Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

From the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity comes a sustained, withering and thought-provoking attack on television and what it is doing to us. Postman’s theme is the decline of the printed word and the ascendancy of the “tube” with its tendency to present everythingmurder, mayhem, politics, weatheras entertainment. The ultimate effect, as Postman sees it, is the shrivelling of public discourse as TV degrades our conception of what constitutes news, political debate, art, even religious thought. Early chapters trace America’s one-time love affair with the printed word, from colonial pamphlets to the publication of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. There’s a biting analysis of TV commercials as a form of “instant therapy” based on the assumption that human problems are easily solvable. Postman goes further than other critics in demonstrating that television represents a hostile attack on literate culture. October 30
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Thought-provoking
Great treatise on the idea that television turns all of life into entertainment and undermines other forms of communication. That serious issues like politics, religion, education and news are nothing more than brief sound bytes, fed to us in tiny but dramatic spoonfuls before turning tail and going on to something else, and that this disconnected, fragmented barrage degrades its significance and desensitizes us over time. He particularly laments the fall of the written word, and those of us who love to read and appreciate the importance of it probably concur. He surprised me with his theory that contrary to what most people – including me – assume, it’s not the junk tv that poses the threat, but the so-called ‘serious’, pseudo-intellectual stuff that is really just junk dressed up as something meaningful, and that that is more harmful than junk that doesn’t pretend to be what it isn’t. It was a powerful argument and although I’m not sure I agree with it 100%, the point was well-taken.

2 Stars Huxley’s Vision Manifest?
Neil Postman’s 1984 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, is an engaging, if not depressing treatise on why Aldous Huxley’s dark vision of humanity’s future as thoughtless, mind-numbed entertainment-gluts in his 1932 novel, A Brave New World (Huxley reassesses the future world he envisioned in 1958 with the essay A Brave New World Revisited) was more accurate than George Orwell’s vision of an oppressive, book-banning, power-hungry authority asserting vast control over the masses as outlined in Orwell’s equally dystopic 1949 novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. While the prevention of the Orwellian nightmare occupied the generation preceding–and to only a slightly lesser extent since–the year 1984, it was Huxley’s future, Postman argues, that we should have been–and still should be and forever remain–on guard against. “[I]n Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to . . . adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” (Foreword, vii)

Postman’s book is a cause-and-effect cultural polemic, warning us that public discourse is dissolving into “the arts of show business” and “vast triviality” (p. 5 and 6), and he puts the blame squarely on television. While the argument is worth making and the debate worth having, his philosophical waxing leaves me wanting to say the least. For example, he opines that a fat man could not run for President of these United States today because the “grossness of a three-hundred-pound image (on TV) . . . would easily overwhelm any logical or spiritual subtleties conveyed by speech.” (p. 7) There is no acknowledgment from Postman that obesity is a serious health concern and in an era in which those health concerns were and are well known, it is not unreasonable to infer than an obese person lacks personal self-discipline and will power, two characteristics reasonably desirable in the leader of the free world. To counter Postman directly, the shape of a man’s body may, in fact, be quite relevant to the shape of his ideas. Additionally, in a world of nuclear proliferation and persistent and consistent armed conflict, it can be argued that an unhealthy President poses a national security threat.

Many of Postman’s premises underpinning his theses seem to be ill-formed or just plain illogical. Take for example his surprising suggestion that “half the principles of capitalism . . . are irrelevant” and “that economics is less a science than a performing art.” (p. 5) Economics at its core is the study of how societies allocate their limited resources, and to reduce this to a performing art, even hyperbolically, undermines the argument being made. The economics of capitalism are far too regarded to simply be carelessly sacrificed on his rhetorical altar without considerably more evidence than Postman provides. He offers only the uncredited observation that “American businessmen discovered . . . that the quality and usefulness of their goods are subordinate to the artifice of their display.” (p. 4) While peripherally true, this has little bearing on the relevance of capitalism or the rigors of economic study. Perhaps Postman’s own public discourse should be elevated.

Similarly, his contradictory suggestion that “people of a television culture need `plain language’ both aurally and visually” (p. 46) is patently absurd. On the one hand, Postman rails against television for dumbing down our public discourse, then on the other, suggests dumbed down discourse is all a television culture can handle. Perhaps a wiser argument could be made favoring elevated discourse in our television programming rather than presuming those that watch television are too stupid to understand it.

I have cited but a handful of examples in Postman’s book of how his thesis is weakened by seemingly plausible but ultimately misleading arguments. But the same can be said of his thesis as a whole. Public discourse in this country was not weakened by the advent of the television; it was weakened by the advent of weak public discourse. Television is not the cause of weaker public discourse, it is the result of it, notwithstanding Postman’s unpersuasive intimation (chapter 2) of a media-induced epistemological shift (e.g. we no longer communicate through symbols carved on cave walls and I dare say we are no worse for having lost that mode of communication and arguably better).

Postman provides little evidence that television has damaged America’s body politic or retarded the growth of our intellectual discourse, public or otherwise. The contribution of television to historic, citizen-based changes such as the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam and Iraq wars and the protests those wars spawned, the environmental movement, and even the end of the Cold War deserve discussion in any examination of media and politics, yet is completely absent in this brief volume. Postman’s dissertation about how the pre-television age empowered our citizens fails to acknowledge any of America’s infamous atrocities (slavery, Native American genocide, etc.). It would be erroneous to assign sole responsibility for any of these social events to a single dominant form of media, but Postman seems to do just that with regard to our modern ills, of which there are not only plenty, but plenty of causes. In largely ignoring the relationship between media and the social events of the day that also define “the television culture,” Postman’s arguments for media influence seem both irrelevant and na

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How Not to Write a Screenplay 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

How Not to Write a Screenplay 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter’s shelf–and you’d best make the shelf within arm’s reach of the computer. Author Dean Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film–or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter’s opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, “you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won’t write a bad one.” Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way–structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one. –Ali Davis

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Now Not To Write A Screenplay
Fantastic. Who’d expect a book about screenwriting to be a page turner? Or even humorous? It’s both, but is also loaded with practical, hands on, nitty-gritty stuff. Just what you need for venturing out into the jungle of professional screenwriting.

5 Stars Covers Many Essentials Forgotten Elsewhere
After you’ve read Syd Field’s SCREENPLAY and Trottier’s SCREENWRITER’S BIBLE, you’re about 90% set on how to write a screenplay. This book will finish off that last 10% with excellent advice on polishing and finishing a script. The best reason to buy this book is the section on Overwriting and Underwriting, which answers frequently asked questions with clear and concise examples.

The book is written in very friendly and enjoyable manner. While not the first book on screenwriting anyone should read, it is definitely the last book you should read before getting started.

5 Stars Best for more intermediate level screenwriters
I found the book extremely helpful – but I would NOT recommend for beginning screenwriters.

I’ve written almost 3 screenplays, and had them critiqued in class. So, I would say that I am an beginner-intermediate level. This book is an excellent resource for those who are already familiar with good screenwriting rules and formats, and need to refine these points.

I saw many of my own mistakes in the book examples (yikes!) – you know what they say, the best way to learn is by making a mistake.

Therefore, if you have yet to write at least one screenplays, I’m not sure this book will be as helpful as books like “Hot Property” or “The Screenwriter’s Bible.”

4 Stars After reading How Not to Write a Screenplay I entered my very first screenwriting contest….
and made it to the semi-finals. But there is good news and bad news.

I got feedback from two reviewers. One, really liked it and based on his/her scores I would’ve made it into the final round.

The second reviewer pretty much hated it and it was this score that knocked me out of the final round.

There are definite rules for screenwriting and this book can help define those for you. But there are also these gray areas where rules are bent and broken and you are at the total whim of the individual reading your script at that time. Despite all the paramters it’s more art than science and some very talented people have passed over awesome scripts that have gone on to be great, and well, really bad scripts get made all the time. Unfortunately no book can guide you through that. In fact the book presents some contradictory information in defining the screenwriting processes and boundaries then offering example scripts that bends or breaks them. But perhaps that was the point.

My advice after reading this book is, if you’re a beginner or intermediate like me, stick closely to the rules, including what the author outlines here which is not bad advice at all. The more familiar you are with them the more adapt you will be at knowing then to toss them aside.

5 Stars The Difference
I agree with another reviewer. This is better to read while you’re in the middle of your first screenplay, or after you’ve written it.

But it’s brilliant.

If you write a screenplay, and are not sure how to revise it, read this, and you will laugh. But you will also discover the difference between writing a film that sounds good to you and writing something that a studio-exec will enjoy reading.

I think it can make good writing better and make it smoother, while helping you avoid the minefield that so many ignorantly charge through.

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Stop Staring Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right

Stop Staring Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right

Lips, brows, frown lines–they

Indie Producers Handbook Creative Producing from A to Z

Indie Producers Handbook Creative Producing from A to Z

Myrl Schreibman has written a straighfoward, insightful, and articulate account of what it takes to make a successful feature film.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A STAPLE FOR ANY FILMMAKER
This book is the producer’s version of Gray’s “Anatomy of the Human Body.” Without a doubt, Schreibman’s text is the blueprint for any successful indie film and should be read and thoroughly consulted by every creative producer – experienced or otherwise. Furthermore, this book that can be extremely useful to directors and screenwriters because it provides a real understanding of what the producer does and how the other creative entities can best collaborate with the producer for creative and practical synergy. In short, this book is a must for anyone who wants to make movies.

5 Stars No-nonsense bullet-proof advice
I recently finished producing my own independent film and found this book right at the beginning of my post-production period.

I wish I had found it earlier. It is full of no-nonsense advice and information that is practically bullet-proof, and I ended up agreeing with about all of it. Schreibman, who apparently has a long history of producing films for t.v. and theatrical market, has paid his dues, done his homework, and knows another “feel-good” you-can-do-it book isn’t necessary.

He tells you like it is, doesn’t pull any punches, and helps you avoid the most common mistakes, both legally and aesthetically. Writing and directing are generally the more “arty” positions in film production – the Producer is supposed to keep the ship moving forward and avoiding any fatal mistakes. This book directs you in the right direction.

My film was a “micro-budget” film, and this book may ultimately be more useful for “larger” independent features, including ones with SAG deals, distribution in place, and budgets closer to 7 figures. While all the advice here applies to everyone making a movie, it’s the attitude Myrl conveys that I really appreciated and believed in, more than some of his nuts-and-bolts info. The contract samples at the end were also very helpful when I went out and began looking for more help finding money to finish my film (which I eventually did).

Now I’m dreaming of using the rest of the info here for my next film!

5 Stars Excellent content and an easy read
I have a book shelf, full of film production books that I have collected over the past twenty years or so. This book reads very easily and teaches some pretty complex concepts from the world of producing. (ie. Day of Days)

I would recommend this to new producers, students and people that would like a primer on the creative and business side of a Hollywood Producer.

5 Stars MUST READ FOR ALL PRODUCERS
I just completed a feature length screenplay that will soon become a feature length film. To prepare for production I decided to purchase two books: Creative Producing A to Z, and, A Film Director Prepares, both by Myrl Schreibman. Having just finished reading them, I now know I could not have made two better choices. Buy them both, read them both, then read them both again! I promise, your film career will be well served.

4 Stars I recommend it
I bought this book for my cousin who wants to start out in the film business. This book helped me break down the who’s who in the industry and the breakdown and samples are easy to understand.

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