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New Media Are Evil: Difference between revisions
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Sometimes the doomsaying has a kernel of truth. New media do change old media, sometimes for a net loss of quality in art or information. Most often, though, the new medium allows a new freedom from the old medium that makes for more opportunity. This is [[Older Than They Think]], as you can see from the very first examples.
See also: [[Murder
[[Broken Aesop|Don't forget that Old Media was NEW back then.]]
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== 1945-1989 ==
* The (re)introduction of television after the end of [[World War II]] prompted numerous pronouncements (both sober and wild-eyed) of its expected deleterious effects on society. One (probably tongue-in-cheek) example can be found in [[Stan Freberg (Creator)]]'s 1957 song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvBiufbKdfE "Tele-Vee-Shun"].
** Hollywood's reaction to television was a panic attack, all but blaming TV for the [[Fall of the Studio System]] -- something that had been in progress for years due to mismanagement. After the US government won a huge antitrust suit against the studios in 1948, the major studios dumped huge amounts of their libraries to TV syndication companies, deciding they were of little value otherwise (the VCR was still thirty years away). Worse yet, one of the now-liberated theater chains, United Paramount Theaters, merged with ABC in 1953. Its parent company [[Paramount]] smarted over all of this for years, and even had a hand in (trying to) kill the [[Du Mont]] network -- which just ended up creating Metromedia, the precursor to FOX. Anyway, by the 1960s, all of the majors, even once-mighty MGM, had TV production facilities, except Paramount. They were finally forced into it by new owners Gulf+ Western in 1968, after G+ W bought Desilu from [[Lucille Ball]] (the minors never had a problem with TV, since they didn't own theaters, and Columbia Pictures in particular jumped in head-first way back in 1951).
** In a 1950s ''[[Superman]]'' film serial Lex Luthor has a television station.
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== 1990-Present ==
* Say it with me now: [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|Digital. Piracy. Is.]] '''[[Digital Piracy Is Evil|EVIL.]]''' This one is so prevalent that it has [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|its own page]].
** [http://americancensorship.org/ This proposed bill] is an almost textbook example of this trope. While many of the supporters say that they are only trying to cut down on internet piracy, the true intentions are essentially trying to censor the internet a la ''[[Banned in China|China]]'' <ref>note that this is a comparison the ''supporters'' of the bill made first</ref> . The many, '''[[Internet Backdraft/Politics|many]]''' opponents of the bill are left out of hearings, and the last hearing basically boiled down to [[Critical Research Failure|poorly researched]] railings against the sole witness not for it (but really the only one allowed in), a representative of Google. To give you an idea, many of the supporters don't even use the internet, or even ''want'' to know how it even works. And yet, [[What an Idiot!|they completely ignore internet security experts and numerous tech companies who say the bill is bad news]] because they '''don't believe what they're saying.''' Read: people who have barely crossed paths with the internet saying that they're ''[[Know
*** Granted this is FAR from the first time that sort of thing has happened. It's probably best to expect people supporting these kinds of bills don't know what they're talking about.
* Video... bloody... games... Seriously, not only are [[Moral Guardians]] like Jack Thompson ''very'' quick to say that [[Murder Simulators|violent children are trying to re-enact video games]], they're claiming that video games are a legitimate addiction (as shown by the video game addiction clinic that has opened recently).
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* According to [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001582.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2562 this story] published in ''Variety'' magazine in March 2009, London-based media research company Screen Digest has calmly announced that free online TV (both pirated and ad-supported legal) is the single greatest threat to broadcast media. The thrust of the article seems to be that since it is so much easier to watch television online on your own schedule, there's little reason to view broadcast media with all of its ads and often arbitrary scheduling. In other words, the internet is offering a better product in the same way television offered a better product than radio.
* In her [http://light.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/reading-100-from-the-nobel-lecture-of-doris-lessing/ Nobel lecture], Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing calmly implied that the almost instant arrival of the Internet (in historical terms) has fatally wounded writing and literature.
** Well, it's probably brought down the ''average'' quality of all writing published somewhere hugely, [[
* This also extends to the New Media itself, when attempts to commercialize it are effectively resisted by its users, such as commercial pop-ups being countered by pop-up blockers (which are currently built into every major browser) and other software that cleans ads from web pages (such as the Adblock Plus extension to Mozilla Firefox). Various industry groups are constantly hand-wringing about how this is "theft of service" and how it will bring about the death of the Internet. Because, as we all know, the Internet was built on the rock-solid foundation of advertisement before those pie-in-the-sky scientists and academics got their hands on it.
* [http://www.fstdt.com/fundies/comments.aspx?q=52575 "The internet is Satan's domain!"] -- [[Hypocritical Humour|posted, of course, by someone on the internet.]]
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* The ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episode "The Game" features an alien who tries to control the crew of the ''Enterprise'' by giving them video games that stimulate the pleasure center in the player's brain. Coupled with some subliminal conditioning, the crew become so addicted to the games that they obey their "master"'s every command.
* Non-Fiction TV example: Buzz Bissinger's rant against Will Leitch (creator of the extremely popular sports blog ''Deadspin'') during a live telecast of ''Costas Now''. Totally unscripted, Bissinger reinforced basically everything in this (and many other) tropes.
* Thanks to [[Ripped
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJQY This KTTV "Fox 11 News" "special report"] purports to reveal the activities of a gang of "''[[This Is Your Premise On Drugs|hackers on steroids]]''" called Anonymous who destroy the lives of MySpace users, make death threats, and [http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Jake_Brahm threaten to blow up stadiums]. In fact, the "anonymous" in question is simply the default login to most [[Image Boards]] (the so-called "secret websites" and "underground hacker sites"). The "report" includes a random clip of a truck blowing up, apparently as a "demonstration" and a signal that [[You Can Panic Now]]. The "anonymous insider" is clearly in on the gag; note use of 4chan [[Catch Phrase|Catch Phrases]] like "Anonymous does not forgive". The mention of "[[Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000|like a real-life video game]]" earns extra [[New Media Are Evil]] points -- such are the things that happen when a local news station doesn't know what they're getting into.
** It's worth noting, though, that the "insider" was ''not'' in on the gag -- 4chan found out who he was and made his life a living hell. Read all about it on Encyclopedia Dramatica. The individual was a former /b/ member who, after his raid request on a girl who rejected him was turned down by Anonymous, continued complaining until a fellow Anon at his school revealed his identity. Hilarity did or did not ensue, depending on who you ask.
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** The [[British Newspapers|British Sun Newspaper]] (evidently worried that it was failing to meet its [[Paedo Hunt]] quota) ran a report on the satirical "Child Beauty Pageants" site that you can find on the in-game internet, which automatically redirect you to the FBI homepage and give you a four-star wanted rating. Apparently, including this was sick (and possibly wrong), and it would inevitably lead to people looking at these sites in real life.
* ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' had an episode ("Cyber-lebrity") where a girl's entire life seems ruined because of a photo (not even showing nudity) of her posted on the Internet. To the point where people are ''trying to kill her''. Then they go after Horatio, uncovering confidential information within ''minutes'', because [[It's a Small Net After All]]. And Flashmobs show up with a speed and fanatical interest over said girl that, in real life, wouldn't happen if Britney Spears was french kissing Lindsay Lohan buck naked on top of a circus trapeze in the middle of Times Square with dancing leprechauns doing the macarena in time to music supplied to the Rolling Stones. At noon on a weekday.
* ''[[CSI New York]]'' had an episode where Reed, a blogger, tried to get Mac to give information on the ''Taxicab Killer''. Mac refuses, so Reed proceeds to [[Ass Pull|make something up]]. This whips up hysteria enough that three cabbies murder some random cabbie that they suspect to be the killer, except he was a cop. Considering that bloggers like [[Little Green Footballs|Charles Johnson]] made their bones exposing malfeasance in old media, this is [[Anvilicious]] with a corrupt anvil. And just to drive it home even further, {{spoiler|he's the next victim, or is he?}} It should be noted that Reed's original role in the series was as Mac's long-lost stepson, so there's definitely [[
** It also features a subversion: In "Down The Rabbit Hole", the team discovers that a [[Psycho for Hire]] is using ''[[Second Life]]'' too find info on her targets. She doesn't conform to the "Internet Stalker" archetype at all, and it's made quite clear she doesn't care for the game as anything more then a weapon (as revealed in a sequence where she uses a virus to ''crash her own server''). Plus, it's revealed that Ross is an avid player.
** Another subversion in a more recent episode -- a Chatroulette-like program alerts the CSIs to a murder before it's discovered (allowing them to be assured that they'll get the best possible evidence); Mac and Jo both experiment with the program and find it to be interesting, rather than harmful. Jo even uses it to show New York to a serviceman in Iraq.
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* A debate similar to the VCR incident cited under [[Digital Piracy Is Evil]] is now going on over ebooks -- most notably Amazon's Kindle, which is selling like there's no tomorrow. Is this the end of printed books? Ask anyone who was around in the '50s and worried that television would be the death of movies what they think.
* The French cop show ''[[Engrenages]]'' aka ''Spiral'' had a murder-of-the-week in its second season in which a stereotypical alienated teen boy murdered his slightly older cyber-girlfriend after they met in real life and she rejected him for being too young, then killed himself. However, the general tone of the ep didn't condemn the internet so much as his parents for not noticing how screwed-up he was.
* ''Triple subverted'' on an episode of the Canadian sitcom ''[[Life With Derek]].'' In one episode, the main character sees her brothers playing a [[Lawyer
** Given that controversy surrounding [[Fan Service]] among real-life gamers, and the genuine conflict some [[Gamer Chick|Gamer Chicks]] feel between "this character is objectified and I should not like her" versus "I find playing as her to be empowering," it makes one suspect that there's an actual gamer or two on the writing staff.
* Obligatory ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' example from the first season with "I Robot, You Jane", where the boy Willow meets over the internet turns out to be the demon [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Moloch the Corruptor.]] Although to give it its due, the web becomes evil because a demon imprisoned in a book during the medieval ages was inadvertently released onto it, and several techno-savvy magic users were used to reseal it.
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== New Media (are evil) ==
* In this [[Gag Dub]] of an animated adaptation of ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'', Galadriel reveals to Frodo the horrifying future when [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQC_iqVGvUM&NR=1 Facebook will become like MySpace].
* [[Hulu]]'s hilarious ad campaign features celebrities from [[NBC]] and [[FOX]] shows ([[
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m71m-LBqFQ More awesome] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-jfrjXrOyc than it] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CMWkesiVD4 sounds.] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qcc4QRRKns Seriously.]
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[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:New Media Are Evil]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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