A Thinking Television Project-- High on Merit Low on Ratings

I was reading a paper recently discussing the issue of media literacy linking it to a critical pedagogy. The paper centers around a project called, "Thinking Television." In short, we have a professor at a university in Georgia who has taken on the task of fusing media literacy with an emancipator media project as the writer puts it, within the general rubric of "critical media literacy." What does this mean? I interpret critical at this point to fall within the realm of critical race theory. In short, we see many structures in the United States through the lens of race, class, gender and of course power through economic and social means. What I really liked about this paper is that it examined the intersections of media literacy and praxis within a structured setting. What the author attempted to execute really was a serious inquiry into the meaning and myth making process within a post modernistic society. The post modern mythology is informed via electronic means of production and dissemination. The post modern mythology particularly within our 21st century construction espouses tales congruent in some cases with the likes Homer and Voltiare. The stories are constantly driven by the dominate or hegemonic discourse. It is here where we really are able to examine how the interlocking mechanics of this project. The professor provides students with an opportunity to create their own television program treatments under the premise that programs generate revenue and appeal to a mass audience demographic which I believe is 18 to 25. Looking at the paper and the results yielded, the professor seems to be at a crossroads of sorts where he is wondering if he should continue the project. His problem or better yet his question is does his project really make a difference. Some points that he has mentioned is his students are primarily white, they have disassociated themselves from any type of social consciousness, and have divorced themselves from the sensitivity of stereotypes so much to the point where their standpoint blocks them from being critical of the material they create. Again, going back to the theory of this paper, hegemonic discursive control, it really answers a question that I have had for years now as to why network television represents the great white way. As Peggy Macintosh puts it, "Being White means never having to say you are sorry." A life free of impunity represents a fantsy that few classes of people live but many reach for. I looked at this question pretty much since 1982 when I was 12 years old. As a grown up who is more informed of the politics of race and power, it as though we (the other folk) are in a constant state of negotiation. Lets get specific. As a kid, I loved TV. In fact, I would venture to say now that TV was like a narcotic to me. It was always there, it rarely talked back and it numbed me when I needed to escape from the realities of my life. Around that time I was coping with some rather complicated issues for a 12 year old. My mom and dad had split, I was relocating from one place to another. In short there were few constants in my life except television. I was able to be absorbed into the worlds of espionage, high crime, high tech, science fiction, fantasy, you name it. Without thinking, I would watch shows there white men would do some pretty damn interesting heroic things. I mean lets face it, how many people do we know who could get blown up all to bits in as a test pilot and by the end of the next commercial, run sixty miles per hour. Who wouldn't want to live a life of a hobo who had the ability whenever he got angry or nervous could creatively transform himself into a different creature and with brute strength solve their immediate problem regardless free of property damage. But my personal favorite is the man who live the ultimate lone ranger fantasy. He gets an extreme plastic surgery make over after being shot for dead and given all the money and resources of a billionaire to take a bite out of crime. Instead of a horse, he has a trusty black sports car/crime lab/tank/rockeslead. Of course the common denominator is that these are all white men and the masterminds behind these creations are of course white men. At 12 years old, with a complicated living situation (to say the least) this stuff as drastic as it may sound, is like crack for kids. If you are a white person ingesting this stuff, it feeds into the mythos of white male superiority. At the risk of sounding cynical, these urban legends represent a wonderful life. However, if you are not, then the hidden message is that the closest you can ever come to this wonderful life is that of being subordinate, and you better be glad you have that opportunity. Its like Affirmative Action on the terms of Uncle James (Jim) Crow. Imagine the Lone Ranger under these terms... "Tonto, you can ride with me, hell you can even ride beside me but you keep a slight distance. You can feed my white horse but don't ride my white horse. When I ride into this Indian spot, you are my trusty trained savage. Now I have civilized you and you are my shinny representation of how I things aught to be. You are my creation and you are the new representation of the crazy savages. Now, don't let me get scalped either. You speak that language they talk son in short you work for me. Now lets get to stepping." Me personally, I might watch that because it is honest--brutally honest. Needless to say, in my version, when Tonto bent over to shine the hoof of the white horse, a brown wooden arrow pierced the heart the lone ranger, thus liberating Tonto to start his own horse breeding ranch somewhere in the central continental United States.

I think that might be the problem. If the powers that be allow folk to who don't look like them to start controlling some of these post modern myth factories, quite a few of these stories might have a different ending. Can you imagine a Six Million Dollar Man who critically weighs the pros and the cons of his bionic servitude. -- Wait a minute, you want me to do what to whom? Why should I go to Cuba and steal their stuff when they have done nothing to us.

What about an Incredible Hulk who actually takes Zoloft to keep himself keep himself calm and actually does work as Dr. Bruce Banner (or whatever his name would be that week) in an underserved underrepresented community. Would he hulk out when his bills were due? Would he hulk out to stop a gang war.

And then lets not forget the Knight Rider, Michael Knight who is loaded and has a talking car to boot. Could you imagine Michael Knight as a global citizen going to Duarfore. How about Devon Miles who actually had ties to Nelson Mandela who was constantly frustrated by bureaucratic red tape who just finally says to hell with it and sends an uneducated Michael into Johannesburg undercover to bust Mandela out of jail.

To me, that’s some imagination when you become critical within the myth making factories. Why don't we ever see anything like this? Like Macintosh says, "Being White Means Never Having to Say You Are Sorry."