Good, Bad, Ugly Television

The good is shrinking or barely holding its own, the bad and the ugly proliferate with amazing speed. Television is a cesspool with a few non-polluted islands.

I am not one of those people who never watches television. (That's another post - all the people who swear they don't watch television. Some I believe; many I don't. But it's a trendy kind of thing to disclaim being a viewer.) And I am not a knowledgeable critic. I know what I like, what I don't like, and what offends my ethics and my sensibilities.

Television is good for coverage of breaking news. I know no one who is old enough and owns a TV set who did not watch coverage of 911. Images of birds in the Gulf of Mexico covered with oil, still trying to move have impact in a way that even the most amazing still shots don't - one blink that signals a still beating heart says it all.

Television is good for live coverage of sports events - the Olympics, Stanley Cup, World Cup, Superbowl. Watching the play unfold and not knowing who will win is exciting. Radio just isn't the same.

Beyond that, it gets dicier. Reality shows ARE television to many, and they attract millions of viewers. Mostly, I don't care for them. Many are some form of competition. Many show people at their worst. All are voyeurism in a way that is worse than that in movies and fictional programs. Not only is much of the content idiotic, watching all that greed, naked ambition, and nastiness isn't much fun.

I refuse to watch any reality show with children - they have no say, no informed consent. Who wants to have the potty training episode turn up at the wrong moment in the future? Much worse - the fact of being on the show must shape the very essence of the childhood experience and can't help but give a child a somewhat skewed idea of his or her relationship with others.

Sitcoms insult the intelligence, most of them anyway. Dramas can have good storylines, backstory, and characters, but overwhelm us with the very most degraded aspects of human life. I don't want to spend any of my precious time watching endless twists on rape, murder, torturers, and serial killers; it's enough to stay informed about all the madness in real life.

Many shows on politics and current events devolve into partisan shouting matches, while some bring in an endless stream of celebrities with no expertise on the subject. If all else fails, bring in the psychics and mediums, the life coaches and charlatan healers - who else could better advise us on wars, disasters, and complex diplomatic issues.

There are some shows that I genuinely like and watch, but even those have advertising that is manipulative and intrusive. Some of PBS appeals. Perhaps I am just in a downward cycle with television.

Selectivity is the key. And the mute button, don't forget the mute button.

Minding Manipulation

It usually comes as a suprise to students to learn that in television, we, the viewers, are the product. That's right, us! Not the programs, not the products that are advertised, but the audience.

Television producers and executives make shows they hope will deliver enough product (audience) to make advertisers spend as much of their money as possible pitching their wares to us.

And selling our presence without being transparent and forthcoming about it isn't bad enough. We are subjected to manipulation, read that as marketing, through the creation of desires which, of course, product X will fulfill, and/or we are subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) shown how we just don't measure up to the make- believe world the advertisers create.

Magazines are the same.

It's everywhere - on television, radio, buses, blogs, websites, movies, taxis, billboards, magazines, and more. The basic methods may differ, but the goal is the same.

I am sick of advertising. No one ever asked me, or any of us, if all days, times, places could be filled up with advertising, if every time and space could be commercialized.

I've had enough. I am on a mission to endure as little advertising as possible.

It's not always possible - probably not best to close one's eyes while driving to avoid signage in various places!!! But there is a mute button on the remote or the option to not watch television at all (or to watch selectively), and there are computer programs that will block sidebar ads and pop-ups. I just won't buy some magazines, as I refuse to pay for all the ads.

I believe that many ads, images, and narratives affect us in negative ways; they certainly are manipulative, working around reason and critical thinking. One of my professors had research to show that we who think we are resisting ads are often the most susceptible.

Not all ads are bad. Some are funny, provocative, artistic, informative, enjoyable. I like those and will choose to watch.

But I am on a mission - I will no longer be a passive endurer of other people's manipulative attempts to sell me something.

To end on a lighter note, here is a Wendy's ad from the eighties, with Clara Peller - one of the famous "Where's the Beef?" ads. The slogan has become part of the culture.

Singin' and Dancin' - Part 1

When I was about three, my grandparents got a TV, and I could never wait to visit and watch.

In those early days of television, programming was still "iffy" and there seemingly weren't enough ads to fill all the available time (those really were the good old days!). The spaces between programs were filled with musical interludes, and they were what drew me over and over to this magical instrument.

The musical interludes were footage of song and/or dance routines from movies, from Broadway, and from famous clubs. All that singing and dancing totally wowed me, and it was probably then that I decided to become a dancer.

My all-time favourite appealed to everything a three-year-old could want in a role model for show biz success. Carmen Miranda was my idol. She could sing. She could dance. She wore fabulous, colourful costumes. She sang about far away exotic places with palm trees and with a hypnotic Latin beat.

Bu absolutely best of all  - she wore fruit on her head! It is probably next to impossible to convey the great joy and glee I had about that fruit. I was enthralled; someone so talented, and so pretty, and SHE HAD FRUIT ON HER HEAD. She did wear other millinery concoctions which were quite spectacular, but the fruit was the very best.

I was in heaven, and whenever I heard the announcement for a musical interlude, I would run like crazy, hoping it would be Carmen Miranda.




She still appeals to me. I guess we don't ever get over those firsts that captivate us.