I wrote: > If you prefer similar information from an organization with their liberal > bona fides in order, check out: > > http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/ > > This is the website for the Frontline program, "Merchants of Cool"
To which David Epstein responded: "How is it similar? The Frontline site appears to be about the concentration of mass-media outlets into the hands of a few commercial powers who blur the boundary between information and marketing." This is one thread or theme in the program but only one. There is a related theme about how teens are being exploited in the creation of an adolescent consumer culture. These themes must be what got the program past the liberal censors ;). "The site for the Fox News special doesn't even implicitly allude to that problem. Yet it does find room to wring its hands about such corrupters as "salacious dress" and "the Internet" (though the latter is the only mass medium that enables each kid to _voice_ opinions instead of being given one)." The Frontline episode also discusses "salacious dress" (they discuss MTV's invention and marketing of the alleged prototypical adolescent male, the mook, a Tom Green-type character, and the alleged prototypical adolescent female, the midriff, a Britney Spears clone) and the negative effects these images have on real adolescents. They condemn MTV's nonstop marketing of the "salacious" excesses of Spring Break programming. I have to say that one of the most thought-provoking moments for me (although it may be a "Duh" moment for others) is that MTV is more like the Home Shopping Network than a traditional network that contains entertainment content broken up by advertising. MTV, it is claimed, is 100% advertising whether it is showing an actual paid ad, or a music video (designed to sell an album) or other programming used to sell the MTV lifestyle and hype other parts of their own corporate empire. They also discuss the use of the internet although I don't know if it would be fair to characterize it as "hand-wringing". They discuss the use of internet chatrooms to promote various brands (people paid to log on anonymously to chatrooms to talk up certain products). Overall, it takes a very negative view of the effects of the media on teens and their culture (they conclude there basically is no teen culture that is not generated in corporate boardrooms). Although the problems are exacerbated by the fact that the power of the media is concentrated in only a few large conglomerates, that fact basically just makes the conspiracy of teen marketing easier to accomplish. The program comes down very strongly on the side that mass media focused on teens is having a very negative impact on teens. BTW, if you are looking for a fictional companion piece to "Merchants of Cool", I suggest seeing "Josie and the Pussycats". Especially after seeing "Merchants", the parody of "Josie" won't seem so extreme. Rick Froman John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
