Perhaps one of the most unique features of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast is its
weather segment. Host Cecil Palmer (as voiced by Cecil Baldwin) winds up his serene,
sinister segment, and announces:
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| (Comments on Andrew Jackson Jihad, 2015) |
What follows is not a simple recitation of the weather
for the coming days, but a song. What’s more, for the residents of Night Vale,
this does seem to act as a weather forecast! Through the use of this particular
quirk of an already quirky podcast, an observer is able to create a map of the Welcome to Night Vale fandom. The
weather is typically ‘underground’ songs—that is, songs that have not achieved
widespread/mainstream popularity, an important distinction when it comes to
dealing with Night Vale—and so many are posted on song-hosting websites such as
Youtube. One of the many functions of YouTube is the commenting system that
allows users to post commentary underneath the song. This function enables
users to turn YouTube space into a WtNV-flavoured
place. By noting which users mention WtNV
in their comments, an observer could make a type of map of the fandom. “Maps
are both mirrors and shapers of the world,” (Kuttainen), and so maps are
reflections of the bias of the producer. All maps show a version of the truth,
which only remains true for so long as they are read in accordance to their
producer’s aims (Wood, et al, 2001). YouTube links Welcome to Night Vale to its fandom through its commenting system,
which in turn enables an observer to create a mental map of fandom, and create
a space-place transformation. Maps are simultaneously true and untrue, because
reality is so much more complicated than can ever be represented in a physical
or even metaphysical plane. Or, in the words of Welcome to Night Vale:
“The desert seems vast, and even endless. And yet,
scientists tell us that somewhere, even now, there is snow” (Fink, 2012).
REFERENCES
Fink, J. (Producer). (2012, July 1). 2-Glow Cloud [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from itunes.com
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002:
Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place: Lecture 4: Maps
[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Wood, D., Kaiser, W., & Abramms, B. (2001). Seeing Through Maps: Many ways to see the
world. Oxford, London: New Internationalist Publications Ltd.
IMAGE REFERENCE
Comments on Andrew
Jackson Jihad – Children of God Youtube post [Image]. (2015). Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkofRibL_Ww
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ReplyDeleteFollowing on loosely from the theme you've set; here's a joke by comedy great Bill Hicks. Within the joke he explores the notion that drugs take a person to a higher state of being, or consciousness, then juxtaposes that with the seemingly 'dumbed down' ending of "here's Tom with the weather!". I love this joke because it really makes you think about how we view the world, especially in one to connected as it is today, particularly in the advent of 24/7 news. It was a nice contrast between something very spiritual and serious, and then offered to the masses as a way of appeasing them because they are too bored with the subject.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWdF-tGNxog
References
Nez B. (2012, July 4). Heres Tom with the weather [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWdF-tGNxog