Now this might surprise you in light of my last post. But a comment made by Peter below set me to thinking.
One of my pet crusades is that TV deadens the mind. I say that a lot. I believe it. The evidence is all around us. At 12:15 a.m., August 1, 1981 the very first music video to be shown on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Well, of course, music videos did not kill radio. Far from it. You'd be hard pressed to find any music programming on MTV these days. But I do believe that watching lots of television kills the ability to communicate verbally.
When people (especially children under 8) spend hours watching television, it literally damages their brains and impairs their ability to think verbally. Vital synapses are underdeveloped. How many people have you heard say, "Well, I learn visually"? Sure. That's legit. But it becomes a problems when folks are truly unable to follow a sustained argument or express complex thoughts verbally.
Everyone should read: The Vanishing Word: The Veneration of Visual Imagery in the Postmodern World (Focal Point Series)
That having been said, I also believe that American television is in a golden age. Insofar as anyone can identify their current age as golden, I think this is the case for American TV. And why has this happened? Market economics. There is sooooo much television these days that producers have had to come up with truly high quality material in order to stand out. Hence, the proliferation of so many very well written and excellently produced programs. Some that I have found to be very powerful and entertaining include: 24, The Office, The Sopranos, Carnivale, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica. Other people have sung the praises of House, Heroes, and others. But I'd be surprised if these programs constitute even 1% of all that is available on television.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Television in a Golden Age
"The Office" Kills!!!!
I'm talking about the TV show. Now as you know, I hate watching TV. First, most of the programing is trash or mind-deadening. Second, Americans watch WAY too much of it, substituting the flickering box for a book or actual human interaction.
However, there are some worthwhile gems amongst the rubble. When we find a program that seems worth the effort, we wait and get them on DVD. That way we don't have to endure the advertisements.
And recently, we have been watching The Office. This is an extremely hilarious program. Have you seen it? Your opinions?
This weekend, we literally laughed our heads off. Well, not literally because we still have our heads. As my pastor has pointed out, when people say "literally" they usually mean "not really." For example, "our eyes were literally glued to the TV." Oh really? But that's another post.
Go buy:
