Blog Post #2- Quin McLane

 

  • Second question/issue: think about the plague of Pontypool in terms of Harold Innis' analysis of ancient empires and media forms. Is the vector of infection of the language virus in Pontypool an example of time bias or space bias? Radio, telephone, and electronic amplification play an important part in sustaining the virus. How are these media forms and their sociotechnical affordances contemporary forms of orality?

    Through the first few weeks of this course, sound and the way we experience and absorb it have been some of the main focuses. Harold Innis provided us with descriptions of Time Bias which is described as things that are durable but also not easily transported or are not transported at all. He also provided descriptions of Space Bias which is described as things that are light and easily transported over distances at a quicker pace. In terms of the vector of infection of the language virus in Pontypool, it would be an example of Space Bias. Radio, Telephone and electric amplification all play an important part in sustaining the virus, and all three of those mediums assist in Space Bias media that traveled quickly across Pontypool which allowed for the virus to spread so easily. It was not a direct example of time bias because of how easily the information was transported and how quickly the message was transported from sender to receiver. These media forms are contemporary forms of orality because they rely on oral communication and speech to transmit and receive messages in different places.

    I also found it interesting to relate this fictional film to the real world. In the film we saw many people get infected because they spoke a specific word in the English language which then infected them with the virus. The only people who originally had avoided the virus were the people who had no clue what was going on, those people all being stuck inside the radio station. I think this speaks volumes towards present day in our social media/news dominated society. People state false opinions or fictional stories based on political bias or personal opinion (the virus) on social media all the time. Simply because of a following or popularity the public tends to believe them and pass on that opinion (passing on the virus). Finally, the only people who avoid these false claims are the people that do not allow themselves to be consumed by social media (The people stuck in the radio station). 


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