TV demands sophistication and insouciance.
Words of advice for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and company...
Way back in 1968, Marshall McLuhan explained that TV candidates must understand "the contemporary interface of all cultures" and should not "be deluded into any earnest regard for any one of them."
The wise candidate shows insouciance (indifference) as a survival technique. Jeb Bush serves as a cautionary tale for wanting the job too much.
McLuhan warns against getting in a huff about the immorality of it all... "The new changes are not moral but technological."
Saturday Evening Post (August 10, 1968)All of the Candidates are Asleep
By: Marshall McLuhan
Why should TV demand sophistication and insouciance? Simply because it is a depth medium for which earnestness is fatal. Depth requires perception on many levels, and, therefore, an absence of single purpose or direction. An all-at-once world, fashioned by electric information, demands a candidate full of puns and expected nuances. Such a man is one who knows so much about the contemporary interface of all cultures that he cannot possibly be deluded into any earnest regard for any of them. The new changes are not moral but technological.
No comments:
Post a Comment