As I read the first chapter of Amusing Ourselves to Death, there was a line that stood out to me. "...in America God favors all those who possess both a talent and a format to amuse....in America, the least amusing people are its professional entertainers" (Postman 3). My thought process of this quote was people who entertain and prove themselves worthy in the eyes of the people, are worth remembering and are worth keeping around. With the second quote, from what I understand, I feel he is saying those who fail at amusing people are amusing because of their failure. For example, people who try hard to get others to like them end up being the laughing-stock. Postman goes on to say we only remember things if we're entertained long enough and only when we're entertained. Nowadays, nobody wants to do anything unless it is fun or simple which is what I see a lot of right now. Especially regarding summer homework. Many people are dropping this class because obviously, summer homework isn't the most ideal way of spending summer break. I feel it would be hard to break this pattern since we're already so far into it.
-Mya Tan
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of this quote, as Americans are basically just looking to be entertained, and this entertainment can come from a variety of things including people's failure. People are caught up in the entertainment aspect of things that they don't get the full gist of it, but they do remember some parts due to the entertainment part.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you also. Americans are looking for entertainment in those who prove they're worthy. In such ways can include embarrassing yourself. People are only looking to be amused.
ReplyDelete