Media Virus!

Ten years since I read Media Virus I still find it extremely relevant, actually even more so. I first read it out of curiosity - being a Simpson's and Beavis and Butthead fanatic. I now find myself perusing a marketing degree and some of Rushkoff's theories and now common place. Just a couple months ago, a Wal-Mart sponsored marketing firm was outed as the creators of a phoney online discussion group (gorilla marketing/propaganda) or as Rushkoff would have described it "genetic engineering" (turning a beast into a concerned citizen). When media virus was written there wasn't much of an Internet (as we know it) but the same ideas were in place. It some ways Rushkoff is a futurist in the line of Faith Popcorn or Ryan Mathews. Instead of offering predictions, Rushkoff leans toward merely understanding the psychological or anthropological side of media - the tools of futurists. I strongly suggest any one who reads this book to watch Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent and vice versa.

The bizarre negative reviews in this space belong to a couple of "conspiracy theorists" who are writing bad reviews of everyone associated with the Disinformation web site. It's a shame, because this is probably Rushkoff's best book - at least his most important one. It put him on the map as today's most significant media theorist, while being simple enough for pretty much anyone to understand. The point of the book is that seemingly innocuous or culturally insignificant media nonetheless contain the most pressing ideas and constructs of a given age. So Rushkoff deconstructs media iconography from Beavis and Butt-head to Michael Jackson, showing the underlying cultural agenda beneath them - not beneath them, but within them. If the book seems unoriginal now, some ten years after it was first published, that's because this is the book that LAUNCHED these ideas. Ever hear of "viral marketing"? That came from this guy. Look at his documentary on the Frontline website called "The Merchants of Cool" if you want to see how his thinking developed, and got a bit cooler on these developments. But definitely read Media Virus if you want to understand all the thinking and advertising that came from it.

I use this book in my class on media and popular culture. It really stands as the most important book on media culture since McLuhan - and rivals his insights, at that. I see one of the home-critics above has criticized Rushkoff for using the word 'media' as a singular verb, as if this were some sort of misprint. In fact, Rushkoff spends several pages explaining how the media needs to be treated as a single entity. It is an organism, with properties and behaviors all its own.This is a groundbreaking work of media criticism, and a must-read for anyone trying to make sense of media today.

Since its release in 1994, 'Media Virus' has become Douglas Rushkoff's most influential and most popular book.Rushkoff skillfully dissects such 'memes' as the O.J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King beating tape, and the pervasive influence of MTV editing. He finds Queer sexuality in 'Ren & Stimpy', social agendas with John Morgenthaler's 'Smart Drugs' campaign, and closes the book with an insightful and rare interview with the influential musician, raver, and performance artist Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Pigface, Thee Majesty).Much of what Rushkoff has written has become de facto teaching within university media courses, and Rushkoff's insights have been clarified and commented upon by many other social theorists and cyberpunks. This is a valuable book because its accessible easy to read style makes it a good introduction to a field that many find foreboding, difficult or complex. Rushkoff is careful to include case-studies and examples such as detailed semiotic analysis of 'The Simpsons', and to provide the relevant historical and industry contexts. The book's influence can be seen by the prevalence of Madison Avenue techniques subsequent to the book's publication, and the popularity of mutant media.Well worth checking out!

_Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture_ by Douglas Rushkoff is about the manipulative influence of the media on our lives. Rushkoff asserts that influences from the media replicate through popular culture the way that biological viruses do, and further, can be engineered for maximum efficacy. Examining television programs such as "Ren and Stimpy," which he believes promotes homosexuality, to media events such as the O.J. Simpson trial, which he believes is indicative of society's inability to cope with spousal abuse and interracial marriage, Rushkoff points out that much of what we watch on television consists of pointed messages carefully encapsulated in seemingly innocuous carriers. Rushkoff also points out that media viruses can be injected into popular culture from the bottom up through the use of the alternative media and the Internet. Interesting and provocative, this book, itself a media virus, shows us how easily we as a culture can be manipulated. However, there were times in the book that I thought Rushkoff was giving more credit than was due in attributing certain effects to their creators. This book is highly recommended for those with an interest in the psychology of the media and how people can be influenced by it.