What is Your Message?
The Medium is the Message was a very clever and insightful phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan. Marshall was an innovator in the world of media and he could define things in that realm quite succinctly. He also coined the term the Global Village. I remember studying about him at the university and one professor in particular would come back to Marshall's phrases and further explanations in his teaching method... but I didn't get it at the time. I think I get it now. It was a mystery which I thought to be simply a play on words and something not too important to consider ( it was over my head at the time, really ). I say now I 'think' I understand because after so many years since studying about media I can define certain mediums which in themselves are the message and which in turn suspend thinking on the part of the audience and thus change the manner in which messages are digested and accepted.
Here's a chat with Marshall from 1977 which would give more insight into how the medium changes people's perceptions and that, as he exemplifies early on, watching television is a subjective activity whereas reading is more an objective activity. The entire lecture is very revealing and I recommend listening to the very end.
We are mediums conveying a message of sorts to the world, most of the time reflecting the programs we watch on teevee, the music we listen to or the social circles we find ourselves in. We should reflect and consider if we are forwarding a positive message or negative or indifferent or otherwise.
Ask yourself: from what source do you draw your identity from?
Do you consciously absorb and emit something in particular?
Is it a lineage which goes back to a conqueror or great warrior type? Is it drawn from a religion which has brought forth civilization by the manner in which it colonized certain regions of the world? Is it drawn from a heritage of famous people who entertained many, or invented something, or established a political dynasty... or something otherwise worldly? Is your identity attached to a national identity and ideology which you see yourself as one of the same by political definition?
In my early teens, my message ( unbeknownst to me, for I was merely outwardly reflecting what my inner self desired ) was that of a boy soldier. I was R.O.T.C. through and through. I was greatly desiring to be G.I. Joe, to defend my country and do whatever was necessary to forward the ideals of Amerika and squash all opposition. I was utterly brainwashed by the messages I fed myself in the programming I watched, the toys I'd want and movies I'd see. When the movie Top Gun came out, it was like I fell in love with every bit of the message in that movie... and I desired to be just like the Tom Cruise character: good looking, tough, sharp, risk taking, unashamedly ambitious, obedient to an extent without being an absolute robot, having an edge of rebelliousness, gutsy, a lady's man... all of it. The motorcycle the character rode was right in line with my upbringing and so was the desire to blow the enemy out of the sky from a multimillion dollar fighter jet. My dad was in the U.S. Air Force so there was the desire to emulate my dad and go one step further to beckon the family's pride in me. I literally learned every single word in that movie, as if I was studying the stage version play of that movie. I wreaked of military geek for the following few years, going to airshows, getting a bomber jacket and filling every empty space with a patch of some sort. I'd build model planes and would learn all the nerdy specs of each and every plane in preparation for the real thing and the imagined tests of knowledge I thought were awaiting me from the military gurus upon enlisting. And when I enrolled into a high school which had a junior R.O.T.C. department, it was my dream coming to fruition! I couldn't wait to start doing pushups and get yelled at for no good reason... I couldn't wait to do my duty... and die for a country I knew little about other than what was told to me.
Yet, it was there in those high school classes where reality began to nip at my conscience.... for no matter what I did right, no matter how much I obeyed and how good I did anything... being good, right and obedient wasn't the case... it was a good ole boys club and I wasn't about to brown nose in order to be accepted or let myself be trampled by them until I 'paid my dues.' This reality was not portrayed in the movie nor in the teevee shows or cartoons depicting military life and my pride wouldn't allow me to go against what was in all reality my conscience coming out ( although I was brainwashed to desire this thing called military service, my heart and conscience wouldn't allow myself to do things in a manner I knew deep down inside was wrong... yet I couldn't explain it at the time ). I had a taste of what the real military would be like as a teenager and I realized signing my life to a system which decided what to do with me ( even to sacrifice my life for some ideals I would later on in life not agree with on any level ) was not for me. So although I was a part of a nine-member team which came in second place out of the entire state of Texas for what the United States Drill Team is famous for... no amount of pride or boasting was worth the price of my conscience... nor my life.
What happened next was an 'about face' into a more rebellious reflection of what was going on in my heart... and I drifted toward edgy music, edgy clothes and edgy activities. The clean cut, short hair, shirt tucked in and all things aligned kind of kid became a long haired, torn jeans, t-shirt wearing opposite of my formal self. The message I was emitting had changed quite drastically. Yet I didn't know I was emitting any message at the time... nor did I realize that in all actuality I was merely copying and reflecting those I idolized. It was the Tom Cruise character in Top Gun for a time... and then it was the Axl Rose character of Guns N Roses for a time.
When you think of someone in history who has become an example of a message in themselves, who comes to mind? Think of someone you identify with... or maybe you don't identify with completely, but would surely like to be like them in some aspect. Most likely you are messaging that ideal you have in your mind. Maybe they share the same lineage of you ( blood line ). Maybe the same cultural upbringing. Perhaps they reflect ideals you believe in.
I have a pretty good idea 'who' this character of history is for me...
This character I have in mind is the ultimate medium of an astounding message... this character turned the world on its end and many still can't conceptualize what really happened.
Here's a chat with Marshall from 1977 which would give more insight into how the medium changes people's perceptions and that, as he exemplifies early on, watching television is a subjective activity whereas reading is more an objective activity. The entire lecture is very revealing and I recommend listening to the very end.
We are mediums conveying a message of sorts to the world, most of the time reflecting the programs we watch on teevee, the music we listen to or the social circles we find ourselves in. We should reflect and consider if we are forwarding a positive message or negative or indifferent or otherwise.
Ask yourself: from what source do you draw your identity from?
Do you consciously absorb and emit something in particular?
Is it a lineage which goes back to a conqueror or great warrior type? Is it drawn from a religion which has brought forth civilization by the manner in which it colonized certain regions of the world? Is it drawn from a heritage of famous people who entertained many, or invented something, or established a political dynasty... or something otherwise worldly? Is your identity attached to a national identity and ideology which you see yourself as one of the same by political definition?
In my early teens, my message ( unbeknownst to me, for I was merely outwardly reflecting what my inner self desired ) was that of a boy soldier. I was R.O.T.C. through and through. I was greatly desiring to be G.I. Joe, to defend my country and do whatever was necessary to forward the ideals of Amerika and squash all opposition. I was utterly brainwashed by the messages I fed myself in the programming I watched, the toys I'd want and movies I'd see. When the movie Top Gun came out, it was like I fell in love with every bit of the message in that movie... and I desired to be just like the Tom Cruise character: good looking, tough, sharp, risk taking, unashamedly ambitious, obedient to an extent without being an absolute robot, having an edge of rebelliousness, gutsy, a lady's man... all of it. The motorcycle the character rode was right in line with my upbringing and so was the desire to blow the enemy out of the sky from a multimillion dollar fighter jet. My dad was in the U.S. Air Force so there was the desire to emulate my dad and go one step further to beckon the family's pride in me. I literally learned every single word in that movie, as if I was studying the stage version play of that movie. I wreaked of military geek for the following few years, going to airshows, getting a bomber jacket and filling every empty space with a patch of some sort. I'd build model planes and would learn all the nerdy specs of each and every plane in preparation for the real thing and the imagined tests of knowledge I thought were awaiting me from the military gurus upon enlisting. And when I enrolled into a high school which had a junior R.O.T.C. department, it was my dream coming to fruition! I couldn't wait to start doing pushups and get yelled at for no good reason... I couldn't wait to do my duty... and die for a country I knew little about other than what was told to me.
Yet, it was there in those high school classes where reality began to nip at my conscience.... for no matter what I did right, no matter how much I obeyed and how good I did anything... being good, right and obedient wasn't the case... it was a good ole boys club and I wasn't about to brown nose in order to be accepted or let myself be trampled by them until I 'paid my dues.' This reality was not portrayed in the movie nor in the teevee shows or cartoons depicting military life and my pride wouldn't allow me to go against what was in all reality my conscience coming out ( although I was brainwashed to desire this thing called military service, my heart and conscience wouldn't allow myself to do things in a manner I knew deep down inside was wrong... yet I couldn't explain it at the time ). I had a taste of what the real military would be like as a teenager and I realized signing my life to a system which decided what to do with me ( even to sacrifice my life for some ideals I would later on in life not agree with on any level ) was not for me. So although I was a part of a nine-member team which came in second place out of the entire state of Texas for what the United States Drill Team is famous for... no amount of pride or boasting was worth the price of my conscience... nor my life.
What happened next was an 'about face' into a more rebellious reflection of what was going on in my heart... and I drifted toward edgy music, edgy clothes and edgy activities. The clean cut, short hair, shirt tucked in and all things aligned kind of kid became a long haired, torn jeans, t-shirt wearing opposite of my formal self. The message I was emitting had changed quite drastically. Yet I didn't know I was emitting any message at the time... nor did I realize that in all actuality I was merely copying and reflecting those I idolized. It was the Tom Cruise character in Top Gun for a time... and then it was the Axl Rose character of Guns N Roses for a time.
When you think of someone in history who has become an example of a message in themselves, who comes to mind? Think of someone you identify with... or maybe you don't identify with completely, but would surely like to be like them in some aspect. Most likely you are messaging that ideal you have in your mind. Maybe they share the same lineage of you ( blood line ). Maybe the same cultural upbringing. Perhaps they reflect ideals you believe in.
I have a pretty good idea 'who' this character of history is for me...
This character I have in mind is the ultimate medium of an astounding message... this character turned the world on its end and many still can't conceptualize what really happened.
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