Mural, done. Woot! I Hate TV
“I don’t watch TV” was my mantra for the last 10 years. I really didn’t. I found no interest in it nor did I see any benefit to it other than wasting my youth. But lately it has been something that I have been partaking in. The more I watch it the more I realize how much of a device for complacency and commercialism it is.
When I talk to people about the purpose of television, I frequently get the response that it’s “entertainment”. It’s almost to the point that I’m beginning not to notice that my mental environment is being polluted by plugs, advertisements, and product placements. This is where the complacency and commercialism come in. The next time you’re being advertised to, try to maintain a consciousness of it. I’m not sure if it has more or less of an effect if you’re conscious of it but for some reason I feel comfort in the thought that advertisers are not sneaking into my subconscious (they likely are anyways, damn you corporate branding).
Consider what you could be doing with the 21.4 hours, on average that Canadians spend watching T.V on a weekly basis1 . The answer is… a lot. I’ve been spending about 15 hours a week watching television over the last 2 months. I notice a significant decline in my previous level of productivity. I no longer accomplish the same amount of learning or writing or working or whatever it is I planned to do that night because I’m distracted by moving pictures and sound. But what’s worse is that the desire to learn or write or work or whatever is being slowly drained. I feel as if I’m losing the ambition that I once had – and it’s pervasive.
A thought that I had when I was younger still pervades my opinion to this day. I feel that the amount of space you have in your brain to store information is finite – immeasurable and extremely large, surely, but finite. Television carries with it a considerable amount of information. Not only does it have an exuberance of sound and visual information, it also carries with it social information. Consider your favorite actor on television, I could guess that you know more factoids about their lives in the show then you do of some of your own family members, and likely with more certainty. You learn their personality, mannerisms, nuances, and colloquialisms. You know them, get it?
In fact, that was the argument behind my thought. Television, as I saw it, was a medium for replacing social interaction to some degree as well as being an evil machine for complacency and commercialism… but now I’m being fanatical.
Why do I notice it so acutely? Because it’s just barely entertaining yet somehow I still want to watch. Being absent from the whole “TV is pop culture” thing for the last 10 years has provided me with the ability to immediately identify shows that jump the shark2. Take reality television for example, have you ever noticed how much dialogue there is? Is all that dialogue even somewhat close to entertaining? I’ve come to a conclusion here. It’s not entertaining – it’s engaging. When the dialogue comes through you don’t even care about what they said, the act of waiting for what they were going to say was what kept you hooked. Personally, I think the current set of charlatan reality television show hosts and hostesses use the same tactics to excite people as did those who sold sugared water in more, righteously, ignorant times. I’m not arguing semantics; it just seems that the situations that occur on shows like Survivor, The Mole, ad infinitum, are scripted to some degree. Perhaps, I shouldn’t say they are scripted but I would certainly say that there is a propensity for creative “guidance”. I mean, you don’t believe Jerry Springer is 100% real so why would you believe that Survivor is? In all things there is a certain amount of scripting. Be it dramatic filters, or what I would like to refer to as creative “guidance”. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but there are certain things that push ratings up and certain things that push ratings down.
Anyways, it’s a disorganized mass of thought but those are some of the reasons that I hate TV. So… there!
1 StatsCan
TV rocks, don't be a hater! Also many of your friends would be out of jobs if it weren't for all those wonderful ads being placed in your favourite programming. My recommended viewing is Damages…on Showcase at 10pm on Mondays. Great show!*This comment has been brought to you by 'Fancy Pants by vmo'.
I Love TVTelevision like any other medium can be utilized in many ways, whether it’s for entertainment or information. Watching back-to-back episodes of Jerry Springer won’t do anyone any good – J-e-r-r-y! J-e-r-r-y! However watching the BBC, Discovery or History for 15 hours per week can only fill that finite brain with amazing visual stimulus that reading just can’t compete with, after all we are visual people.
"In fact, that was the argument behind my thought. Television, as I saw it, was a medium for replacing social interaction to some degree as well as being an evil machine for complacency and commercialism… but now I’m being fanatical."Just like the Internet.
So, if we take away television from a heavy viewer, will they become the social butterfly like our good friend BEB?
No, they will replace the time by writing long-winded notes on Facebook on the virtues of not watching tv….hey, is Facebook paying BEB?
* oops, forgot to mention that my previous comment was brought to you by MAC cosmetics. Check out their new line with packaging by Fafi!
What the fuck is the point of this?Reading this is 30 seconds I'll never get back. It's 30 seconds I could have been watching a commercial!!!
Jerry Springer isn't 100% real?! WTF Bertelsen?! Thanks for fuckin' up my Friday!
Dude, only you would decide to watch TV for the first time in 10 years during a writer's strike. It's an unfair judgment. I'm with you on the reality stuff or rather "scripted reality" but there are and have been some damn good, entertaining shows out there – Dexter, Arrested Development, Sopranos etc.As for the commercialism of it all, if you think your $80 cable bill cover the $1 Million bucks per episode each actor on Friends received your crazy. All this media – TV, Web, Newspapers, Magazines are only available to you because the advertisers are funding it – so show a little appreciation will ya!So to re-cap:1) Go rent some seasons of good shows and catch up, and start watching them when they’re back in May2) Next time you see your favorite media buyer or planner, apologize, beg forgiveness and buy them a drink ;)VIAGRA – Just do her.
There are some great moments in TV worth watching, even with all those commercials…http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw
you go girl, fight the man
I follow one religion – the religion of Oprah. Maybe Obama too and that Dr. Phil dude.
kareem makes a very good point. as for this bit? i haven't read it yet. i side with ash on his remark. :Pand one more thing, i just finished doing a tv interview…are you gonna call my research findings on the provincial economies garbage? (p.s. – i used statscan data in my report too!) hehe
As bad as tv is it is still the most common way for people to keep in touch with the world. There is a lot of crap on tv but let's not forget that tv can also teach us things. There is actually some good stuff like the History channel, discovery channel etc. I like stuff like that. Granted a lot of tv is crap but the majority of the world still watches tv and advertisers know that so until everyone stops watching tv it will never end and billions of dollars a year will continue to be made off of Canadians.
Brandon, I would like to see you take this critical thinking one step further. Example, who benefits from TV?, and what might the Agenda behind this be.
I agree, TV is a tool for promoting complacency and commercialism, but it doesn’t have to be.
I liked your note and I agree with you. I hate it that I'm in an industry that fuels the nonsense that is TV. Really hate it. You should have included data that shows people who watch less TV (and read more newspapers/ magazines) are typically people who are more educated. This reinforces your point about the increased productivity through the elimination of TV.As to how many hours I spend EXCLUSIVELY watching TV a week, probably 0. I do enjoy watching TV while cooking, studying, getting ready in the morning, etc. It's a medium that doesn't require your full attention, unlike newspaper or magazine, so it's a little more accomadating to our lives.
Just like anything else out there any over indulgence is bound to harm you in way one or another. Whether it be food, drugs, or hell even sun tanning eventually something is gonna catch up to you. Everything in moderation. TV is just another example of that. Im sure your aware of that. I try to mix it up and avoid the box but sometimes its just there. Hell I wont miss a raptor game and fuck… project runway mondays at 10 pm.. i dont want to be disturbed. Other times ill just tune out the tv and play some music while reading or I'll just masterbate. Try masterbating more. Just dont over indulge!
Rock on BEBI broke ties for the better and ditched my TV last year.Now I have a media dealer/pirate, which I feel is much more civilized.And I still watch maybe 1.5 hours per week, or less…all commercial-free, on sweet sweet pauseable DVDs.
I hate TV too. And I watch it and there are shows I enjoy. So what can I say? If you're complaining about your lack of productivity, that's not televisions' fault. You have a brain – your motor functions are intact – you're capable of making the choice. You choose to watch. Yes, there is a lot of crap out there – and there are also a lot of programs that will expand your horizons and spark your imagination. What matters is how you choose to interact with it – You hate it? Tune it out. But you're going on about the worst bits of a medium that otherwise starts conversations, brings people together and socializes us. You get together with friends and watch TV.. do you get together with friends to sit infront of a computer? Well.. maybe you do – but most people would probably do it alone..
I agree that tv can be a total waste of time. Life would be complete without the waste of time that is Family Guy (I say this knowing that I'm stepping on toes), however I also believe that tv can act as an information medium. Like books, newspapers, journal articles, etc., it can provide differing viewpoints on the same issue and provide the viewer with an array of insights in a time span much shorter and in a manner much less attention demanding than reading. The problem I think with tv is that the audience doesn't have control. Those we see on tv (and here I don't mean crap) too often are from the same societal niche, same education, similar pool of experiences which fails to represent the span of opinions that exist. Literature however also fails in this department because, when you think about it, who is it that gets published, the same pool of people. So while tv may present issues and lit might expand on these, we must as the audience be critical and look at things ourselves.
Thanks for, if nothing else, prompting me to seek out this gem:http://youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtEBut seriously, I think your 10 year abstinence has hindered your television watching skills. In one breath you claim to be some kind of super conscious television scrutinizer, in the next you admit to watching survivor and the mole. Those are among the worst examples of shows in terms of intellectual substance. Don't watch reality/pseudo reality TV, it's all terrible (Kenny vs Spenny is a notable exception).You can't appreciate television and at the same time approach it the way you approach a statistics project, getting a broad range sample is not wise, you need to find a good show.
I'm not done…Some of the best writing in fiction is being manifest in TV series these days, and if you think writing for the tube is somehow easier than writing a book, allow me to draw your attention to the new series 'jPod', which is an adaptation of a novel by acclaimed writer Douglas Coupland. He is also executive producer of the show, and let me tell you, it's a piece of crap. The dialogue is cheese and the plot jumps whales, not sharks.In terms of fiction series, there are many excellent shows: Dexter and BSG provide genre entertainment with substance. Lost has a sophisticated ongoing story arc that rivals some of the best literature out there. While 24 isn't exactly intellectual, the production and execution of a season in real time is the work of some very talented people.And if you are still want to learn as you watch, there are some good historical dramas out there too like Rome and the Tudors.Pirate them and you've gotten rid of commercials. Now quit whining.
BEB..this is the saddest bunch of pseudo-intellectual garbage i've ever read. TV adds tremendous value to our lives, and your silly reality show examples only highlight the point that your tv show selection has prejudiced your opinion of a true art form. try watching something good like Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, The Tudors, THE NEWS, or John Stewart (where you can hear intelligent people debate and rant). TV also gives us access to sporting events from other countries…could you watch the world cup in a book?
I have come to a conclusion here also. Reality TV is not even engaging. I sincerely don't understand the appeal. How anyone gets hooked on reality TV is beyond me. I'm beginning to believe it's less of a health hazard to be hooked on crack.I'm inclined to agree with what David has said here, except that I haven't seen any of those shows. The hours between my outrageously busy schedule allows me to watch only two things – something that pollutes my mind and the other which perverts it. Porn and CNN. Porn being the polluter and CNN being the perverter…Another conclusion, which I sincerely believe, is that all television is just filler for the advertisements. The commercials are really the principal moving pictures here. Everything else if fodder.Continuation….
…Continuation.Look, if you want to watch intellectually engaging quality programming, you gotta pay for it. HBO doesn’t have “Real Time with Bill Maher” for nothing. That’s why he isn't filling in for advertisements.Yes, this is an endorsement.Now, my only question here is why wasn't I tagged in this note…?
It doesn't seem to me like you actually hate TV, from what I've read. You hate commericialism. You hate pop culture and the fanfare surrounding it. You hate how people consume what they're watching. And you hate how you may just be secretly addicted to reality TV. ;) jk! But you don't hate TV itself.Would you object to watching a show on, say, the Discovery Channel? Or somebody taping a smart show but cut all the commercials?I'm curious, because I don't see your distinction between watching TV and walking down the street. Or surfing the internet. Or watching movies. Or reading magazines. We're exposed to these elements all the time without turning on the TV. There is a way to watch TV responsibly!
Alright, enough about TV. How much porn do you own…?
I read the entire note, and while I am a huge fan of television, I don't know that I would completely discard the note, it has some valid points I guess. BUT, I completely disagree with the overall message of the note (i.e. TV = Bad). Sure, in many ways it has become a major vehicle for corporate brainwashing and commercialism, but virtually every show on TV has merit, whether it be simply entertainment or educational. With the amount of research that goes into shows like CSI, its impossible not to pick up something. Shows like Lost, with their super complicated plots, help with deductive reasoning skills… etc. You'd be amazed at the useful stuff you've learned from the shows you watch and you don't even know about it! Plus, entertainment is entertainment, its really necessary. Too much TV, as with all things, is bad; but in moderation it's all good. p.s. "Too Much" differs from person to person…
As bad as tv is it is still the most common way for people to keep in touch with the world.
There is a lot of crap on tv but let’s not forget that tv can also teach us things. There is actually some good stuff like the History channel, discovery channel etc. I like stuff like that.
Granted a lot of tv is crap but the majority of the world still watches tv and advertisers know that so until everyone stops watching tv it will never end and billions of dollars a year will continue to be made off of Canadians.
I liked your note and I agree with you. I hate it that I’m in an industry that fuels the nonsense that is TV. Really hate it. You should have included data that shows people who watch less TV (and read more newspapers/ magazines) are typically people who are more educated. This reinforces your point about the increased productivity through the elimination of TV.
As to how many hours I spend EXCLUSIVELY watching TV a week, probably 0. I do enjoy watching TV while cooking, studying, getting ready in the morning, etc. It’s a medium that doesn’t require your full attention, unlike newspaper or magazine, so it’s a little more accomadating to our lives.
Just like anything else out there any over indulgence is bound to harm you in way one or another. Whether it be food, drugs, or hell even sun tanning eventually something is gonna catch up to you. Everything in moderation. TV is just another example of that. Im sure your aware of that.
I try to mix it up and avoid the box but sometimes its just there. Hell I wont miss a raptor game and fuck… project runway mondays at 10 pm.. i dont want to be disturbed. Other times ill just tune out the tv and play some music while reading or I’ll just masterbate.
Try masterbating more. Just dont over indulge!
hey thr :) dunno frm whr i gt ur link.. nice space u hv here..
i enjoy TV!!! jus love the ads!!!