Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Recently I saw a commercial for some multicolored phone as anorexic looking as its intended purchaser, and in this commercial I heard a song entitled “Love Today” by Mika. Hearing this song reminded me of when, a few months back, some friends of mine had heard this song on a commercial on MTV promoting either the Real World, Road Rules or one of the competition programs between the two. When I realized it was the same song I’d heard months before on MTV, I thought “Man, those people at MTV sure know their music.” Then I realized that was the most ridiculous thought I have had in my entire life. Of course MTV should know their music. My surprise made me realize how long it had been since I completely wrote them off as a waste of time.
nutgraf
When MTV debuted in 1981 it was amazing. It rode on the new technology of cable and only played music, kept a generation up with the pulse of the industry.
When MTV debuted in 1981 it was amazing. It rode on the new technology of cable and only played music, kept a generation up with the pulse of the industry. It seemed to maintain the integrity of this pursuit for years afterwards, just playing music, as its name seems to suggest. In the late 1980s it created new programs which, although not entirely music, did at least relate. Shows like “Yo MTV Raps!” deviated from the straight-up music video approach, but at least focused on music. Even into the early 1990s, shows like “Beavis and Butthead” showed the two talking about music videos.
Then one event occurred that changed the purpose of the channel forever. “The Real World,” about seven people who know little to nothing about music “picked to live in a house to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real,” first aired in 1992. For the past 16 years, MTV has had little more than “unscripted” footage of drunk people yelling at each other in a house, or an RV, filled out with occasional asinine and unnecessarily provocative dating shows. Oh, and “Jackass.”
To be fair they have heard the cries of the disappointed masses over the sweet melody of cheap production costs and ever increasing ad revenue from everyone wanting to cash in on that hip teen demographic. Even as far back as 1985, they debuted VH1 to take some of the music playing burden, and then again in 1996 with MTV2. But just like their predecessor, these stations have left their intended paths and become a collection of cultural retrospectives, and MTV reruns and cast-offs respectively.
I understand that it’s nothing new to criticize MTV for apparently forgetting what the first letter of their name stands for. It’s not unlike something the comedian Todd Barry said of roasting Chevy Chase. That it’s “not so much like shooting fish in a barrel, as looking at fish in a barrel, or being somewhere near a barrel.” It’s just that it’s disheartening to see the tiniest glimmer of MTV’s past glory and purpose, but only as a means of promoting the crap that corrupted it.
White is a River City, Iowa sophomore in journalism and Japanese
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Comments
White: MTV has lost its relevance
MTV will be making changes to their format to at least make it more interactive if not proving more music itself. Casting for the upcoming Real World will be done online based on votes from the viewers. More information will be posted on the MM Agency blog at http://www.mm-agency.com/blog/
,MM Agency
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