Written by Tina
In season 5, episode 4 of Parks and Recreation, Tommy Edamame was in full on crisis mode after an unfortunate brush with the law (live tweeting while driving which resulted in the inevitable car crash to a fire hydrant) left him a punishment that fit the crime: Big T must be without screens for a week.
In season 5, episode 4 of Parks and Recreation, Tommy Edamame was in full on crisis mode after an unfortunate brush with the law (live tweeting while driving which resulted in the inevitable car crash to a fire hydrant) left him a punishment that fit the crime: Big T must be without screens for a week.
Tom Haverford cannot function
without technology. Without his GPS, he showed up hours late to work even though
he lives 3 miles away (literally he is lost without technology). As a coping
mechanism, Tom made his own Pinterest board and iPhone out of cardboard
("I really wish I could click on these" -T.H. dejectedly tapping on
pieces of paper). He tried to get his screen fix by spying on a coworker's
computer monitor with a handheld mirror (“Oh my god, Jerry. When you check
your email you go to Altavista and type, ‘Please go to yahoo.com?’
You don’t deserve the internet!” –T.H. going through withdrawal).
If someone could get delirium
tremens from a media blackout, it would be Tom Haverford. Ron, his boss and
friend, tries to help Tom by taking him out on a camping trip:
Even though Tom Haverford’s dependence on the internet is just a
gag, the pervasiveness of technology is a reality, with Asian Americans playing a pivotal role in the
digital media and social web front.
Asian Americans have taken the internet by storm. The Asian American demographic group is the most active user on the social web. 87% of Asian Americans use the internet everyday. Social media sites like Twitter and WordPress are also most viewed by the Asian American demographic (Pew Research Center studies). The internet has also offered Asian Americans more media exposure than the entertainment industry thanks to video-sharing websites such as YouTube. And although Tom Haverford’s antics to a media blackout are completely absurd, Asian Americans, the woefully underrepresented demographic group in mainstream media, use the internet as a tool to make their voices heard.
Poor Tommy Timberlake.
No screens for a week? The struggle is real.
It may be anecdotal, but every Asian I know (including myself) are extremely active on the internet.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Asian American influence will bleed over into mainstream media in the future!