Media and Elements of Escapism

The link between media and entertainment as a means to escape the every day routine is something we all experience when watching movies, listening to the radio, and seeing advertisements. As Robert Allen stated in the first lines of Audience-Oriented Criticism and Television, "watching television is a pervasive and almost universal feature of modern life". While watching television people forget the rough elements of their own lives and get to enjoy the ridiculous features of those on television. The appetite consumers have for new sitcoms, plots, shows, and ideas all fuels the vast demand for media and new forms of entertainment. The ever growing creativity [or lack there of] in the case of some shows, is all due to the relationship the audience holds with the media they are taking part in. The difference and use of open and closed forms forms of narratives that Allen discusses shows another critical link between what causes an audience to take such pleasure in various forms of media. The use of open, unending plots seen in Soap Operas,etc. leaves the consumer with loose ends and a need to continue a show,a crucial establishment of viewer dependence is formed, and the escapism through a certain media outlet is achieved. One point I found extremely important in Allen's text was concerning the "obscured" difference between reading a book and watching television. The constant interruption of commercials and brainwashing that is inserted into media is much different than the stimulation achieved from reading a book. Reading, in my opinion, will always be a much healthier form of escapism.