Blog 4 - “Art, Entertainment, Entropy”

Youngblood’s main argument in “Art, Entertainment, Entropy” is that the entertainment media is vastly entropic, in the sense that it resists change and is supports a constant status quo. He argues that this makes somewhat of a stagnant culture, populated by masses of blind and unthinking people. Entertainment media operates by creating movies, television programs, magazines, etc. that cater to the media’s interests while fulfilling the audience’s expectations at the same time. Quite often, this process involves finding a formula that works well to both fulfill the media’s need and keep people interested, and then mass producing different forms of entertainment with this idea. Examples of the can be seen in everything from game shows to the ever-popular and massive trend of so-called “reality television.” This is also evidence of Youngblood’s claims that today’s entertainment media lacks creativity. The whole entropic process of mass producing entertainment to satisfy a current status quo and the established expectations of an audience requires very little creativity. Youngblood argues that this is a bad thing, and the best way to counter this trend is to introduce negentropy in the form of art. Art is creative and constantly evolving. Art challenges the norms and pushes the boundaries of the status quo, which will ultimately break it and move a society forward. It is “a catalyst to change” (65).

Much of Youngblood’s criticism of entertainment media is still relevant today. The rise of the Internet opened a new world for the media, and many of them take advantage of YouTube and social networking sites to carry their message and reach even further than ever before. Almost every form of new entertainment media has content on a variety of sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter. Do you want follow the news on a popular movie that’s coming out soon or your favorite television series? It’s sure to have a page on all those sites? How about the latest news on that pop singer? He/she is sure to be on those sites too. Feel like catching the news? Visit their site, or one of their social networking pages. In many ways, entertainment media has a stronger and broader grip on its audience than ever before, and this allows it greater control over what people see. However, there is some hope out there. The Internet has also given the artists and freethinkers new grounds to grow on and expand. The Internet allows many to freely express themselves, and it is an outlet for their creativity and their messages. They have nowhere near the power that the media has, but they have great potential to spread the word.