The Katywompus Journal Observing Life's Little Quirks by Diane Moody |
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Entry #10: "Put Down That Remote and Step Away From the TV!"
Once upon a time, I was a hopeless TV addict. I admit it. I bought my own television when I was 12 by saving my allowance. Why? I liked watching my favorite shows in the privacy of my bedroom. There, I watched my beloved Monkees on TV every Monday night. (Embarrassing to admit now, but true.) There, without parental commentary about "those shaggy mopheads," I watched the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, goose bumps and all. In the years to come, I got hooked on Dr. Kildare, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Andy Griffith's Mayberry. I had a shameless crush on Illya Kuryakin on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and who didn't empathize with Dr. Richard Kimble on The Fugitive? Who can forget Carol Burnett descending that staircase as Scarlett O'Hara with a curtain rod and drapes hanging from her shoulders? At more serious times, I remember watching Neil Armstrong take that "one small step for man" on the moon. I was glued to the TV set after President Kennedy's assassination, and troubled by war news from the jungles of Vietnam. But my love affair with the medium of television began to change as I got older. Early in our marriage, our TV died and we couldn't afford a new one. I was amazed to learn I could live without it! I found a radio station that played all the old radio shows of a bygone era. Fibber McGee and Molly became close personal friends. Later, when our children were young, we opted to go on a television freeze, literally putting it in storage for several years. Call us extremists, but we wanted our kids to live, not just trance into mindless zombies in front of "the boob tube." We read books together. We played board games. They played outside! A local TV station even did a news story on our No-TV lifestyle. (Ironic, don't you think?) And to be honest, the only thing I missed was the news. That was when cable news programs were popping up everywhere. Fast forward a few years. Now we're bombarded with some of the most ridiculous and obscene programming ever to float across the airwaves. Thankfully, there are still some decent shows on the air. But the rest of it? Well, let's just say we turned a corner with reality TV. I'm convinced these shows are contrived by elementary school dropouts who had serious nutritional deficiencies in their diet affecting their mental development. Think about it. Contestants compete for millions of dollars by eating roaches and slugs or submersing themselves in snake pits. This is entertaining? Week after week America watches ditzy bimbos line up for a chance with the likes of Joe Millionaire or The Bachelor. What am I missing here? And don't even get me started about Jack#$% (appropriately named for both its participants AND its viewers). Its creators insist it's harmless. They deny responsibility when blamed for copycat injuries or deaths. But if television is NOT about the power of suggestion, why all the commercials? And why were cigarette commercials banned a few years ago? Hmmm? With few exceptions, the sitcoms plunk down the same old tired jokes year after year. If the punch lines didn't include sexual innuendos, they'd have a five minute script. Dramas? Evidently we have an appetite for the lurid. Consider all the forensic shows sensationalizing bizarre murders, most of which are sexual in nature. (Are we noticing a pattern here?) Be sure to throw in a mix of pedophilia, incest, and sadomasochism. The television producers keep pushing the envelope a little farther each time. But we all know sex sells, right? And yes, even on sitcoms. Check the ratings on Will & Grace if you're not sure. Awhile back, I caught a rerun of an old Monkees segment. It was so pathetically stupid, I had to change the channel. My tastes have changed over the years, but I mourn for our collective loss of innocence. I'm not sure how much worse it can get, but I'm afraid we "aint seen nothing yet." Bottom line? Time is precious. Perhaps we need to find something more productive to do with our leisure time. And just for the record, not everything has changed. There's still an OFF button on that remote control. *Click* Click HERE to send Diane an email. She welcomes your comments and suggestions. She's Flying the Coop Blessed are the poor... Back to School It All Started With Eve It's Almost Here! Forget About Weapons of Mass Destruction - let’s Talk Hormones The Other "W" "If only I could..." |
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