Wednesday, October 2, 2013
An Atheist in the Foxhole Post #2
As the book progresses, Joe Muto is getting deeper and more entangled in Fox News. He has just gotten off a horrifying night shift that left him quite zombie-like, and also contributed to a slowing of the action of the book, as he spent many pages complaining about the sleepy fog he drifted through for almost a year. However, when he gets put on the regular 9-5 shift, there is a portion of the text that really stood out to me. Muto shifted from his normal humorous and snarky narration and commentary of life at Fox News, to a relatively serious issue. He goes into a monologue in the midst of the coverage of Michael Jackson's trial, he describes it as the whole world screeching to a halt until a verdict on the child molestation charges was reached, with every media network focusing on it at once. He talks about how while waiting for a verdict, a sort of "trial-party" was going on at work, and people were laughing and making jokes about how they should play songs by Michael Jackson such as "Pretty Young Thing" or "Beat It" in light of the nature of the charges. Muto points out that he feels awful for ever having joked about such a serious issue, but explains that when you work for the media, you become horribly desensitized. Beheadings, bombings, natural disasters, murders, they all become your norm. It gets to a point where people feel that the only way to cope is through laughter, even if the joke is horribly cruel. I think that this phenomenon occurs in the audience, not just those working for the media. For example, many people are desensitized to seeing the effects of war on the news, and do not think twice about where we are fighting or why. If war was on our homefront however, the situation would be taken far more seriously. He also points out that he actually began to feel that he could create a career in Fox News. This surprised me considering is initial aversion to the network and everything it stood for. He notes that even though he has to grit his teeth while watching some segments, he doesn't feel like he would agree with every segment on CNN or MSNBC either. This made me think about how bias exists on all sides, but people tend to only see it in their opposition. I think being able to reflect one one's own bias and look at an opposing perspective is an important life skill that Muto is teaching through his writing.
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You are doing a great job of explaining how Muto is engaging with his environment. It is clear to me that you have a great understanding of his character. I can tell you are reading like a writer by the way you noticed Muto’s shift in tone from humorous to serious. As you noted, any aberrant behavior is important to pay attention to because it can reveal new information about the character. In this case, after his monologue he began to think that perhaps he could create a career in Fox News for himself.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you pull out Muto’s thoughts and discuss them in a universal sense, not solely how they apply to the story. For example, how you explained how laughing at atrocities desensitizes people. I think that is true for the media, but that can also be applied to other areas of life. It’s a way of disconnecting oneself so he/she doesn't have to feel any guilt or responsibility for what is happening.
Nice reflective analysis to conclude your post, it’s cool that an author is teaching you life lessons!
Asha, you bring up something that worries me, too. I went to journalism school and did a lot of thinking and writing about the role of a journalist. There really cannot be reporting without bias -- it seems humanly impossible -- but I do think that these networks have created these niches that allow those narrow lenses -- both liberal and conservative -- to run wild without the idea of "balance." It bothers me and then the desensitization gets magnified.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate your keen eye for tone. How could you tell that the tone shifted -- what changed?