Mark Reads ‘Feed’: Chapter 4

In the fourth chapter of Feed, Buffy, Shaun, and Georgia celebrate their new assignment with a very public dinner. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Feed.

Four

You know, there is one thing about this that’s strange, and I can’t quite unsee it. I get that these are blog entries on Georgia’s site, and her no-nonsense narration truly fits her character. At the same time, these entries are clearly meant to exist years after she started, so it kind of bugs me that so much expository information about this universe is in these first few chapters. Georgia’s readers would already know most of this information, so I don’t understand why she would be telling them any of this stuff. They know how this society is split up. Isn’t this just redundant?

Regardless, that doesn’t mean I dislike what Grant is telling me here. It’s fascinating to learn about this world, and I can tell that she took great care to think of nearly every detail in a post-zombie apocalypse universe. She’s covered the media, the Internet, celebrities, paparazzi, food consumption, how ratings effect the Mason family, transportation, eating out, etc. I’m just so impressed at how much depth we’re seeing here.

The main focus in chapter four is how this new media world has created a very bizarre atmosphere for the Mason family. I definitely didn’t understand the emotional tension that Shaun and Georgia felt for their parents until this chapter, where Grant more explicitly describes what the Masons have done to survive. In a world where reporters of any sort can be truly famous, when ratings pay the bills, the Masons used their children to boost their own popularity. The morally grey area that Grant utilizes in this story is certainly fascinating because… well, the Masons had to survive. They had to provide for their adopted children, and as we’ve already learned, the death of Phillip motivated them to take extra care of their other children.

That doesn’t mean that Georgia and Shaun should feel better about the world they’ve been thrust into. It’s frustrating to them on two fronts: one, their parents have been using them for their own gain for years, and two, they also have to cater towards the paparazzi occasionally in order to pay their own bills. This media atmosphere is a necessary evil in this case. The Internet in particular is what saved people, but it’s Georgia’s worst enemy at the same time. It’s particularly hard for her because she just wants to report the news Her stoic personality fits the work that she does, and that’s one of the reasons she’s averse to performing for the cameras.

Shaun and Buffy, on the other hand, are professionals at it. I do love that this team of bloggers has three distinct individuals all working together. Shuan’s the dangerous one, Buffy is the perky, creative writer, and Georgia is the serious and credible reporter. For real, I can’t wait to see how they’re going to tackle a presidential election! Is Buffy going to write fanfic about Peter Ryman? COULD SHE? And what sort of danger is Shaun going to seek out when covering a campaign? Is Peter Ryman going to visit dangerous infection zones? Admittedly, I don’t know too much about Ryman, aside from the fact that he’s fairly young, and at least publicly committed to a more rigorous sense of transparency in terms of the media. Ah, I want to just make a bunch of ridiculous predictions. Fuck it, I’m going to:

• Ryman is actually a total asshole in private! Georgia will hate him, Shaun will think he’s edgy.
• They’ll get to visit a Level 3 area on the campaign!
• The current president will be an even worse human being than Ryman!
• I keep seeing “Peter Ryman” and thinking “Paul Ryan,” and I can’t even begin to tell you how terrifying that thought is. That would make this a true horror story. PAUL RYAN IS PRESIDENT AFTER THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. You already feel awful just thinking about this, don’t you?
• Okay, that wasn’t a prediction. But I guess that Buffy will stop being a Fictional after spending time on the campaign.
• In the end, Georgia’s ratings will be the highest.
• I think that’s because she’ll discover some super scary secret, and she’ll choose to risk her credentials in order to report the truth.
• I’ve never done predictions in the midst of a book like this! THIS IS VERY EXCITING.

Can we also talk about how I would fit in perfectly in this post-apocalypse world because I’m a vegan? FUCK YES. Finally, a world where I have a slight advantage. I mean, this is the only time this would happen.

All right, so onwards I go. Man, I wonder how Georgia’s parents are going to react to her reporting. I bet they’ll be super invasive because that’s exactly the kind of parents they seem like.

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