
Issue No 90		30 March 2001

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Review

Surviving The Temptations of TV Island

Cultural analyst Mark Morey rakes over the coals of American TV culture to find very little is there.

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Who cannot honestly say they were not switching from The West Wing to Temptation Island and then back again on Monday night. What is it about the current crop of American television that we love the great shows and hate the awful shows but still we are able to discuss them all in the corridors of our daily lives.

As we head into the new millennium our televisions have become the receptor (or is it reflector?) of postmodern real-life life. From Temptation Island and Survivor through to The West Wing, The Practice and our favourite the postmodern tank girl, with that relaxed off the shoulder dress sense Buffy. What is it about these shows that enable them to simultaneously engross the masses whilst annoying the crap out of so many of us? I believe it provides us with a window into the shallow sides of our souls.

Although much maligned does not Temptation Island draw us in to the real world of the incredibly stupid? Isn't refreshing and intriguing to realise the beautiful people are really as dumb as we have all hoped? And don't tell me you were not sitting there making the decisions on who should be with who and screaming at the TV, "no not him" or "yes get her"?

What is the fascination with Survivor II? Is it finally that our thirst for real blood was satisfied as Michael found himself in the fire? How many of us screamed at the TV, "That one is for the pig you bastard!!!!" Why is this study of communal living and the politics of life so fascinating? Surely it is more than the fact that everyone, except for the token old and tubby participants (Who says equity programs don't work?), are the fine toned and always semi-naked representatives of our little worlds within our global village. These shows provide the opportunity for us to open ourselves up to the possibilities of what we could be or not be within our global village. These shows provide the opportunity for our dark thoughts to surface legitimately as we feel free to vote off those we hate from our own little islands. We are able to participate in something bigger than ourselves.

From the roller coaster ride of real TV we than find sanctuary in the calming and witty West Wing where it does take a village to raise a child. Why can't we have the American Nation anthem too? It is a global world. What is it about the characters that we love? It's the opportunity to frolic around what we think the White House should be, really nice white men in suits making the correct decisions for us. It's OK to bomb the bastards because they deserve it and Oh for the White House with no interns. We are seeking refuge in what we think the world should be about truth (although its OK to twist it a little because that's how we achieve justice), justice (a smattering of marginalised community representative throughout - although it is still brought to my attention every week that there are no women in positions of power - I will concede that point) and the American way.

These are the same warm feelings generated by the Practice. So what if there are mass murders free on the streets will any of us not stand up for Bobby, a symbol of our own angst-ridden success. He provides the opportunity to be morally bankrupt and still feel good about ourselves. And finally, Buffy everyone's best dressed heroine with great taste. Well except for Reily we all preferred the bad boy Angel who represented the darkness in all of us not this preppy goody too shoes who represents all that is good and wholesome. Buffy provides us with that carefree feeling of doing good with geeky friends who represent our own shortcomings. We feel the exhilaration of slaughtering the evil in our neighbourhood and are also reminded of the fun and happy "Scooby gang" antics that we all want to participate in.

American TV provides us with a lexicon of emotions and images that represent us while at the same time repulse us. It provides what we want, substantial amounts of shallow crap to immerse ourselves in when the real world is too hard.

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Issue 90 contents

Interview: On the Up and Up
On the eve of new figures showing the slide in union membership may be bottoming out, ACTU secretary Greg Combet takes stock of the state of the movement.

Unions: Organising Theory
Labor Council�s Chris Christodoulou reports back from this week�s ACTU Organising Conference

Economics: The Failure of the Third Way
In his presentation to this week's ACTU Organising Conference, John Buchanan painted a dark picture of the emerging labour market.

History: Emblems of Unity
The Gregory J. Smith Collection of Trade Union badges was auctioned today in Sydney. Smith compiled a book on 763 of his remarkable collection which was published in 1992.

Legal: Della's Compo Plan
Labour lawyer Richard Brennan places the NSW workers compensation reforms under the microscope.

International: East Timor Goes Union
Workers in the fledgling nation have established their equivalent to the ACTU to build a safety net for workers.

Satire: Management for the Post-Industrial World
A new management fad is sweeping the post-industrial world, which has major social and political implications at the macro and micro level. We have called it "Purge Management Strategy" (PMS).

Review: Surviving The Temptations of TV Island
Cultural analyst Mark Morey rakes over the coals of American TV culture to find very little is there.

» Compo Wars: Round One to the Workers

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» Beazley to Force Executive Disclosure

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» Victorious Workers Paint the Picket Red

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» Employers Told: Casual Workers Have Full-Time Rights

» Good On Ya Mum, Buttercup�s Leaving Town

» Forty Seven Years of Service Rewarded

» Telstra Called to Account on Legionella

» Record Low Aussie Dollar Adds to Surging Profits

» No Progress on Stonemasons

» Burrow Lobbies on BHP and US Trade Abroad

» Feed the Shangri-La Workers Fund

» STOP PRESS: Union Numbers Up - ABS

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Crumby Company

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