Aaron Shakra
Notebooks of DJ Serpentine
Media
doesn't
portray
reality
The best drama on television isn't
"ER," "The West Wing" or "The Sopra
nos" — it's your news channel, providing
the best drama money can buy, presented
in a form available for consumption, 24
hours a day and seven days a week.
Sure, it probably comes as no surprise
that the information you take as fact is fic
tion, a crafted entertainment of the high
est caliber, carefully scripted and present
ed in high-definition widescreen (where
available). There's so much money in
volved in making this stuff look good that
you might even confuse it with reality. But
overall, there's about as much reality in the
news as in any reality television show.
What perhaps isn't as obvious, howev
er, is what you're missing.
There is no doubt that information is
being presented by these newscasts. But
it's shown in ways emphasizing the visual
presentation and not the actual content.
This has been labeled "sensationalism"
in the past, but whatever it is, its power
ful formula has proven reliable and fi
nancially lucrative for those funding the
shows.
But if you think "the news" tells you
what's happening in the world, you're
dreadfully mistaken. First think about this:
Say corporation Y owns a news channel
and corporation Y also makes movies,
video games, releases music, maybe owns a
radio station here or there and perhaps
even a newspaper. Wouldn't it be silly to
consider these various mediums separate
from one another? Or not influenced by
one another? For all these different prod
ucts — be it a film or a newscast — the end
result for corporation Y is the need to sell
you something. Linder this edict, why
shouldn't coverage of a war look like a
video game? Why shouldn't a television
news anchor look like a movie star (well
okay, not all of them — but most wear at
TumtoSHAKRA, page 11
TEXAS
continued from page 7
but that still doesn’t make up
for the gross sight of her re
mains covering the back seat.
The group stops at a nearby
farmhouse in order to wait for
the sheriff, who picks up the
body. The sheriff s mocking of
the corpse is comical until it
turns out he is part of the fami
ly that includes the chain saw
bearing madman, Leatherface.
lessica Biel's character Erin is
the equivalent of the 1974 ver
sion's Sally, who is left to es
cape Leatherface and his crew
after her friends are slain one
by one.
In the original, the deadly
family consisted of three men
and a decrepit old grandpa;
in the new version, the family
is a larger clan of weirdos, in
cluding a few homely
women and a little boy. This
is a case where more doesn't
equal better. The original
characters were classically
simple, while the new ones
bring an overkill of frightful
and shocking moments.
Ihe most cleverly disturbing
moment in the film is when
Leatherface, who wears a mask
of his victims' faces, turns to
Erin wielding his chain saw
and wearing the face of her
dead boyfriend. One moment
that stuck with me hours after
the film ended was when Erin
finds one of her friends alive
but missing a limb and hang
ing from a hook in Leather
face's basement of dismem
bered bodies. She stabs her
friend to death to put him out
of his misery.
From the first kill on, the
film is a non-stop ride of cli
maxes, chase scenes and
body mutilations. Unlike the
original, which has more
sporadic high-intensity
scenes, the new version
doesn't leave enough time
between scenes to take a
deep breath.
The new film's elaborately
gross setting, overdone sus
pense and graphic killings de
liver thrills very successfully.
They're more like I-want-to
throw-up thrills instead of ex
citing thrills, but maybe that's
what Halloween is all about.
Contact the Pulse reporter
at natashachilingerian
@dailyemeraid.com.
Self
Defense
Speaker
and Teacher
*
r
Erin
Weed
h
UNIVERSITY
OP ORBGON
Brought to
you by
Greek
Life, the
Health
Center,
Women's
Space, and
UO Housing.
Information Session
October 30th
EMU Ballroom 7-9 pm
Free!
Events are open to all
female UO students.
Hands-On Self-Defense Training
October 31st, 9am-10am, 10-11am, or 11am-12pm
Bean West Conference Room -
Salf-ldantiflad
Woman
CONCERT
continued from page 8
others would be judged. Few have
matched the intimacy and soft passion
that Smith shared with his fans
through his music. He took all those
ugly thoughts, the ones most of us pre
tend don't exist, and dressed them up
with guitar and made them into songs
so pretty that hearing them makes your
heart break all over again. A statement
from his label, DreamWorks Records,
eloquently states "(H)e was perhaps
his generation's most gifted singer
songwriter. 11 is enormous talent could
change your life with a whisper."
Smith's music has a comforting hon
esty that isn't forced or contrived, and
that is hard to find.
Last Wednesday I once more turned
to his music for comfort. This time, it
was the news of his death, at the age of
34, that 1 needed solace from. Ihe past
week I've been noticing people doing
the same. The night the news of his
death broke I called one of my friends
and I could hear "Miss Misery" playing
in the background. A couple days later,
at another friend's apartment I noticed
her copy of "Roman Candle" sitting
next to the CD player instead of on the
shelf with the rest of her CDs.
Since that first Smith concert, 1 have
been both spoiled and lucky enough
to see a great many shows with talent
ed and responsive musicians. I lowev
er, that show, and Smith's music, were
the catalyst for me. And Elliott, 1 just
want you to know that 1 keep you
apart, deep in my heart, separate from
the rest, where I like you the best.
Contact the Pulse columnist at
helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
5-IQ Q3UiC
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