From: larryr@saturn.sdsu.edu (Larry Riedel)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.bh90210
Subject: Re: Are you serious
Date: 15 Dec 1992 02:42:11 GMT
Organization: San Diego State University, College of Sciences
NNTP-Posting-Host: saturn.sdsu.edu
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Matthew S. 'Opie' Warren (warren-matthew@cs.yale.edu) wrote:
> larryr@saturn.sdsu.edu (Larry Riedel) writes:
> >Kuz I (ikuz@cs.vu.nl) wrote:
> >> I've read a whole bunch of postings from people who sound like
> >> they really think that this is a GOOD show!  Is this  REALLY 
> >> true?  I don't mean to put anyone down but I find it hard
> >> to beleive that college students could take the show seriously.
> >
> >I seem to remember similar statements made about Bach, Hemingway,
> >Tchaikovsky and Freud, but history is replete with criticism of
> >great art, music, science and literature by those who couldn't
> >comprehend its sublimity.  Why stop now?

> I would say that at least part of the appeal of the show lies in
> its very unreality.

I'm assuming that by reality we are talking about the subjective reality
of human perception rather than a fixed absolute reality, since it's
impossible to discuss that.

To the extent that I cannot empathize with someone's life, I won't
perceive that person's life as real, because that's the nature
of empathy (as I'm using the term at least).  Different people develop
the ability to empathize with others to varying degrees, depending
on their desire to do so, and of course on their own experience.  If a
fictional work contains characters and relationships with whom some of
the readers/viewers can empathize, then that work is realistic to that
extent.

Poorly written, produced, directed and acted shows will not have
characters with whom normal people can empathize to an appreciable
level.  Some people DO empathize to a high degree with the characters
and relationships on 90210, and that empathy makes the show "realistic"
to us.


>                      I mean, it's almost like a fairy tale.  We can
> hate Brenda or Dylan (my least favorite) so much precisely because 
> their lives so little resemble ours (or at least mine :-) as to be,
> well, even funny.

Exactly.  The inability of the viewer to empathize with a fictional
character leads to the perception on the part of the viewer that the
character is unreal.


>                                         It's well-nigh impossible to
> maintain willing suspension of disbelief in this kind of environment,
> and the fact that we can't means that we can watch the show more
> casually, and with less emotional damage, than we could otherwise.

The existence of this type of attitude was used to vilify George
Bush, who putatively did not accept the "reality" of the recession.  His
perceived inability to empathize with the average American was a major
contributing factor to his loss in this year's Presidential election.

Anti-abortion groups claim that pro-choice supporters don't empathize
with the fetus in the womb, and hence don't accept it as a human being.
This purportedly enables them to destroy the fetus without feeling
guilt because the humanity of the fetus is not "real."


So yes, if we can't empathize with something, we will perceive it as
"unrealistic," and that gives us the freedom to have attitudes towards
it that we wouldn't feel comfortable with if we could relate it to
our reality.  Unfortunately, this attitude applies as much to
non-fictional as to fictional reality (viz 90210).


Inability to empathize with the characters or the relationships on 90210
does not make them "unreal."



Larry
Newsgroups: alt.tv.bh90210