Orwell vs. Huxley

The two conflicting arguments that are made in the webcomic are ones of extremes. Orwell’s fantasy world is one where the average person is deprived of the information that lets us thrive, such as books and the right to an opinion. On the other hand, Huxley’s “World State” has made citizens passive and apathetic based on the idea that everything we care about is superficial. That is to say that we care more about how many Facebook friends we have than why the stock market has recently been failing. All the new social media sites are fantastic and keep us in touch with one another, but what do they do to better us as people? Truthfully, I cannot think of one way the social media era has improved our society. Yes, we know what Sally did 2 hours ago and who’s cheering for the Cats this weekend but who the hell cares? There is so much more to life than your social identity. I believe the social media aspect of our generation has resulted in social awkwardness and dependence on technology. As technology advances we need to become aware of the consequences that it is having on our mentalities. If we can recognize that more attention needs to be paid to bigger issues in the world than Facebook and Twitter, then we can successfully use this incredible technology to our advantage, not let it distract us.
The presentation of this argument in a webcomic lets the author illustrate his or her point and make the argument clear. The comic begins with a broad comparison of the two conflicting ideals and then sums up the entire claim in a single statement with two pictures. The pictures really add to what the author is trying to say; they show what the statement above the illustration means and why it’s important. I personally would not have chosen to use this form of persuasion, but the idea of the comic comes across very strongly at the end. He or she could have used a video or essay, but in this case the webcomic does more than either of these forms of presentation could have. Although I wouldn’t have chosen to use a webcomic, the author does an excellent job in showing how both the deprivation and indulgence of information has and/or will affect or society.

Honey Boo Boo

The fact that we, as Americans, are viewing a video of a person committing suicide a couple hundred thousand times says something about the direction in which our society is headed. The more disturbing and shocking a video is, the more people flock to it. Just as the video of Tony Scott’s suicide interested us, the outlandish Honey Boo Boo character also tweaks our interest. Why does this little 6 year old attract over 2 million viewers? Because she’s a child that the average person has never seen before. The thought of a mother giving her daughter liquid crack to do better while she dances and lip-syncs is something that we wouldn’t even imagine happening. This is exactly why were so drawn to it. We can sit on our couch and watch this crazy munchkin and her equally as repulsive mother live their sorry pathetic lives while we laugh.

Albom’s views these two videos as the “melting of our humanity.” I agree to a certain extent. I see the melting of our humanity more when I think of the gruesome movies that Hollywood releases in the modern era. After watching Hostel and Last House on the Left I felt numb and shocked beyond belief. My only thought was how could someone actually make a movie that depicts acts so horrifically real as entertainment? Both forms of entertainment contribute to the “melting of our humanity,” but I find it more disturbing that movies depict these grisly acts than watching a crack baby do pageants. The two are related though, in the way both forms of entertainment shock us. We want to be surprised, we want to see something that’s going to make us uneasy; it is simply what the American entertainment system is feeding off of at this point in time.

The final question Albom presents is: is reality TV making us apathetic? I completely agree with him. Why save a man’s life, when watching him die will get you hits on YouTube? Why try to sort out this circus of a family when we can simply amuse ourselves from their pitiful excuse of a life? We would rather enjoy the show than to do anything to stop it and from all the new reality shows coming to our attention, the trend will only continue to get worse.

The Scam of Reality Television

When I think of reality television, the primary show that pops into my head is Jersey Shore. Back in the glory days of high school I used to feast on the crap that is shown on MTV. Freshmen and sophomore year, I couldn’t wait for “JersDay.” I wanted to be Pauly D and Vinny. I wanted to tan and look like someone out of a Muscle & Fitness magazine. The more I watched the show, the more I realized that these people live the life of gods. Sure they sometimes don’t get along, but they get paid to party! My conception of reality was that somewhere people actually can maintain a functioning lifestyle of these “celebrities” that I idolized. I soon began to wonder that if this show is in fact reality, then why isn’t my life so magnificent to where I can get paid to drink, go to clubs, and have sex? “Reality television” is merely an expression used to twist the image that people have of life. No one actually lives as the stars of Jersey Shore do, and the sooner the men and women of our generation realize this, the better. I am merely using this show as an example because I became so infatuated with the Jersey Shore lifestyle. All reality television shows are using this same lie to keep the money flowing. Keeping up with the Kardashians and The Bachelor all use this concept of reality to maintain the mindset that people actually live their lives like this. The only “real” part of reality television is the money that the producers make from scripting the show. The shows are in fact interesting which is why they’re so much fun to watch. If the producer didn’t spice up the show, then no one would give the show another chance. It would be boring and quite ordinary, just like the lives of every other citizen. “Reality television” is a scam.

Just checking to see that this works!