linkismyhero

Amen, sister.

I haven't really discussed my own refusal to watch television, but Twwly's blurb has me musing on it.

Sometimes I feel lonely (well, maybe a lot of the time), so I'll go out in the living room with mom, just to be with somebody who isn't thousands of miles away (as most of my internet friends, sadly, are). Most of the time, she's completely spaced out in front of the boob tube, so it can hardly be called "quality time". Still, it quells my loneliness a little bit, so I sit out there with her, and watch the TV.

Man, how did I ever watch this stuff?

Seriously, it baffles me that I could ever sit in front of the television and take in those shows without once questioning the quality of it. I find it almost shocking that I ever once found it entertaining.

Seriously, what's the deal? The acting is so phony and bad, the storylines so transparent! It's a mockery of reality.

And that's just the serious drama-type shows. The comedy shows just aren't funny to me, because I have a serious beef with what people today (or comedy writers, at least) seem to think is funny. Most of the time, stuff that's supposed to be "funny" these days just makes me feel bad. Either I don't click with the underlying culture that's being spoofed, or, oftentimes, the jokes are just plain mean and nasty. I find the latter to be really offensive and extremely not-funny. Maybe that comes from having so often been made fun of and hurt during my formative years. "Bully humor", maybe? I can imagine getting made fun of just for calling it that!

That's not to mention the shows that are bottom-of-the-barrel awful, like Jerry Springer (if that's still on) or the dreaded judge shows that my mom unfortunately watches all the time. It really does make me sad that she finds that stuff entertaining.

But I haven't even gotten to the absolute worst: COMMERCIALS.

Commercials make me mad with a capital AAAAAAAAH! Talk about an insult to my intelligence.

It reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons (the older episodes are a rare example of television that I don't find horrible) where Lisa becomes a vegetarian. Her class at Springfield Elementary is shown a film clip from the Meat Council, obviously meant to brainwash the kids into eating meat. At the end, Lisa exclaims "They can't seriously expect us to swallow that tripe!" and Principal Skinner then invites the kids to partake of a pile of tripe supplied by "our friends at the Meat Council".

That's what I think about when I see commercials. They're feeding us tripe, and people are actually buying into it! Unbelievable! I just find commercials to be utterly offensive, all around. Commercials are the equivalent of someone in the middle of a quiet room screaming "HEY, LOOK AT MEEEEEEE!!! YOU MUST DEVOTE ALL OF YOUR ATTENTION TO MEEEEEE, RIGHT NOOOOOOOOW!!!!" Man, that's annoying even to read, much less hear or see. Companies try to sell us their products by, essentially, being rude and insulting to us. Pah!

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Next time you sit yourself down in front of the tube, try not to zone out, and really think about what you're seeing (if possible).

And then... turn it off. That is my challenge to you. Think you can handle it?

P.S.