"Was Reagan really elected because he was a Hollywood actor?"
"Did people actually listen to his proposals, what he had to say?"
Postman doesn't think so. He goes through and explains how clearly television contradicts itself in what we think of as a presidential debate. The amount of complexity that is required for a serious debate cannot fit on television because of its lack of seriousness. People pay attention to the image of a person rather than the spoken content. They paid attention to how one candidate knocked the other out. During such debate (this scene is mentioned in the book), Reagan was prompted whether his age would play a role as president and he responded the following, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign... I will not exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." People laughed, and Walter Mondale lost.
I would like to point out that Postman was wrong in saying that hideous looking people are ineligible for running for president. Postman suggested that a person that looked like our twenty-seventh president, William Howard Taft, would not be put forward (or that it would be rather unlikely) at the time when wrote the book and much less today. However, when we were given the choice between apples and oranges, we picked a fat orange with hair.
Nicolas Guardado
I would like to point out that Postman was wrong in saying that hideous looking people are ineligible for running for president. Postman suggested that a person that looked like our twenty-seventh president, William Howard Taft, would not be put forward (or that it would be rather unlikely) at the time when wrote the book and much less today. However, when we were given the choice between apples and oranges, we picked a fat orange with hair.
Nicolas Guardado
I also questioned Neil Postman's statement about how attractiveness determines whether or not an individual is eligible to be president. I do, however, believe that appearance and behavior that television shows can affect a presidential election. The continuous coverage of President Trump's ridiculous actions and words when he was a nominee caught people's attention. It was almost as if the presidential election was entertainment. I think this relates to the questions that came from Reagan's presidency. Was President Trump supported because of his ideas, or was he supported because he was entertaining? I personally believe that his personality played some role in his popularity.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I had completely agreed with Postman's opinion that due to the heavy prevalence of television (and nowadays social media), people are less likely to recognize the qualifications a person may or may not have. It seemed apparent that physical apperance is more captivating than the content of what a person has to say. However, the more I considered the statement, the less it seemed to line up with current events. Emily makes a good point in stating that this most recent election could be seen as just entertainment. Because both candidates went back and forth with each other, the election became more alluring. President Trump focused his campaign on bringing down his opponent by any means necessary. Despite this strategy not showing people he has attributes qualifying him to be president, the majority of voters selected him. This example doesn't entirely disprove Postman's belief, nor does it support it. Although the focus was diverted from what's most important, appearance is NOT what distracted American voters. People became more inticed by who could make their opponent seem most unfit and who entertained them the best, rather than who could serve our country the most efficiently.
DeleteAppearance and personality have begun to outweigh the beliefs and propositions of politicians in recent elections. Voters focus more on how a candidate appears and less on what they believe in and support. The fact that attractiveness can determine a candidate's appeal to an audience just shows how externally focused American culture has become. These ideas have spread to more than just politics. Advertisements, work positions, and even children's toys revolve around a constantly changing "ideal look" that has been falsely created by society. If we want to change this aspect of our culture, people need to begin by recognizing the bias that many refuse to believe is prevalent in America.
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