| After a year and a half without any TV at all, save a few hours here and there when I got to a building with a generator and cable, I have become more infatuated with TV, namely reality TV. As a child I always chose romping outside over sitting on the couch and "vegging out." Most of the programs I watched were fairly odd and most people probably wouldn't have a great recollection of them, but some of the more notable programs would be the Grimms Brothers Golden Classics on Nickelodeon, along with the "Lil Bits," "David the Gnome," and then as I got older I turned to "Ren and Stimpy," "Rugrats," "Doug," and every Saturday made time for Snick, which included "Are you Afraid of the Dark" and "All That." As a teen the only show I ever watched religiously was 90210 and that was it. I only recently got into TV again after college, becoming fascinated with "The Girls Next Door." There must be something about the glamor and glitz of it all that peaks my interest. Before I tried that Gotti show, but they were too rude for me to enjoy it. The last statement leads me into the whole point of this blog. Over the years I've seen TV grow cruder and ruder and more distasteful all for the sake of attracting viewers. But at what cost are we shelving good quality programs for trash. Adults are spending less time at home, leaving kids and teens to control the TV at their discretion. When I was a kid I remember the exact moment I found out that TV wasn't real. I think I was 7 or 8. My parents monitored my TV watching faithfully so I was saved from Freddy Kruger and sexually stimulating programs. As I got older they got more lenient. One time I was watching a black and white western with my Mom and somebody had gotten shot. The person didn't just pop back up and dance merrily as they would have in a cartoon so I questioned my Mom as to what the problem was. After a few more questions she realized that I thought the things that happened on television were real and corrected my misinterpretation. Nowadays I have to wonder what is going through kids heads that have no TV supervision and are seeing people have insatiable bouts of sex, practice drugs, shoot each other, and curse each other out routinely. Living in Baltimore among a population of youth with a serious decline in education leads me to come to the conclusion that not only is it a lack of parental guidance, but the things we watch on TV that are leading to a depression in awareness of what is real and what isn't. I hear people cursing in public as if they have no control of what comes out of their mouths, dressing like rappers and hip hop artists even though it is beyond their means and it drives me insane. Then I go home and see "I Love New York" cursing and demeaning people simply because it drives up ratings and I roll my eyes. I can feel my attitude become darker when I watch people act nasty toward others on shows such as MTV's "Next" or "Everybody loves Raymond." I smile when I see people interacting appreciatively towards each other. Whether you realize it or not TV is more than just entertaining; it's influencing--on everyone. Right now I am hooked on "John and Kate plus 8," about a couple who had twins and then sextuplets and strive to maintain a healthy family and lifestyle. It makes me smile when I watch it because it gives me hope that there are still families out there raising their kids to lead purposeful, polite, and rational lives. I'm also hooked on "Keeping up with the Kardashians," again probably because it is flashy and exciting, but they are also a fairly crude family. Then again I'm at an age where I can discern between the "real" in reality tv and the "fake" provided by the directors and writers that cloud a younger population's observation. Here's hoping you make positive choices in the television programs you watch. |
