Actual Comment on McLuhan

So I haven't loved McLuhan's book, The Meduim is the Massage. Actually, I've despised it. It feels like a complete contradiction, and sometimes I question whether or not he's actually for the new media or against it -- I guess his humor doesn't work for me.

Speaking of humor, he says on page 92, "Older societies thrived on purely literary plots. They demanded story lines. Today's humor, on the contrary, has no story line--no sequence. It is usually a compressed overlay of stories." Then, in huge bold letters, taking up a fourth of the page: "AMATUER."

WOW. I find it altogether intriguing that McLuhan could possibly feel compelled to comment on humor, as if he is the end-all, be-all of humor knowledge and criticism. While I agree, I wonder why he has decided to call that "amatuer." To me, humor based upon our lives and struggles, those that are composed by the melding of interesting stories and events, are the more entertaining and thought-provoking ones. There is a certain underlying theme or motive behind humor presented in this way, and it calls for a questioning of ideals or morals, etc.

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather hear a joke or a humorous story about life itself than I would about wanna'-hear-how-the-chicken-crossed-the-road-it's-really-interesting-how-he-does-it-and-did-you-hear-the-one-about-what-the-dollar-bill-named-his-daughter-ha-ha-ha.

Melanie

Gender and Opposition -- "Argument Culture"

So the chapter we read from Argument Culture about men versus women when it comes to this "argument culture" was actually the most interesting chapter in the book we've read so far. It was nice to finally have something different.

Mostly, I enjoyed reading about how little kids play -- and having been in a high school class about Early Childhood Education that also delved into the ways children develop and play at young ages certainly helped to encourage my interest -- and how girls and boys differ when it comes to fighting. However, I want to be clear that the comments Tannen made in this chapter are not completely applicable to either sex, for personalities always come into play, as well as the ways the children are raised.

Specifically, I enjoyed reading the last part of the chapter about the differing cultural acceptance of aggressive behavior. I remember being told so many times when I was little (by my step-dad) that if someone was going to pick a fight with me, I should fight back -- and I should win. If someone should try to hit me, I should try to hit them back -- and hit them so hard on the nose that they won't bother me anymore or be aware, even, of what "hit" them. Of course, I know my dad's background as really aggressive, and I know he got into fist-fights again and again as a kid, so his telling me to fight back doesn't surprise me at all. I never had to use his tactics, though, because I always fought like a girl.

Melanie