I can't write anything today. I just can't. There's just too much to say.
That said, I've been thinking about Marshall McLuhan. I don't know about you, but for some reason, we felt compelled to make fun of him when I was young. I recently was reminded of him when I encountered one of his many quotes. If you haven't thought about him in a while you can read about him at the official website and, of course, wiki. This isn't meant to be an advertisement, but, I gotta say, he was one smart man. I would be proud to have come up with these:
"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say."
"I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it."
"I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it."
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Remember how we made fun of Marshall McLuhan?
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3 comments:
Hi Judith,
I have always been amazed at how McLuhan went from media guru to "who was he" and now back to media prophet. Many of his insights are just now becoming appreciated. I especially like his Laws of the Media, otherwise known as the Tetrad, although I think they still need further development and explication.
I write about McLuhan and other media scholars often at my own blog "A Model Media Ecologist" at www.robertkblechman.blogspot.com and I welcome your comments.
I remember it differently. "WE" didn't laugh we were awe struck! But what McLuhan himself felt was probably more people scowling at him particularly his academic colleagues.
I think the quotes you cited remind me more of NY Yankee's catcher and manager Yogi Berra!
I read McLuhan way back in j-school but he was my favorite when I studied him all over again for my master's in Media Studies. How he could be so prescient and spot on in that old media world-- so much is ultra relevant today. Thanks for the wiki link....
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