Saturday, May 06, 2006

leunig on television

"Television may give illusions of being personable and intelligent but it is not really; it's crude and domineering, and that's part of its popularity. For those who it processes, television is a machine like a meat grinder of souls; and what it destroys, it replaces with crude, synthetic substitutes for life and personal truth. We learn in time to applaud these imitations and shun the real thing. When you have undertaken your final surrender to the complex beauty, mystery and sadness of life, then facing a television camera, no matter how intelligent or empathetic the interviewer may be, or how well-intentioned the producer, is still a bit like facing a tank in Tiananmen Square. You may survive and walk away but the sense of brutal imbalance is what survives most."

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