For Buffy Neophytes and Fans

[pms]

At 04:36 PM 2/25/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Apsken at aol.com wrote:
>
>>Doug wrote,
>>
>>"How can you understand American society without a TV? Assuming you have any
>>interest in understanding American society, of course."
>>
>>I don't have a television, but I have never felt out of touch with American
>>society. On the other hand, plenty of what I read on the Internet makes me
>>wonder where the on-line world connects with reality.
>>
>>I'm particularly surprised to see this from Doug, since he added a dose of
>>reality when others were urging him to be our Marxist savior via tube
>>appearances.
>
>I don't remember the exact numbers, but the average American watches 4-8
>hours of TV a day, and something like 98% of U.S. households (including
>around 90% of poor households) have TVs. It's the way most people get their
>news. It's a major way fashion and popular culture are disseminated.
>Phrases from ads enter the language, and ads themselves do a lot to
>fetishize the commodity. As the old man said, when an ideology grips the
>mind of the masses it becomes a material force, and TV has a lot to do with
>the process. This all seems painfully obvious to me - am I missing
>something?
>
>Doug

Not one itsy-bitsy thing.  If Phil hadn't brought the drag queens on, would
there even be an effective gay liberation movement?