I was raised on TV, and I haven't yet broken the habit. I comfortably sit in my living room letting my life get sucked away by talking box. And I like it.
It's a new season. Time for the return of old friends and exploration of new ones.
What I'm watching right now
Mad Men - aka the best show on TV
The Shield - The final season is going to be out of control
Project Runway - This season is pretty awful, but it's a habit.
America's Next Top Model - A REALLY bad habit. I am ashamed.
The Soup - The trasy clips I want without the shame of watching the shows. (Except ANTM. I can't help myself.)
Dexter (on DVD) - Cable costs too much to add another premium channel, but I love this show. I'm currently Netflixing my way through Season Two.
What I've been giving a try
True Blood - The first episode didn't wow me, but neither did the first episode of Big Love. The show did intrigue me, so I'll give it a few more weeks to make an impact.
Sons of Anarchy - Not as well written as, say, The Shield, but pulpy with some potential for dramatic plot lines. Plus, it's giving work to Katey Sagal and Mitch Pileggi who I haven't seen for a while. And it's nice when Ron Perlman gets to act without a bunch of crazy make-up on.
What I'm Waiting For
Heroes - Just a great show
CSI - Another guilty pleasure
Criminal Minds - More or less of a guilty pleasure than CSI? Depends on the episode.
Amazing Race - How sucked in I get depends on the teams
House - It started to lose me last season, but I'm willing to go back for more
Law & Order: SVU - Do you get that I'm a sucker for crime dramas?
Big Love - Is this even coming back?
Battlestar Gallactica - A long, long wait.
Wow, it's a wonder that I find time to do anything else at all.
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Cultural Degeneration
I don't want to write about the issues of the writers' strike. Who's right, who's wrong. I don't want to get into that. What I'm thinking about is the cultural impact of the writers' strike. The on-going nature of the strike is now going to impact the fall television season as well and the movie industry could begin to be impacted by the dearth of scripts as well. So, my question is what will this do to American culture?
Sadly, a precious minority of our society may look for quality entertainment elsewhere: quality tv or movies they may have missed; foreign tv and movies; books; or (dare I say it?) theatre. But I fear that hordes of couch potatoes will take what they are given. More reality shows! Re-runs of comedies they've seen so many times they know the words by heart! Even more reality shows (preferably focussing on people doing stupid or embarassing things).
It reminds me of the movie Idiocracy. In it, two people of average (or probably slightly below average) intelligence get sent to the future where they are by far the most intelligent people in the country. The scenario is that over the years the intellectual set were too focussed on career and accomplishments to have children; whereas, the undereducated popped out more kids than they could afford. (Eerily plausible.) The result is a society of where the most popular tv show is "Ow, My Balls," and they water plants with a sports drink because the commercials tell them to.
Sure, Idiocracy is a comedy, but it scares me. A lot.
Maybe this is just because I am the poster child for erudition. I have two master's degrees (and would like to take more classes). I have a strong affinity for non-musical theatre. I love words, perhaps even more than sentences. I definitely wouldn't say that all of society should be a nerd like me. But a world full of the blissfully ignorant is a nightmare to me. But I see this nightmare more and more in my waking hours. With the writers' strike continuing I would not be surprised to see "Ow, My Balls" as part of the Fox fall line up.
I must admit that my tastes are not always as highfalutin as this post may make them see. I watch some fluffy reality shows and bad crime dramas. But not all the time. I use these things to give my mind a much needed rest. But I am sure to work out my brain before it rests. All rest and no workout creates apathy. Is that where we are going?
No, this is not all about the decline of the tv line up. But I see (hopefully over-pessimisstically) the decline in intellectual entertainment as symptomatic of general ignorance. General ignorance begets prejudice, intolerance, and irrational fear. Those things create a society fraught with tension and violence. That is what I fear. People can watch whtat they want.
But it's tied together, isn't it? I think back to when I started listening to NPR in the mornings. (Yes, I am that snobby.) I was listening to the radio morning show full of stupid humor. Before hitting my coffeee fill stupid humor can be just right. However, that day I remember listening to the callers. Things that were obvious jokes to me and the djs were being taken as fact by the callers. This is how they were learning about the world. That scared me. I switched to NPR, which can be annoyingly smug, but I felt like I was no longer supporting the propagation of ignorance.
Phew. This is longer than I thought it would be, so I'll wrap up.
Okay. I'm 34 and childless, like those people who caused the decline in Idiocracy. But I believe that's not because of my career or my intellectual pursuits but because it took me a while to find the guy I fell in love with. Regardless, we do intend to have children. But what will the world be like for those children? Will the school yard talk be all about last night's episode of "Ow, My Balls?" Will there still be art and beauty? If so, will it be prevalent or will it be hard to find? Will conversation and debate still be possible?
Hopefully I'm being overly nihilistic. But I am worried. But, hey, did you see the crazy American Idol rejects the other night?
Sadly, a precious minority of our society may look for quality entertainment elsewhere: quality tv or movies they may have missed; foreign tv and movies; books; or (dare I say it?) theatre. But I fear that hordes of couch potatoes will take what they are given. More reality shows! Re-runs of comedies they've seen so many times they know the words by heart! Even more reality shows (preferably focussing on people doing stupid or embarassing things).
It reminds me of the movie Idiocracy. In it, two people of average (or probably slightly below average) intelligence get sent to the future where they are by far the most intelligent people in the country. The scenario is that over the years the intellectual set were too focussed on career and accomplishments to have children; whereas, the undereducated popped out more kids than they could afford. (Eerily plausible.) The result is a society of where the most popular tv show is "Ow, My Balls," and they water plants with a sports drink because the commercials tell them to.
Sure, Idiocracy is a comedy, but it scares me. A lot.
Maybe this is just because I am the poster child for erudition. I have two master's degrees (and would like to take more classes). I have a strong affinity for non-musical theatre. I love words, perhaps even more than sentences. I definitely wouldn't say that all of society should be a nerd like me. But a world full of the blissfully ignorant is a nightmare to me. But I see this nightmare more and more in my waking hours. With the writers' strike continuing I would not be surprised to see "Ow, My Balls" as part of the Fox fall line up.
I must admit that my tastes are not always as highfalutin as this post may make them see. I watch some fluffy reality shows and bad crime dramas. But not all the time. I use these things to give my mind a much needed rest. But I am sure to work out my brain before it rests. All rest and no workout creates apathy. Is that where we are going?
No, this is not all about the decline of the tv line up. But I see (hopefully over-pessimisstically) the decline in intellectual entertainment as symptomatic of general ignorance. General ignorance begets prejudice, intolerance, and irrational fear. Those things create a society fraught with tension and violence. That is what I fear. People can watch whtat they want.
But it's tied together, isn't it? I think back to when I started listening to NPR in the mornings. (Yes, I am that snobby.) I was listening to the radio morning show full of stupid humor. Before hitting my coffeee fill stupid humor can be just right. However, that day I remember listening to the callers. Things that were obvious jokes to me and the djs were being taken as fact by the callers. This is how they were learning about the world. That scared me. I switched to NPR, which can be annoyingly smug, but I felt like I was no longer supporting the propagation of ignorance.
Phew. This is longer than I thought it would be, so I'll wrap up.
Okay. I'm 34 and childless, like those people who caused the decline in Idiocracy. But I believe that's not because of my career or my intellectual pursuits but because it took me a while to find the guy I fell in love with. Regardless, we do intend to have children. But what will the world be like for those children? Will the school yard talk be all about last night's episode of "Ow, My Balls?" Will there still be art and beauty? If so, will it be prevalent or will it be hard to find? Will conversation and debate still be possible?
Hopefully I'm being overly nihilistic. But I am worried. But, hey, did you see the crazy American Idol rejects the other night?
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