Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Old Media Sucks, We Need Videodrome

As if TV and Radio weren't bad enough because of all the ridiculous FCC regulations on free speech, Obama wants to take it a step further (h/t Reason):

Democrat Barack Obama said on Sunday he would pursue a vigorous antitrust policy if he becomes U.S. president and singled out the media industry as one area where government regulators would need to be watchful as consolidation increases.

As the old media gets regulated into a snooze fest of watered-down celebrity gossip, mindless sports events, and commercials for Rascals and oxygen tanks, the blogosphere is already getting regulated as well. Tim O' Reilly used a bunch of crazy lawyer speak last year to call for an end to hilarious comments because a few people might find them offensive. A monstrous firewall on information like China's Golden Shield Project is probably in the works for America so that we stay loyal and uninformed consumers going about our meaningless lives. And that's why we need Videodrome now more than ever.

For those who aren't into weird and creepy 80s movies, Videodrome was an excellent Cronenberg flick starring James Woods and Blondie's Deborah Harry. It involves watching ultraviolence on TV and thereby triggering massive hallucinations from the coded signals that get sent to the observer. Soon, you become immersed in a reality where you can't distinguish truth and the surreal.

Let's be honest here, reality is a serious drag. Nagging kids, girls that won't talk to you at the club, that asshole at work who dinged your car with his BMW. Who wouldn't pay for the Videodrome experience to permanently escape our depressing world? I'm signing up for Videodrome, and I might even get to see a 1983 Deborah Harry in the nude.


Long Live the New Flesh

No comments:

Post a Comment