The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Analysis

A Revolution That Simply Cannot Be Televised.

What is the most influential factor in your life? Better yet, what is it that motivates and directs you the most? This answer is different for everyone; however there is a tendency among lower socioeconomic classes to have little control over their lives, and without even realizing it, for many people in this lower class there is a common apparatus that is constantly influencing their lives negatively. That thing is the Television. In the persuasive poem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron, we are told that the coming revolution will not be televised. My argument is that his message was meant to educate the listeners; specifically, black listeners of that era, that the revolution is a revolution on the consumerism and the ideals fed to us by our televisions; that television creates a culture of inactivity, and directs the our focus away from real issues. This poem is a satirical cry out for black people specifically to distance themselves from their TV’s. We will find out that a revolution on TV itself; is the true revolution.

“Brother” was a popular term for a fellow black person used often in that time. This shows that Heron has a specific audience in mind for his message. He clarifies the use of the word “brother” further when he states, “There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on instant replay” To make more simply, “There will be no pictures of [cops] shootings down [Black people] on instant replay” This statement not only proves Herons specific audience, but also reinforces his primary message; that “The revolution will not be televised”. According to Merriam Webster, the word Brother can be defined as, “one who shares with another a common national or racial origin” Heron is a black man, and so he is speaking to his fellow black