In media studies, Ien Ang relates that "the question to ask about the complex relation between media and audiences is not why there is not mere homogeneity, but why there is not more heterogeneity."(1) The situation where Filipinos are in right now shows the world that hey, a carnival is in town - a BIG one too! The carnival's star characters are no less than our top people in government - in the cabinet, legislative, judicial, the congress, the senate, the opposition, other politicians, and all the other watchamacallits...
Our 24-hour circus is so serious and bent on playing the part of making the clown or clowns laugh, cry, get mad, and change faces. They can really act you know. They have only to stay in the circus. And we, we wait, patiently for the inevitable - whatever that is.
People go agog over them. Mediamen do not have to go in so many places just to get their newsbit for the day. People only have to either turn on the boob tube, turn on the radio, or turn the pages of the newspapers and tabloids and instantly see or imagine what the clowns did to contribute to the success of carnival chaos. Well this and all the other news events in and out of our country add spice to being heterogenous but admitedly too, everything becomes homogenous.
People cannot do anything about this. The media can. But the demand for the circus is so great that all media can do right now is to give in to this demand. Media can be gullible...gullibly strong at times. So, everyone gets a free ticket to carnival chaos!
{This is a nice way of understanding postmodern society :) }
1. Ien Ang. In the realm of uncertainty: The global village and capitalist postmodernity. Communication theory Today. 1994.
1 comment:
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