Program scripts from week of November 17, 2013
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
Too Much Information
There are a lot of us who worry about how much information there is floating around about us out on the internet. Whether you’re concerned about stalkers or identity thieves or avoiding certain failed romantic entanglements from your past there are a lot of reasons to be watchful over your personal information. Of course the information that’s floating out there is largely what we’ve put there. The rest are the public records that become easier and easier to access.
Now some of us will try to hide some of that personal information. In fact for some people it becomes a bit of a priority. That’s where those pesky public records come into play.
In this case an actress is very upset with the information that is out there about her. Specifically, her age. Like generations of actresses before her Junie Hoang had lied about her age. Nine years ago she had gone on the website IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) and created a profile for herself. IMDB has become pretty much the go to website for information about actors in movies and on TV. Apparently even for folks like casting agents. So it was important that Ms. Hoang present the version of herself that gave her the best chance of getting work. So she cut 7 years off her age. A few years later she decided to just drop the whole birthdate on her profile. At which point IMDB refused to change the entry unless she could prove it was wrong. Which she could of course but didn’t want to. After repeated requests were turned down someone at the website used information from the credit card used to create the account, found out her real name, looked in those troublesome public records and found out her real age. And then added that information to her profile.
At which point she sued. The first round went to Amazon owned IMDB but the actress is appealing the verdict.
The reality is that Hollywood plays unfair games with actresses as they get older. Junie Hoang has made a career in smaller roles but she’s made a career. A career that just might be jeopardized because IMDB decided to play holier than thou. It’s possible that they did nothing wrong under the law.
But the violated one of the unwritten rules of the Internet. On the Internet you get to be who you want to be. I’m rooting for Junie on the appeal.
Today I thought we’d take a moment to remember a former giant of the media world that had fallen on hard times in the last couple years. Heck, let’s be honest this star had started fading years ago. You have to kind of wonder what took so long to shuffle off this mortal coil.
In this case it’s not an actor or special effects magician but the video store chain Blockbuster. Be honest, when you heard the announcement last week that Dish Network, who bought the chain back in 2011, was closing the last 300 stores was your first thought “There are still Blockbuster Video stores in the world?”? Yeah, me too.
My second thought was that I kinda missed the old days. Walking the racks looking for a movie for the weekend always reminded me of checking the stacks in the library. You never knew what fascinating discovery might be waiting for you. Some little gem that you’d heard about but never seen or even better something that was totally new to you. Movie nerd nirvana.
Then I remembered. That almost never happened. Why? Because places like Blockbuster were always aimed at the great middle of the viewing audience. This is why you would find a dozen copies of whatever had been popular in the last year. Didn’t matter if it was an utter piece of drivel. If there were anything really interesting in the collection you could certain of two things.
First, there would only be one copy. Second, that copy would be checked out already.
So in the end I am not particularly unhappy with the demise of the classic video store. I have a much wider selection of movies going back decade after decade through services like Netflix than I would have had at every Blockbuster store combined.
For a brief shining moment places like Blockbuster were a great new entry way into the wider world of the movies. But that moment has come and gone.
Blockbuster Video was 28 years old.
Day of the Doctor
Lots of people get crazy about lots of different things. I work with teens so I see them getting all hot and bothered about their favorite new band, movie star or teen star. I have a long time friend who is very clear. Saturdays are off limits. If you want to come watch college football with him that’s fine, otherwise, pick another day for a visit.
There’s not a lot I get that excited about. I love sports but I don’t live or die with my teams (which is a good thing since I’m a Pittsburgh Pirates fan), the only college game I must see every year is the Army/Navy game (Go Navy, Beat Army!). Twenty plus years in music radio pretty took the shine off of most music stars. I love their work but I’ve watched too many of them crash and burn to put them up on pedestals.
But this weekend there is something coming that does bring a bit of the fan boy out in me. I haven’t been this excited about a media event in a very long time. You see Saturday is the Day of the Doctor. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of the long running BBC science fiction series “Doctor Who”. Saturday November 23rd marks the 50th anniversary of the very first episode of the show. To borrow from the Grateful Dead “What a long strange trip it’s been”.
The truly amazing part of this is that the series has had as long a run as it has. The original series was intended as a semi-educational family show. I’m certain no one expected it to become an media icon and a multi-media smash. The original episodes were so low budget it’s a little embarrassing to watch today.
So why has the show endured? Why is now on it’s on to its third or fourth generation of viewers? I discovered the show on PBS while in college. My daughter was a teenager when the show returned from the dead and she’s now as big a fan as her old man.
Even these cynical days there’s something appealing about a traveller looking to make the world a little better place. The Doctor believes in the essential value of the human race even when we don’t. Through his eyes we see our best qualities amid the trials and tribulations of being human. We see that his eternal optimism endures even the pain and experience of a lifetime that is measured in centuries.
And I think that’s something worth getting excited about.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
No comments:
Post a Comment