Mike clearly expresses his disdain for MTV right from the start. Or does he? With his wishy-washy stance on this topic, I find that Mike must have spent a lot of hours in front of the tube. He goes from vehemently criticizing MTV’s biggest hits, all of the way to accrediting the aforementioned hits for contributing to what a great person he’s become. He makes a lot of great points: that MTV is often a safe haven for television shows that seem to be too racy to be on air, or that some of these other series help people to ‘fit in’. However, Mike contradicts himself over and over. He claims Beavis and Butthead was “more detrimental to my health than a couple dozen straight shots of vodka” and then in the very next paragraph, speaks of how the show taught him how to be more accepting and forgiving of others. Oh yes, Mike, being tolerant and magnanimous to our peers is looked upon as far worse than alcohol poisoning. In fact, I think it tears up more families than alcoholism as well. Bang-up job, Mike.
This brings me to one of my main points: that MTV has most certainly had an effect on Mike’s life- Unfortunately, I’m under the impression that it’s a negative effect. MTV unmistakably uses crude television shows in order to capture the public’s eye (it’s like a train wreck: it’s so terrible that it’s fascinating and you can’t look away) and Mike uses crude analogies to attract readers. It’s almost an insult to my eyes to open up a book that I just paid $59.00 for, just to read this bigot’s insensitive statements about third world countries (i.e. when he claims that the teens on TRL are learning how to be refugees in an African nation by hopping and screaming “like rabid dogs”, as if any refugee deserves to be categorized with a wild beast). Oh, and I guess that when he brings up how these MTV shows “taught him how not to act” because now he “treats others the way he would want to be treated”, he totally means that he wants to be called a rabid dog. He is such a charming fellow.
Mikes writing style can be described as moderately interesting, but mainly offensive.
This brings me to one of my main points: that MTV has most certainly had an effect on Mike’s life- Unfortunately, I’m under the impression that it’s a negative effect. MTV unmistakably uses crude television shows in order to capture the public’s eye (it’s like a train wreck: it’s so terrible that it’s fascinating and you can’t look away) and Mike uses crude analogies to attract readers. It’s almost an insult to my eyes to open up a book that I just paid $59.00 for, just to read this bigot’s insensitive statements about third world countries (i.e. when he claims that the teens on TRL are learning how to be refugees in an African nation by hopping and screaming “like rabid dogs”, as if any refugee deserves to be categorized with a wild beast). Oh, and I guess that when he brings up how these MTV shows “taught him how not to act” because now he “treats others the way he would want to be treated”, he totally means that he wants to be called a rabid dog. He is such a charming fellow.
Mikes writing style can be described as moderately interesting, but mainly offensive.
2 comments:
Thoughtful insights Marissa. Your analysis is well supported by your specific examples; therefore, you clearly prove your claim.
After reading ‘Music Television Mike’, I was quite satisfied to find out that there was someone else in the world that shared a few similar thoughts of mine on what MTV represents and how poorly it can affect adolescences and their naïve minds. As for his writing style, Michael Hendrickson wanted to portray a certain connection between him and his readers. Therefore, seemed to produce this piece of writing in a colloquial manner. In other words, Mike’s essay was written in a way that could be easily understood by a teenager. Hendrickson was able to write with his intellectual mind, a simple, perceptive reading for younger adults. For instance, Hendrickson states, ‘To be frank, it is easier to spot the mitochondria of a human cell (yeah, it’s the powerhouse of the cell) with the naked eye than to pinpoint how tiny the level of quality MTV throws at me daily’. The author of this writing presents his viewpoints sardonically as it easily defines what a mitochondria is. In other words, Hendrickson ‘dumbs’ down his material in order for a more naïve audience to comprehend his meaning. Mike seems to remain sarcastic in many terms throughout the majority of his piece. Furthermore, the interesting connection between my opinion on MTV and the authors’ is that we both seem to have been positively influenced by the ‘MTV generation’- as strange as that may sound. Hendrickson points out how horrific some human beings are in treating their ‘partners’, while describing the TV shows, ‘NEXT’, and ‘PARENTAL CONTROL’. I believe it is rather impressive that Hendrickson, as his own typical MTV-loving teenager, could distinguish between the ‘right’…and the ‘wrong’. I respect his quoting during the last few paragraphs of, ‘Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Go figure’. I completely agree with most everything that he has written in this passage and the approach that he had in producing such an outstanding article.
bp2.blogger.com/.../s1600-R/mtv_logo.jpg
Post a Comment