Practical Exercise: Map the TV

Answers

1. Crime maps to E8, but with a competing E5 character. Crime videos often speak of “dark” subjects (E8), balanced with suspense, drama, and action (E5).

2. Romantic Drama maps best to E4, especially when the focus is on the relationships between characters and the intertwining of their lives. However, if the video leans into sensational and dramatic narratives, we could map it to E5 too.

3. Action cleanly maps to E5. Our old drive to hunt has never really died.

4. Livestreams are difficult to map — I chose them on purpose. I would map livestreams to E1. It is very rare to map things to E1, as it symbolises the “pure” or “exemplary” genre. I think livestreams without any narrative or special direction are as close to “pure audiovisual entertainment” as we can get. Obviously, very few livestreams are just videos without a narrative or subject — they often want to show something specific.

5. I would map news to E3 primarily. Their main purpose is to present a variety of topics in a fast way, with the main goal of informing. It is interesting how many news outlets claim to be neutral (E7) and representative of the ‘truth’ (E1) — E3 is the most subjective Elemental. Thinking deeper, purely objective news reporting would actually resemble ‘a random’ E1 livestream. In reality, news outlets do pick topics and in that choice alone, they are biased. More than the choice of topics, there is the wording, the shown segments, and even the face of the news anchor that deepen the subjective nature of news.

6. Horror is one of the easiest to map: E8. Interesting to note is the difference between crime and horror. I think the crime genre relies more on other Elementals, notably E5, and perhaps also some E4. Horror is mostly focused on inducing a maximum of Ice, but it also has quite a bit of E5. I think this is why sometimes the horror/crime genres overlap and get mislabeled.

7. Talkshows are E7. If the news is one person reporting facts (E3), then, on a higher Level in the Catalyst cycle, we find E7. Opinions are shared and balanced, and usually the host manages to keep the peace between opposing views.

8. A science documentary can lean multiple ways depending on the subject, the narrative, and the intended goal. If the goal is to teach you a skill or provide the connections between knowledge patterns, it would map best to E6. Yet, often these documentaries reach for more — most want to actually shift your frame of perception. Then we arrive at E11.

9. The makeup tutorial is a fuzzy one that can map to very different Elementals depending on its exact content and the Facet under which we approach it. A tutorial in itself maps well to E6, especially if it involves extensive explanations of techniques. If the tutorial only shows ‘how’, but not ‘why’, it could even fit E2. But if it leans in the other direction of masterclass, where not just one skill is taught but the entire system behind it, then the tutorial becomes E10. The makeup subject itself is a bit of a decoy that can make the mapping more difficult — I would map that Facet under E3, because the tutorial discusses aesthetics. My final mapping of a common makeup tutorial on TikTok would be the dual E2 & E3 mapping.

10. I would map this one onto E9. Period dramas aim to combine many aspects of entertainment within a more or less historical setting. They often teach about history and old cultural norms. They are a dramatised E5 version of the E1 livestream, often with a scope larger than the E5 itself. Thus, we end up at E9 by following the different Radiant Levels.

11. Porn is a highly effective combination of E3 because of the beauty and aesthetics, E5 because of the intended genital stimulation, and E8 because we made porn and sex taboo. Just like in the music Map I made earlier, we clearly see how E3, E5, and E8 are favoured when it comes to entertainment.

12. Social Documentaries are another difficult mapping. If the documentary is mainly explanatory, we come close to E6 in function. If the documentary shows multiple human opinions, we get closer to the E7 talkshow function. But sometimes, the documentaries are clearly meant to change the mental framework, which would lead them to be E11. Overall, I think a ‘perfect’ social documentary should aim for the Loose Catalyst triad: E3 + E7 + E11.

13. Music Videos I would map to E12. Obviously, the specific content of the video matters. Yet, in general, these videos want to connect two different media: the video and the music must be synchronous and complementary. Ideally, both transcend into each other, where the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. This ‘alchemical phase change’ is the art behind making a good music video.

14. Ads are E2, often with a hint of E9 if they feature a bad product that needs a lot of excessively happy smiles. At its basis, an ad supports and describes a physical product, which makes it E2. It has a practical value. In reality, many advertisers will seek to artificially inflate the value of their product as “the best thing ever that you never knew you always needed”. To support this E9 inflation, E8 is often employed: advertisers study human behaviour for hidden psychological manipulation. “For you” sounds nice until you realise it means “for them”.

15. Science Fiction is mainly E5 within an E11 world. Most science fiction movies are actually just thrillers or action movies, but the setting in an alternate framework will often naturally lead to E11 insights. Good sci-fi will dig into E11. In bad sci-fi movies, E11 becomes an aesthetic afterthought — think “telenovela in space”.

Voilà! That was it! I hope you enjoyed this mapping and learnt something along the way!