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January 22, 2006

Thomas de Zengotita, Mediated

About three months ago, I got a call from A—, who said she was reading Mediated by Thomas de Zengotita, and that we should read it together. I've finally finished it; I know she's not close, so I'll only include my thoughts here, not our discussion (since we haven't had one yet).

De Zengotita is an anthropology scholar, with degrees from Columbia. He is an adjunct instructor at NYU, and he writes essays for Harper's. It's de Zengotita's anthropology background that makes the book interesting for me. I've read about media an awful lot, but typically I'm reading media scholars.

Warning: This book is a screed. Yes, de Zengotita is really smart, but it appears the only things he specifically looked up for the book were the wording on some John Locke quotes and the dates on a couple of articles he read in the Times. Which is fine. It's not meant to be a researchy sort of book -- it's aimed at a mass market.

Mediated deals primarily with how media has changed our lives -- and it's a good approach for an anthropologist. I'm only going to touch on the things that really interest me. The one thing you should know going in, though, is that de Zengotita uses parts of the book as a pulpit. Primarily for Clinton worship and Bush hatred -- but when he gets on a roll, he just keeps going.

Everybody's an actor. And not only that, but we understand the script. Early on, de Zengotita mentions the funeral of Princess Di. Some people went to actually mourn, but some went to be part of a historic event -- or even just out of a sense of curiosity. But the minute those cameras went on, everyone knew precisely how to act.

And it's not just in situations when the camera is on. We wake up, we decide what to wear -- we dress in character for the day. We do our hair. Shave or wax -- or not. And we fit our characters' descriptions day in and day out. If we change, we need an excuse -- we can't just do it overnight. We might go on a "self-betterment" program, lose weight, start dressing nicer. Or maybe there's some major event in our lives -- that would be an excuse to just turn around and change. The death of a spouse. The house burning down. A major accident. But if we just wake up and decide to change, we have to ease those around us into the change over time.

The loss of heroes. It's not that there are no longer people worthy of our admiration. It's just that in generations past, heroes have had some sort of myth surrounding them. Heroes were taller, faster, stronger than they ever were in real life. They saved more people. They didn't sleep. Whatever. But now we know these people -- we have almost unfettered access to their lives via the media. We know where and how they live. We know what they eat. We know what music we listen to. And we know if they've done something unworthy of our admiration.

The fictionalization of real things. Very few people used to climb Mt. Everest. Now it's become "Mt. Everest," and thousands of people go every year to try to climb it -- people who are not mountain climbers (or even hikers), people who are out of shape, people who are taking their families on vacation. There's a litter problem on Mt. Everest, because people are no longer gearing up for it as a challenge -- they're just going for an experience.

It's the same thing with, say, horses. If we see a horse in real life, we're disappointed if it's not perfectly trim, muscular and fast. If there's a hair out of place, a rash, a sore foot -- well, it's not the "horse" we saw on TV the other day.

Everybody's a rock star. Everybody. Even politicians. Have you seen a political convention lately? Balloons. Theme songs. People standing and cheering with signs. Heck, at the Samuel Alito hearings there were people outside holding signs that said We ♥ Alito. Seriously. That's just nuts.

Recommended? Not really. It's an interesting read, but takes a while to get through. If you've studied media, you're going to be left wanting -- and one reason is the fact that the book is targeted at a mass audience. But if this stuff interests you, well, it's worth a look. I wouldn't go out of your way for it, though.

Posted by josh at January 22, 2006 03:11 PM

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