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The Oregon Humanities Center
PRESENTS THE 2003-4
Robert D. Clark Lecture
i w the Hum am i t i k s
«ndCUrkTml
FIDD1.ERAND
LIVING HISTORIAN
Daniel
Slosberg
Monday, November 24
8:00 p.m.
Gerlinger Alumni Lounge > f
1468 University Street
UNIVERSITY
OF OREGON
owed by a reception. For more information,
or for disability accommodations, please call (541) 346-3934.
Today's mindless TV shows
reflect those of years past
1 don't watch a lot of television.
Occasionally some Comedy Central
at a friend's house, an odd episode of
"The Simpsons," some CNN for
kicks or the Fox News channel for
laughs. That about sums it up. Never
seen an episode of "Survivor." Never
sat through "CS1: Crime Scene Inves
tigation," "Fear Factor" or "The West
Wing." The intricate human dramas
of "The O.C." and "Smallville" re
main unseen by these eyes.
Is this some sort of statement?
Maybe some rebellion against the
homogenization of society? Will I be
living in a shack in Montana by the
end of the year, typing poorly spelled
anti-authoritarian manifestos and
mumbling incoherent phrases about
the Industrial Revolution? I doubt it,
as would anyone who has spent win
ter gnawing undercooked squirrel
meat in a poorly insulated wooden
structure in the middle of the woods.
Eventually you lose your revolution
ary zeal and return to a comfortable
life of warm food, toilet paper and
shampoo. But I digress.
So why this fatwa against televi
sion? Not malice, for sure, and cer
tainly not some kind of intellectual
pretense, as I've never really seen my
self as "too good" for anything, ex
cept maybe UPN. It might have
something to do with the fact that
my television doesn't pick up any
channels, but if I were really serious
about it I could Fix that problem in a
few minutes using nothing but cop
per wire and duct tape like McGyver.
No, the solution is not that simple.
It might have something to do
with the fact that I find most of what
I see on television to be insufferably
boring crap of the most questionable
entertainment value. Yeah, that
might be it. Television today suffers
from the fact that it is essentially an
Ryan Nyburg
Budget rack
advertising supplement and pro
grammers are more interested in get
ting viewers than creating anything
of quality, substance or artistic mer
it. Not that this is any better or worse
than before. Some people have this
odd belief that society in general is
degrading and that somehow if we
all pull together we can make it bet
ter and more like it used to be.
This strikes me as a suspicious as
sumption, especially when talking
about television. There is a lot of talk
about the beloved shows of the past
like "The Honeymooners," "1 Love
Lucy," "The Gong Show," etc. Be
cause these shows are talked about
so much they are taken as the pro
gramming norm for that era. The
majority of programming is forgot
ten because the majority of program
ming sucked. Tell me how “The Love
Connection" is any better or worse
than "Joe Millionaire." Is "7th Heav
en" of more or less cultural impor
tance than "The Beverly Hillbillies"?
Do you remember "My Mother the
Car"? Have you ever sat through an
episode of "Hee Haw"?
What I am getting at is the idea
that television has always been bad.
It tends to reflect the worst values of
society, and our worst values have re
mained pretty awful for quite a long
time. So, having lost all hope for tele
vision, I make no effort to watch it. 1
will watch on occasion, but I don't
go out of my way to do so. This
might seem like an odd choice for
someone who has chosen to write
about entertainment, but I'm more
concerned about my sanity than my
career. And if you can prove to me
that television as a whole can and
will give anything positive to our cul
ture, I might be willing to reassess
my opinion. Until then, the only se
rious television I'm going to take in
will be through indirect methods, i.e.
old "The Twilight Zone" and "Mys
tery Science Theater 3000" DVDs.
That's about it.
Hope you all come back now, you
hear?
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Shattered Glass’ details decline
of successful magazine writer
m_ i. «»i ■ 'Pi
Courtesy
Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard star in ‘Shattered Glass.'
Christensen plays Stephen Glass, a journalist who fabricates stories.
Courtesy
(Left to right) Christensen, Chloe Sevigny and Melanie
Lynskey share a scene in 'Shattered Glass.’
The film, based on a true
story of a fallen journalist,
will begin its Eugene run
at the Bijou on Friday
By Helen Schumacher
Pulse Columnist
We've all told them — those little
lies that begin harmlessly enough, but
snowball to epic proportions when we
try to cover
- our tracks af
|W| m/I P ter susPicion
has been
11 £ || I ££11 aroused.
- And once
the snow
balling starts, there is no stopping it
until there are no more lies left to tell.
This is what happened to writer
Stephen Glass in 1998. As an associate
editor for the prestigious magazine The
New Republic, Glass fabricated 27 of
the 41 stories he wrote for the maga
zine. The film "Shattered Glass" tells
the story of this charming and bright
journalist as he first wins the loyalty of
The New Republic staff and is eventu
ally exposed by an online news site.
In the beginning of the film, Glass,
played by Hayden Christensen, seems
to be at the top of his game. He's a 25
year-old reporter for The New Repub
lic, the "official in-flight magazine of
Air Force One." His co-workers love
him. Editors at other magazines such
as Harper's and Rolling Stone offer him
freelance work. Glass even gets accept
ed to Georgetown University's law
school.
However, the very thing that makes
him popular — his fascinating stories,
with colorful leads and too-good-to
be-true details — also becomes his un
doing. One of his stories, "Hack Heav
en," catches the eye of Adam
Penenberg (portrayed by Steve Zahn),
who writes for the Web site Forbes Dig
ital Tool. After Penenberg is chastised
by his boss for getting scooped by
Glass and his "Hack Heaven," he does
a few simple Internet searches for Jukt
Micronics, the software company men
tioned in the article The searches turn
up no matches for a supposedly giant
software company. From here, things
begin to crumble for Glass.
The movie does a praiseworthy job
of tackling journalistic integrity with
out all The New York Times/Jayson
Blair brouhaha of this past spring. It re
veals how easy it is for people to be
swayed by charm and also how quickly
they panic under pressure. The cast —
which also includes Hank Azaria, Peter
Sarsgaard, Rosario Dawson and the al
ways remarkable Chloe Sevigny — de
livers nuanced performances that con
tribute to this great newsroom drama.
"Shattered Glass" opens Friday at
the Bijou Art Cinemas, located at 492
E. 13thAve.
Contact the Pulse columnist at
helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
DREfiflN DAILY EMERAID
yonr independent sindent newspaper