Tynan's Anger

Days like these are the worst days to be on the Internet. There are glaring problems with the coverage of Kanye West that I would willingly ignore if I thought they'd ever go away. So allow me to address how this story, like dozens before it, has progressed.

1. Something shocking happens, usually on television. Either we get word of an unexpected death, an exposed nipple, a rapper saying the President doesn't care about black people, or the same rapper saying that someone else should have won an award.
2. The unexpected nature of the moment leads to hysterical coverage by talking heads. This happens regardless of whether or not the hype is manufactured.
3. The Internet responds in appropriately hysterical fashion, leading the story to dominate Google trends.
4. It ends up dominating Google Trends so heavily that even the media outlets with the highest standards feel the need to cover it, whether or not their readership actually cares. This is why the death of Anna Nicole Smith made the front page of the New York Times in 2007, and why The Daily Show, which is allowed to be more honest, is considered to be the most trustworthy news source.
   
5. Everyone ends up pissed off and morose over what is essentially a non-issue, and nothing gets changed.

I'm 23 years old. Is that old enough to make me the only one who still cares about music to remember MTV's long history of manipulating hype? At 23, should I be cynical enough to either dismiss this issue entirely, or cash in on it?

I don't want either case to be true, but unless something is done, this is how the media in the 21st century is going to work.



Controversial MTV VMA moments throughout the years

Labels: google trends, internet hype, kanye west, msm, mtv, new media, rants, video music awards

In the midst of reshuffling the purpose of this blog, I have decided to provide a neat little summary of where it has been from 2008-Present:

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Major Features:

The Top 10 Quotes from English-language Drama This Decade:

• Part One: Quotes 10-6
• Part Two: Quotes 5-3
• Part Three: Quotes 2-1

Rock N Roll Case Studies:

• #1: So This is Girl Power: Rock 'n' Roll as Defined By Hillary Clinton's Democratic Convention
• #2: “Hot Topic is the way that we rock”? How Le Tigre and MC Lars address the Adorno problem.
• #3: Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! The Jesus Lizard is getting back together!
• #4 Thoughts on the Day Ron Asheton Died

How to Save Theater Criticism

• Part One: No Sex for the Critic: Why theater critics are not normal people
• Part Two: Would Kenneth Tynan Twitter? Theater as the ultimate digital diversion.
• Part Three: What is to be done

Screeds:

• How America Failed Theater: Theater from a Business Perspective
• Bush is not Batman!
• The Dark Side of Internet Dumb-ocracy
• Neil LaBute hates American theater, and sounds immature doing so
• How Michael Riedel is killing theater criticism
• Is hipsterism dead? Or was it already dying?

Prominently Linked/Commended Posts:

• Was Mark Prior's downfall the fault of Dusty Baker, or incompetent doctors?
• Rock ‘N’ Roll Case Studies #3 Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! The Jesus Lizard is getting back together! “Nice post, Ethan. You've gone to my head and made me feel all swooshy. –David Wm. Sims, bassist for The Jesus Lizard.”
• Tom Stoppard discusses Chekhov, the media, democracy, and the theater with David Remnick at BAM
• What Sweet Search has to say about the future of SEO
• The Don Hall/Mike Daisey/Scott Walters/Adam Thurman debate
• New Stanislavski translation: RTFM, Actors!
  - "[Ethan Stanislawski is] the best-named theatre blogger in the 'sphere" Kelly Nestruck, The Guardian

And yet, the most trafficked individual post:

Gerard Butler Not Into the Whole Celebrity Gossip Thing

Labels: Blog, hipsters, how theater failed america, how to save theater criticism, links, michael riedel, rants, rock 'n' roll case studies, top theater quotes of the decade