The New York Times
December 6, 1994, p. C19.
Books of The Times
-------------------
MEDIA VIRUS!
Hidden Agendas in Popular Cuiture
By Douglas Rushkoff
338 pages. Ballantine Books. $21.95.
-------------------
On the 'Datasphere' and a Generation Absorbed in It
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
Douglas Rushkoff's lively new book "Media Virus!" starts off
with the obvious observation that consumer technology (in
the
form of television, faxes, computer networks, video cameras,
satellite dishes, photocopying equipment, etc.) has
transformed
our social environment, and opens out into a provocative
discussion of the role this technology has played in shaping
the
sensibility of Generation X. Although the book is wildly
uneven
-- and filled with some highly questionable assumptions and
overly optimistic assertions -- Mr. Rushkoff makes a
spirited
case for technology's potential to reshape our cultural
agenda.
As Mr. Rushkoff sees it, the "datasphere," what he calls our
media-fed and media-connected world, is highly susceptible
to
"media viruses," that is, ideas, events, controversies and
images that seize the public's attention and spread quickly,
like viruses, throughout the system.
The beating of Rodney King, the Murphy Brown-Dan Quayle
contretemps, the Willie Horton ad campaign and Bart
Simpson's
pranks: all, in Mr. Rushkoff's view, are media viruses that
rapidly infiltrated the national consciousness, surfacing
throughout America in jokes, computer bulletin board
exchanges
and television talk show discussions. The O. J. Simpson case
seems to have erupted after "Media Virus!" went to press,
but
effectively underscores the volume's central thesis.
Such media viruses, Mr. Rushkoff argues, illustrate the
saying
that "a butterfly flapping its wings in China Can create a
hurricane in New York": in our electronically wired world, a
single small event can quickly snowball into a national,
even
global obsession.
To Mr. Rushkoff, the proliferation of media technology is a
positive and egalitarian development, providing individuals
"with the ability to chart and control" the course of the
culture. Information, he argues, is no longer confined to an
elite, but is now available to anyone with access to a
computer
or a television. The Internet, for instance, links people
with
highly specialized knowledge or simple curiosity to other
hackers around the world.
Nor, in Mr. Rushkoff's opinion, is such technology passive.
Rather, he argues, people can use it to express their
opinions,
document local concerns, connect to like-minded strangers.
Ordinary citizens, he observes can ask the President
questions
through electronic town hall meetings and call-in talk
shows.
Individuals armed with camcorders -- like the man who
videotaped
Rodney King being beaten by police officers -- can reach
millions of viewers if their tapes are picked up by a
television
network. And ideologues and entrepreneurs alike can win
followers by using photocowing machines to publish
low-circulation magazines (known as "zines").
For Mr. Rushkoff, in fact, the ever-expanding datasphere
provides would-be activists with all sorts of tools to
purvey
subversive or anti-establishment notions. Zines (devoted to
everything from sex to bomb-building to environmental
disasters), public access cable shows, underground comic
strips
and computer bulletin boards: all can be employed as forums,
he
says, to promote counterculture agendas. Even mainstream
television, he adds, can be used by artists and "media
activists" to "change the way we view reality and thus
reality
itself."
"This mainstream media subversion," he writes, "is
accomplished
through careful and clever packaging. Commercial television
activism means hiding subversive agendas in palatable candy
shells. Most of us do not suspect that children's programs
like
'Pee-wee's Playhouse' or 'The Ren and Stimpy Show' comment
on
gay life styles or that 'The Simpsons' and 'Liquid
Television'
express a psychedelic world view. Children's television and
MTV,
in fact, are the easiest places to launch countercultural
missiles."
In the course of this book, it becomes increasingly clear
that
Mr. Rushkoff himself identifies with the media activists he
is
describing, and this point of view leads him to make some
highly
debatable generalizations. He unquestioningly accepts, for
instance, the assertion made by left-wing theorists that the
datasphere was "put into place by authoritarian forces as a
means of controlling the public," and he allows his
enthusiasm
for the possibilities of media technology to blind him to
some
of its more negative implications.
He praises politicians like President Clinton for going head
to
head with audience members on the Phil Donahue show and
"Larry
King Live," but ignores the fact that such forums are easier
to
spin than sessions with follow-up questions from trained
reporters. He similarly argues that the fast-paced editing
and
discontinuity of MTV videos nurture the interpretive skills
of
audience members, while ignoring the medium's other
consequences
like short-ened attention span.
When Mr. Rushkoff stops trying to proselytize, he is
considerably more persuasive. He provides the reader with a
succinct portrait of the distancing and solipsistic effects
that
technology has had on a generation of young people who grew
up
on television and video games. And he delivers a perceptive
analysis of how traditional television genres -- like police
shows -- have evolved to incorporate more and more ambiguity
into
their narratives and style.
Although readers may violently disagree with some of Mr.
Rushkoff's conclusions, it's impossible to read his book and
not
feel compelled to reassess technology's impact on today's
popular culture. In that sense, "Media Virus!" may itself
prove
to be a kind of media virus.
-------------------
END
December 6, 1994, p. C19.
Books of The Times
-------------------
MEDIA VIRUS!
Hidden Agendas in Popular Cuiture
By Douglas Rushkoff
338 pages. Ballantine Books. $21.95.
-------------------
On the 'Datasphere' and a Generation Absorbed in It
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
Douglas Rushkoff's lively new book "Media Virus!" starts off
with the obvious observation that consumer technology (in
the
form of television, faxes, computer networks, video cameras,
satellite dishes, photocopying equipment, etc.) has
transformed
our social environment, and opens out into a provocative
discussion of the role this technology has played in shaping
the
sensibility of Generation X. Although the book is wildly
uneven
-- and filled with some highly questionable assumptions and
overly optimistic assertions -- Mr. Rushkoff makes a
spirited
case for technology's potential to reshape our cultural
agenda.
As Mr. Rushkoff sees it, the "datasphere," what he calls our
media-fed and media-connected world, is highly susceptible
to
"media viruses," that is, ideas, events, controversies and
images that seize the public's attention and spread quickly,
like viruses, throughout the system.
The beating of Rodney King, the Murphy Brown-Dan Quayle
contretemps, the Willie Horton ad campaign and Bart
Simpson's
pranks: all, in Mr. Rushkoff's view, are media viruses that
rapidly infiltrated the national consciousness, surfacing
throughout America in jokes, computer bulletin board
exchanges
and television talk show discussions. The O. J. Simpson case
seems to have erupted after "Media Virus!" went to press,
but
effectively underscores the volume's central thesis.
Such media viruses, Mr. Rushkoff argues, illustrate the
saying
that "a butterfly flapping its wings in China Can create a
hurricane in New York": in our electronically wired world, a
single small event can quickly snowball into a national,
even
global obsession.
To Mr. Rushkoff, the proliferation of media technology is a
positive and egalitarian development, providing individuals
"with the ability to chart and control" the course of the
culture. Information, he argues, is no longer confined to an
elite, but is now available to anyone with access to a
computer
or a television. The Internet, for instance, links people
with
highly specialized knowledge or simple curiosity to other
hackers around the world.
Nor, in Mr. Rushkoff's opinion, is such technology passive.
Rather, he argues, people can use it to express their
opinions,
document local concerns, connect to like-minded strangers.
Ordinary citizens, he observes can ask the President
questions
through electronic town hall meetings and call-in talk
shows.
Individuals armed with camcorders -- like the man who
videotaped
Rodney King being beaten by police officers -- can reach
millions of viewers if their tapes are picked up by a
television
network. And ideologues and entrepreneurs alike can win
followers by using photocowing machines to publish
low-circulation magazines (known as "zines").
For Mr. Rushkoff, in fact, the ever-expanding datasphere
provides would-be activists with all sorts of tools to
purvey
subversive or anti-establishment notions. Zines (devoted to
everything from sex to bomb-building to environmental
disasters), public access cable shows, underground comic
strips
and computer bulletin boards: all can be employed as forums,
he
says, to promote counterculture agendas. Even mainstream
television, he adds, can be used by artists and "media
activists" to "change the way we view reality and thus
reality
itself."
"This mainstream media subversion," he writes, "is
accomplished
through careful and clever packaging. Commercial television
activism means hiding subversive agendas in palatable candy
shells. Most of us do not suspect that children's programs
like
'Pee-wee's Playhouse' or 'The Ren and Stimpy Show' comment
on
gay life styles or that 'The Simpsons' and 'Liquid
Television'
express a psychedelic world view. Children's television and
MTV,
in fact, are the easiest places to launch countercultural
missiles."
In the course of this book, it becomes increasingly clear
that
Mr. Rushkoff himself identifies with the media activists he
is
describing, and this point of view leads him to make some
highly
debatable generalizations. He unquestioningly accepts, for
instance, the assertion made by left-wing theorists that the
datasphere was "put into place by authoritarian forces as a
means of controlling the public," and he allows his
enthusiasm
for the possibilities of media technology to blind him to
some
of its more negative implications.
He praises politicians like President Clinton for going head
to
head with audience members on the Phil Donahue show and
"Larry
King Live," but ignores the fact that such forums are easier
to
spin than sessions with follow-up questions from trained
reporters. He similarly argues that the fast-paced editing
and
discontinuity of MTV videos nurture the interpretive skills
of
audience members, while ignoring the medium's other
consequences
like short-ened attention span.
When Mr. Rushkoff stops trying to proselytize, he is
considerably more persuasive. He provides the reader with a
succinct portrait of the distancing and solipsistic effects
that
technology has had on a generation of young people who grew
up
on television and video games. And he delivers a perceptive
analysis of how traditional television genres -- like police
shows -- have evolved to incorporate more and more ambiguity
into
their narratives and style.
Although readers may violently disagree with some of Mr.
Rushkoff's conclusions, it's impossible to read his book and
not
feel compelled to reassess technology's impact on today's
popular culture. In that sense, "Media Virus!" may itself
prove
to be a kind of media virus.
-------------------
END