Television Trial Continues
Like I mentioned before in my previous posts, I am attempting to refrain from any TV watching, except for maybe one to two half-hour shows a week, but now that I realize how pointless the whole activity is, even during shows I do enjoy, I can finally put to rest the fact I do not need to watch this box anymore. Even the shows I like, the shows I love, are not half as good as I thought they were. Even if I do laugh a couple of times, it is not half as funny as some of the ideas I can come up with myself. I am not saying this to brag, but just to show how bored I’ve become with the whole television paradigm. At this point, I would rather read a script from a television show than actually watch it. That may seem odd, but before all this, I did read movie scripts on a semi-regular basis, and got the same, if not better understanding of characters and how they related to one another.
TV news is another thing that just cracks me up. They get hooked on these seemingly meaningless stories for days, weeks, months, and even years. I will never forget the Natalie Holloway case. It is sad she disappeared, but so do millions of other children and adults each year. I could not help but think the only reason they focused almost exclusively on her was that she was attractive and her parents had money. Then, recently, the Anna Nicole Smith thing where I guess she died or something and there was a baby and they didn’t know who the father was. I could not help but think that if I was subjected to another dose of this sort of “news,” that I would have to smash the television set myself. It’s pretty obvious that people die, sometimes unexpectedly, and if they have contributed something meaningful to society, and when I say meaningful, I am not talking about the creator of Desperate Housewives or the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. I am talking about people who revolutionize the world. Someone like Albert Einstein or Martin Luther King, Jr.
I wish the television was used for good, but it is used for bad much more often. It has a wonderful potential to inform, but most of the programming insults my intelligence and the intelligences of most people watching it. Putting us in a state of fear constantly, painting the world as a dangerous place with mostly drug dealers, thieves, murderers, and rapists. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been robbed, bought drugs, seen a murder, or been raped, so why do 90% of news stories revolve around things like that? Reportedly, murder is the least common crime and it is reported on the most. It is this sort of sensationalism that drives our country down. Even the newspapers have that “catchy headline,” like School Shooting in Arkansas. I don’t know why we are all obsessed with the bad, the evil. Maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves, about our situation. All I know is those stories would not be on the front page or dominate the news if it did not build an audience.
I believe we need to be informed about what is going on in the world, but learning about celebrities dying or a school shooting is something that usually does not affect us personally. If we keep concentrating on all these negative stories, all these terrible deeds that the media cannot help but report on, then we will create these things in our lives. What we have to do is focus on the good, and set the intention to bring more good into the world. Does it make sense to spend our lives listening to stories about people we do not know committing acts we do not need to know about? And if there is some colossal news story, something I really need to know, I am sure someone will tell me about it. If they do not, well, I’ll know soon enough.
One thing I am noticing is I now have a lot more time to concnetrate on my hobbies and this blog, to some extent. Reading is another hobby I am enjoying much more. There is so much more you can do with your life than be familiar with pop culture references and recite the opening theme song to Family Guy. So, please, turn of your television and plug into life. I need to go mow my lawn now. Good day.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
I had to write an essay arguing for or against having a mandatory current events class for high school students. I cited the Anna Nicole Smith story just like you did. I suppose I had a kind of cynical attitude towards the matter, with the how can we call this news attitude. #1 story on the news today: some radio show host calls some basketball players “nappy haired hoes.” Sure, not the nicest of things to say, but who really cares? I don’t listen to his show, I don’t watch women’s basketball, it has no effect on me (and probably the general population), but still people are walking around calling for this guy to be fired, etc.
I agree wholeheartedly with your “contributed something to the world” statement, but, is it possible, that in today’s society Anna Nicole Smith has contributed as much to the world as someone like Einstein? I mean ask a random person on the street (hopefully not a physicist) what Smith’s biggest thing was (marrying the 80-some year old oil tycoon) or Einstein (theory of relativity, etc) and see which one they can identify. Entertainment is starting to become more important than knowledge. Instead of reading a book, people watch dumbed down versions of it.
I guess these pessimist/elitist thoughts aren’t very good to have. Thanks for letting me rant though.
April 13th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I agree that TV is a waste of time. There is a tiny bit of content, sandwiched between large doses of advertising propaganda (when the volume increases noticeably… so annoying!). Some supposedly comedy shows even insult our intelligence by adding a ‘laugh track’. I guess they think we are just too dumb to know when (or if) we should laugh. I have heard a few people compare TV to a drug, because it’s so easy to get hooked into this meaningless habit. I think it is simply a vehicle which commercial sponsors use to get us to watch their ads until we are brainwashed. Even the program itself is like an infomercial showing a fancy lifestyle which we are supposed to imitate. Good for you, for breaking free.
I am also beginning to think that most magazines are similar to TV. Just another vehicle to get glossy ads into our hands, to make us want stuff which we don’t need… bigger, better, newer and more costly. Go and spend . Because ‘We’re worth it’! A little bit of fluffy content, and a lot of hype.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Rather than judging what you think is “good or bad,” why not consider what is working or not and for whom as well as why? National Geo and Discovery offer educational programs seem to work in that they raise awareness about environmental and scientific issues. Perhaps an individual’s ability to think critically (or not) is what detemines the usefulness of media in general, from tv to internet, radio and other avenues. How have you evolved to think critically or not?