Check out Barry Levinson’s Avalon. There’s a very memorable scene that shows people watching TV, used as a bit of social criticism.
gordon
1) The film industry still looks down on the television industry and doesn’t want to promote it. (maybe)
2) Looking at people while they’re watching tv is just depressing. (more likely)
I don’t like to promote the guy, but Tarantino came to mind immediately as another exception. He always includes scenes of people watching television.
mig
That’s what I’m thinking: watching people watching television is boring, or depressing. I’m guessing Tarantino, or anyone else, would be using it for this effect. When I was writing that, a scene in some old episode of Miami Vice came to mind, where I believe they found some corpse in a hotel room somewhere, with the TV still on and Dr. Ruth talking and talking throughout the scene.
It’s not just watching people watching television. Having a television on in the background is usually a judgment against the characters so engaged.
Even more interesting, compare how often characters whom we’re to admire are seen reading in bed (an activity that non-readers tend to regard as passive), to how often (how seldom) such characters watch television.
Check out Barry Levinson’s Avalon. There’s a very memorable scene that shows people watching TV, used as a bit of social criticism.
Check out Barry Levinson’s Avalon. There’s a very memorable scene that shows people watching TV, used as a bit of social criticism.
1) The film industry still looks down on the television industry and doesn’t want to promote it. (maybe)
2) Looking at people while they’re watching tv is just depressing. (more likely)
I don’t like to promote the guy, but Tarantino came to mind immediately as another exception. He always includes scenes of people watching television.
That’s what I’m thinking: watching people watching television is boring, or depressing. I’m guessing Tarantino, or anyone else, would be using it for this effect. When I was writing that, a scene in some old episode of Miami Vice came to mind, where I believe they found some corpse in a hotel room somewhere, with the TV still on and Dr. Ruth talking and talking throughout the scene.
It’s not just watching people watching television. Having a television on in the background is usually a judgment against the characters so engaged.
Even more interesting, compare how often characters whom we’re to admire are seen reading in bed (an activity that non-readers tend to regard as passive), to how often (how seldom) such characters watch television.