Judgemental Postman?

I was recently introduced to the book, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. He has openly expressed his feelings about many topics. After I read the book I began to notice things in entertainment and tried to relate them to what he meant. Postman makes very good points about our media today but he is very prejudiced toward his thoughts. I feel that Postman makes strong arguments but I disagree with many of the arguments or his views because he does not omit a worldly perspective of his argument.

I really do not agree with what he said, “all subject matter is presented as entertaining” (87). From my point of view he looks at the media as being strictly for entertainment purposes. I do not agree with him saying that ‘all’ is made for entertaining. Some things are made to be informative for the most part such as CNN. Another channel where their main focus is to inform is The Weather Channel.

Another topic that Postman says, “‘Sesame Street’ does not encourage children to love school or anything about it. It encourages then to love television” (144). This is another subject that I disagree with. I feel that Sesame Street is not a replacement for teachers but a supplement of education that children can receive at home to engage in the learning process. Other children shows use the same technique that can stimulate the learning process in children. Another good example is the child show Blues Clues. These and other educational children’s programs provide lessons on spelling, math, and other subjects that may help a student understand the subject while in school.

Postman composes valid points throughout his book but he needs to gain a holistic perspective of the aspects of future entertainment. Media is not used for the sole purpose of entertainment but as an educational source in our everyday lives. The media provides us with news, statistics, current affairs and other knowledgeable events that influence society.

All in all I felt that the Postman book was well written and supported the topics that were presented. I do not think that when he was writing this book that he had a very accurate outlook of what the future was to portray for the entertainment media.