The Culture of Talk Shows
If social order is not a given, if it is not encoded in our DNA, then to some extent we are always in the process of producing "virtual realities," some more functional than others.
Habits, routines, and institutions are the patterns that create the "world taken for granted." Knowledge of how to behave is contained in cultural scripts that are themselves products of human interaction and communication about the nature of "reality." Shame, guilt, embarrassment are controlling feelings that arise from "speaking the unspeakable" and from violating cultural taboos. Society is a result of its boundaries,of what it will and won't allow.
As we watch, listen, and are entertained, TV talk shows are rewriting our cultural scripts, altering our perceptions, our social relationships, and our relationships to the natural world. TV talk shows offer us a world of blurred boundaries. Cultural distinctions between public and private, credible and incredible witnesses, truth and falseness, good and evil, sickness and irresponsibility, normal and abnormal, therapy and exploitation, intimate and stranger, fragmentation and community are manipulated and erased for our distraction and entertainment.
A community in real time and place exhibits longevity, an interdependence based on common interests, daily concerns, mutual obligations, norms, kinship, friendship, loyalty, and local knowledge, and real physical structures, not just shared information. If your neighbor's house is on fire, you are motivated to help put it out, or at least interested in having it put out, because you care about your neighbor and the fire is a threat to your own house. Television talk shows create an ersatz community, without any of the social and personal responsibilities that are attached to real life.
Therapy as entertainment is the appeal of these shows. The so-called hosts rely on the cynical use of the therapeutic model for psychological sound bites. The need to educate and inform the audience is the voiced rationale for getting the so-called guests to give ever more titillating details of their misdeeds, or of the misdeeds done to them by family or friends (often not on the show).
The underlying assumption -- that most social pathology is the result of a medical problem beyond the control of t...
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...rs. Traditional expectations of polite formalities and barriers are constantly breached within the action of the play. The husband, at one point says, "Aww, that was nice, I think we've been having a, a real good evening, all things considered. We've sat around, and got to know each other, and had fun and games . . ."
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, however disconcerting to the audience, is just a play with actors. Television talk shows are arenas for real people. Their manipulation by "hosts," who alternate between mocking, a patronizing cynicism ("I want to be as smart as you someday" -- Phil), and a carefully constructed verisimilitude of caring ("Thank you for sharing that with us" -- Oprah) must have repercussions for the "guests" after the show is over. These people may really be seeking help or understanding. Appropriate reactions seem virtually impossible under the circumstances. We the viewing audience have entertained ourselves at the disasters of real lives.
This is one of the more shameless aspects of the talk show spectacle. As passive witnesses, we consume others' misfortunes without feeling any responsibility to do anything to intervene.
Throughout Jackson's two terms as President, Jackson used his power unjustly. As a man from the Frontier State of Tennessee and a leader in the Indian wars, Jackson loathed the Native Americans. Keeping with consistency, Jackson found a way to use his power incorrectly to eliminate the Native Americans. In May 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This act required all tribes east of the Mississippi River to leave their lands and travel to reservations in the Oklahoma Territory on the Great Plains. This was done because of the pressure of white settlers who wanted to take over the lands on which the Indians had lived. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East Coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. In 1830, a new state law said that the Cherokees would be under the jurisdiction of state rather than federal law. This meant that the Indians now had little, if any, protection against the white settlers that desired their land. However, when the Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme Court, they were told that they could not sue on the basis that they were not a foreign nation. In 1832, though, on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore, eligible to receive federal protection against the state. However, Jackson essentially overruled the decision. By this, Jackson implied that he had more power than anyone else did and he could enforce the bill himself. This is yet another way in which Jackson abused his presidential power in order to produce a favorable result that complied with his own beliefs. The Indian Removal Act forced all Indians tribes be moved west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw was the first tribe to leave from the southeast.
It was able to make him aware of the injustice around him. It allowed him the tools to detest the system of slavery, which without, his story would not be atypical. White slave owners understood that with education the black man would not take an inch, but an ell. This is exactly what Douglass did, utilizing this resource to unclasp the grip of slavery and spread his knowledge. Literacy inherently in the beginning of its story with Douglass, was scattered into pieces. He configured these pieces into his understanding of a weapon his masters detested. Douglass through comprehension unsheathed the manifestation of literacy, but found it sharp enough to cut even himself. Ultimately smelting his weapon, he harnessed its full potential, reforming his tool into a key. This key was able to open the door to Douglas’s life beyond even the long unraveling whip of suffrage. Frederick Douglass through his story used knowledge, as
... the unwilling tribes west of the Mississippi. In Jackson’s letter to General John Coffee on April 7, 1832, he explained that the Cherokees were still in Georgia, and that they ought to leave for their own benefit because destruction will come upon them if they stay. By 1835, most eastern tribes had unwillingly complied and moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to help out the resettled tribes. Most Cherokees rejected the settlement of 1835, which provided land in the Indian territory. It was not until 1838, after Jackson had left office, that the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia. The hardships on the “trail of tears” were so great that over 4,000 Cherokees died on their heartbreaking westward journey. In conclusion, the above statement is valid and true. The decision the Jackson administration made to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River was a reformulation of the national policy. Jackson, along with past Presidents George Washington, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson, tried to rid the south of Indians This process of removing the native people was continuous as the years went on.
One day, Douglass eavesdrops on him and Mrs. Auld’s conversation. Mr. Auld persuades her that reading “could do him (Douglass) no good, but a great deal of harm.” (page 39) This antithesis along with the rest of his statement makes Douglass come to the realization that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day on, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write,
Before the two came together, Romeo was completely and utterly spiritless. This was because of a girl who did not love him back. However, as soon as his eyes wandered upon Juliet, all of his woe melted away. Romeo claimed to be in love once again, even though he did not know her
Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, they are constantly faced with trials and tribulations. Every time they overcome an obstacle, they are met with another issue, one after the other. Because they are so overcome with the kind of desperation and impulsivity that love produces, they are willing to risk disownment by their polarized families, disobey the wishes of their parents, and even put their lives on the line for one another. All of these risky and dangerous situations that Romeo and Juliet decide to place themselves in are taken without the concrete knowledge that the outcomes of their actions will successfully aid them in their goal of being together in the end. To showcase this underlying theme of love as a dangerous
Mitchell, D. (2005). Power media bluebook: With talk show guest directory. (15 ed.). Broadcast Interview Source, Inc. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=AQqnULQq6JUC
This “other community” comes into being when individuals’ lives connect or bump up against one another without necessarily having anything in common. These interactions can arrive inexplicably. It is often difficult to understand these “others” whom we do not share the same qualities of the rational community, although we recognize them as individuals. We may recognize our shared vulnerability, and it supersedes that although our ethical responsibilities have no clear rational command, they nevertheless make demands upon us.
Then in 1830 congress passed the Indian Removal Act. In response to this act a Cherokee named Aitooweyah wrote this to John Ross, the principle chief “We, the great mass of the people think only of the love we have to our land for…we do love the land where we were brought up. We will never let our hold on this land go…to let it go it will be like throwing away…[our] mother that gave…[us] birth””. The act led to two Supreme Court cases: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia. The outcome of these cases would not be enforced. When asked about enforcing the courts decision President Andrew Jackson said ““John Marshall has made his decision; let him enforce it now if he can””.
In 1830, the President of the United States Andrew Jackson issued an order for the removal of the Native Americans, which passed through both houses of Congress. “When Andrew Jackson became president (1829–1837), he decided to build a systematic approach to Indian removal on the basis of these legal precedents.” (William. Pg 5). It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands to the west. “Thomas Jefferson was the original instigator of the idea of removing a...
...her say to us “No, I’m sorry I can’t do that right now, I’m watching my show.” Americans have ceased to live their own lives and have practically become slaves to their televisions and the corporations that stand behind them.
... and is ready to swear the vows of marriage with Romeo. Juliet’s reckless and hasty decisions demonstrate her impulsiveness. Juliet’s love for Romeo largely dictates her brash decisions and speech. If Romeo did not enter Juliet’s life, she would never have known the hurt and heartbreak she experiences throughout the tragedy.
What pleasure do you get from watching a group of people humiliate themselves in the name of television? Media both in the UK and around. the world seems to have "discovered" that so-called "reality" shows are. very profitable, resulting in a growing string of such shows in recent years. years.
A. “Reality TV Offers an Amoral Message.” Reality TV. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford, Ph.D. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2008, 32-37. Print.
A second reason for people’s love of reality television, is the fact that reality TV can stir the viewer’s emotions. “While some cheer for their favorite celebrity on Dancing with the Stars….” (Lehmann). “ Or cry with joy watching Say Yes to the Dress…” ( Lehmann). These are just two of many example quotes that show that people sometimes get very emotional by simply watching other people live out their lives so publicly. Many people id...