Pirate Radio Makes you long for Mass Media
A slow, sweet movie about coming of age in the 60s that builds to a quite dramatic conclusion. Clearly this is a film for the diehard rock and roll fans. That’s not me, though I went along for the ride. Only 50 years ago, the UK was trying to prevent rock and roll from reaching the airwaves so Radio Pirates anchored offshore to disseminate the cultural revolution to the masses of hooked-to-their radios, music loving Britons.
Among several, noteworthy performances was Bill Nighy as the leader of the radio pirates. Nighy has been a staggering number of films with cool moments. I would say 2006’s Notes on a Scandal would be worth checking out if you missed it. Particularly, if you see all the infidelity flicks.
Pirate Radio reminds us how mass media played such an important role in culturally uniting us. According to this film, 50% of britons listened a handful of pirate stations in the late 60s. As evil as mass media was for limiting choice, discouraging pluralism, controling the news cycle and I’m sure numerous other poxes that have yielded an endless supply of unread dissertations, it did give us an authentic and shared experience that Generation Y and beyond will never know.
Radiohead is not the Beatles, and Last.fm is a far cry from Casey Kasem. Gone are the days of 3 channels and no remote control. With the rise of digital, community building has flourished and fragmented.
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