Blog Post 2 - Sreehita Turaga
In Pontypool, the way the language virus spreads closely connects to Harold Innis’s ideas about time-biased and space-biased media. Innis explains that time-biased media are more focused on preserving knowledge over time, whereas space-biased media allow information to travel across larger distances. I think when applying these ideas, Pontypool serves as an example of space bias because it spreads through spoken language, and technologies like radio, telephones, and electronic amplification make it possible for infected words to reach people in different places.
Although these technologies are more modern, they still connect to the idea of orality because people are communicating through speaking and listening. In Pontypool, radio broadcasting shows how electronic media changes this relationship by allowing spoken language to reach a much larger audience without face-to-face interactions. This becomes a problem because the same technologies that are supposed to help people communicate can also allow the virus to spread further.
I think this is also applicable to social media today, as we are constantly sharing and receiving information from people all over the world, without sometimes really thinking about how it might affect others. While the virus in Pontypool is fictional, it shows how the way we communicate can sometimes have consequences beyond what we expect.
I agree with your connection between Pontypool and social media today. I think it is interesting how both allow information to spread quickly without people realizing the effects as well as right vs wrong information. This shows how technology can make communication easier but can also lead to consequences we would not expect.
ReplyDeleteHi Sreehita, this is a great analysis on Innis’s ideas about time-biased and space-biased media and how that relates to the vector of infection in Pontypool. I answered this question also and I agree that it is space-biased because technologies help amplify the spread of virus through speech. I also really like how you connected this to social media today, that’s a really interesting idea! It definitely shows how Pontypool's themes are still relevant today! Out of curiosity, can you think of any other examples where technology has had unexpected consequences for communication?
ReplyDeleteHello Sreehita! Your analysis of the film and how it applies to Innis' ideas about time-biased and space-biased media was very well thought out and expanded on. I also chose this topic and agreed that the film leaned more towards space than time biased. You raise a great point regarding social media. While not as deadly, the consequences have been humans lacking social skills, the literacy crisis, forms of hate speech, etc. As tech advances, so does the risks that come with it.
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