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| 10.7.05 |
| vicarious entertainment |
joel stein has some interesting opinions about the new harry potter book and adults' fascination with children's media in today's times. at first skim of his bitingly sarcastic commentary it is easy to discount his ravings. but when you really get to the heart of what he is analyzing, well, the man's got a point. why are we so loyal and quick to support the simplistic, children's entertainment?
this particular quote i find to be quite telling:
A culture that simplifies its entertainment down to fairy tales is doomed to simplify the world down to good and evil. that's the closest i've seen stein write anything remotely political, but could it possibly be that our ability to accept that others are "evil" and america is "good" is related to such simplistic media as children's movies and books? stein is indirectly arguing that we are being lazy in our ability to think critically - a skill that is sharpened by reading books and seeing movies that are intended to affect thought. this laziness applied to our leisure activities could arguably be laziness applied to our political positions.
of course if you take the position that art is imitating life, well, then it is the world that is good and evil. the books and movies just relect that. |
| posted by Paige @ 9:49 AM |
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| 1 Comments: |
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interesting. i spent at least an hour wondering around the children's section of my public library yesterday. partly because i am considering becoming a youth services librarian and partly because i find adult literature boring. i am sure much of it is well written. but, much of it is about what i do, see, or experiences i have had in a normal day. a character overcoming money issues, love issues, family issues. please...24 hours is enough. i want to be in experiences i cannot see and do. never will i see a game of quiditch or be able to watch the owls come flying through the cafeteria downstairs with the mail.
i read his article. what adult literature very often lacks is imagination. and if i have to set that asside in order to be a mature mentally stimulated individual, i choose stupidity. much like christianity can be fun and not a set of have-tos and do-nots, so can children's literature be thought provoking. anyone else see the Christ references in book one? that will start a good conversation. ;o)
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interesting. i spent at least an hour wondering around the children's section of my public library yesterday. partly because i am considering becoming a youth services librarian and partly because i find adult literature boring. i am sure much of it is well written. but, much of it is about what i do, see, or experiences i have had in a normal day. a character overcoming money issues, love issues, family issues. please...24 hours is enough. i want to be in experiences i cannot see and do. never will i see a game of quiditch or be able to watch the owls come flying through the cafeteria downstairs with the mail.
i read his article. what adult literature very often lacks is imagination. and if i have to set that asside in order to be a mature mentally stimulated individual, i choose stupidity. much like christianity can be fun and not a set of have-tos and do-nots, so can children's literature be thought provoking. anyone else see the Christ references in book one? that will start a good conversation. ;o)