The Disinformation show was a short-lived television series (only 4 episodes) that explored the world of counter-cultures and subcultures. Sometimes it explored things with a loose journalistic integrity, while other times it seemed to be very tongue-in-cheek. The topics, while generally interesting, were nothing new.
The summary of the show really sums up the review, as well. While the topics were interesting, they were a combination of old topics or newer ones presented in a less than thrilling way. The one exception was the Joe Coleman interview: both Coleman and his art were very fascinating.
The interview with Howard Bloom or some of the other people were interesting, but done in a boring way. Bloom would ramble on and so would other people (particularly a guy explaining the world of plant pain). It made me very sleepy. On television, rather than in books, you need more flash and more bite-sized pieces -- not droning rambles -- and this show really missed the mark.
Some of the information was incredibly old. They interviewed Genesis P-Orridge, who I freely admit was a very important figure, giving rise to the industrial music movement and other subcultures. But he has done nothing of interest since the early 1980s, so why interview him now? This, and many other topics, have been beat to death by the Disinformation books, and before them by the Rapid Eye books (which I recommend).
Also, the shows became repetitive, featuring a segment called "Uncle Goddamn" in each episode that was allegedly better than "Jackass". It wasn't better than "Jackass", first of all. But second, I got the point in the first episode: they light Uncle G on fire. They did it again in each episode. Wow! Creative, boys!
This show had a good heart and good intentions. I'm always in favor of presenting subcultures and counter-cultures when you can. But they took these freaks, geeks and weirdos and made them seem normal and boring. In essence, this show was killing the very group of people they were feeding off of. In another ten years, there will be no subculture left.
The summary of the show really sums up the review, as well. While the topics were interesting, they were a combination of old topics or newer ones presented in a less than thrilling way. The one exception was the Joe Coleman interview: both Coleman and his art were very fascinating.
The interview with Howard Bloom or some of the other people were interesting, but done in a boring way. Bloom would ramble on and so would other people (particularly a guy explaining the world of plant pain). It made me very sleepy. On television, rather than in books, you need more flash and more bite-sized pieces -- not droning rambles -- and this show really missed the mark.
Some of the information was incredibly old. They interviewed Genesis P-Orridge, who I freely admit was a very important figure, giving rise to the industrial music movement and other subcultures. But he has done nothing of interest since the early 1980s, so why interview him now? This, and many other topics, have been beat to death by the Disinformation books, and before them by the Rapid Eye books (which I recommend).
Also, the shows became repetitive, featuring a segment called "Uncle Goddamn" in each episode that was allegedly better than "Jackass". It wasn't better than "Jackass", first of all. But second, I got the point in the first episode: they light Uncle G on fire. They did it again in each episode. Wow! Creative, boys!
This show had a good heart and good intentions. I'm always in favor of presenting subcultures and counter-cultures when you can. But they took these freaks, geeks and weirdos and made them seem normal and boring. In essence, this show was killing the very group of people they were feeding off of. In another ten years, there will be no subculture left.