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I wonder if McLuhan would be a trekkie today.
In Communication Studies we spent a hour going over "The Medium is The Message" and people still weren't getting it. It would have been interesting, except I learned that theory OVER 3 YEARS AGO! And we spent another hour learning how to use Google!
The people at University are dumb.
Out of 4 hours of class, the only interesting thing I learned was how Marshall McLuhan's theory of Hot and Cold media applies to cult fandoms. Observe:
Hot media is media which is "force fed" to the audience. It's to be taken at face value, no questions asked. Examples are newspapers and most high budget television programs.
Cold media requires the audience to use their imagination to fill in the gaps in the media. This gaps are either created on purpose, such as in poetry and written fiction, or created by limitations in the media, such as radio or a television show with a low budget.
The Prof used Doctor Who as an example here: Because early Doctor Who had such a tiny budget, it wasn't the greatest looking show on TV, but it gained a huge fan following. The audience is forced to use their imagination while watching, thus creating a very different television experience. Everyone watches to see what the fuss is about and the fandom quickly grows. Another example of this would be Star Trek. Because SF & F is often low budget stuff, this is where you see some of the strongest fandoms.
Through the audience's imagination, we get fan fic, fan art, fan mags and fanon in general. Every fan throws some of their imagination into the pot and strange stuff comes out.
This is also why you often hear people complaining about the newer Star Wars films. In all honestly, the first films were nothing to write home about, but they were a Cold media, and thus we have the Star Wars fandom. The newer films are a very Hot media. When you hear fans say "There was something missing" this is what they are subconsciously refering to.
Or something to that effect. It's late and I can't remember the fine details. Personally, I want to see a death match between McLuhan and Innis. That would be cool.
The people at University are dumb.
Out of 4 hours of class, the only interesting thing I learned was how Marshall McLuhan's theory of Hot and Cold media applies to cult fandoms. Observe:
Hot media is media which is "force fed" to the audience. It's to be taken at face value, no questions asked. Examples are newspapers and most high budget television programs.
Cold media requires the audience to use their imagination to fill in the gaps in the media. This gaps are either created on purpose, such as in poetry and written fiction, or created by limitations in the media, such as radio or a television show with a low budget.
The Prof used Doctor Who as an example here: Because early Doctor Who had such a tiny budget, it wasn't the greatest looking show on TV, but it gained a huge fan following. The audience is forced to use their imagination while watching, thus creating a very different television experience. Everyone watches to see what the fuss is about and the fandom quickly grows. Another example of this would be Star Trek. Because SF & F is often low budget stuff, this is where you see some of the strongest fandoms.
Through the audience's imagination, we get fan fic, fan art, fan mags and fanon in general. Every fan throws some of their imagination into the pot and strange stuff comes out.
This is also why you often hear people complaining about the newer Star Wars films. In all honestly, the first films were nothing to write home about, but they were a Cold media, and thus we have the Star Wars fandom. The newer films are a very Hot media. When you hear fans say "There was something missing" this is what they are subconsciously refering to.
Or something to that effect. It's late and I can't remember the fine details. Personally, I want to see a death match between McLuhan and Innis. That would be cool.