Everything Bad' Author Taps Into Guilty Pleasures (reuters)

Primary Navigation Secondary Navigation Search: All News Yahoo! News Only News Photos Audio/Video Everything Bad' author taps into guilty pleasures

Thu May 19,10:22 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Video game junkies, rejoice. Reality TV fans, stop feeling guilty. Pop culture is good for you, and it must be true because it says so in a book.

"Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter" argues that video games, television and movies help children develop problem-solving and reasoning skills and emotional intelligence.

Author Steven Johnson says the reaction has been intense.

"I've had a few people who were filled with rage," he said. But for the most part the book published this month seems to have tapped into a guilty pleasure that many are happy to think is not so guilty after all.

"My gut feeling is people were tired of getting scolded all the time for what they were doing," Johnson said in an interview this week.

The premise of the book is that in the past 30 to 40 years, television and movies have become dramatically more complex, with programs like "The Sopranos" juggling dozens of characters and plotlines. At the same time video games have developed from simple repetitive games such as "Pac-Man" to become complicated and challenging interactive worlds demanding innovative and imaginative reasoning from those who play them.

"It's about the mental workout, not the morals," Johnson said, adding that he is not aiming to address the question of whether modern entertainment has too much sex and violence or whether it sets a good or bad example for children.

"I'm really not talking about values, I'm not talking about what the life lessons are, about what you're getting on how to live morally in the world," he said.

"What I'm trying to focus on is, 'Does it make you think?"'

The book uses analytical tables to compare the relatively linear plot lines of older television shows such as "Dragnet" and "Starsky and Hutch" with that of "The Sopranos."

Elsewhere he breaks down popular virtual adventure game "Zelda" and makes a satirical argument that might have been made if in a parallel universe kids had been playing video games for centuries and then suddenly books were invented.

Reading books "chronically understimulates the senses" and books are "tragically isolating" and "discriminatory," he says in a passage that he hastens to reiterate is satire.

"I do not actually believe that about books," Johnson said, admitting that as a writer of books he may be biased.

A reviewer in the Chicago Tribune said he was not entirely convinced by the arguments but it was easy to get swept up in it. "Few books are as enjoyable as those that seek to convince us that what we previously thought harmful is actually healthy," the review said.

Johnson said he had been pleasantly surprised by the reaction of some parents, including one who told him: "I really appreciate this because you've opened up this conversation with my son about this world that I really didn't understand."

He said the loudest criticism of the book had come from liberals who bemoan the "dumbing down" of popular culture, particularly the proliferation of cheap reality television and useless information on the Internet.

"Maybe the right will pick up on it and they'll start being upset too," he added. "This book is uniquely designed to annoy people on both sides."

RECOMMEND THIS STORY Recommend It: Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly

Average (Not Rated) News Stories AP via Yahoo! News May 22 AP via Yahoo! News May 20 Reuters via Yahoo! News May 19 AP via Yahoo! News May 16 Feature Articles at The New York Times (reg. req'd) May 22 at BBC May 19 Opinion & Editorials at The Bergen Record (reg. req'd) May 19 at Wall St. Journal May 19 AP AP AP AP AP AP Dear Abby E! Online Reuters AP Sponsored Links ( ) World travel and annual medical insurance plans from independent advisors Medibroker International. Free quotes. www.medibrokerinternational.com Looking to travel the world at a great low rate? Check out our complete, up-to-date listing of discounts on cruises departing in the next 90 days. www.vacationstogo.com Make your first destination Kayak.com - where almost 100 travel sites are quickly scanned to find deals that suit your budget. Then take the vacation of your dreams. www.kayak.com Add headlines to your personalized My Yahoo! page Entertainment - Reuters YAHOO! NEWS

The most popular entertainment news stories and photos.

- - Search: All News Yahoo! News Only News Photos Audio/Video Primary Navigation Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Go here to read more:http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050519/en_nm/media_popculture_dc

Additional everything bad' author taps into guilty pleasures (reuters) internet resources: