Double Flee A

tuck-in media?

Good writing, like good music or good movies, good media, to make a long story short (too late), delivers disproportionate bandwidth.

To clarify, good writing is good because it packs more information into the same amount of words than bad writing. Contrast Orwell's(1) "1984" with Michael Crichton's, well, take your pick. (I wonder sometimes if when I'm writing these little rants out if I should be more specific in moments like these(2), like give lengthy citations for fairness's sake. But I don't think I have to here. Crichton is a lowest-common-denominator-finder. A literary depth gauge.)

Good music transcends its medium a little, too, maybe by way of making synesthesia accessible (velvet underground, dandy warhols), maybe by effective metaphysical imagery, (radiohead).

Good video, also, has more information in it than bad video. Raging bull has moments in it where nothing happens. So do other movies, like ghost world. Raging bull gets it right by framing the silence with dark emotion, which is why it's high drama and not just another flop art film.

But to get to my main point, there are exceptions, just like in any system, to this rule. Sometimes I want something large to look at that says very little, so I will put on the dancing outlaw video, or Billy Madison, something that makes a lot of noise perceptually, while delivering very little substance. It's a way to fill up the senses and leave a lot of empty space for the subconscious to relax in. "Tuck-in media", as I'll call it, (not that I expect it to catch on, my vanity doesn't travel in that direction) is like that for a lot of people I talk to and I've never read anything about it so I thought I'd just make a record of it.


(1) who has this to contribute on the subject:"For a creative writer possession of the truth is less important than emotional sincerity." I enthusiatically concur. Crichton is a media borg I liken to "painter of light" flavor-of-the-generation Thomas Kinkade; whereas Orwell got drunk, penniless, and thrown in jail for research. Did you ever read "down and out in Paris and London"? Point, set, match.

(2) What do you think? Please reference footnote # in your comment. The comments can be confusing and it will be harder to accidentally threadjack if done properly.

posted by dale @ 9:50 AM