Professional’s and What Impressions They Get from Television The four articles listed below all have the common theme of television, though some believe that TV has gone too far, others say that TV has actually made the generation smarter. Shows that some people claim should be off air are talked about their intellectual points, and how society has gone downhill from reality on TV. Johnson, Steven. “Watching TV Makes You Smarter. ” They Say I say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Eds. Gerald Graff, CathyBirkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 2009. 213-230.
Print. In the article written By Steven Johnson, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, states that the TV audience has become more cognitively demanding then earlier generations. Johnson believes that shows on TV are popular because they make the audience think more to understand the show. He has come up with an idea called the Sleeping Curve; which is any form of entertainment that an audience has to pay attention, make inferences, and track shifting social relationships. Johnson believes that shows have become more realistic by having multithreading of characters and events.
Through shows with multithreading the audience is getting a “cognitive workout” not just life lessons. The pointing arrow on shows has become suddle, causing the viewers to pay closer attention to understand the show. Even reality TV has made audience become more cognitive thinkers by reading people’s actions. Shows in the past did not make a viewer think, and not think is boring according to Johnson. Rushkoff, Douglas. “Bart Simpson: Prince of Irreverence. ” They Say I say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Eds.
Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 2009. 241-255. Print. In the article written by Rushkoff, he says that the creators of The Simpsons believe that the media is trying to program the viewers, they keep them in a state of tension, so then later they buy the products advertised on the commercials. The generation of today also known as the “screenagaer”, they do not fall for the trick of the media; screenagers think they can control the media. The screenager all started with the creation of the remote.
In The Simpsons Homer is the represents an earlier generation of TV viewers that can be easily manipulated and believes everything on TV. Peacocke, Antonia. “Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. ”They Say I say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Eds. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 2009. 257-266. Print. According to Peacocke, Family Guy is not as offensive as people believe it to be. Family Guy points out weakness and defects in today’ society, and has intelligent points even with the coarse scenes.
People believe that Family Guy intelligently satirizes some aspects of American culture. Peacocke believes that Family Guy demonstrates how Americans are willing to follow instructions from celebrities, but not willing to admit that they are. MacFarlene believes that no amount of censorship will change the harsh nature of society. Scenes from Family Guy are coarse but have underlying meaning. Family Guy tries to break down Taboos. Peacocke points out one of Freud’s theories of the unconscious mind that people are animalistic and have aggressive impulses.
The jokes on Family Guy do just that, hit the unconscious mind, making them funny. The Simpsons serves as a lesson in modern media discontinuity. The Simpsons attempts to show the media in a more objective way. Rushkoff compares The Simpsons like a Trojan horse in the way that they make the show look like a cartoon, but actually is something far different. Goldwasser, Amy. “What’s the Matter with Kids Today? ”They Say I say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Eds. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 2009. 236-240.
Print. Amy believes that’s kids from today have been absorbed into technology and that they don’t know how to uses the means of communication. She also believes parents are scared that their children may know way too much about today’s technology. In the article Amy also states Doris Lessing received a Nobel Prize in literature. The main point Goldwasser is trying to get across is that technology is not harming the children of today like everyone may think. So parents’ accept the time they spend in front of a computer because it might be helpful one day.
