Speaker: Dr. George Gerbner
"If one were permitted to make all the ballads, one need not care who should make the laws of a nation." So wrote Andrew Fletcher.
For thousands of generations, storytelling was home-grown and community-inspired. Now, it is mass-produced and driven by consumers and dollars. As a result, parts of our society, such as the poor, are under- and mis-represented.
Prof. George Gerbner outlined these consequences in an eloquent storytelling session that led us from his experiences under fascism in 1939 through the growth of television. He told the story of a child who was asked to imagine life before the time of Thomas Edison; the child replied, "So everyone watched television by candlelight!"
More serious misunderstandings surround the stories of violence. Prof. Gerbner described how a good society is one that is kind to strangers. In contrast, many in our society are overwhelmed by fear of strangers, especially those who are poor.
According to Prof. Gerbner, there are two "governments": the one that makes the laws of our nation and the one that tells the stories. The first is democratically elected, the second is controlled by the corporate establishment. The power of this second, unelected government has disproportionate power.
The growth of the Internet represents a new direction with new horizons. But this too has disturbing implications because the people who need it most do not have access to it; these under-represented people are the poor, and children under the age of 6.
Prof. Gerbner has produced several videos; information is available at www.igc.org/mef. He is also an active leader of the Cultural Environmental Movement. His presentation was sponsored by the UU Committee for a Just Economic Community.
