I can’t recall where our household TVs were in most of the places I grew up. In fact, my first memory of really consistently watching TV was back in middle school, around 7th grade. That was when we had moved to New York and I remember coming back from school to watch trash shows like Ricki Lake and then classics like Fresh Prince of Bel Air as I ate my way through a few bags of instant chicken ramen. I never really cared for cartoons and other animated shows, so I pretty much just stuck towhatever was on when I got home from school. Prior to that, I had always read books for fun. I think the change began when I started to come out of my shell and be more sociable at school. Coming out of my own world and integrating into the larger one introduced me to this phenomenon that seems inescapable in the American culture.
Well, by the time I left New York three and a half years later, I had given up TV other than whatever was on that my dad was watching during dinner, which was usually 60 Minutes or 20/20. The internet was booming and I could entertain myself far more with that than any TV show could ever provide. Plus, I had much more control over what I would be exposed to, versus being at the mercy of some channel’s scheduling choices. I can’t even remember what I used to watch, other than Gilmore Girls and Charmed. I never really got into the whole TV or movie thing. I’m not sure why, but I guess it was something about how unenlightening they seem and how they tend to encourage vanity.
Unfortunately, it’s gotten worse, from what I know, what with shows like Damages that I’ve seen commercials for and Gossip Girls that I’ve heard about. Why would you spend hours of your life watching people be terrible to each other? I hope this doesn’t produce a pathological society intent on revenge, greed, and other traits that will pick at our morals. Entertainment is widely influential and the messages being sent these days are often questionable. I’m not sure I want to know how this is affecting the younger generation as they grow up with their role models watching that kind of junk.
At the same time, there are some shows cropping up that I don’t mind, such as House and Lie to Me. Initially my obsession with House started when I was moving in my second year of college and my friend was watching the season one DVDs. The abrasive humor, fast-paced discourse, and insightful tidbits into the human body and mind attracted me. Enough for me to decide to buy the first four seasons on DVD when I joined Columbia House. As I spent the tail end of last year watching episode after episode, I started to notice the trends and patterns and slowly my interest waned. I am still fond of the show, despite all its peculiarities (or maybe because of them) and I find it interesting because Dr. House is just so odd.
As for Lie to Me, I saw bus stop ads for it all over Westwood in the early parts of this year, as I was enjoying life with no schedule. I decided to go check it out online once the show started airing and found it to be quite intriguing. The entire thing is based on research done on microexpressions and body language, and how they can tell us when people are lying. I have heard of this type of thing before, and having studied psychology as one of my majors, I find this fascinating. There were a lot of facts in the show about how it all works, plus audiences get to see how what our behavior tells you is just the what, but not the why. A lot of unexpected motives for lying are unveiled throughout the episodes, which makes you think before you assume.
I am also glad that the newer reality shows I’ve seen are getting more positive, rather than taking the dramatic approach by throwing a bunch of strangers to live together just to watch them fight. I mentioned beforewatching some of the episodes of The Biggest Loser, which encourages people to take charge of their lives and finally get around to losing the unhealthy weight they’ve been bearing for years. It’s not that I don’t have gripes about certain details of the show, but overall they are trying to send a good message. I also like this one show I saw five minutes of, which pairs up children with their dads in a competition. Done right, it encourages the parent-child relationship to be stronger and allows them to outperform by doing teamwork activities. Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? can be positive too, by making being smart look cooler. What kid doesn’t want bragging rights to knowing the answer that the adult didn’t and "saving" them in the show? Though the show makes some adults look like fools, it also encourages kids to do well in their academics.
Even the good shows out there have their flaws, but I guess that is expected, since they can’t be perfect or they’d be uninteresting. The main problem with TV shows for me, however, is that I bore of them easily. For both House and Gilmore Girls, which are the only two shows I own on DVD and the only two shows I have ever watched every episode for, there came a point when I started to tire of the plot or the characters. When you see a pattern or things become predictable, it’s just not fun anymore. I like to be challenged to never expect things at face value, to have to think about things that are going on in the plot. Perhaps that is why I also quite enjoy watching CSI with Marylin on the weekends, whenever she has it on. There’s always mysteries and twists to look out for. Yet, whatever draws most of the population to their television sets each day baffles me, for I could live perfectly well without it. Actually, I can’t even remember the last time I turned on a TV; in the past few years I’ve only ever turned them off after people around me have finished watching and I am still left sitting there. To me, TV is just unappealing.
