Boomerang/Television Delivers People

I found the exploration of echoes and feedback in Boomerang to be an interesting concept. When videotaping, people often pay more attention to appearance rather than sound, so it was refreshing to watch a video where it was more important to be listening than watching what was going on. With modern day technology, most people have experienced this sort of echoing in some way or another, whether with cell phones or microphones, etc. However, this video helped me realize for the first time what effects that type of feedback has. At times when I am talking on my cell phone, I will hear myself echoing back. I never stopped to observe how this affected me; all I could say was that it was distracting and annoying. Now that I have thought about it, I must say part of what is annoying about this effect stems from the discomfort I have about hearing myself. Not only does the echoing slow down whatever I have to say, it also makes me self-conscious to be able to hear a version of exactly what the listener is hearing.

Richard Serra’s Television Delivers People reminded me of a brainwashing tape from a sci-fi movie with its cheesy, infomercial-type background music and the contrasting critical message scrolling down the screen. I found its concept, that people are the product of media television, to be intriguing. It reminded me of the essay we read in class about Chris Burden’s art being the audience rather than the performance piece, although this video takes it one step further in making statements about the responsibilities of networks and corporations in delivering the people. It was also interesting coming from watching Boomerang, a video where it was more important to listen intently, to this one where I had to pay attention to everything that appeared on the screen. I think one of the things that made Television Delivers People so effective is that as it was criticizing the media for propaganda, it was formatted in a very direct form of propaganda itself, which placed a lot more emphasis on the message.