Media Bitchfest

You Sold Out

July 26th, 2006 by Justin

Tom Scocca of the New York Observer has a lengthy screed up today decrying the dangers of YouTube and what it is doing the fabric of our culture. His hypothesis: the ephemeral nature of television is sacrosanct. It used to be, when you caught something extraordinary on the tele, it was lightning in a bottle, or as Old People used to call it before drug use solidified their embarrassing sense of entitlement, “a happening.”

But enter this YouTube phenomenon, now Tommy can relive the moments he thought were lost forever. Pixie’s footage, Dennis Miller’s ill-fated talk show, a combination of both et. al. Unlike the progressive Bill Simmons, he views this as damaging to television as we know it. He views it as mortgaging the gleeful thrill of catching a falling star for meager convenience.

Well guess what Tom, you’re right. But through your narrow world view, you miss the big picture. Think of the kids Tom, think of the kids who never saw Kids in The Hall (which does hold up, by the way, this is not debatable) and don’t have the money for a DVD. Think of the delightful squeals that will emanate from his room while he watches the Head Crusher sketch between World of Warcraft battles. Maybe his newfound love of the Running Faggot sketch will soften a homophobic worldview that would eventually have blossomed into a hate crime. Would The Matthew Shepard Incident have happened if YouTube had been around back then? The world may never know. Or will it? No, probably not.

Is it better to have seen an undeniable spark captured in a fuzzy box or to have never seen it at all?

Face it Tommy, like Donelle Rawlings’ Black Mummy learned on this week’s (final) Chapelle’s Show, The System Is Not Designed For You.

• Blah Blah Blah, The World Coincidently Peaked When I Did, Blah Blah Blah [New York Observer]

Posted in Alternative Media, Old People

9 Responses to “You Sold Out”

1. Media Bitchfest » Blog Archive » Old Timer Fires Back, Blogger Very Polite wrote on 07/27/06 at 2:54 pm :

   […] If you remember correctly, yesterday morning I poked fun at a story about YouTube written by one Tom Scocca for the New York Observer. If you one of The 15, you know that this kind of things happens, well, twice a day. More rare, is when the object of my ridicule reads what I wrote and decides to write back. So thanks Technorati, big fucking help you are… Dear Media Bitchfest: […]

2. Media Bitchfest » Blog Archive » Media Complimentfest wrote on 08/30/06 at 7:37 am :

   […] Normally this space is used to lampoon and harass media professionals who I have and like will never meet. I have carped into the hallow abyss of these internets for over a year now about how media pros are old, out of touch, socially deaf and culturally impotent boobs too focused on the “good old days” to realize the beautiful new dawn that awaits. […]

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