May 18, 2004

Why People Can't Say Television is Evil


I refuse to come to the conclusion that I watch too much television, a strange thing to fight against considering it occupies a large percentage of my free time. What I do believe is that I watch too much bad television, many people struggle to make this distinction and this is directly the cause of what has led to TV's downward spiral into absurdity. Imagine your favorite book you ever read, think of the affect it had on you and your life, the way it connected you to those characters and brought you into that world. The way every event had some type of significance or meaning towards the overall theme or message of the story. Think of being able to share these stories with millions of people all at once, broadcast throughout the continent. Only now with actors and sets and real people and real places to attach yourself to - You cannot say television itself is evil or destructive, the way its been manipulated and used as tools to cater to people's most simplistic desires or ideas of entertainment is what is evil. Blame money, blame executives, blame whoever you wish for this trend, we, the population are responsible for the way things are.

Consumers control the market, somewhere down the line in any business this is always true. If something isn't popular with the people, typically it fails and it's never heard of again. So why didn't this happen with television, simply put, people didn't want it to. Mindlessness has it's attractive qualities, we wish to kill time and a 30 minute sitcom does it effectively without asking anything from us. The idea of escaping from the real world is not the issue, any form of entertainment will in some way divert our train of thought. Stories or fantasies keep us sane, we need these types of escapes, we relate to characters and possibly learn things about ourselves, human nature or even life in general from literature and intelligently written drama. The problem arises when we are killing time simply to kill time, we shut our brains off and waste away taking away nothing from the 4 hours we've spent staring at advertisements and cheap humor. These 2 things are provided to us now at an almost overwhelming rate by networks wishing to cash in on trends. Can you blame them?

If you saw that the demand for clown shoes suddenly went through the roof, because perhaps maybe clown shoes were worn by someone cool or even who stood for something. Would you not try to jump at the chance to be the first to sell brand new clown shoes? This is how money is made, when there is a demand for something, a supply is created, the consumers will buy in if they want to, and if successful enough, certain people will attempt to keep the trend going by recreating it or repackaging it. This is how television how gotten to the state it's in. You can't blame executives or owners or networks because they are simply doing their jobs. People watch reality shows and trash television, and nothing else, so why create any other type of TV entertainment? If everyone was wearing and demanding clown shoes and you came out with white tennis shoes, you'd lose money, and look rather foolish.

Simply put, no one in any business will hear or see what people want (or are watching) and decide not to create this product (or show) to do something that people don't want (or aren't watching.) My favorite television show was cancelled this season, it's final episode airs on Wednesday. I attempt to blame the network or anyone else, but it isn't their fault. The blame can only be pointed squarely at the 13 million people who watch The Bachelor (weekly), the 10 million people who watch Fear Factor (weekly) and the 30 million people to watch American Idol (weekly). Until the majority of TV watchers actually want something that isn't mediocre, predictable, trash television, we won't get anything but that. I unfortunately don't see this type of change happening anytime soon.

After the previously mentioned finale airs this Wednesday, I will strongly consider disconnecting the cable to my TV here in the basement. Expect another blog on this subject then.
Matthew C at 1:43 AM