A tribute to and a lament for Marshall McLuhan continues. If he had lived Marshall would have been 100 on July 21, 2011. Join me in the countdown to his centennial, and an exploration of more of his observations on the way media work in the electric age in which we live.
Television
Girls in the TV age
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Thoroughly uncompetitive modern Millie.
“In our TV age, girls don’t have the one-upmanship problem of goals. Girls don’t have to specialize. They are all-embracing, as it were.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Is McLuhan right or wrong?
Why don’t you be the judge? Click below to see some testimony on the question.
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 60.
Will TV elect our next Prime Minister?
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Meet the new NBC and CBS.
“NBC and CBS could easily become the political ‘parties’ of the future, just as the New York Central and the Pennsylvania railroads were once the political parties of the nineteenth century.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). The future is here…
CTV, Global, and the CBC are hard at work in the current Federal election in Canada. And so are the more traditional political parties with a little help from TV.
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 52.
It’s all happening here
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). The sorcery of TV.
“TV means that the Vietnam war is the first to be fought on American soil. Parents can now see their sons killed in living color. All sons become ours on TV.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Today, with what’s been happening …
In Japan, Libya, Egypt, and elsewhere our TV family has never been bigger or more stricken with tragedy. It is possible that this experience of a seemingly unending TV cooled string of hot conflicts and disasters may well prove today to be as McLuhan said about the experience war on TV in the sixties “unbearable.”
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 52.
The rich, the poor, and TV.
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Watch out old world!
“The TV child, rich or poor, shares the same new information world. The old hardware can’t match the riches of TV software imagery, whether at school or at the A&P.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). McLuhan’s critics found statements like this one infuriating.
McLuhan they said was confusing image with reality. McLuhan was saying something very different. A bit like, “how can you keep them down on the farm after they’ve seen Paris?” TV he’s saying is a revolutionary force. Having a TV in your living room is like inviting Che to have dinner with the family. No telling what type of ideas they’re going to pick up.
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 311.
The craftiness of TV.
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Its subliminal!
“TV is not only an X-ray ‘zerothruster’ or fire god like Zoroaster, but it is entirely subliminal in its impact, as is the case with all other new media.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Meaning?
It works on us in ways we are unaware that it is working. But how that actually happens was not Marshall’s business to discover. It is ours, if we choose to. If not, he has other ideas. For example
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 208.
The deadliness of TV
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). What happened to Miss America?
“Miss America was killed by TV along with the Hollywood star system, and the political parties.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Is there anything TV didn’t do?
In the thinking of Marshall McLuhan TV is the joker. Why is Vietnam happening or not happening? Why are students rioting or not rioting? Why is anything happening or not happening? The eager follower of Marshall McLuhan knows that TV is probably to blame. And in our time the modern Marshall McLuhans have a new joker card to play – the internet. I wonder what the internet is up to today.
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 174.
Marshall McLuhan on the present state of TV
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Service as a matter of crisis
“At present, TV is a service only during a crisis.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Providing the lights don’t go out.
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 104.
Marshall McLuhan on pay TV
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). You become your own programmer
“Subscription TV means audience participation in programming without benefit of ratings or sponsors. Instead of a package deal, the viewer will get service. Service as a matter of course and not a matter of crisis.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). What do you want?
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 104.
The mystery of it all
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Just an observation.
“Whodunits as process (not narrative) still hold up on TV.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Do they still?
It would appear so:
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 100.
The cool of color tv
Marshall McLuhan (1970, age 59). Watch and learn.
“Color TV is the coolest possible mythic medium. In the hands of the old movie gang, it is used for hot effects of more intense realism.”
Me (March, 2011, age 58). Have a look
TV color:
Movie gang color:
Cordially, Marshall and Me
Reading:
Marshall McLuhan, Culture Is Our Business, 1970, p. 86.