The Problem With Television

[jamesq]

The otherwise forgettable movie Man of the Year had the following exchange. I thought it was the most brilliant thing to come out that movie, so I just thought I'd share it:

Hemmings: Will you be disappointed to be going back to television after this ride?
Eddie Langston: Oh, no. I have a glorious love-hate relationship with TV.
Hemmings: How so?
Eddie Langston: TV scares me. It makes everything seem credible.
Hemmings: Why is that so bad?
Eddie Langston: If everything seems credible then nothing seems credible. You know, TV puts everybody in those boxes, side-by-side. On one side, there's this certifiable lunatic who says the Holocaust never happened. And next to him is this noted, honored historian who knows all about the Holocaust. And now, there they sit, side-by-side, they look like equals! Everything they say seems to be credible. And so, as it goes on, nothing seems credible anymore! We just stopped listening!

Or to paraphrase Dilbert, "When did ignorance become a point of view?"

Comments

[ersatz-marduk.livejournal.com]

When obfuscation became an art form.

But if that doesn't suffice, there's always Mike's method (http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20070502.html).

[jamesq]

Brilliant.