Media Matters

     While it's obvious that the Pandemic has influenced so many aspects of life, let's add one other element that's not so obvious: watching film.  True, seeing movies, primarily in our living rooms, is more intimate, it is often disorientating and disconcerting as well.  We are looking forward to the post Pandemic time when, as Frances Mcdormand said in her April Oscar acceptance speech, we can "gather everyone we know, go to the movie theatre, and watch all the motion picture that were nominated this past year."      Ms. Mcdormand has a good point, of course. But we also shouldn't overlook the positive factors of film viewing during the Pandemic, where formats like streaming and tv scripted series were being profusely offered. Looking forward to stories broadcast on a regular, lengthy bases, around the clock, gave us a daily routine far from thinking about Covid 19 's inherent dangers. Wasn't it better pondering what would happen to th...

     Last Sunday's interview with Meghan and Harry was a bit confusing to this critic when figuring out what the discussion was really about became more difficult. Did the discussion primarily concern the couple's troubles with being part of England's monarchy? Was it about racism since Meghan identifies herself as being biracial?  Was it about the relationship between the royal family and the English tabloids?  Was it about interviewer Oprah Winfrey's  position as a well-known  celebrity herself?      It's apparent that most all of the various messages during the interview inspired  points-of-view that were negative. For example, the royal family did not come off as belonging to a particularly positive "institution." For that matter, journalism in Great Britain also seemed to be a negative "institution ." Similarly negative is the powerful role Winfrey plays in America journalism: at times we are not sure what side she was...

       The Pandemic has inspired all kinds of changes in communication because we now stay home to send and receive messages. Consider obvious alterations, like no theatre-going or film - viewing so we can avoid direct contact with crowds. In fact, we can't enjoy other performing art forms as usual either, where groups congregate, such as concerts and ballets. Simply put, there are no more live audiences, or at least, a lot less of them.      What about changes in other kinds of art forms?  Poetry, for example, doesn't usually need an audience, yet accommodations must be made to deal with people who do not have access to book stores and libraries yet want to read or listen to poetry readings. Enter TV where individuals reciting poetry is possible. At Joe Biden's Inauguration, Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman made a significant impression with her poetry  (as did Maya Angelou did with President Clinton's similar celebration ).    ...