Blog Post #2- Jessica Hardie

Thinking about the plague of Pontypool in terms of Harold Innis’ analysis of ancient empires and media forms,

I found that it was an example of space bias. As discussed by Innis time bias is something that has been solidified

and durable but is not easily transported. As discussed in class a good example of this would be the pyramids

because although they are incredibly strong you can’t easily move them from one place to another.

However, space bias is something that is light and very easily transported across far distances.


In the case of the Pontypool virus, I found that it was a good example of space bias as it was spread through the spoken word that can easily travel from person to person. Within the film we can see the virus spread through multiple forms of communication, the radio being a big one. The sender of the message or in this case the infected word did not have to physically be there to share the message which made it easy to spread and led me to believe that this is an example of space bias.


Things like the radio, telephone, and electronic amplification played a large part in sustaining the virus as not only did the sounds from them attract those that were infected but they were also used to amplify the virus and spread the infected word across larger distances faster. This made it difficult to pinpoint where the virus was coming from and how to put an end to it. These forms of media can be seen as contemporary forms of orality as they make spreading the spoken word much easier. The encoder of the message does not have to physically be with the decoder to get the message across as these forms of media make it possible to communicate through the spoken word without actually being in the same place.


Comments

  1. Caraline MacDonaldFebruary 8, 2023 at 11:19 AM

    Hey Jess,
    This was a really well done discussion post and you highlighted some great points in regards to Harold Innis and the theory of time and space bias media. The summary of the film was a great understanding to how as viewers we can see the virus is spread through the English language and become infected with our words.

    In addition to this, as I discussed in my presentation the radio, telephone and other mediums of electronic amplification span across large platforms and we can hear them on an everyday basis. They are always around us. I enjoy how you tapped into that when writing your discussion for this week, and how when we have this amplification it spread the virus even more as we are always listening to the things around us.

    Overall, great discussion post for this week, I look forward to hearing from you again.

    Caraline.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ethan GuevaraFebruary 11, 2023 at 2:42 PM

    Great post! I like the comment you made about how the sender of the message did not need to be physically there. This is very true as the word was spread through the amplification of sound.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sara HancockFebruary 12, 2023 at 9:12 AM

    Hi Jess,

    Great post! I believe that your analysis of time and space bias in relation to the sound virus in the film Pontypool is an accurate extension to Harold Innis' theories presented in "The Bias of Communication". More specifically, I enjoyed your argument regarding how through space bias mediums, the sound virus was able to be amplified, infecting people globally and quickly. This is an example of how through space bias technologies such as radio and orality, as Innis would say it, thought gained lightness. In other words, through the quick dissemination of alterable, light messages the virus was able to exist and grow at increasing rates in the film.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Quin McLaneFebruary 13, 2023 at 10:53 AM

    Hi Jessica, I enjoyed your description of Space bias media examples in the Pontypool movie using Harold Innis' theory "The bias of communication". I specifically liked your point with regards to the amplification of the English language attracted those affected,. I think it shows a great example of how quickly a message can be transmitted and attract people. I think this also provides us with a great real world example of how when large groups of people rally around a message, it tends to go viral and attract more people, hence how fast the virus spread proving the Space bias media.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Danielle AlonsoMarch 30, 2023 at 12:10 PM

    Hi Jessica,
    I enjoyed reading your post. I thought your explanation of what Space bias is according to Innis was very well done. As well as your example of how the “sender of the message did not have to be there to share the message with others”.

    Do you think that the virus in ponyboy used a different medium such as television (i.e. news program) would it still be space bias or an example of time bias?
    Danielle

    ReplyDelete

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