<nettime> reality tv

[bmoretti@chariot.net.au]

i was musing this afternoon on the topic of reality tv. do the tv 
watching consumers of the west still need to have a fabricated reality 
fed to them every night, since 11 september? or is the all too clear 
reality of war, death and hard choices that has been forced upon them 
too realistic. i recall a tv executive stating that reality tv would 
become the most important entertainment sector on tv, until a couple of 
weeks ago that is. so, does hollywood now churn out distracting romantic 
comedies as in the 40's, or grimly patriotic cold war paranoia films 
such as 'the thing'? who knows. one thing that is weird is that i am 
currently re-reading 'the lord of the rings'. it is so very obviously a 
product of its time, that of 30s and 40s britain, and its attendant wars 
and problems of empire. this year the film of the book will be released. 
i wonder how much the film going public will project onto the story, ie:

orcs (islamic terrorists)
sauron (osama bin laden)
gandalf (cheney)
aragorn (bush)
west (west)
mordor (afghanistan)

cheers

ben

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