Blame TV? An analysis of Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death
American society has become exceedingly trivial, no doubt about that. It may also be true that certain forms of communication contributed to this current state of affairs. However, surely it is overly simplistic to claim, as Neil Postman does in his book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," that these forms of communication, namely television and its predecessors, the telegraph and photograph, single-handedly brought about this decline in the quality of public discourse? This essay, then, is an attempt to lift some of the blame off of TV's shoulders. It will demonstrate that the trivialization of society occurred not because of TV but, rather, concurrently with its development - through sheer coincidence. Furthermore, it will argue that, perhaps, society has always been somewhat trivial and entertainment-obsessed, that Postman is merely glamorizing or misinterpreting certain aspects of 19th century print society. Postman himself, in the early pages of his book, admits that his story is probably not anywhere near the whole truth. Unfortunately, he fails to keep this admission in mind when later developing his argument. If he had, he would have been forced to take into consideration, or at least acknowledged, factors beyond the deve
The content of TV in the Middle Ages would have been utterly alien to today's America. As for public debates, which Postman holds up as the supreme example of 19th century society's appreciation for quality public discourse, whether these were indeed attended in the interests of furthering one's is, again, debatable. They invented the vacation, they spent their money on frivolous possessions, they sought, after years of hard work with no hope of happiness in this life, to have fun. Factors such as cultural, religious and historical identity, not to mention economic developments. Postman himself describes the crowd at these events as being rowdy and festive - almost as though they were attending a modern-day baseball game. If people fail to do so it is because they no longer see many issues, which were of utmost importance in the 1800's, as being significant today. That, in fact, humans have always sought this to the extent that they were able. Indeed, it is quite possibly irrelevant whether the cause of this decline in public discourse is TV or to other factors. Postman's insistence on comparing serious literature to frivolous TV, essentially comparing apples and oranges, seriously weakens his argument. It has only as much potential as the society it finds itself in wants it and needs it to have. Naturally TV, introduced into a society with these newfound values and desires, reflected this new mentality and developed its current, entertainment-based content. Just because the form of TV enables it to be used in a certain way does not mean that this is its ultimate purpose, predestined by its form. What could people have done for entertainment but read? Furthermore, was what they read incomparable in content to what we, today, watch on TV? If one takes into consideration the fact that, based on prevailing attitudes, people's concept of what constitutes entertainment may change, this is most likely. After all, the bible - the best-selling book of 19th century America, according to Postman - is essentially a collection of simply told fantastic stories. In short, close observation of TV's development in foreign countries makes it clear that the content of TV is shaped by the society it finds itself in, not vice-versa.
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Acceptance Essays
