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2003-07-26 The Blessing/Curse of Television I've been sort of AWOL lately because there just isn't anything much going on in my life at present that is worthy enough to be documented here. I finished the novel, yes, but I'm currently only typing it. Maybe one day I'll describe the main plot for anyone who's curious, but I'm still a little jittery about that idea. Afterall, I still have one hell of a lot to type. So, anyway, I never knew what to write about here; short anecdotes are no good because I now have my Weblog for that sort of thing. I decided to go to a site that has a long list of Journal Topics to choose from. The one I chose for today is... What would you do if there was no television? Why would this be good? bad? As a huge television junkie, I thought this might be a good topic for me. During the regular season, I'll usually watch a minimum of 2 hours of tv per weeknight, even when I was in university. I always figured that I'd need some sort of break from homework, but since I never had the time or the money to be going out on weeknights, tv would be the perfect candidate. The summer was always better for me because everything goes into repeats, but I'll often get hooked on "Buffy" reruns, airing every weeknight at 8pm. So, to get to the question - what would I do if there was no television? I'd probably go out more. I know how sad and pathetic it sounds; it's not so much that I stay at home because a certain show is on, but since I am home, I might as well. If there was no television, I wouldn't be living in a culture where many people spend their leisure time in their homes in front of the set. I'd also read a hell of a lot more. I used to read so much. Hours and hours without cease, polishing books off one by one. I had such a thirst for it, and it never seemed to be satisfied. I still have that thirst, and there's a part of me that imagines what it'd be like to just sit down with a book instead of watching a tv show or watching some movie I've already seen a gazillion times before, and it sounds so peaceful; but, I usually end up watching something. If there was no television, I'd get more work done on my novel. There are enough distractions out there that try to tempt me away from doing this more technical part of the writing business, but none of them can compete with the allure of television. I suppose what this is boiling down to is that I think that life would probably be better off without television. TV has its perks, there's no denying that. It provides information quickly and easily (news), it provides distraction from problems which, let's face it, is sometimes needed, it can, in some cases, even provide possible answers to said problems. But we lose so much as well. We lose our imagination because we grow so accustomed to images being shown to us, rather than us producing them. We lose our innocence earlier than was the case before, because we see many mature scenarios on the screen. We lose our connection with real-life people because we're not out socializing but are inside glued to the tube (the internet plays a role in this as well, but that's an entirely different entry). We lose touch with nature because we aren't going for as many walks as we once did. Along a similar line, many grow heavier because they aren't getting the exercise they would have gotten a century ago. All these things ring true in my mind. But, I will still stay in tonight to watch "The Recruit" (out of habit, yes, but also because I'm getting over some weird flu). When the new season starts up, I'll be turning on my tv every weeknight to resume watching the shows that left off last season, and probably adding a couple of new shows to my repertoire. I'll do these things instead of going out, because it's the habit of our culture and I'm wrapped up in it. Kind of sad, isn't it? |
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