I work on the assumption, or let it be the fear, that the reader will stop reading if I stop being interesting.
Clive JamesRead
Television is simultaneously blamed, often by the same people, for worsening the world and for being powerless to change it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Television is criticized for both negatively influencing society and being ineffective in creating positive change.
In this quote, Clive James highlights a paradox in how people view television: on one hand, it is held accountable for the decline of societal values and various global issues, while on the other hand, it is deemed ineffective in driving any significant positive change. This reflects a broader discourse on the role of media in shaping public perception and behavior, suggesting that despite its pervasive influence, television struggles to foster meaningful solutions to the problems it is accused of exacerbating.
Themes
TelevisionMediaInfluenceSocietyChange
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion on media influence, one might quote Clive James to highlight the dual nature of television.
More from Clive James
All quotes βMurray sounds like a blindfolded man riding a unicycle on the rim of the pit of doom, the men actually facing the danger are all so taciturn that you might as well try interviewing the cars themselves.
Clive JamesRead
Prejudices are useless. Call Los Angeles any dirty name you like - Six Suburbs in Search of a City, Paradise with a Lobotomy, anything - but the fact remains that you are already living in it before you get there
Clive JamesRead
Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world.
Clive JamesRead
I was wrong, however, to suppose that Sellers thought the world revolved around him. He thought the cosmos did too, and history, and the fates... Like every egomaniac, he behaved as if everybody else spent their day being as interested in him as he was.
Clive JamesRead
The essence of a class system is not that the privileged are conscious of their privileges, but that the deprived are conscious of their deprivations.
Clive JamesRead
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