Television habits that we practice at home are translated into other areas of our lives. For example, talking while watching television is extremely common. ‘Stage IV’ viewers often converse with other people in the room as they watch television. This behavioral pattern has translated to other places including, but not limited to, the movie theatre, the classroom, and the work environment.
People also tend to execute their freedom to get up and go to the bathroom whenever they please, yet another trend that has translated from an in-home habit to one that is demonstrated in public. Students often get up in the middle of class and walk out, without saying a word, in order to use the bathroom. Just like a television program only holds part of our attention, as does the actor on the movie screen or the professor in the classroom. This is the direct result of shorter attention spans, a behavior developed over time as focus on the television becomes less constant. Kottak states that these people (1990: 4) “intend no disrespect. They are simply transferring a home-grown pattern of snack-and-bathroom break from family room to classroom. They perceive nothing unusual in acting the same way in front of a live speaker and fellow students as they do when they watch television.”
In addition to the way we act, television affects the way we think. According to Thinking Like An Anthropologist: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, written by John T. Omohundro, culture is defined as (2008: 27) “the learned, shared understandings among a group of people about how to behave and what everything means.” There is a minimal effect from any single show, just as a show cannot tell a person exactly how to feel. It is important to focus in on television as a whole rather than a series of individual parts. The collective exposure to television in combination with the pervasiveness of the media lead to a complete redefinition of the common knowledge we share with our fellow Americans. Television does not discriminate against a particular segment of the population, but rather spreads the same exact product to every single viewer all at one time. In the words of Kottak, (1990: 7) “Televiewing encompasses men and women of different ages, colors, classes, ethnic groups, and levels of educational achievement. Television is seen in cities, suburbs, towns and country – by farmers, factory workers, and philosophers.” There is simply no other means for delivering the same consistent message to this amount of people from all different walks of life. The result is a change in our interpretation and expectation of the world around us. In order for such a massive change to take place across the board, there must be a shared knowledge held by all members within such a culture. For example, football is a popular sport because most of the people who watch it understand the rules of the game. (Kottak 1990: 43) “Such mass knowledge contrasts with the privileged expertise and resultant prestige of professionals such as lawyers and economists. An activity’s clarity democratizes it.” In other words, mass knowledge delivered via the television set, settles into the collective consciousness of the public, which, in turn, creates a feeling of comradery and enjoyment.
Every time you hear a person spit out a quote from South Park, a cartoon show on Comedy Central, followed by a group of people laughing at the quote, you are experiencing the aforementioned comradery and enjoyment. Part of the enjoyment revolves around the humor in the words themselves, while the other part is the collective recognition and understanding shared by those involved. Another example of shared knowledge leading to joy is in the form of references and call backs. Often times television programs will make a reference to some other event and there, in itself, lies the joke. For example, Community, a prime-time sitcom on NBC, features a reference to the movie Beetlejuice. In the movie, saying the word ‘Beetlejuice’ three times summons the monster from his grave. In Community the word Beetlejuice is worked into the conversation on three separate occasions over the course of the show, and on the third time, a man dressed as Beetlejuice walks by in the background. There is no punch line here other than the fact that a cleverly written reference is being made, and yet, nearly 1.5 million people viewed the clip on YouTube, proving that there is a certain level of enjoyment in the sharing of a common knowledge.
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