"Lis' if you don't watch violence you'll never get desensitized to it"
Yet another one of the famous quotes from the Simpsons. Nowadays I've found myself watching less television than I used to. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's not because of habits. It's mainly because of tv itself. I'm not sure exactly when I noticed it but the media lately has been losing my respect. There are currently very few shows on tv (out of literally 100s now probably) that I consider worth merit - that I watch anyways.
I think my disgust with television programming first started with the introduction of Reality TV. No. It didn't start with Survivor...before that...It was Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Ya. That show with Regis Philbin sitting with people trying to answer questions worth a lot of money and taking a long time to do it. I think it was the first show I actually started yelling at the TV for. I think it was the music. So dramatic. The show was an instant hit now it has made its way to regular tv.
Later came Survivor. The first "real" reality show. Plunking 16 people on a desert island somewhere in the South China Sea, where they would have to compete for food, water, and other comforts on the show. This was also a hit, with its own theme song and stuff. But there was something else that got viewers interested: drama. Survivor was, IMO, the first show to show "real" people acting in an environment they were not used to and interacting with others. The premise was simple: People will want to see other people competing vigourously to gain the prize. And they will tune in to see how far they will go. The producers of Survivor had found a gem. The show was good...the first time. The second time it was the same thing different people. (SSDD). It got redundant so I figured the networks would take a break and let it go. Then BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of a sudden other networks came up with their own reality shows: Fear Factor, Amazing Race, Murder in Small Town X, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Meet the Parents etc. Before I knew it there were more reality shows than I could keep track of. Each one doing something outrageous that viewers would tune in to watch and find out if they would actually do it.
But that wasn't what really got me thinking. This world seems to run on money and will pretty much do anything to get it. At least that's in the media. In September of 2001, the media world was having a hay day because two planes had hit the twin towers in New York, and one had hit the Pentagon (a fourth had gone down in a non-critical area). Yes, this was a tragedy, but that's not what I'm here to dispute. Flipping through the channels, I counted 27 of maybe 38 channels covering the news. CNN? They were repeating footage of the planes hitting the buildings. Let's see it again and again. For those who were just tuning in.
Do you remember when there was report of a sniper somewhere in the United States? Later it was found that the snipers were a man and an underaged male. I was watching CNN's coverage of a news conference in which the sheriff was talking. Right after he said that the boy would not be named because he was underage CNN flashed a photograph of the boy with his full name and everything. That was pretty much when I'd lost all respect for CNN. I mean yes, the kid was involved in the crime but for crying out loud the sheriff with held his name for a reason.
Conclusion: The media will stop at nothing-short of softcore porn (and apparently that's also present in some shows), ratings. If the viewers want to see it, they will provide it. So do we blame the people for tuning in or the media for providing it in overwhelming capacity. The media seem to be milking absolutely everything until it has lost its appeal.
Christmas of 2004 was met with tragedy an earthquake occurred in Southeast Asia. Originating in the water, it travelled outwards, creating an enormous tsunami that devastated countries along the southeast coastline of Asia. It was just off one of the coasts of Thailand (hardest hit was Banda Aceh) and the wave traveled as far as Madagascar. Bamboos also washed up in California. I watched as each news network tried to update its viewers with the latest figures on how many casualties there were. At last count I think it was 120,000 people (I could be wrong). Aid came from many places all over the world and the survivors were provided with basic aid...while I slept in a bed and ate a healthy meal afterwards. About two weeks ago Asia saw another earthquake. This time the death toll was at least 670 people. The tragedy this time was not only that that many people died, but that I was not as interested. I didn't even blink. Someone once said that "One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic".
Have I become so desensitized to the world that nothing shocks me anymore (short of a million people dying)? Am I that insensitive? It seems the only things that will truly shock an appall me are things happening here in my small town with my personal life. Will I blink next time i watch someone on tv killed (or pretend to be killed)?
I dunno.
Out.
I think my disgust with television programming first started with the introduction of Reality TV. No. It didn't start with Survivor...before that...It was Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Ya. That show with Regis Philbin sitting with people trying to answer questions worth a lot of money and taking a long time to do it. I think it was the first show I actually started yelling at the TV for. I think it was the music. So dramatic. The show was an instant hit now it has made its way to regular tv.
Later came Survivor. The first "real" reality show. Plunking 16 people on a desert island somewhere in the South China Sea, where they would have to compete for food, water, and other comforts on the show. This was also a hit, with its own theme song and stuff. But there was something else that got viewers interested: drama. Survivor was, IMO, the first show to show "real" people acting in an environment they were not used to and interacting with others. The premise was simple: People will want to see other people competing vigourously to gain the prize. And they will tune in to see how far they will go. The producers of Survivor had found a gem. The show was good...the first time. The second time it was the same thing different people. (SSDD). It got redundant so I figured the networks would take a break and let it go. Then BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of a sudden other networks came up with their own reality shows: Fear Factor, Amazing Race, Murder in Small Town X, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Meet the Parents etc. Before I knew it there were more reality shows than I could keep track of. Each one doing something outrageous that viewers would tune in to watch and find out if they would actually do it.
But that wasn't what really got me thinking. This world seems to run on money and will pretty much do anything to get it. At least that's in the media. In September of 2001, the media world was having a hay day because two planes had hit the twin towers in New York, and one had hit the Pentagon (a fourth had gone down in a non-critical area). Yes, this was a tragedy, but that's not what I'm here to dispute. Flipping through the channels, I counted 27 of maybe 38 channels covering the news. CNN? They were repeating footage of the planes hitting the buildings. Let's see it again and again. For those who were just tuning in.
Do you remember when there was report of a sniper somewhere in the United States? Later it was found that the snipers were a man and an underaged male. I was watching CNN's coverage of a news conference in which the sheriff was talking. Right after he said that the boy would not be named because he was underage CNN flashed a photograph of the boy with his full name and everything. That was pretty much when I'd lost all respect for CNN. I mean yes, the kid was involved in the crime but for crying out loud the sheriff with held his name for a reason.
Conclusion: The media will stop at nothing-short of softcore porn (and apparently that's also present in some shows), ratings. If the viewers want to see it, they will provide it. So do we blame the people for tuning in or the media for providing it in overwhelming capacity. The media seem to be milking absolutely everything until it has lost its appeal.
Christmas of 2004 was met with tragedy an earthquake occurred in Southeast Asia. Originating in the water, it travelled outwards, creating an enormous tsunami that devastated countries along the southeast coastline of Asia. It was just off one of the coasts of Thailand (hardest hit was Banda Aceh) and the wave traveled as far as Madagascar. Bamboos also washed up in California. I watched as each news network tried to update its viewers with the latest figures on how many casualties there were. At last count I think it was 120,000 people (I could be wrong). Aid came from many places all over the world and the survivors were provided with basic aid...while I slept in a bed and ate a healthy meal afterwards. About two weeks ago Asia saw another earthquake. This time the death toll was at least 670 people. The tragedy this time was not only that that many people died, but that I was not as interested. I didn't even blink. Someone once said that "One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic".
Have I become so desensitized to the world that nothing shocks me anymore (short of a million people dying)? Am I that insensitive? It seems the only things that will truly shock an appall me are things happening here in my small town with my personal life. Will I blink next time i watch someone on tv killed (or pretend to be killed)?
I dunno.
Out.
