Visions Of Technology by Richard Rhodes

Author:Richard Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone Book

Percentage of words consumed by medium, 1960–1980 (selected).

FIST FIGHTS AND FEMALES

ERNST ALEXANDERSON, 1960

A pioneer of television research at General Electric in the 1930s wrote this letter to a newspaper television critic in 1960, at eighty-two.

Forty years ago I had occasion to speculate on the impact on the world of radio and television. Now we know some of the answers and it has occurred to me that the four most popular programs could be described as follows using the classical verse measure of hexameter:

Fist fights and females and guns with horses and wagon as background

Fist fights and females and guns with a river boat as a background

Fist fights and females and guns with Indians and horses as background

Fist fights and females and guns with horses and cows as a background

This is not a sarcasm, quite the contrary. The popularity of these programs proves that the world is yearning for an escape from modern art, modern music and the Cold War, wishing to return to fundamental emotions.

I hope you will encourage such programs with themes from other ages such as the Vikings and variations as a substitute for fist fights. There is no substitute for females.

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