http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V8VaJL-s3Q
In the modern world today, there are many means of communication towards others. Communications requires that a message be sent to another while using a language that the receiver will understand. Whether it be through television, radio, or the internet, ways of communication are vital in our ever advancing world. An online encyclopedia says that “communication includes acts that confer knowledge and experiences, give advice and commands, and ask questions. These acts may take many forms, in one of the various manners of communication. The form depends on the abilities of the group communicating. Together, communication content and form make messages that are sent towards a destination” (wikipedia). Without communication, human life would cease to exist.
I obtained my video clip from YouTube.com. YouTube is a very popular website where many different kinds of people can share their thoughts and ideas and communicate them to others through the use of a webcam. Wikipedia defines YouTube as “YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips.” I, myself, have never placed a video of any sort onto YouTube nor do I ever plan on doing so in the future. But, like many other people around the world, I do happen to find some kind of enjoyment out of watching these quirky, stupid and sometimes rather strange videos that other users have placed onto the website.
After a while of looking through several videos on the website, including about a two dozen Chris Crocker clips, I did find one that I thought was funny. Its title is Retarded Police Man. This particular video is the third installment of a group of videos made by the same group of people. The video depicts a retarded cop pulling over what seems to be an innocent male driver. It starts with a little introduction of the retarded cop and a short jingle to go along with it. After pulling the man over, the cop proceeds to offer him apples, and even cocaine saying, “Cocaine is cool, makes your brain feel silly.” And, after running in the streets and doing some sort of a dance, the cop offers the man a police escort if he is pregnant. Since the man is clearly not pregnant, he offers the retarded cop a salty penny, and continues on his way.
Although this video does depict a retarded man, and is obviously made to gain humor in others, it may be offensive to some viewers. I think that applies to a lot of the videos on YouTube and related websites. What some people think is funny and done in good taste, others will think that the video is insensitive and not at all humorous. Basically anything can be posted online for anyone to view at anytime of the day. Just as many television shows may be offensive to some viewers, online videos can cause the same problem. Where do we draw the line? Or should there even be a line drawn?
There are many different ways of communications that people experience. In Convergences, author Robert Atwan tells us to focus on the main points of videos, such as the message, method, and the medium. I think that the message (what the actual text is trying to say) in these videos and others related to it is just for comedy. There is no actual point to what is going on in the video other than to get someone out there in cyberspace to laugh at it and find just as much humor in it as the people included in making the video. The method is the way in which the author says the message. Since I think the message is purely comical, I believe that the method he goes about doing this is by placing a retarded man as a law official who is supposed to be honored and uphold the best interest of the community. And the medium (the way in which the video was brought to the viewer) for this particular video is, of course, the internet where the video was posted and found by me, the viewer.
An online encyclopedia defines the internet as “a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web” (wikipedia). Through the internet, there are so many things that ordinary people can access and get a hold of. Without it, the only images that are being broadcasted would probably only be seen over a television screen. Now we have access to the internet pretty much anywhere we go. Internet service is relatively a cheap price for all of the things that the web offers. Countless hours of people’s lives have been spent here. Some to find information on a certain topic, others just use the internet to browse, or maybe look for people who share the same interests that they do. Whatever the case, I do believe the internet plays a big role as technology in our lives continues to grow and things around us being to change. The internet will help us keep up, and it will give us a head start.
Atwan, Robert. Convergences: Second Edition. Bedford/ St. Martin’s: 2005.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 4 Oct 2007.
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