Entertainment and The Value of Distraction

[lysine]

Im doing a paper on how our culture (US, Canada, people in general) value entertainment and the escapism it gives human beings to be engulfed in distraction. Also Im talking about the role of entertainers and their responsibility to the community.

I wanted to know what thoughts you folks had on this and if you have any ideas i should generate to be a part of my thesis. Any takers?

[tommmmmm]

i like movies.

[Animals! So Weird]

I wrote a little something about this a few months/year back. Don't know where it is, but I loved the fact that "distraction" was in the definition of entertainment. Maybe you can use that somehow.

[lysine]

addict said:

I wrote a little something about this a few months/year back. Don't know where it is, but I loved the fact that "distraction" was in the definition of entertainment. Maybe you can use that somehow.

yeah i used it in debate of a positive or negative thing. are we engaged or disengaged? or both?

[tommmmmm]

are we engaged or disengaged? or both?

i think escapism in film is different than escapism in television. in film, at least in a theater, it is an engaging experience that lasts just about the length of the film. there is that disorientation that occurs when getting up from watching a film and entering the "real world" again. i suppose that is the result of being engaged in watching the film.

television seems to have turned into an engaging experience, but only because of the disengagement from reality. the audience is living vicariously though the actors or celebrities. i find that confusing though. the only tv i have watched has been shows that are just episodic films.

so like, whatever. i like movies.

ALTHOUGH, in the past few years, i've only gone to see movies i knew would be really really bad. i laughed all the way through transporter 2. see that movie. it is amazing. i can't wait to see mission impossible this weekend. phil hoffman can't NOT be hilarious.

[todd]

I live for film, but I prefer stories that are more reality-based. I never really used it as a way to escape from my reality - probably moreso to become more in touch with what's really happening.

[kitchencabinet]

Linguistically, both "distraction" and "escapism" require an object. You can't really discuss escapism without defining what you are escaping from.

If you are defining the act of watching horror movies as an act of escapism, then are you trying to get away from, or distract yourself from your comfortable life or your non-horrific life?

That's an interesting topic I would like to read your paper.

[lysine]

ill post when finished, thanks guys.

[lysine]

im finished. anyone want to read? should i yousendit a word file?

[dr. strangelove]

save it as a pdf (go to print, and then choose "acrobat distiller" under printers)... that way, you can just email it around

[lysine]

strangelove said:

save it as a pdf (go to print, and then choose "acrobat distiller" under printers)... that way, you can just email it around

that isnt working. it gives me no acrobat distiller.

[dr. strangelove]

damn...

ok, then save it as an rtf (rich text format)... it takes up much less space cause it ignores all of microsoft word's annoying autoformatting, and it can be viewed with any word processing program

it's not as nice as pdf (we would see the original formatting you wanted, and noone can edit it), but it's still a much smaller file

[lysine]

download.yousendit.com/E30529E454798D22

its in whatever format... rich text.

[Veck]

it's a bit brief I think.. no real conclusions are made..
but it was interesting to read, just wish it were longer and took more time on certain ideas. I'm interested not so much in the role of entertainers to provide distraction and escapism to a public that demands it from its media, but rather the psychological dilemma that artists face by having that responsibility unwillingly forced upon them purely from their desire to perform and express themselves. Also, what is it about this society that so blasé-ly seeks to consume artistic expression in tidy packages and market them as moments of escapism.

Oh, and there were some grammar issues that got to me, but I'd just be annoying if I went on with that

Don't mean to be negative here, I definitely found it interesting
and I totally read til the end, but I thought it was all over a little briefly, but that's just me.

ah man I don't mean to be a dick.. I hate giving criticism
I'm sure that leaves me contradicting myself in some way

[lysine]

veck said:

it's a bit brief I think.. no real conclusions are made..
but it was interesting to read, just wish it were longer and took more time on certain ideas. I'm interested not so much in the role of entertainers to provide distraction and escapism to a public that demands it from its media, but rather the psychological dilemma that artists face by having that responsibility unwillingly forced upon them purely from their desire to perform and express themselves. Also, what is it about this society that so blasé-ly seeks to consume artistic expression in tidy packages and market them as moments of escapism.

Oh, and there were some grammar issues that got to me, but I'd just be annoying if I went on with that

Don't mean to be negative here, I definitely found it interesting
and I totally read til the end, but I thought it was all over a little briefly, but that's just me.

ah man I don't mean to be a dick.. I hate giving criticism
I'm sure that leaves me contradicting myself in some way

no noo its totally fine, i relaly appreciate your feedback and i am looking for any words of improvement or criticism. did i have a bunch of fragments? i want to know what i could improve on.

i didnt write too much on the artists dilemma of presenting material because i didnt have a source to use for "this artist feels pressed like this" or anything. but ill look into it, im curious about that now too.