Blog #2 Pontypool and Spacial/Time Bias- Morgan Carmichael
What I thought was interesting about Pontypool is that language became dangerous through something that people use every day to communicate. The virus spreads through the understanding of spoken words, which targets normal conversations and media technologies. This fits in with Harold Innis’s theory of time- and space-biased media.
I would argue that the spread of the virus is mostly a case of space bias. Innis claims that, because electronic signals are a medium capable of transmitting information over space, they are well-suited to propagating information over large distances. In the film, spoken language is not limited to face-to-face conversations, but is carried through radio broadcasts and telephone calls. Speech is often thought of as time-biased communication, but these technologies change the extent to which it can travel and how fast. This is how the communication itself, regardless of the original intention of the message, is influenced by the medium. Radio, telephones and electronic amplification are also contemporary forms of orality, insofar as they rely on speech, listening and the human voice. Innis argues that orality is social practices such as dialogue and storytelling in which meaning is created and shared between people. Pontypool, however, provides a more terrifying take on this process, in which listening and understanding can be deadly.
Overall, the film makes the point that communication technologies are not simply neutral tools. They shape the movement of language through society and how people experience language. What normally allows people to connect is what makes them vulnerable.
Hey Morgan! This is a really great discussion post and does a good job in explaining the ways that radio can act as a spaced biased media because it is being broadcasted to a large number of people. I liked how you connected this to how technologies that we use to communicate and consume media are not neutral tools and effect us more than we think. This ties back into a lot of the influence that media has on society.
ReplyDeleteMorgan! I like the way you pointed out that the virus spreads through something we use every day without even thinking about it! To be honest, it's kind of scary that understanding in general what someone is saying could put you in danger. I also think it's interesting how the characters have to be careful with the words they use, when normally speaking is something we do without much thought at all. It makes me think about how different the situation would have been if the virus could only spread through in person conversations instead of things like radio and phones.
ReplyDeleteYeah I also think the virus in Pontypool is an example of space bias. For Harold Innis, time-biased media like oral tradition last across generations and favor small communities, while space-biased media extend control over distance. Although the virus is spoken, it spreads through radio, telephone, and amplification, which carry words quickly to many people at once. These media bring back the immediacy and emotional pull of speech through technology, which gives words both intimacy and reach. And on your last point, I would just say that tools are innately neutral until they are used by someone, at which point they then have either a positive or negative effect.
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