decided it was necessary to present three different patterns which connected media with society. The writer would again use Paul Hodkinson‟s book, „Media, Culture, and
Society: An Introduction‟ as the reference. In that book, Hodkinson thoroughly exposed that the relations between media and society, i.e. the role of media in society, could be
explained into three different ways:
a. Media as shaper of society. The application of this connection referred to
media playing a more active role in its relations to society because this was the approach which argued that media had the ability to influence individuals,
and later on, society Hodkinson 4. In real life setting, the writer observed that this approach has been well-practiced by the likes of the currently-
booming TV shows produced by South Korean production houses. Take for example, Korean dramas depicting life stories of their teenagers and young
adults which never failed to influence Indonesia audience, mostly belonging to same age groups as the actors and actresses on TV, to dress like them, or
more extremely, to insert Korean words and expressions to their daily conversations
– which by now has become a confusing mix between much Indonesian, a little English, and little Korean; and this was how media claimed
its victory in dictating its audience to do what, according to media, was desirabl
e, correct, and „in‟. The relation between media and society can be understood more clearly with the help of the below diagram.
M e d i a S o c i e t y
FIGURE 1.1 Media as shaper
b. Media as mirror of society. While the previous approach pointed out the
superiority of media over its audience, the second approach was the complete opposite as the presence of media was merely as „a follower‟ with its main
task to just portray real situations in the society. Hodksinson‟s examples for this case was when he wrote how American movies, usually the heroic ones,
had been changing their nation‟s enemies in order that they were successful in bringing real life stories to the screen. Among his examples he mentioned how
the „bad guys‟ way back in the 1980‟s movies were the former Soviet Union, while Middle-East countries were placed in the unfortunate spot in American
movies produced during the 1990‟s. Those changes in the roles of „national enemies‟ were rightfully done to accommodate media‟s role to mirror the
society, hence its function as „a follower‟ Hodkinson 4. The writer, however,
found an interesting finding from this point, that although media functions only as a mirror, hence a passive participant in the media
– society communication, still, media did preserve its mighty power which earned it a
„bullet-proof‟ status. What the writer means by that was that no matter how bad the content of a broadcast is
, media could always hide behind the „do not kill the messenger‟ old cliché, simply because media was only mirroring what
had been going on in the society. The figure below describes best the media –
society relation in which media functioned as the mirror to the society.
S o c i e t y M e d i a
FIGURE 1.2 Media as mirror
c. Media as representation of society. The above points above have staged, in
two different ways, how powerful media was that it could put society under its spell and earned itself an impenetrable immunity system. Point number three
was another showcase of media having the versatility to select and present real life events as well as to structure and shape society as its audience
Hall 64. Given this ability, the writer has become even more convinced that media was more than able to play the divisive role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
realizing that media could either be a friend or a foe almost simultaneously. This, without any doubt, agrees
with Lasswell‟s question of „Who says what in which channel to whom?‟ a question that highlighted the subjectivity of
media which projected the innate subjectivity of who were behind media itself, human. Therefore, by now, the
adage of „There are three kinds of truth: my truth, yours, and the truth itself‟ is more easily understood. Following is a
figure to provide a visual guide to how media and society are connected.
S o c i e t y Media
representation
FIGURE 1.3 Circular model of representation and influence By now, the writer has listed the three kinds of roles media has played in its
continuous interaction with society: as a shaper, follower, and representative of society. Added with the facts that media, in its each function, has shown three very specialized
capabilities: ability to influence, privilege to mirror, and versatility to select what was in or out that would later lead to a desired outcome, the writer has gained a deeper
understanding of how beneficial it would be if human had media on their side for with the possession of media along came the incontestable chances to influence, show, and „own‟
society.
2. OF TELEVISION: PAST AND PRESENT
Television has always been one of the most talked-about human inventions since it was made commercially available way back in the 1920‟s. Given its versatility in
carrying out a wide variety of functions and popularity, it is easy to understand that a quick Google search using „television‟ as the key word would result in over one billion
entries only in seconds. That statistics alone serves a good lead to show how wide the influence of television is globally.
It was stated previously that the aim of this thesis is to find how television, through its programs, is a potential agent of social constructions and a quick visit to
Wikipedia revealed that „communication‟ is the essence of television programs, be it
delivered in colors or monochrome
7
. However, as a preparation to going more deeply with how television programs are responsible for social constructions, the writer deems it
important to observe what has been written about the influential invention which is television itself. Melinda stated that television programs which are designed by experts
have done incredible jobs in providing viewers with relevant information as well as helping society gain deeper knowledge on a particular piece of information
8
. From that statement, it is obvious to spot that there are two main elements, experts who designed
television programs and information designed by experts. Analyzing the statement more carefully will safely take us to come to the conclusion that people involved in
television programs are not merely ordinary people, rather people with expertise in their specific fields with their specific goals in mind when designing specific programs.
Therefore, even before the birth of a program, it is already equipped with special missions neatly wrapped in the main jersey of television, which is communication. Of the
various way missions are communicated, this thesis will later be discussing one way among the others, which is the highly popular stand-up comedy show.
Taking a brief step back to see the long road television has taken en route to its current fame is also a good way to trace get other information the established success of
the magic box in terms of hypnotizing its viewers while sending messages through its programs.
7
Tele isio , Ja uar , http:
http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiTelevision .
8
Ber adetha N. Meli da, The Use of Tele isio i the A eri a Preside tial Ele tio , thesis., U of
Gadjah Mada, 2007, 14.
The long and featured history of television began in Berlin, Germany, when a student, Paul Nipkov attempted to send pictures from one place to other places through
air between 1883 and 1884. Nipkov‟s success in the image transmission earned him the acknowledgment of the „father‟ of television J.B. Wahyudi, B.A., 1983. Ever since that
seemingly humble yet monumental beginning, the development of television shifted to a higher gear and never seemed to look back thanks to the unending technological
development that never stops helping television evolve to its present shape. The introduction of television to the United States, however, still had to wait for over sixty
years after its birth in Germany, when in 1939 television was first watched publicly in New York. Suffering from a seven-year halt due to World War II, activities of media
television resumed in 1946 as stated by Melinda
9
. Coming to play many years after its initial appearance in Germany, however, was not an excuse for television to quickly
make its marks in the United States. It did not take too much time for television to become a necessity ther
e as various programs were served to satisfy viewers‟ needs of information, entertainment, and an outlet for their ideas and expressions.
Still highlighting the rapid development of television in the United States, Melinda pointed out that after the World War-inflicted halt between 1939 and 1945, there
were only some transmitters across the country, however, due to technological advancement and high demand of better quality broadcast, there were now around 750
transmitters 2007. The increasing number of transmitters in the USA is a valid
9
Ber adetha N. Meli da, The Use of Tele isio i the A eri a Preside tial Ele tio , thesis., U of
Gadjah Mada, 2007, 14.
representation of how television has become people‟s favorite when it comes to mass communication. Furthermore, the same fact has also attracted the writer to dig deeper to
find how television is today being used as a tool for social reconstructions. Speaking of using television to initiate social reconstructions, professionals
behind a program, as this thesis has mentioned above, play an important role. Not only do they have the expertise in inserting messages in their programs, but more importantly,
they are as well peerless in the way they combine important messages and entertainment altogether, so that TV viewers can get the messages while being entertained rather than
feeling dictated. Television practitioners, as a result, deserve the plaudits for the staggering fact that around 90 of USA households were equipped with a TV set and to
mention that many of them have more than one TV set, a remark by Uchjana, which is another fact to cement the hegemony television has over its audience
10
. Public views on television, like on everything else, however, are divided into two
contradicting poles, positive and negative views. While contradictions seem to be endless as they have been going on since the early days of television, reasons behind the two
views are worth-discussing as they contribute a lot to the development of television programs. It is so because television practitioners must keep close contacts with
audience‟s reactions in order to make right choices that will also determine the future of the stations they work for.
Exposing the positive sides of television, the writer understands that the discussion is very likely to touch too many different aspects of life. Therefore, not to risk
10
Ocong Uchjana M.A., Ilmu, Teori, dan Filsafat Komunikasi 1993.
the discussion to reach irrelevant width, the writer decided to limit it into how television influences its audiences in two major fields, namely entertainment and education as two
individual entities, as well as when both are combined to form a kind of entertainment that educates.
When it comes to presenting an advantage television has in terms of mass communication over other forms of media, a fact is not to be overlooked, that is the fact
that television possesses the longest reach to greet, arguably, people belonging to all social classes. From world leaders to lay people, the have to the poor, the educated to
their complete reverse, all have access the marvel rich varieties of entertainment offered by the „Wonder Box‟. The writer is in full awareness that among the many fans of
televi sion, the possibility of the majority‟s inability to decode educational messages
embedded in television entertainment is big. Besides that, the writer fully understands that television and the TV habit that is derived from the very invention, has always been a
playing ground for pros and cons. An example of how television is accused of bringing bad effects cannot be presented in a more obvious way than in what Neil Postman wrote.
According to him, television is the smartest way to make people fool as Postman claimed that materials presented in television programs are guilty of making its viewers as
nonsensical, dangerous, and absurd just as the programs
11
. However, the writer believed that Postman‟s firm statement about the foolishness generated by television programs is
based only on a harsh generalization which is probably accompanied by the inabilities of television to carry out the responsibilities burdened to it, to bring about positive social
11
Neil Postman. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Business. United States: Penguin, 1985 30-39.
changes and educate its viewers, for instance. The writer sensed impatience in the making of that conclusion considering that Postman did not mention what specific programs were
caught red-handed making people fool every passing minute. Nevertheless, a bright side is found in such a sarcastic statement about television as the writer was determined to
turn the statement around by going into a more specific object of observation that was hoped to reveal good sides of television; that is by examining the potentially
revolutionary power of televised Stand-up Comedy shows in bringing to surface issues that have been in years kept from public discussion and in the long run, to educate its
viewers. The „potentially-revolutionary power‟ mentioned above does not take a
complicated math equation to get justified, meaning that the bigger the number of people watching television, the chance of a program to have its messages sent is bigger, and so
the reverse. Ross acknowledged that television, with its enormous wingspan, has a similarly-enormous potential to influence its viewers in any ways it wishes given the very
wide varieties of program it offers.
12
What the writer meant by „in any ways it wishes‟ above refers to an individual TV station‟s philosophy of broadcasting and their
sociopolitical preference, acknowledging that a TV station has their own unique goals as well as unique ways of pursuing their goals. Unique ways to reach their distinctive goals
can be found in how different TV stations are trying to position themselves by airing programs that best represent their philosophy. While one station sticks to constantly
airing news, another one might choose to bring its viewers different forms of
12
Alison Ross. The Language of Humour. London: Routledge, 1998 89.
entertainment, while yet another station uses another genre to keep their viewers engaged while trying to send specific messages in the
most subtle manners. So that is how Ross‟ claim above can be explained, that with its huge loyal mass, television has a clear
advantage when it comes to spreading influence. Discussions on the wide and deep roles of television have long captured the
attention of many media observers. On the very topic, Melinda, in her thesis which highlighted the power of television, repeatedly wrote that nowadays television holds
significant roles in the society
13
. The argument she had in her thesis about the massive power of television found backups in a statement by a television psychologist, Michael
Shapiro, who stated that the power of television programs lie in the supporting personnel and technology that allowed them to quickly be delivered to its viewers with almost no
delay
14
. Such advantage, to relay without delay, is an attribute not possessed by other forms of mass media and with the presence of moving images to feast on, television has
more power that makes it almost impossible for other forms of media to strip television off its current position as the „leader‟ of mass media.
Nowadays, getting much help from technological advancement, television keeps cementing its status as the form of mass media with the widest wingspan that can reach
simply anyone belonging to any social groups. This fact is enhanced by observations that led to conclusions stating that television is now not only bringing entertainment to its
13
Bernadetha N. Melinda, The Use of Tele isio i the
A eri a Preside tial Ele tio , thesis., U of Gadjah Mada, 2007, 39.
14
Michael Shapiro and McDonald. I am Not a Real Doctor But I Play One in Virtua Reality, Implication of Virtual Reality for Judgment About Reality. 1992
viewers, but way beyond that, it also plays a major role in helping the viewers to develop intellectually, as asserted by Gordon. Furthermore, Gordon stated that besides the before-
mentioned intellectual development, television has also been successful in presenting imaginations of how perfection should look like. By perfection, Gordon elaborated that
the „ideal condition‟ refers to social order and close attention to morality
15
. That statement offered by Gordon is an obvious indication of how television has gone so deep
into the minds of its audience that it has earned an honorable status of „educator‟ for the society.
B. ON COMEDY
Unlimited are the ways to entertain TV audiences nowadays, from movies, music programs, until the more informative programs such as news. While the mentioned
programs above are still selling well in many different places, there is one relatively new form of visual entertainment which is slowly but surely given more attention by various
TV stations because of encouraging responses from their audiences, that is the Stand-up Comedy show. While it is understood that the presence of such entertainment on
television screens is something new, Stand-up Comedy has actually been around for more than five decades now
. Mintz‟ observation even revealed that Stand-up Comedy is actually the oldest form of humorous expression
16
, given that fact, drawing a conclusion that relatively recent introduction of Stand-up Comedy to television is motivated by
belated awareness that the very genre is „more than just a comedy show‟ is safe.
15
Scott Gordon. The History and Philosophy of Social Science. London: Routledge, 1991 148-151.
16
La re e Mi tz. Sta d-up Co ed as So ial a d Cultural Medi atio . A eri a Quarterl 7. 1985: 71-80.
Otherwise, such show would be forever flying under the radar, elusive from most television consumers. Therefore, due to the late introduction of Stand-up Comedy to a
very public sphere, which is television, it is also understandable that the number of comedy-related studies are not-too-surprisingly low. Mintz had a clear understanding in
the tendency and shared in a journal that the few studies of comedy usually began with a typical opening in which an apology to comedy is underlined due to acute undervaluation
of the ability of how comedy could have played way more significant roles in the society, culturally and socially
17
. It was best, however, that a discussion on comedy be preceded by how it was
defined in contrast to tragedy, in order to give a clear-cut differentiation between the two. To do so, nobody did better than Aristotle, who, as quoted in Britannica Encyclopedia
shared his observation of the contrasting genres. Aristotle wrote that while tragedy was an imitation of the grand, i.e. people who were better than us, comedy was defined as an
imitation of those who were worse than us. That being said, the writer understood that people who delivered comedy shows must view themselves „better‟ than the object they
were imitating. A special attention was to be given to the word „better‟ as it could have multiple meanings, but to put it in social contexts, when a comic in a Stand-Up Comedy
show decided to mention names in their bits, it was safe to conclude that the person whose name got a mention in a show has, to some extent, failed to fulfill the hopes of
many to function accordingly. Hence the oft-mentions of politicians and authority in
17
Lawr e e Mi tz. Sta d-up Co ed as So ial a d Cultural Medi atio . A eri a Quarterl 7.
1985: 71-80.
Stand-Up Comedy shows. It was also mentioned that although the subject of comedy often belonged to „men lower than average‟, it did not mean that comedy was low in
value. Rather, comedy was viewed as a form of entertainment which offered the energy of creativity, and even more importantly, an opportunity for a contemplative moment so
that the minds a comedy show audience could feel what was addressed by Henri Bergson, „the corrective purpose of laughter‟. To agree with that was Kierkegaard‟s statement that
it was the contradiction in life which was the ingredient of comedy. On the term „contradiction‟, the writer understood that it meant any discrepancy shown by an object
of a comedy show: an expected social function and how the object actually functioned in the society.
Before providing more detailed explanation about what Stand-up Comedy really is, the writer sees the importance of drawing a clear line that will set this kind of comical
performance from other forms of entertainment designed to produce laughter from their audience. The label itself is actually self-explanatory and the activity can be loosely
defined as „an activity of making others laugh done by a comic who is standing‟. However, going into a more specific fashion will allow us to find at least a more
powerful definition of such show, as Ross gave a more vivid statement about the very activity by opining that Stand-up Comedy show is the rock-and-roll kind of comedy
which is usually performed on-stage by a comic, usually male and young whose missions include entertaining his audience while trying to make connections with them
18
. Still in the same book in which Ross offered that definition on that form of entertainment, Ross
18
Alison Ross. The Language of Humour. London: Routledge, 1998, 97.
acknowledged that other forms of entertainment aimed at making audience laugh do exist. She mentioned that apart from Stand-up Comedy, there are various spoken humor
presented on television and in the radio, but she pointed out that the differences between Stand-up Comedy and the spoken humor presented in those two media are huge. The
main difference she mentioned lies on the manner in which they are presented, while Stand-up Comedy shows are presented live, the other forms of spoken humor are pre-
recorded and t ake longer steps of recording and editing to ensure a kind of „protection‟ so
that a show is appropriate enough to be launched to public sphere
19
. In other words, Stand-
up Comedy shows are different from the „usual‟ existing spoken humor in television and radio, because it offers direct interaction between comics and their
audience, risking all kinds of imaginable responses, be they pleasingly encouraging or the complete reverse. That difference is a good explanation to the nickname given to Stand-
up Comedy as „the rock-and-roll‟ of comedy because of its „wilder‟ nature compared to
other forms of comedy shows. „Wilder‟ is used to describe the unpredictability of comic- audience interactions and reactions, as well as the content of jokes delivered by comics.
The elaboration of both the reactions and content of shows will be more thoroughly discussed as this study reaches chapters three and four.
Its unpredictable and wild nature, however, should never give any impression that Stand-up Comedy exists only as mere entertainment whose messages vaporize as soon as
laughters fade. Instead, there are evidence that this kind of entertainment has potentials outside the world of entertainment waiting to be revealed. Out of the many examples this
19
Alison Ross. The Language of Humour. London: Routledge, 1998, 97.
thesis is going to present, what Roozen wrote about Charles, one of his students, can serve to strengthen the writer‟s claim of the potential power Stand-up Comedy possesses.
Charles, as told by Roozen, had problems in classes that required him to speak in public, who eventually found a remedy for his public communication jinx by participating as a
comic in Open Mic Night performances held in his university. Although it all seemed trivial, what Charles gained from his decision to be involved in such activity did give him
the much-needed boost in his performance in academic settings
20
as later it was reported that Charles, thanks to his frequent participation in his university‟s Stand-up Comedy
activities, was able to dramatically improve his „D‟ grade to an „A‟ in the following term. Roozen‟s observation on Charles‟ involvement in the activity hints that there are
probably more benefits waiting to be seized from Stand-up Comedy and that is just what this research is going to unearth.
Impacts Stand-up Comedy has that will be given vast elaboration here, however, as stated in the previous chapter, are not going to be limited to the narrow sense of
education. Rather, the writer felt the impending necessity to promote the potentials of Stand-up Comedy, socially, and in so doing, the writer owed a great deal to what Lewis
had in her thesis, in which she quoted from Medhurst about the very powerful functions of comedy, saying that comedy provides
“brief embrace in a threatening world, a moment of unity in a lifetime of fissures a haven against insecurity, a refuge from dissolution, a
point of wholeness in a maelstrom of fragmentation, a chance to affirm that you exist and
20
Kevin Roozen. Journal of Basic Writing.
