Curious Christian

4 responses to “Idiot America: How Entertainment Is Dumbing Us Down”

1. 

   Steve Hayes

   2011-10-09

   So where do we go from here?

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2. 

   Matt Stone

   2011-10-10

   Steve, I’m not entirely sure as I’m still processing it all. However, I am pondering the overlap between this critique of visual media and what I’ve written more specifically on Christian art. You may recall I’ve voiced a distinct preference for contextual scenes (where the link between image and word, symbol and story is strongest) over decontextualized portraits (where the link between image and word, symbol and story is weakest), particularly in a worship or witnessing context. Considering the place of emotion and visual media in relation to the the postmodern shift, I’d say there is nothing wrong with emotion, but I do have a problem with emotionalism; there is nothing wrong with intellectual humility, but I do have a problem with anti-intellectualism. We seem to be facing a pendulum swing from rationality to romanticism. But what I think would be more heathy is heart and mind integration … and therefore visual – textual integration. If visual media is not as message neutral as it appears at first glance then we need carefully consider integration issues as we engage with it. So, as much as I love visual media, I think the concurrent decline in reading should concern us. With integration in mind I wonder, WHAT FORMS OF VISUAL MEDIA MOST ENCOURAGE ENGAGEMENT WITH TEXTUAL MEDIA?
   In terms of my own kids, I’m encouraging them to read the books of some of their favourite movies and to learn how to both comprehend and critique the underlying mythologies. The other day we were discussing common threads between Narnia and Star Wars and the Bible when, after discussing the Jesus and Satan parallels my eight year old son said, “Edmond [from Narnia] is like Peter [the apostle].” I asked, “Hows that?” He said, “They both betrayed but turned away from the dark side like Darth Vader and were forgiven.” How awesome is that!
   You see, we’re so used to intellectually engaging with textual media and emotionally engaging with visual media, but I think we need to encourage emotional and intellectual engagement with both.

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3. 

   Matt Stone

   2011-10-10

   PS. I have found Neal Stephenson’s book, “In the beginning was the command line” also parallels this discussion. In it he highlights the negative consequences of shifting from Command Line Interfaces (think DOS) to Graphic User Interfaces (think Windows). People say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but sometimes much nuance and deeper understanding is lost in that translation.

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4. 

   Steve Hayes

   2011-10-12

   Check my blog post of today, with comments
   http://methodius.blogspot.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-more-popular-than-michael.html
   A pictures is worth 1000 words, but without the few words it would be meaningless.
   Check also the comment from Graham Downs.
   The image of a “folder” is meaningless, unless you worked in an office and used manual filing systems. The “save” image still shows a stiffy disk — most computers don’t have stiffy drives today. For many things I prefer the command line interface.

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