December 1, 2004
media obssession
I thought this was an interesting idea:
And maybe we writers continue to produce media, always bent on trying to write the next novel, like Trying to save Piggy Snead , because we sense this is the way to break down the walls and solve our grotesque obsession with media.
Media’s main purpose is to allow the Betas and Gammas in their tens of millions to find out what the Alphas are up to on an hourly basis, so they can give the latter their money.
We think we’re obsessed with media. In fact we’re just obesessed with our own lack of power.
Yeah, you do see that lack of power/obsession with media all over the place — e.g. in the queue in front of the movie theatre. In this case the drive is tied up with fame — “Im glad I’m not an Epsilon.”
But power’s a broad term. Maybe media obsession is evidence of looking for a better relationship with our lives. Failing miserably, we need to hook up to it intravenously.
Observation: there is an almost perfectly indirect relationship between the complexity of someone’s coffee order at Starbucks and how much power they feel they have in the world. The great allure of Starbucks for some is the implicit notion that we can make the barista do whatever we want with that espresso machine and paper cup. The more complex our order, the more we’re exercising ourselves, our frustration and our sense of injustice. Ergo, the downtrodden middle manager orders up the venti, no-whip, half decaf, extra shot, long, dry, non-fat, extra-hot latte, with a twist of lemon.
Come to think of it, most service-oriented companies exist to fill this need. The hard goods or service is just the excuse to begin the real transaction.
Digression: An imp comedian from Newfoundland named Ron James does a bit about walking into a Starbucks and thinking to himself, that ‘Jesus lordy, this is what the world would be like if Hitler had won.’
thomas de zengotita on the mediated world: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ceerock/2004/11/21#a2373