Doc没有电视,但他可以预测这种事情。他只是不需要一个。当他连续听到两个以上的人以同样的方式说同样的奇怪短语时,他总是可以告诉电视上的内容。他知道他们刚刚在电视上看到了它。几周后,每个人都会把这些单词写在胸前。
(Doc didn't have a television but he could predict that sort of thing. He just didn't need one. He could always tell what was on TV when he heard more than two people in a row say the same strange phrase in the same way. He knew that they had just seen it on television. A few weeks later everyone would have those words written on their chests.)
在莎拉·舒尔曼(Sarah Schulman)的著作《同理心》中,角色Doc说明了对文化趋势和社会影响的独特理解,而不依赖电视。他具有敏锐的能力,可以根据人们的对话和重复的短语来辨别人们正在观看的内容,这表明对社会行为有深刻的认识。这种洞察力强调了媒体如何塑造语言和社区动态,使他能够预测趋势而无需直接接触它们。
Doc的观察结果揭示了电视的普遍影响及其渗透日常演讲的能力的评论。人们提到后来在胸部上展示这些短语的人们象征着这些媒体信息在公众意识之内的深深地。舒尔曼强调了媒体消费与集体身份之间的联系,展示了个人通常如何被相同的文化参考塑造,而不论其个人媒体习惯如何。