I realized this morning, when I turned off NPR for the third time on the way to preschool, that for a lot of information I want, regular, old linear media is annoying because it's too damn slow. And its form, and its cliches, and all the schtick that news clings to are all just designed to fix this problem; they manufacture dramatic narrative, not necessarily [or not solely] to skew the message or influence its reception, but to keep people's attention.
And holy crap, I really want to know about the Sesame Street music used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Bhagram, and I want to find out the science of music and sound as torture, and the neurological effects and psychological assumptions that underpin this tactic, and even its history going back to the Nazis or whoever it was the US government appropriated this particular torture tactic from.
But seriously, Al Jazeera, it's 2012. Do NOT make me watch for 47 freakin' minutes as you show every literal step in Sesame Street composer Christopher Cerf's staged journey, from fake-packing his suitcase to fake-turning into that Gitmo guard-turned interrogation consultant's leafy driveway. And your horribly/ominously lit talking headshots with sweaty academic activists and overly enthusiastic researchers.
"The monster in the mirror just might be you." "Every time you wubba us, we'll wubba you." written by Christopher Cerf and Norman Stiles
Just give me the Sesame Street torture playlist, and tell me that Elmo's started changing his international travel schedule because he doesn't want to get extraordinarily rendered to The Hague. Mkay? Thanks.
Oh, and yes, the cheesy composite title graphic are fine.
Songs of War [aljazeera.com]
