Boxed In was published in 1988, and it occasionally shows its age with respect to the current state of mass culture, but much of it is still relevant:
The impending culture of the world by TV entails not just the homogenization of the spectacle, and the capitulation of the whole public, young and old, and the incorporation of all once wayward elements, and the renovation of our country into one transcontinental shopping mall. More damaging than these elements, perhaps, has been the subtle and coincident trivialization of criticism – the one action that could still counteract TV. Miller, Boxed In (20)
I particularly like the use of the word “renovation” here, as it suggests the unstoppable optimism that so pervades American consumerism, where any change – any new thing – must be good.
Miller goes on to bemoan the “thumbs up / thumbs down” aspect of criticism that TV encourages, and which (since the book’s publication) has morphed into the ratings game we all play on Netflix and Amazon. Actual criticism requires more patience than that.
