This Misanthropic American Life

In our brief class discussion of the This American Life segment “If By Chance We Meet Again” many students expressed concerns, specifically, over the portrayal of the story’s primary subjects and, more generally, the ethics of representation within a framework many assume to be “objective”. While the effects the imposition of the show’s overly cultivated sense of whimsy and air of playful condescension on its subjects may be less than flattering in most cases, I think it would be more helpful to look at how the framework of the show and the conventions of its chosen medium construct identities and narratives both for the subjects and the spectators. After all, the narrative conventions of This American Life are eagerly broadcast by its host, Ira Glass, in the opening of every show: “Each week on our show we choose some theme and bring you a variety of different stories on that theme.” In that simple statement, Glass acknowledges the medium’s frame and the representational practices of his program. These quirky stories about people and their lived or imagined experiences are retellings and reconstructions articulated to fit an imposed narrative mold.

An investigation of how such narratives and their associated images are shaped by the format of their creation and broadcast and how, in turn, they influence and effect the realms of individual and cultural identities, rather than an investigation that focuses primarily on the potentially problematic ethics of such representations, I believe, would be the most fruitful avenue to explore in an anthropological inquiry of media.