viewer. If Postman were analyzing this vast new media he would likely point out that the counterbalance is taking place, and that restrictions and the natural devolution of the internet into a pay for services media, strongly built on advertising is simply one more way to make information entertaining and profitable. The books value to sociology is largely this very thing. The ability of the messages within it to be overlaid on millions of more modern examples of "reality" as entertainment is the intrinsic value of the work. Postman would likely say that the situation is getting worse, while others in discourse would say that there are many things that counterbalance the problem. Either way the author would be proud, as the goal of any such document is to develop a discussion that makes people more aware of any given social problem, as a first step to change.

Using an established criterion to evaluate this work is important as it is a work that is meant to develop a discourse and thought regarding a pervasive sociological phenomena. The questions I will attempt to answer are; How important is the subject matter to the study of culture and society? Why? What contribution does this book make to sociology? Who will enjoy or benefit from this book? And lastly, would the subject matter benefit from a more modern rendition of the work?

As the development of communication technology exceeds the ability of culture and sociology to fully understand the implications of emerging medias this work is essential for the purpose of further thought. Postman goes back even as far as the first technology-based remote information dissemination, "the situation created by telegraphy, and then exacerbated by later technologies, made the relationship between information and action both abstract and remote." (68) Society in general has a tendency to emphasize the more positive aspects of technology development, especially in communications, rather than realistically attempting to counter the real problematic developments of transferring information through new medias. Postman's take on the negative aspects of separating the message from the messenger and the situation they are trying to convey, is interesting to say the least. In it he implies that the message looses its value, even though those who market these technologies would say the opposite. The speed at which people can today receive information, according to Postman is transformative to say the least. Postman counters the positive argument, associated with the need for rapid technology to allow the viewer to be aware of problems and seek out solutions in a timely manner by simply associating the media with the real discontent that it causes. Problems; "...that they are solvable fast, and that they are solvable fast through the interventions of technology, techniques and chemistry. This is, of course, a preposterous theory about the roots of discontent..." In reality Postman realistically observes that the disconnect between the individual and the problem, created mainly by distance as well as entertaining delivery offers the individual an out, to solving the problem and also makes them feel collectively more helpless. The delivery of the news is a good example, as Postman points out that the newscaster is given the task of informing the public without outwardly emoting the real human message of the story. "It is also of considerable help in maintaining a high level of unreality that the newscasters do not pause to grimace or shiver when they speak." (103) to Postman this in a sense gives the viewer permission, and society in general permission to get the news without feeling its message. Working from a later message, it would seem that the messages of the "reality" of the news are not dictated in such a way, like the movies with… READ MORE

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