Watching Television- a Negative View

My sister and I were discussing how our parents spend their time, and I mentioned that their television is on every evening. Each day they watch it for at least three hours. She shook her head and said, "Nothing good ever comes of it." I could paraphrase this bit of wisdom: What good ever comes of watching television? Or what have I gained from watching it?
There are two ways, I'll concede, that watching television can be beneficial. It does show movement and activity. When compared to the pictures in a book or magazine, the moving pictures of television have a distinct advantage. For example, they can better express a horse running or an athlete playing a sport. Secondly, it provides the viewer with a zombie-like mental recess. It can be an escape, or relief, from the demands and non-stop stress of ordinary living. Everyone, at some time, has been entertained by something on television.
It is my opinion, however, that this is a shallow form of entertainment. And television watching does not really enhance our lives, but ultimately degrades each person's time and their outlook on life. The elements at play here are represented perfectly by the axiom "I get out of it what I put into it." The television is in front of me. I'm capable of some effort so I find the button and turn it on. From this point on, the television will actually be doing more work; expending more energy than I do. And we should notice the word "watching" in "watching television." The word itself suggests passive behavior. But you may argue that watching a real sunset or a real theater performance does not require effort, and therefore they should be included as activities that a person will get nothing from. But the important difference here is that sunsets and live performances are not things on a glass screen that is part of a plastic and metal box. They are real things that I can see, hear and touch. I have no tactile connection with images on television.
The unrealism of television is apparent also when I press the "off" button. Presto-the images are gone. Can you do this with a sunset or live performance? No, clicking a button will not cause these things to disappear. It is true, however, that we may not make an effort to appreciate the happenings in our immediate environment. None the less, we are still more a part of the real world and more likely to gain something during these activities.
For further proof that watching television is not time well spent consider that many of us prefer to be engaged in another activity at the same time. Most shows and programs, and the medium itself, do not adequately engage or challenge the viewer. Because of this it is perhaps acceptable to have our televisions on as background while doing something-like ironing your clothes, polishing golf clubs of lying in a hospital bed. (The last is probably the best-ever use of television.) As for me, I can eat dinner, watch television and ignore someone all at the same time. In fact, in my household, television watching often stifles conversation or interaction between people.
If there were no newspapers, books or radio I would say "yes" to television. But other media are available for our entertainment and education. How do they compare? Images in newspapers, books and magazines can be expressive. As an example, I think back to New Years Eve of 1999. This was an important event and cities all over the world were celebrating by setting off fireworks. I recall, watching on television, a multi-colored fireworks display over some picturesque buildings in Moscow. But I also remember seeing the same image in the newspaper the next day. The newspaper photo was only slightly less memorable. And I was able to study and appreciate it more because it was a still image; it wasn't in front of me one moment and then gone the next. Those who favor watching television may ask me what it is like to look at an image of fireworks and not have the sounds that go with it. On the whole, I think the audio part of television is over-rated. In some cases, I already know what the accompanying sounds are, and in others I don't need the audio portion of the show. I have watched sporting events with the volume lowered and my enjoyment of them was not significantly reduced. (You may sometime want to try watching TV this way.) Keep in mind too, that often the music that is provided with a story or movie adds only artificial drama to the scene. For examples-the pounding bass notes that come with the chase scenes, and the sweet violin music that comes with the happy endings. (Give me a break from that, please!) As for radio-I've been entertained and educated by listening to it at least as much as by television.
If you want fantasy and low-grade entertainment, for a few hours a week, then watch television. Any more time spent at it than that and you've chosen an unrewarding pastime.

George K.

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Watching Television- A Possitive View


While there is abundance of truth to the sentiment that modern day television is a vast wilderness of fluff, unrealistic circumstance, and disregard for substance, TV does have its moments. The fact is that the medium does have its measure of importance in everyday life. For the detractors and all of their reasoning, there is an answer; an opposing view with an argument equally strong and reasonable.

First of all, television informs. The events and images of September 11, 2001, and the days immediately following, will be forever fixed in our minds. Viewers got to see first hand, actually as it happened, the undiluted horror of the day's events as they unfolded right before our disbelieving eyes. Ken Burns or Steven Spielberg, as brilliant as they are, can never hope to move us so intensely. Nor could Alfred Hitchcock ever have scared us so deeply. The same can be said of the Persian Gulf War, the assassinations of President Kennedy, and later his brother Robert and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Mans' walking on the moon, the O.J. Simpson auto chase, and so many other fascinating and breathtaking if not spectacular, events from around the globe and beyond. What can be more engaging and emotional than that which we have witnessed nearly as though we were right there at the time these events actually occurred?
CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and the rest of the nation's news networks bring us daily events the instant that they take place, virtually anywhere in the world, twenty-four hours every calendar day of the year. That is simply remarkable, and absolutely irreplaceable. Newspaper reports, radio accounts, and even the Internet, cannot match the live action as clearly, precisely, or honestly as television can. On television, we see the pictures live and virtually in person, so we can assess for ourselves exactly what it is that we are witnessing.
It is more though, than the news events that television brings right to our living rooms. We get to witness history all over again. Documentary films by the likes of the aforementioned Ken Burns, and others, on such varying topics such as the American Civil War, or "Jazz" not only bring the events and those of whom who helped shape those events to life for us, but we get to learn details concerning them that we never knew about, or imagined, and in such a stunning way that we never forget them.
We are allowed to visit far away places such as Australia, Tahiti, Russia, India, and China, the limitless realm of outer space and the dark depths of the ocean floor. We witness the big cats and animals of all sizes, shapes and species, some we never new existed, in their own damn living rooms, there for all to see as they live their lives their way. Ugh-we even get to watch insects, and other such varmints, as they struggle for survival and do so in an amazing array of techniques and defenses.
Through this so called boob-tube, we are transformed to a world of different places and settings that most of us can only dream about. Places and things that many-no, most of us-will never get the chance to see in person. From the Milky Way to Jupiter's rings and the surface of the moon to the Galapagos Islands and the beaches and every mountain range of the world. We get to see different people of the world, their home lands and even their homes, their way of life, their heritage and beliefs. We can learn who they are and what they are, their culture and their dreams. Far away places some of us never new existed. Mountain retreats and tropical paradises that are a channel flick away. And who wouldn't want the chance to go wild with Brooke Burke?
And another thing. Television does provide us with something that each and every one of us needs to varying degrees in our lives. It entertains!
Sure, most of the sitcoms and dramas are mindless and predictable works of junk that take up time between the same formulas of commercial advertising vying for our hard earned dollar. Forget about the way television seems to underestimate our senses, our intellect, and even our principles. If nothing else, television proves to us on a daily basis just how dumb the rest of us are by the shows we call hits. If you can't laugh at that, you have no sense of humor at all.
I don't know about any of you, but if I don't get to escape from life's "every day's" every so often, my attitude to those around me changes. I get mean and impatient, frustrated and short fused, and bored and disinterested.
Television should not be mistaken as a replacement for a good book, a trip to a museum, or a walk in the park. It is not as grand as a day at the beach, having a catch with your kids, or spending some quality time with family and friends. I am not calling television a substitute for faith; it's just quicker and easier. All that I am saying is that sometimes we all simply need to relax, ease out troubled heads, and let something simple in.
Our collective tastes are as different and diversified as our personalities. Television has something for everyone. Is Sunday afternoon football you escape? Maybe it's reruns of the Three Stooges, Cheers, or the Honeymooners? I can't blame you. Oh-you're into Discovery or the History Channel-far out. Glutton for punishment? Tune in to The Capital Gang and they'll show you just how f''d our world really is, and from more perspectives and perceptions than your old Psych 101 text book. Sports, comedy, drama, ugh, even reality type shows-there is something for everybody and who is to say what your or my tastes should or shouldn't be. Whatever it takes to cope with our existence, to make us smile or allow us to relax, so be it. Television has it.


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