Kenny Chang
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In writing this column, I was about to go into another alternate
dimension and talk about fictional characters from movies fighting.
I would probably throw in a joke or two, make an obscure reference
to some film or song that a few people know about, and wrap it up
nicely. I was, but I don’t care enough ““ that, and
I’m too lazy. And that’s what scares me. And whom do I
have to blame? The media, of course.
It all stems from what I do most of my time. Well, what do most
days comprise of? Hmm, going home, wasting time, watching TV,
thinking about studying, but of course, going back to wasting time
and watching TV.
“Image is nothing, thirst is everything.”
“Just do it.” “Dr. Pepper makes the world tastes
better.”
My life and preferences are now dictated by television. So this
is what beautiful looks like. Gap jeans fit me well and make me
dance like the guys in “West Side Story.” Ralph
Lauren’s commercials promote the American lifestyle, so I
should partake. I don’t care about my image, I’m just
going to obey my thirst. (But isn’t that an image in
itself?)
Ah, these wonderful paradoxes in which we live. Shall I have my
life dictated to me? Will my thoughts be controlled by
advertisements, the media, living my life through Cara and Keri on
MTV’s “Real World: Season 11 (Chicago)”? The hell
they won’t.
My answer: screw media. I’m not going to watch that
rubbish anymore. No more Rodger Lodge, and watching to see if
anyone got any action in the hot tub on “Blind Date.”
No more Sarah Jessica Parker and her wild sexcapades as Carrie
Bradshaw on “Sex and the City.”
We all say, “No, I don’t watch that much TV,”
but we know the newest, funniest and stupidest commercials. We saw
what happened on “The Bachelor.” We live and die by the
television. A life without TV is a life not worth living. Or is
it?
How far do these influences from television and the media reach?
Well pretty damn extensively, considering that most jokes made now
are drawn from television and film references. How many times have
you and your group of friends said something like “Yeah,
baby, yeah,” or yelled “Run, Forrest, run!” when
you saw somebody running? Way too many times. Of course, I’ll
never get past the endless references to South Park ““
“Oh my God, you killed Kenny. You bastards!” ““
because my name is Kenny, and people like to make that joke. Yea,
really original.
But does that say anything about our generation in general?
There’s always that nonsense about life imitating art, or art
imitating life, or something imitating something, but I think we
should probably stop imitating and start innovating, or initiating,
some “i”-word that sounds clever and makes sense.
I’m sorry, I digress.
However, I do have a point. I think that we need to take a step
back, or was it a step forward? Anyway, a step somewhere, where we
will have some direction. The general malaise, so well pointed out
by Jimmy Carter, continues today, and I think it stems from the
media. We are enthralled by our television sets, and it is not
until we loosen ourselves from our cathode ray chains will we truly
be free.
But are we apathetic? Do we lack originality? I dunno, I
don’t really care.