Thursday, January 17, 2008
Junk Culture
Opinion © 2008, by Guy L. Evans
January 17, 2008
When you think of junk, you think of inferior quality and diminished value. You also think of disposable. Junk music. Junk art. Junk television. Junk food. Junk cars. Junk language. Junk relationships.
Americans accept junk as normal. Everything they have is junk, of inferior quality and diminished value, and therefore disposable. They value nothing. They care for nothing (except, oddly, their pets). If you become even mildly displeased, get rid of it and get another one.
I was watching a show on PBS. They were reviewing the history of television shows from the late 1940’s to the 1980’s.
The show that stood out from all the other variety shows previous to it was Laugh In. For those of you old enough to remember it, Laugh In was very popular. It really started the trend in sound bite entertainment. But, Laugh In was, in a word, incoherent.
You can’t make a show out of stringing together twenty-four minutes of three- to ten-second sound bites. Yes, Laugh In was popular at the time. Can you find any re-runs of Laugh In on cable or satellite networks today? You can find the Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, and even the Twilight Zone. But, no Laugh In.
Junk is junk, and Laugh In was junk.
People still know how to sell junk, and other people still buy junk.
When it comes time to buy, though, ask yourself this: Does this help me, or does it just indulge me?
What do you think?
Guy L. Evans
Aurora, Colorado
Opinion © 2008, by Guy L. Evans
January 17, 2008
When you think of junk, you think of inferior quality and diminished value. You also think of disposable. Junk music. Junk art. Junk television. Junk food. Junk cars. Junk language. Junk relationships.
Americans accept junk as normal. Everything they have is junk, of inferior quality and diminished value, and therefore disposable. They value nothing. They care for nothing (except, oddly, their pets). If you become even mildly displeased, get rid of it and get another one.
I was watching a show on PBS. They were reviewing the history of television shows from the late 1940’s to the 1980’s.
The show that stood out from all the other variety shows previous to it was Laugh In. For those of you old enough to remember it, Laugh In was very popular. It really started the trend in sound bite entertainment. But, Laugh In was, in a word, incoherent.
You can’t make a show out of stringing together twenty-four minutes of three- to ten-second sound bites. Yes, Laugh In was popular at the time. Can you find any re-runs of Laugh In on cable or satellite networks today? You can find the Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, and even the Twilight Zone. But, no Laugh In.
Junk is junk, and Laugh In was junk.
People still know how to sell junk, and other people still buy junk.
When it comes time to buy, though, ask yourself this: Does this help me, or does it just indulge me?
What do you think?
Guy L. Evans
Aurora, Colorado
