Gary 9/12

I wish I could say that I totally understand Lyotard after our class lecture, but that would be incorrect. Although the lecture on Lyotard answered many questions, it was not a "Total Metanarritive".

I don't feel that artists and writers have any capability of "healing" the community. Art is an expression and it deals with individuality. A writer's view point is subjective, and by no means should it determine the direction of the community. The main problem with mass media today is the lack of unbiased reporting. The agenda has become so large that everyone is more concerned with putting their "spin" on the story rather than supplying the facts. It interesting to watch how many people watch the news and come away with the story the network wants you to believe, rather than the real truth.

Lyotard says that artists that question the rules "are destined to have little credibility". He may have missed the mark on this one. In today's society it seems like those that not only question, but totally obliterate the rules are the ones that get all of the credibility. The more outlandish you solidifies your stature. The greatness of the work is not judged by talent or skill, but by the dollars that it generates. We also tend to decide what is good by valuing the opinion of the masses. If everyone is talking, it has to be special. If everyone has viewed it, then it must be great.

I watch too much news and listen to way too much talk radio. The talk radio in Florida is absolutely abominable, unless your a totally right wing conservative with an absolutely closed minded approach to life. One larger than life (in his mind), middle aged individual that is the self proclaimed expert on everything, calls the media the "drive by media". This man's show is the largest syndicated talk radio show in America. He sits in his studio and takes bits and pieces from every political and news story available. He then applies his antiquated, right wing Bush babble to everything and feeds it to his hungry audience like a worm to a nest of hungry birds. If this isn't "drive-by" spin, what is? Why is he so successful? Because people believe what they hear and what they read. If it is on the radio, TV or in the newspaper, it must be true. Right???