Books: Feed Your Head
Encyclopedia
Books: Feed Your Head was an award winning campaign to promote reading MTV
aired in 1991.
It consisted of a series of three 60 second PSA
's in which contemporary actors read out snippets of literary works in order to entice the MTV audience into reading books. They were produced by Propaganda Films
in conjunction with MTV.
The series was created and directed by Neil Burger
and starred Sherilyn Fenn
, Aidan Quinn
and Timothy Hutton
. Burger has stated they reflect his 'edgy' sensibility. According to Abby Terkuhle, MTV's 'vice president, creative', MTV were concerned that people are not reading as much as they should and could be. MTV therefor decided to cultivate interest in literacy by bringing to life some famous literary works. Terkuhle also states that it fits in with MTV's overall pro-social direction. "We've had public service campaigns on the environment
, racism
, literacy
and registering to vote." Burger adds that the spots do not address illiteracy but aliteracy: "They're aimed at people who know how to read [but] who don't because they're too busy or they think that reading is boring. The idea behind the spots is that reading is as cool or as entertaining or as sexy or as fun or as weird or scary or whatever as their favorite TV show or favorite rock band."
) appeared in the most playful and risqué of the three scenarios, reading from Delta of Venus
Anaïs Nin
's collection of erotica
. A nervous Fenn here reads a naughty story to her older husband(?) in an effort to distract him, while her young lover slips out the bedroom window.
Aidan Quinn (Desperately Seeking Susan
) recites the opening passages from Franz Kafka
's The Metamorphosis
as the camera follows him down a claustrophobic corridor. Behind a closed door, the stories protagonist; Gregor, now a man-size cockroach, helplessly flails his spindly collection of legs.
Timothy Hutton (The Falcon and the Snowman
) stars in the black-and-white spot for "Chablis"; a Donald Barthelme
short story about an alcoholic. While flipping burgers for what seems to be a family BBQ he tells the tale of his loveless marriage and young child that will only acknowledge her mama.
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
aired in 1991.
It consisted of a series of three 60 second PSA
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
's in which contemporary actors read out snippets of literary works in order to entice the MTV audience into reading books. They were produced by Propaganda Films
Propaganda Films
Propaganda Films was a prolific and successful music video and film production company founded in 1983 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Greg Gold and Dominic Sena...
in conjunction with MTV.
The series was created and directed by Neil Burger
Neil Burger
Neil Burger is an American film director who has filmed the pseudo-documentary, Interview with the Assassin , the period drama, The Illusionist, and the 2011 thriller Limitless.-Life and career:...
and starred Sherilyn Fenn
Sherilyn Fenn
Sherilyn Fenn is an American actress and filmmaker. She came to international attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks...
, Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
and Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
. Burger has stated they reflect his 'edgy' sensibility. According to Abby Terkuhle, MTV's 'vice president, creative', MTV were concerned that people are not reading as much as they should and could be. MTV therefor decided to cultivate interest in literacy by bringing to life some famous literary works. Terkuhle also states that it fits in with MTV's overall pro-social direction. "We've had public service campaigns on the environment
Environmental quality
Environmental quality is a set of properties and characteristics of the environment, either generalized or local, as they impinge on human beings and other organisms...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
and registering to vote." Burger adds that the spots do not address illiteracy but aliteracy: "They're aimed at people who know how to read [but] who don't because they're too busy or they think that reading is boring. The idea behind the spots is that reading is as cool or as entertaining or as sexy or as fun or as weird or scary or whatever as their favorite TV show or favorite rock band."
The promotional spots
Sherilyn Fenn (Twin PeaksTwin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
) appeared in the most playful and risqué of the three scenarios, reading from Delta of Venus
Delta of Venus
Delta of Venus is a book of short stories by Anaïs Nin. Though the stories were largely written in the 1940s while Nin was writing erotica for a private collector, the book was first published posthumously in 1978. In 1995 a film version of the book was directed by Zalman King. There are multiple...
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
's collection of erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
. A nervous Fenn here reads a naughty story to her older husband(?) in an effort to distract him, while her young lover slips out the bedroom window.
Aidan Quinn (Desperately Seeking Susan
Desperately Seeking Susan
Desperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.-Plot:...
) recites the opening passages from Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
's The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the western world...
as the camera follows him down a claustrophobic corridor. Behind a closed door, the stories protagonist; Gregor, now a man-size cockroach, helplessly flails his spindly collection of legs.
Timothy Hutton (The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...
) stars in the black-and-white spot for "Chablis"; a Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
short story about an alcoholic. While flipping burgers for what seems to be a family BBQ he tells the tale of his loveless marriage and young child that will only acknowledge her mama.