McLuhan Revisited: Interpreting YouTube's Impact on Content and Society

Love it or loathe it, YouTube is now part of the mainstream media landscape, and a force to be reckoned with in contemporary popular culture.

(Burgess, J., & Green, J., 2018).

Marshall McLuhan's (1964) statement “the medium is the message,” finds important relevance in the context of YouTube – a platform emblematic of today’s media culture. Thriving on low-definition (Nerdwriter1, 2015), high-participation content, this digital medium challenges traditional paradigms such as the television by requiring active sensory engagement from its audience, where viewers are no longer passive consumers but become producers and collaborators in the creation and circulation of content (Edutopia, 2013), creating a multi-sensory experience that fundamentally reshapes the message itself.

Nerdwriter1 (2015)

While YouTube presents seemingly unparalleled opportunities for creativity and connection, it also raises critical concerns about information overload, advertising ethics, and the impact of these factors on youth (Montgomery & Chester, 2009). It is within this web of influence, opportunity and overwhelm that creators must consciously navigate the medium, informed by regenerative principles and a post-growth economics approach that moves beyond capitalist metrics.

The Medium's Influence on Perception and Culture

The unique message of YouTube, as envisioned by McLuhan, lies within this participatory culture, where passive viewers are transformed into active content co-creators. By necessitating audience interaction, YouTube influences not only the form and substance of media but also the very perception of culture and community within the digital age (Jenkins, 2006). Audience participation, or ‘co-creatorship’, becomes the “message” that YouTube, as a medium, communicates and embeds into today’s digital culture ecosphere.

The pervasive influence of this medium can be understood through the specific mechanisms it employs to entice users to engage. YouTube's design and functionality beckons us to actively respond to content multi-directionally through comments sections, like and dislike buttons, and the ability to share videos across multiple platforms. If these functions alone aren’t enough to entice audience participation, YouTube relies on its algorithm to reward creators whose communities (subscribers and general viewers) engage, resulting in the frequent reminder to viewers by creators to subscribe, comment, and hit that like button.

Such engagement becomes critical in shaping user perception. The algorithms suggest content based on previous interactions, creating a tailored, personalized media experience that reinforces selected viewpoints and cultural trends, which can lead to the creation of echo chambers that can amplify specific cultural norms (Pariser, 2011).

The feedback loop on YouTube is immediate and visible, with content creators often adapting their output (and entire lifestyle) in response to viewer feedback (Sailing La Vagabonde, 2021), further iterating the platform's content and approach (Burgess & Green, 2018). As such, YouTube fosters a co-creative culture where the audience has a say in the creation process.

YouTube also enables the rise of micro-celebrities and influencers, individuals who gain popularity primarily or exclusively through the internet and social media, changing the landscape of fame and notoriety. These figures become cultural arbiters, influencing fashion, language, and behavior among their followers (Marwick, 2015). Their impact is a direct result of the medium's structure and deliberate design, which breaks down traditional barriers to fame and allows for direct, intimate forms of communication with audiences which some may label as ‘authentic.’ ‘Celebrity’ in this sense is “a range of techniques and strategies that can be performed by anyone with a mobile device, tablet, or laptop (Marwick, 2015).

In this environment, users are not only consuming content that reflects existing cultural norms but are also contributing to their evolution. The medium of YouTube, therefore, becomes an active site of cultural production, where user interactions, algorithmic influences, and the nature of digital celebrity work together to shape both individual perceptions and broader cultural trends. This dynamic accentuates the importance of critically engaging with digital media platforms like YouTube, understanding their structures, and recognizing their significant role in cultural shaping and knowledge dissemination, because it is “the medium that has the greatest impact on human affairs,” (Strate, 2008). As Tyson Yunkaporta (Yunkaporta, 2019) writes, “The song itself is not as important as the communal knowledge process that produces it.”

While YouTube democratizes content creation, the reality of its algorithm and revenue structures embedded in the capitalist system presents a new challenge. The expectation of constant content production to sustain viewer engagement and revenue streams exemplifies McLuhan’s insight - YouTube as a medium dictates the rhythms and routines of creators, compelling them to adapt to its demands or face obsolescence (McLuhan, 1964). The platform's model, based on viewer metrics and ad revenue, creates an environment where creators are incentivized to maintain a persistent presence, affecting both their creative output and economic viability.

Opportunities Amidst Challenges

As the ‘global village’ that McLuhan envisioned materializes through platforms like YouTube, we must consider ‘whose global village?’ by reflecting on access disparities and cultural hegemonies perpetuated by the medium. The very architecture of YouTube that claims to facilitate global connection indeed raises concerns about equitable access and representation within this digital ecosystem (Srinivasan, 2017).

YouTube’s democratic ethos lowers the barriers to media production and distribution, allowying anyone with a camera and internet access to create and share content to a global audience. This democratization fosters a diverse array of voices and perspectives that have otherwise been marginalized or silenced in mainstream media, supporting a new creative class of ‘YouTubers’ who can support themselves through innovative content creation (Burgess & Green, 2018).

However, access to these resources is not uniform globally. The digital divide - a gap in terms of internet services access between different regions and socioeconomic groups - significantly limits the potential benefits. Srinivasan (2017) argues that technology development often overlooks non-Western contexts, raising crucial questions about whose interests are truly served in the networked age.

Another challenge presented by the medium is the increasing difficulty for creators to earn a living from video production alone due to the small share of ad revenue distributed by the platform. Creators are penalized by the algorithm if they take breaks from posting videos, pushing many to rely more heavily on paid advertising partnerships with brands and viewer-supported revenue models like Patreon, highlighting the precarious nature of relying solely on YouTube for income and emphasizes the need for more equitable revenue-sharing models to support the diverse creator economy on the platform. The pressure to continually produce content can affect creators’ mental health, with burnout and stress being common (Sailing La Vagabonde, 2023). Furthermore, viewers may be fatigued with incessant marketing ((3) YouTube Sailing Channels | Facebook, 2023), opting to unsubscribe to creator’s channels should as a result.

Sailing La Vagabonde, 2023

Additionally, the environmental impact of YouTube is substantial. YouTube perpetuates a culture of constant content creation and consumption that drives the production of electronic waste and increases the carbon footprint associated with digital storage and streaming. The storage of vast volume of video content in data centers results in enormous amounts of energy consumption, significantly contributing to carbon emissions (Mondal et al., 2023). Furthermore, creator practices and the lifestyles or products they promote also have a detrimental impact on the environment. The lifestyle portrayed by some travel vloggers (Nonstop Dan, 2024), for example, promotes consumerism and frequent flying, which have considerable environmental impacts.

The platform also poses unique challenges for parental management of screen time. Unlike traditional TV, which was limited by schedules and finite programming, YouTube offers continuous, on-demand content that is specifically tailored to capture and retain young viewers’ attention. This ‘always-on’ nature places unprecedented pressure on parents to monitor and curtail usage to prevent excessive screen exposure, which can impact children’s developmental health and family dynamics (Sonia Livingstone, 2022). For viewers, perpetual engagement with platforms like YouTube can lead to issues like screen addiction, disrupted sleep patterns, and an unhealthy comparison with idealized lives portrayed in videos.

As digital platforms like YouTube continue to evolve, addressing these challenges through sustainable practices, better regulatory frameworks, and a commitment to bridging the global digital divide becomes imperative.

Content Creation, Ethical Responsibility and Regenerative Thinking

In light of McLuhan's philosophy, the profound influence of YouTube as a medium makes urgent the need for a regenerative approach to media creation. Drawing from Heidegger's discourse in “The Question Concerning Technology,” content creators on YouTube must be conscious of their role as shapers of digital landscapes with ethical foresight, actively participating in a harmonious integration of technology with human values (Epoch Philosophy, 2020).

Epoch Philosophy, 2020

Regenerative thinking begins with the realization that humans are embedded in, part of and fundamentally dependent on nature (Konietzko et al., 2023), with over 90 per cent of DNA within our bodies belonging to the microbial biome (Bielskyte, 2023). From this interconnected consciousness, we can get serious about our responsibility as creators to commit to ethical practices in alignment with regenerative thinking, where planetary health and societal wellbeing are center to all human activity. With over 60 million creators on YouTube (Shewale, 2024) at the time of writing, a mass shift towards ethical, regenerative content creation could result in increased pressure on YouTube as a corporate organisation to take necessary shifts in minimizing its degenerative ‘footprints’ and increasing positive ‘handprints’ (Konietzko et al., 2023).

Konietzko et al., 2023

This also aligns with post-growth discourse, where success on YouTube can be redefined to prioritize metrics of well-being and sustainability over traditional capitalist indicators such as views or subscriber counts. Such a paradigm encourages content that stimulates critical thinking, cultural enrichment, and community resilience, contributing to the collective well-being rather than individualistic consumption (Hickel, 2020).

Conclusion

The message that emerges from YouTube's medium is complex, multifaceted, and profoundly influential. Content creators wield significant power to direct this message towards either regenerative growth or degenerative consumption. By embracing McLuhan's adage “the medium is the message,” and adopting ethical guidelines informed by regenerative thinking and post-growth philosophy, creators can produce content that contributes more constructively to the audience's development and the collective, regenerative evolution of society.

References

(3) YouTube Sailing Channels | Facebook. (2023). https://www.facebook.com/groups/984932218324426/search/?q=AG1

Bielskyte, M. (2023, January 29). PROTOPIA FUTURES [FRAMEWORK]. Protopia Futures. https://medium.com/protopia-futures/protopia-futures-framework-f3c2a5d09a1e

Burgess, J., & Green, J. (2018). YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture, 2nd Edition. Polity.

Edutopia (Director). (2013, May 7). Henry Jenkins on Participatory Culture: Big Thinkers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPm-c1wRsQ

Epoch Philosophy (Director). (2020, August 4). Martin Heidegger: The Question Concerning Technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaVmEN-vGWk

Hickel, J. (2020). Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World. Windmill.

Konietzko, J., Das, A., & Bocken, N. (2023). Towards regenerative business models: A necessary shift? Sustainable Production and Consumption, 38, 372–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2023.04.014

Marwick, A. (2015). Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the Attention Economy. Public Culture, 27, 137–160. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-2798379

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.

Mondal, S., Faruk, F. B., Rajbongshi, D., Efaz, M. M., & Islam, Md. M. (2023). GEECO: Green Data Centers for Energy Optimization and Carbon Footprint Reduction. Sustainability, 15(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115249

Montgomery, K. C., & Chester, J. (2009). Interactive Food and Beverage Marketing: Targeting Adolescents in the Digital Age. Adolescent Obesity: Towards Evidence-Based Policy and Environmental Solutions, 45(3, Supplement), S18–S29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.04.006

Nerdwriter1 (Director). (2015, August 26). YouTube: The Medium Is The Message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2dHqdvXsys

Nonstop Dan (Director). (2024, January 23). 56 Hours Around The World in Business Class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hu9xasv0kw

Pariser, E. (2011). Eli Pariser: Beware online “filter bubbles” | TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles

Sailing La Vagabonde (Director). (2021, June 8). OUR NEW BOAT REVEALED (Can’t believe we pulled this off). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zesbn-A78mA

Sailing La Vagabonde (Director). (2023, May 15). Burnout—I really don’t know if we can go on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QqNHLXqtf0

Shewale, R. (2024, February 10). Essential YouTube Creator Statistics Of 2024. DemandSage. https://www.demandsage.com/youtube-creator-statistics/

Sonia Livingstone (Director). (2022, March 2). What’s the problem with screen time? Parents’ digital dilemmas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbCTCWLzrz0

Srinivasan, R. (2017). Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World. New York University Press.

Strate, L. (2008). Studying Media as Media: McLuhan and the Media Ecology Approach. MediaTropes, 1, 127–142.

Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save The World. Text Publishing.

A Futuristic Symphony of Sound: The Emotional Landscape of Hans Zimmer's Dune Score

In Denis Villeneuve's recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune (Villeneuve, 2021), the film's score, produced by renowned, award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer, plays a pivotal role in immersing viewers in the arid vastness of Arrakis. Dune’s auditory experience, which earned Zimmer an Oscar, exemplifies how a film score can guide the emotional and sensory experience of the audience, providing layers of depth and deepening the audience's engagement with the film and enhancing its overall impact.

By dissecting Zimmer's creative process, as explored in Vanity Fair's (2022) video How 'Dune' Composer Hans Zimmer Created the Oscar-Winning Score, we gain insight into how the intersection of aesthetics, style, and affect functions to deepen the film’s narrative and provoke a profound emotional response from its audience.

Vanity Fair (2022)

Imagining the Soundscape of Dune

Hans Zimmer’s approach to scoring Dune is deeply rooted in the novel’s themes of mysticism, ecological struggle, and interstellar feudalism (Herbert, 1966). The challenge he set himself was to step aside from his popularized, successful film composer image and regress to the teenager who once read Dune and “loved it”; the 13-year-old who, when consuming science fiction movies, questioned why these films always featured European Orchestra. Zimmer remarks, “We’re supposed to be on a different planet, different culture, we’re supposed to be in the future,” (Vanity Fair, 2022).

His response, now as a succesful adult film composer, was to write the Dune score from the perspective of his 13-year-old self, eschewing traditional (colonial?) orchestral ‘norms’ (cliches?) for a soundscape that mirrors the otherworldly and timeless essence of Arrakis itself.

In keeping with his desire to invent sounds and instruments that don’t exist, a practice followed on from his work on Inception (Nolan, 2010), Zimmer’s use of a wide range of unconventional and DIY homemade instruments, from a ‘duduk’ to manipulated sounds of sand, further cements his deliberate deviation from sci-fi’s status quo.

The Impact of Aesthetic Choices

Zimmer’s aesthetic decisions in scoring Dune are guided by the story’s emotional and physical landscape. The duduk, an ancient double-reed woodwind instrument, traditionally used in Middle Eastern music, creates a unique if not ‘haunting’ sound that serves as a channel to the ancient and spiritual, echoing the strong religious and cultural overtones of the Fremen and their desert planet.

This creative choice supports what Bourdieu (1984) describes as the ‘social trajectory’ embedded within artistic decisions, indicitave of Zimmer’s ‘cultural capital’ (Then & Now, 2019c), which includes his knowledge of unique musical instruments – and the access to talented musicians and artists who could co-create and play these exotic instruments and abstract sound sculptures - that align with the thematic elements of the films he scores (Vanity Fair, 2022). His decision to use such a culturally resonant instrument as the duduk enhances the story by embedding a sound that augments the film’s setting with a more authentic spiritual and cultural ambiance.

Then & Now (2019)

Zimmer’s creative process also reflects the dynamics of film scoring, where music should amplify, resonate with, and guide the viewer through the film’s emotional landscape. With the duduk, the score aligns with the film’s cultural and narrative structure, enhancing both the storytelling and the viewer’s emotional experience. This alignment is a sophisticated manifestation of Zimmer’s ‘habitus’ (Then & Now, 2019b) - his internalized dispositions shaped by years of composing film scores - which guides him to seek out sounds that elevate a film’s story world. Zimmer's reputation and symbolic capital within the industry allow him the creative freedom to make such radical and experimental choices, confident that they will contribute to the film’s success.

Furthermore, the tactile quality of the sounds used, particularly those created from sand, directly engage with Bullough's notion of 'psychical distance' (PBS Idea Channel, 2014), by collapsing the viewer’s sensory separation from the screen. This method of using diegetic elements within the score bridges the gap between audience and film, creating an immersive experience that enhances the affective engagement with the story’s environment.

These sounds provided a framework for what Zimmer believed to be the most important thing in the world: the human voice; the one thing that would not age and maintain relevance in the future (Vanity Fair, 2022). He combined a single male voice with compression techniques to create the Sardaukar Chant, whilst opting for a female voice in Loire Cotler to create the cry of a banshee used in the opening song, further enriching the emotional texture of the film.

Cotler’s voice, ethereal and resonant, carries with it a profound sense of mystery and allure, encapsulating the enigmatic and formidable nature of Dune’s desert planet and its inhabitants. Her voice belongs to a genre of sounds that Zimmer is particularly adept at weaving into his film scores, where the human voice is able to penetrate the viewer's core, leveraging the raw power of human expression to transcend traditional storytelling. I’m drawn to contemplate our own histories of oral storytelling, and how the human voice may have been manipulated – live and raw - without deploying additional technology, to enhance emotion in traditional storytelling.

The use of vocal music in Dune taps into the deep-seated associations humans have with the voice as a primal instrument of emotion and identity. In cultural terms, the female voice in the opening song acts as a siren call, drawing the audience into the world of Arrakis and mirroring the seductive danger of its vast, open deserts. It also reflects a nuanced understanding of the film's gender dynamics, particularly the pivotal role women play within the Fremen culture and in the life of the protagonist, Paul Atreides. By embedding this element into the score, Zimmer not only bridges the psychical distance but also subtly nods to the underlying themes of feminine power and mystique that are central to Dune.

Style as an Emotional Conduit

Zimmer’s style in Dune is distinctively minimalist yet sets the tone for profound emotional depth. It diverges from the traditional theme-led scores repeated in blockbuster films, which Zimmer himself often composed, to adopt a more ambient, mood-driven approach. This style resonates with what Susanne Langer (1953) describes as a creation of ‘living form,’ where music is a ‘patterned sound’, involving tonal analogs of not just human emotion but also of the world-building elements of the film (Overthink Podcast, 2023). In Dune, the score becomes a character of its own, reflecting the life forces of Arrakis - its danger, its beauty, and its mystery; it helps forge a visceral connection between the audience and the film's environment.

Overthink Podcast (2023)

Furthermore, this musical approach aligns with the existential themes of Herbert's book: destiny, survival, and power (Herbert, 1966). By employing a style that prioritizes mood over melody, Zimmer's score invites the audience to feel the weight of these themes, to experience the uncertainty and the awe they provoke. It's a style that asks the audience to inhabit the emotional and physical landscapes of Dune, engaging with its complexities on a more intuitive, and perhaps subtle, level.

Intersecting Aesthetics and Affect

The affective power of Zimmer’s score is pivotal in rendering the complex emotional landscape of Dune. Affect theory suggests affects are pre-cognitive, or, non-conscious forces that resonate through bodily responses to visual, auditory, and narrative cues (Then & Now, 2019a). Zimmer and his curated artisitic team harness these principles, creating a score that taps directly into the audience's affective registers, bypassing rational interpretation to evoke raw, visceral reactions. His use of exotic futuristic sounds such as deep droning and ethereal sand whispers are the tools that mediate this emotional exchange. The deep drones might resonate with a viewer's physical sense of sound to evoke the vastness or ominous nature of Arrakis, while the lighter, sand-inspired whispers could bring a sense of ethereal, mysterious quality to the desert planet.

Zimmer’s approach to incorporating these sounds effectively blurs the lines between the film's physical and emotional landscapes. The auditory stimuli represent the environment but also seem to emanate from it, as if the desert itself is communicating through the score. This method aligns with Massumi's (2002) view that affects can transfer between entities, suggesting that the environment of Arrakis itself can evoke emotional responses in the audience through its embodied sounds. This environmental affectivity enriches the film's immersive experience, making the audience feel physically present on the vast, wind-swept dunes, despite viewing the film at a theatre or in the comfort of one’s living room.

Perhaps it was the impact of working through the Covid-19 pandemic, with Zimmer’s eclectic team spread across the world working in their own familiar, comfortable environments with regular intra-team communication (Vanity Fair, 2022), that enabled such a dynamic and experimental creative process and ultimately the score we hear today in Dune. By integrating diverse musicians and creating new, exotic-sounding instruments and sounds, Zimmer brilliantly enables the viewer to embark on a heightened emotional journey through Arrakis soundsacpe. His approach is a masterclass in using film music to enhance narrative through aesthetic innovation and demonstrates the critical role of film scores in shaping how audiences experience and emotionally connect with the cinematic story. Zimmer’s Dune score exemplifies how media creators can use aesthetics to evoke specific emotional responses, thereby deepening the audience's engagement with the film and enhancing its overall impact.

Warner Bros. Pictures (2024)

References

Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Harvard University Press.

Herbert, F. (1966). Dune. Chilton Books.

Langer, S. (1953). Feeling And Form: A Theory of Art. CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS NEW YORK.

Massumi, B. (2002). Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation. Duke University Press.

Nolan, C. (Director). (2010). Inception.

Overthink Podcast (Director). (2023, October 13). Susanne Langer on Symbolism and Artistic Expression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwYNyxDTOhQ

PBS Idea Channel (Director). (2014, September 3). 2 Short Ideas: Art, Distance and The Daily Show | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLyIXaK9UY0

Then & Now (Director). (2019a, February 9). Introduction to Affect Theory: Brian Massumi & Eve Sedgwick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMS8QEYIQU

Then & Now (Director). (2019b, April 2). Introduction to Bourdieu: Habitus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvzahvBpd_A

Then & Now (Director). (2019c, December 14). Bourdieu: Cultural Capital, the Love of Art & Hip Hop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th0eYWnGZ_4

Vanity Fair (Director). (2022, March 17). How “Dune” Composer Hans Zimmer Created the Oscar-Winning Score | Vanity Fair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93A1ryc-WW0

Villeneuve, D. (Director). (2021). Dune.

A Brief Exploration of ‘Brand as Myth’ in Boatbuilding

My creative work has spanned multiple industries over two decades: surf, travel, development, natural history, climate security, and more recently, sailing. Throughout this time, branding has been an ever-present force, influencing ideation, financing and shaping narratives and creative outcomes in ways both subtle and profound.

In an era dominated by visual culture with strong multimedia and social media influence, brands transcend their origins to become cultural signifiers. They embody stories, shape identities, dilute history, influence ideology, and mirror societal values as they aquire mythological status.

PBS Idea Channel, 2015

Throughout my recent journey in developing our family’s science and art initiative – self-building a wooden catamaran sailboat to create a Floating Stories Lab – I’ve discovered how the ‘brand as myth’ (PBS Idea Channel, 2015) theory presents itself strongly within the boatbuilding industry and its evolution.

The historical roots of boat design is a fascinating rabbit hole. Before the era of celebrated designers emerging as the flagbearers of sailing innovation, boat design was deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of maritime societies. Polynesians (Wharram & Boon, 2020), Hawaiians, Vikings, Australian Aboriginals (Briggs, 2023), and other seafaring cultures used materials readily available to create ocean-going vessels for wandering the seas that were the embodiment of their community’s collective wisdom and environmental attunement. These boats were a physical manifestation of traditional ecological knowledge and cultural stories, encapsulating the communal identity, seafaring mythology, and navigational knowledge passed down through generations.

The design of a Polynesian outrigger canoe or a Viking longship, for instance, was steeped in the ethos of the people it belonged to, with every curve and sail reflecting the intimate relationship between the sailors, their ancestors, communities they interacted and traded with, and the vast ocean. The symbiotic bond between culture and craft in these early maritime societies laid the keel for what would become a rich history of boat design, long before individual names and brands became influential in driving sailing brand mythology.

As modern history evolved, along with it industrialized capitalism, the craft and persona of individual sailboat designers moved to the forefront of brand identity, their names synonymous with innovation, craftsmanship, the intrepid spirt of ocean voyaging, and in some cases, even political or social ideologies. Iconic designers bestowed upon their creations a distinct signature, a hallmark of quality and design prowess that spoke directly to the designers’ ethos and sensibilities.

However, in today's recreational sailing industry, there has been a notable shift towards celebrating corporate brands over individual designers. Brands like Beneteau, Meta Yachts, and Hallberg-Rassy have become symbols of comfort, adventure, and elegance, respectively, often overshadowing the legacy of historical maritime culture and the unique visions of individual designers.

The branding evolution within sailing mirrors a broader postmodern consumer shift, where brands convey collective stories and experiences that resonate across diverse audiences. Barthes (1957) recognized objects laden with cultural significance as modern myths, and today’s popular sailing brands, through their narrative power, evoke meanings that go beyond their functional purpose.

The modern sailing brand’s narrative goal is predominately mass appeal. However, as production expands to drive profitable growth, there is a consequential dilution of cultural and ecological knowledge, as well as the unique visions and ideals of once-celebrated designers. This dilution gives rise to a more homogenized yet widely relatable brand mythology that transcends individual legacy and cultural history, reaching the vast waters of global marketability. Flipping through the pages of Yachting World (“Best Yachts of 2023,” 2023), glossy narratives of brand myths dominate, overshadowing the human stories that lie beneath in a compelling yet captivating manner. McLuhan's (McLuhan, 1964) adage, “the medium is the message,” fits within this phenomen, where branded sailboats signify both literal and metaphorical voyages but may also serve as conduits for the propagation of commercial narratives that overshadow the genuine human experiences behind them.

It is interesting to tie in postmodern discourse here. Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) rhizome concept stands out as shining a light on the decentralized, non-linear experience of sailing, a stark contrast to hierarchical structures. It parallels sailors' open-ended navigation across the unpredictable sea, suggesting a fluid, interconnected exploration (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987). Sailing brands, then, are able to encapsulate diverse narratives, from romanticized escapism and mass produced luxury, to values of community and sustainability, depending on their overarching goals and ownership structures.

Wharram & Boon, 2020

The arduous search for a low-impact, affordable, easy-to-maintain sailboat led me to James Wharram Designs, a family business rooted in the ethos of simplicity, accessibility, and sustainability (James Wharram Designs | Unique Sailing Catamarans, Inspired by the Double Canoes of the Polynesians, n.d.). Inspired by the upcoming documentary Women & the Wind (Kiana Weltzien, 2023), of which I am currently producing, and recent studies on the environmental impact of fiberglass (Ciocan et al., 2020), my family and I were drawn to Wharram's legacy of challenging industry norms, advocating for community and ecological harmony, and gender equity (Wharram & Boon, 2020). Our recent decision to build a wooden double canoe/catamaran sailboat reflects our commitment to preserving traditional craftsmanship, cultural knowledge, and embracing regenerative practices in sailing, our creative practice, and our lives. (For once, too, the affordable option is also the more sustainable one.)

Kiana Weltzien, 2023

As a creative practioner, I am acutely aware that the stories I create and facilitate, along with the brands I choose to relate with through my practice, become integral parts of our journey, reflecting my values, aspirations, and ever-evolving mythos. I move forward along this journey carefully aligning my creative practice and decision-making process with values of social and environmental regeneration.

References:

Best Yachts of 2023. (2023). Yachting World, March 2023.

Briggs, V. (2023). Seafaring: Canoeing Ancient Songlines. Magabala Books.

Ciocan, C., Kristova, P., Annels, C., Derjean, M., & Hopkinson, L. (2020). Glass reinforced plastic (GRP) a new emerging contaminant—First evidence of GRP impact on aquatic organisms. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 160, 111559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111559

Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A THOUSAND PLATEAUS: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. University Of Minnesota Press.

James Wharram Designs | Unique sailing catamarans, inspired by the double canoes of the Polynesians. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://www.wharram.com/

Kiana Weltzien (Director). (2023, February 28). Women & the Wind: THE DOCUMENTARY - TEASER TRAILER. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOydodbdXWw

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.

PBS Idea Channel (Director). (2015, October 14). Have #BrandsTM Become Mythological? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4v-hgF9k-o

Wharram, J., & Boon, H. (2020). People of the Sea. Lodestar Books.

Hyperreal Connections: Postmodernism, Rhizomes, and Hope For New Sincerity in Postmodern Media

This discussion delves into the complex interplay between postmodernism, the rhizomatic theory of Deleuze and Guattari, and the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary media. Following a winding path, I explore how postmodern media presents nuanced terrain, reflecting society’s complexities whilst simultaneously challenging audiences to find sincere meaning amidst its multiplicity.

Postmodernism, a term encompassing a range of cultural, philosophical, and artistic movements, emerged as a critique of modernism in the late 20th century. Central to postmodernism is the rejection of grand narratives or ‘metanarratives’ - overarching, universal interpretations or assumptions about the world and our human experience (Lyotard, 1984), favoring instead a celebration of pluralism, ambiguity, and the multiplicity of meaning. By employing literary devices such as irony and cynicism, postmodernists often attempt to blur the boundaries between high art and popular culture .

One potent example of postmodernism in action is the The Simpsons, which, through its continual quoting and parodying of various cultural texts, constructs a worldview that is both critical and self-referential (Palmer, 2014). Such hyperconscious interplay of texts and meanings resonates with David Foster Wallace’s critique of postmodernism’s reliance on irony and cynicims, where he warned against the dangers of these devices becoming a self-perpetuating end rather than a means to unveil deeper or more diverse truths (Schoder, 2016).

Postmodernism’s reliance on irony and cynicism, Wallace argued, though once effective tools for revealing mid-20th century hypocrisies, have since become entangled and overused with the media, contributing to a pervasive sense of detachment and disillusionment (Schoder). This sentiment echoes Fredric Jameson's assertion that postermodernism is “the cultural logic of late capitalism,” where irony serves not as a vehicle for critique but as a symptom of a culture deeply embedded in consumerism and superficial engagement (Kellner, n.d.).

Schoder (2016)

The shift from parody to pastiche, highlighted by Jameson as a defining feature of postmodern culture, reflects a broader transition in media from critical satire to an emulation devoid of critical distance (Kellner). This evolution mirrors Wallace's concern over the loss of sincerity and depth in media, where the continuous recycling of styles and ideas risks leading to a cultural stagnation characterized by a fixation on the perpetual present and a disconnection from historical context. Wallace's apprehensions are also echoed here in the hyperpaced, profit-driven dynamics of today’s social media platforms, where the relentless production of content amplifies these issues to unprecendented levels.

Deleuze and Guattari's ‘rhizome’, an “A-centered multiplicity” with its emphasis on non-hierarchical, interconnected knowledge systems, thus provides a valuable framework for understanding this contemporary media landscape (Three Minute Theory, 2014). Unlike the tree model, which suggests a singular, rooted structure with a top and bottom, the rhizome embodies the idea of a ginger root: multiplicity, connection, and horizontal spread (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987). In the postmodern media environment, stories, styles and ideas proliferate across platforms, creating an intricate network of interconnected yet fragmented stories.

Three Minute Theory (2014)

Tyson Yunkaporta’s work extends the postmodernist discussion beyond the confines of literary and media critique to encompass a broader examination of knowledge systems and societal structures (Yunkaporta, 2019). Yunkaporta critiques the monocultural lens of Western epistemology and advocates for the integration of Indigenous perspectives that emphasize relationality, interconnectedness, and respect for the plurality of existence. This approach aligns with the rhizomatic idea of embracing multiplicity and interconnectedness, and challenges postmodernism's sometimes fragmented, nihilistic tendencies, suggesting a path towards a more holistic understanding of complexity and diversity.

Yunkaporta's emphasis on relationality and the importance of diverse knowledge systems resonates with Lyotard’s (1984) definition of postmodern knowledge, which seeks to “raise our sensitivity to differences and reinforces our ability to tolerate the incommensurable.” However, where Lyotard sees fragmentation as a characteristic of postmodern knowledge, Yunkaporta and Wallace point towards the necessity of weaving these fragments into a coherent, though not homogenized, web of understanding. They advocate for a synthesis of knowledge that doesn’t aim to erase differences or force uniformity but rather to create a richer, more nuanced understanding of the world.

The concept of hyperreality, introduced by Baudrillard, further complicates the media landscape, where the distinction between the real and the simulated blurs, and the proliferation of images and narratives creates a reality that is self-referential and detached from any original context (Gill, 2020). This hyperreality is a playground for postmodern irony and cynicism, yet as it spreads rapidly across digital platforms, it also presents a challenge for individuals seeking authenticity and connection in a media-saturated environment.

Wallace’s call for a new sincerity, a movement towards engaging with the world in a manner that acknowledges irony’s limitations and seeks deeper meaning, is particularly relevant here (Wallace, 1993). Rather than outright rejection of postmodern critiqiue, this new sincerity builds upon it, striving for a more enriched engagement with media and culture that is reflective, critical, and, importantly, constructive. This approach, like the rhizomatic principle of making connections across diverse narratives and perspectives, invites us to construct a more nuanced and interconnected understanding of our world.

Yunkaporta’s Indigenous knowledge systems lens thus contributes a vital dimension to this conversation, emphasizing the value of stories that foster connection - to each other, to the environment, and to the myriad ways of knowing that populate our world. His critique of the commodification of trauma and identity within media content highlights a need for stories that transcend sensationalism and fragmentation and, instead, promote healing, understanding, and respect for diversity (Yunkaporta, 2023).

As postmodernism's language has given way to discussions of globalization and relational aesthetics, the challenge remains to navigate the remnants of its critique in a world marked by contemporaneity and an ever-expanding digital landscape (Palmer, 2014). The exhaustion of postmodernism's fashionable discourse does not signify the end of its relevance; rather, it invites a re-engagement with its foundational questions in the context of contemporary media's rapidly evolving forms and functions.

As we grapple with the multiplicity of meaning in contemporary media, the challenge is to not only deconstruct but to construct, regeneratively: to find ways of weaving together the fragmented threads of today’s media-saturate hyper-digital world into stories that affirm complexity, foster understanding, and and promote a more interconnected and respectful engagement with the myriad realities we inhabit.

References

Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A THOUSAND PLATEAUS: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. University Of Minnesota Press.

Gill, S. (2020, June 1). Introducing Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality. Desertofthereal. https://medium.com/desertofthereal/introducing-jean-baudrillards-concept-of-hyperreality-3ec73df477eb

Kellner, D. (n.d.). Fredric Jameson, biography. Retrieved March 14, 2024, from https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/JamesonJH.htm

Lyotard,  ean-F. (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (Theory and History of Literature, Volume 10). University Of Minnesota Press.

Palmer, D. (2014, January 2). Explainer: What is postmodernism? The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-postmodernism-20791

Schoder, W. (Director). (2016, October 6). David Foster Wallace—The Problem with Irony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4

Three Minute Theory (Director). (2014, October 30). Three Minute Theory: What is the Rhizome? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnteiRO-XfU

Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save The World. Text Publishing.

Yunkaporta, T. (2023, March 22). Transcript: TYSON YUNKAPORTA on Unbranding Our Mind [ENCORE] /328. FOR THE WILD. https://forthewild.world/podcast-transcripts/tyson-yunkaporta-on-unbranding-our-mind-encore-328

Critical Media Literacy in the Age of Information Overload

As a naieve undergraduate student in the early 2000s, I dreamed of ‘changing the world’ through a creative career informed by global explorations. Journalism lecturers often reiterated that media is the fourth estate of democracy; tasked with informing the public and keeping power in check.

In the ensuing two decades, the media landscape has been radically transformed by technology. Today, anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection can create and share content worldwide. Anyone can call themselves a ‘journalist’ or profess to be a ‘truth teller’.

However, the predominant experience of media consumption today is one of overload, confusion, and a tragic focus on the trivial at the expense of what counts: Justice. Truth. Wisdom. (The School of Life, 2015). In the ‘attention economy’ of our time, the pursuit of high-quality information is increasingly elusive (Hills, 2020).

The School of Life (2015)

Theodor Adorno of the Frankfurt School warned that mass media, which he termed the ‘culture industry,’ manufactures consent by promoting a homogenized culture to serve capitalist interests (Adorno & Horkneimer, 1993). Such standardization produces a passive and apathetic society, disconnected from the natural world, impairing critical thinking and increasing vulnerability to manipulation.

Their fears are acutely pertinent when examining today’s media coverage of global conflicts. In the context of the Gaza crisis, for instance, media outlets often fall short in accurately reporting human rights and environmental violations, influenced by political, economic, and strategic biases.

‘Western media’ has been criticized for its coverage, accused of dehumanizing language about Palestinians and using the passive voice to minimize Israeli accountability for alleged war crimes (Gathara, 2024). This is not just a Gaza issue, it’s systemic; ‘the news’ is a complex product shaped by various factors, including the personal beliefs and ambitions of media professionals and the financial and social pressures they face (Gathara, 2024).

Media conglomerates' control and Western perspectives significantly impact homogenized reporting. This concentration of ownership favors profit over truth, allowing narratives to be steered in a way that preserves existing power structures. Consequently, public trust in traditional and digital media is erroding (Elliot, 2019).

Amidst the recent global pandemic, social media platforms like Instagram became hotbeds for misinformation, with algorithms promoting fake news content (Instagram Misinformation by Content 2020, 2021).

So, what can be done to counteract today’s failing media landscape? Tyson Yunkaporta, in Right Story, Wrong Story (2023), offers a solution rooted in indigenous systems thinking: the practice of ‘yarning,’ a communal storytelling that fosters critical thinking and sifts through bias while remaining connected to the land.

Adopting solutions such as this indigenous approach could improve the way we consume media, prompting us to actively seek alternative news sources and support independent journalism, whilst encouraging community engagement to distill ‘Right stories’ - information that withstands the test of time, enriched through diverse perspectives.

For our own survival, we must become adept at discerning different types of content, recognizing bias, and understanding the underlying political, economic and invidiual motivations that influence the media we consume. With all technological upgrades, we need social upgrades, and as Yunkaporta argues, social revolution begins with our relationships to each other and the land.

References

Adorno, T., & Horkneimer, M. (1993). Dialectic of Enlightenment.

Elliot, D. (2019, June 25). Australians trust the media less: Ipsos “Trust in the Media” study | Ipsos. https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/australians-trust-media-less-ipsos-trust-media-study

Gathara, P. (2024, February 12). The New Humanitarian | Biased Gaza coverage is the tip of a much larger media iceberg. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/column/2024/02/12/decolonise-how-biased-gaza-coverage-tip-of-media-iceberg

Hills, F. M., Thomas. (2020, December 1). Information Overload Helps Fake News Spread, and Social Media Knows It. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/information-overload-helps-fake-news-spread-and-social-media-knows-it/

Instagram misinformation by content 2020. (2021). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293258/instagram-recommended-misinformation-by-content/

The School of Life (Director). (2015, March 16). POP CULTURE: What’s wrong with the media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwPdAZPnk7k

Yunkaporta, T. (2023). Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. Text Publishing.

Banksy in Springfield: A critical exploration of The Simpsons’ viral couch gag

In an unprecedented collaboration, a deal was quietly forged, granting (almost) unfettered creative liberty to an artist known not by face but for their satirical critiques of societal norms. The artist, pseudonymous Banksy, renowned for provocative street stencil art, finds an unlikely collaborator in Al Jean and The Simpsons (Itzkoff, 2010). As their worlds collide, we, the viewers, are faced with a 1 minute and 43 second couch gag beckoning us to collective introspection, or, simple comical relief (or both).

Banksy's depiction of dystopian sweatshops - overrun by rats, staffed by Asian workers and unicorns, confronts us with the stark absurdities - gross exploitation of humans and nature - of our capitalist society and the mass culture it perpetuates.

Banksy’s The Simpsons intro couch gag (2010).

Storey, (2014) in Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction, explains that popular culture eludes a finite definition; rather, it finds meaning through theoretical and political debate. His six definitions all find their way into Banksy’s couch gag, yet two stand out: mass culture and folk - where mass-produced entertainment meets grassroots, citizen rebellion.

Within the framework of Adorno and Horkheimer's (1993) critique of the culture industry as mechanisms of both entertainment and social control, Banksy’s The Simpsons intro illustrates these processes at work under capitalism. The sequence dually entertains and invites viewers to reflect on the mass production of pop culture’s underlying realities, serving as a medium through which the critique of commodification and passive consumption is sharply conveyed.

In Banksy’s sequence, capitalism, ruled by its iron law of exponential growth (Hickel, 2020) yet paradoxically reliant on our planet's limited resources, is laid bare. Banksy's sharp satire extends to the profiting beneficiary ‘suits’ with the 20th Century Fox logo surrounded in barbed wire, eliciting laughter with its critique. When questioned if the creators were biting the hand that feeds them, Jean jokes, “Approved by them… it’s a place where edgy comedy can really thrive, as long as it’s funny, which I think this was. None of it’s personal,” (Itzkoff).

Yet, this humour masks a deeper inquiry: Does this collaboration between Banksy and The Simpsons incite us to confront our role as consumers in the culture industry's excesses, and rise from the couch challenging the oppressive structures it upholds?

The phenomenon of viewers flocking to watch the gag on YouTube (banksyfilm, 2010), only to have their attention and any emotional appeals for rebellion smoothly stolen by the next algorithmically curated video delivered by auto-play, highlights the pervasive distractions of today’s digital age.

The Simpsons, now in its 34th season, has consistently wielded satire to critique capitalism's impact on middle America (Rotten, 2018). Allowing Banksy to mirror the studio’s oppressive role in mass pop culture highlights Adorono and Horkheimer’s (1993) relevant critique: “The people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly: as its violence becomes more open, so its power grows.” Yunkaporta (2024) half jokes, it’s “a handful of billionaires pretty much got the world by the balls and driving it like they stole it.”

Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Benjamin, 1935) is a poignant backdrop to this discussion. Benjamin argues that art loses its presence in time and space in the face of mass reproduction under capitalism, thus diminishing art’s ‘aura,’ (Benjamin). Banksy’s opening for The Simpsons speaks to this tension, but while Banksy’s art traditionally challenges this paradigm through place-based ‘street art’, their contribution to The Simpsons highlights the complexities (and contradictions) of critiquing the system from within. Despite Banksy's anonymity, which protects him from direct scrutiny, the collaboration itself becomes a mass-produced spectacle, amassing nearly 20 million views (and counting) on YouTube alone (banksyfilm).

Though the pairing of two cultural powerhouses invites us into critical reflection and may even spark behavioral change, can the critique proposed in The Simpsons through Banksy’s lens, embedded within the very system they aim to challenge, spur real change?

Did 20 million pairs of eyes mobilize for collective action against the injustices it highlights? Or was the gag simply “fanciful” as Jean claimed, purely for entertainment value (Itzkoff).

Banksy’s dip into Springfield certainly provides powerful commentary on the culture industry, challenging us to contemplate our roles within a system that commodifies dissent. However, if we merely laugh at the dystopia without questioning our complicity, we contribute to their product roadmaps, reinforcing that “those who control the fantasy control the future,” (monika bielskyte [@monikabielskyte], 2019).

In Banksy and The Simpsons couch gag, we are reminded that popular culture can be a site of resistance despite complexities of critiquing from within. We must question if this moment of satire is enough to spark real change, or if it simply perpetuates the cycles of oppression it critiques.

References

Adorno, T., & Horkheimer, M. (1993). Dialectic of Enlightenment.

banksyfilm (Director). (2010, October 10). Simpsons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1iplQQJTo

Benjamin, W. (1935). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

Hickel, J. (2020). Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World. Windmill.

Itzkoff, D. (2010, October 11). “The Simpsons” Explains Its Button-Pushing Banksy Opening. ArtsBeat. https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/the-simpsons-explains-its-button-pushing-banksy-opening/

monika bielskyte [@monikabielskyte]. (2019, May 10). ‘Those who control the fantasy control the future.’ Dystopias become product roadmaps. I don’t even have words to express just how dangerous all this has become. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/monikabielskyte/status/1126699220562407424

Rotten, A. (2018, October 12). A TV Producer walks into a movie theatre. Medium. https://medium.com/@aurynrotten/a-tv-producer-walks-into-a-movie-theatre-d8d78e6b02c8

Storey, J. (2014). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction.

Yunkaporta, T. (2024, January 17). Transcript: TYSON YUNKAPORTA on Inviolable Lore /362. FOR THE WILD. https://forthewild.world/podcast-transcripts/tyson-yunkaporta-on-inviolable-lore-362