Public Service Announcement Video Project: WASH'D

Reflection: The most challenging part of this assignment was deciding on an idea to focus on. We all had different ideas and preferences but none of them were totally developed since we were unsure of what to expect for a final product. I don't think any of us had made a PSA before, so we weren't sure what direction to take it. The most rewarding part of the experience was getting it all done. After we finished filming, we all felt pumped about what we had just recorded. I think we were all a bit worried about how it was going to turn out but then we were able to work efficiently together when we got to it. We finally just trusted that it would work out and it did!

EdTV Extra Credit Movie Review

EdTV is a movie released in 1999 featuring Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Ellen Degeneres, and Woody Harrelson. The plotline is that a television station begins to follow the life of an average guy, Ed, (McConaughey) live for 16 hours a day. To the surprise of the producers and everyone involved, the show turns into a huge hit. A range of people become glued to the show, even putting their own lives on hold so as not to miss any part of Ed’s life. One viewer admits that he tries to only pee when Ed needs to pee since that is essentially the only part of his life that is not aired on national television. The inner workings of his life are upturned with the real-time broadcasting and crossings of emotions with the relationships he has with family and friends. A catch to the contract he initially signed designates that he cannot leave the show without the show deciding to do so nor can he interrupt his daily life activities for risk of breach of contract. Essentially he is locked in to having his life a constant broadcast no matter what he does.

It is interesting and terrifying to see how the network pushes the boundaries of what is morally okay. Their contract is worded so that they basically own Ed’s life. He becomes a zoo exhibit of sorts (which to me raises questions about the ethics of zoos…) where the intimate details of life become all for show. He does a pretty fantastic job of not letting it go to his head as most people would likely be tempted. Ed doesn’t act to boost his ratings; he is able to resist whatever temptation that holds just to live his life out as normal. One thing his love interest Shari says is fascinating, she says that she isn’t going to do anything to entertain his audience and is pretty horrified by the whole ordeal.

In a situation like this it seems difficult to continue living your life for yourself. The subject of the television show would get bombarded by the wants and desires of the thousands of viewers that each want something in their personal interest. The subject’s life could easily be lost to the moldings of the gross desires of people caught with the power they feel they can hold over the person’s life. It’s like in Sherry Turkle’s book, Alone Together, when children act viciously towards their robotic dolls because they find malicious pleasure in the power they have over the seemingly animate doll. The movie ends happily with Ed finding a way to get his life off the air, but the point that the film makes is hard to ignore. There is a fine point between the convergence of our lives and the media in a culture moving from privacy to surveillance.