2008 Woodie Awards
The rise of a schizophrenic culture
My View
Daniel Frederking
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Viewpoint
We are living in a society of randomness.
It is dominating our everyday life. It doesn't make sense, but it is what drives us. Pointless, meaningless information scattered into our world that pops up every day. It's become very common.
Sharks!
I have concluded that we are living in a schizophrenic culture. Before I go any further, I'm going to explain what I mean by this.
Our good friend dictionary.com gives the following definition of schizophrenia: "a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements."
Now, it is much deeper than that. The disorder is extremely complex. I am in no way an expert on the topic, so I will not talk much about the disorder itself.
What I will talk about is the concept of schizophrenia; a part of what it means and what this has to do with our everyday culture.
One major symptom of the disorder is that the individual has disorganized thoughts and speech patterns. They are just all over the place. Nothing makes sense.
Scat man!
No, it's not true that everyone in the world has schizophrenia.
What I'm saying is that we've embraced the culture and it has now become the norm.
Randomness is funny. Randomness is artsy. Randomness sells.
I can't think of a better example than some of the adult cartoon shows that exist today.
I'm talking about Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and anything else that dwells in the late night hours of Cartoon Network. These shows thrive on providing jokes that are far out there. They don't always intertwine with the story. Random things just happen and it makes people laugh.
These shows are very popular with the 18 to 34-year-old male demographic, which is very important to television stations.
Ernest Goes To Camp!
Another example: some of my friends and I have a good time interjecting phrases into everyday speech that have nothing to do with what we're talking about. Usually these words or phrases come from popular songs or movies.
It is dominating our everyday life. It doesn't make sense, but it is what drives us. Pointless, meaningless information scattered into our world that pops up every day. It's become very common.
Sharks!
I have concluded that we are living in a schizophrenic culture. Before I go any further, I'm going to explain what I mean by this.
Our good friend dictionary.com gives the following definition of schizophrenia: "a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements."
Now, it is much deeper than that. The disorder is extremely complex. I am in no way an expert on the topic, so I will not talk much about the disorder itself.
What I will talk about is the concept of schizophrenia; a part of what it means and what this has to do with our everyday culture.
One major symptom of the disorder is that the individual has disorganized thoughts and speech patterns. They are just all over the place. Nothing makes sense.
Scat man!
No, it's not true that everyone in the world has schizophrenia.
What I'm saying is that we've embraced the culture and it has now become the norm.
Randomness is funny. Randomness is artsy. Randomness sells.
I can't think of a better example than some of the adult cartoon shows that exist today.
I'm talking about Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and anything else that dwells in the late night hours of Cartoon Network. These shows thrive on providing jokes that are far out there. They don't always intertwine with the story. Random things just happen and it makes people laugh.
These shows are very popular with the 18 to 34-year-old male demographic, which is very important to television stations.
Ernest Goes To Camp!
Another example: some of my friends and I have a good time interjecting phrases into everyday speech that have nothing to do with what we're talking about. Usually these words or phrases come from popular songs or movies.
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