I walk my dog every night around the block, and every night, like clockwork, he goes to the same spot, around the corner, across from a fire hydrant, and against an iron fence. I know, not the most ideal, but I guess it is where he finds familiarity.
And every night, while I watch the city night around me, always aware of my surroundings (I am a single gal, after all), I always witness my own familiarity…the glow of the television sets that light up the city night sky. And I start to wonder…has TV become a familiar background in our every day lives, pacifying us and making us as a culture feel “comfortable” and “familiar”? Do we, as a culture, rely on TV to put us to sleep, wake us up, babysit our children, and pacify us into a coma-induced drone? Since this week is “Turn Off Your Electronics” Week, I beg to take the defense on this one…that TV, is becoming more complex as a medium, and although it is still slandered for many a crime, it has come light years from where it once was.
I don’t want to get into a debate of how the content of television shows is basically crap. We have now all grown up in a society where television was very present in our lives (unless you are my ninety-year old grandma, in which case, if you are reading this blog, you are hip enough to understand the television conundrum). With shows first being designed to entertain, then to influence, then finally to educate, television watchers nowadays are smart…and if a series isn’t written well, or put into the correct timeslot, it will not survive. We, as a culture, have too many channels and too many options to stick around one show in hopes that it will be better…we just simply change the channel. But has all this power of option made us a smarter viewer, or just an indecisive one?
I could debate this one until the cows come home, but I won’t because, since we are a TV based culture, I know the attention span of the average person reading this is probably about 2 minutes. So let’s shelve this debate for another day…
But my main point of today’s blog was this: Every night I wonder what these people in the hi-rises around me are watching…are they getting their news from the #1 news source of Chicago? (That’s ABC7, according the recent polls)…or are they getting their news and political commentary from Jon Stewart and Colbert? We once looked to Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson for our political and pop culture news, and now we are finding other outlets to satisfy our escapism sweet tooth. I stopped watching late night TV. Since the advent of DVR, I like to say I am taking an active role in my television addiction. You see, I love television. I love it for its absurdity, its information, its commentary, and its familiarity. I watch America’s Next Top Model and Top Chef when I need to laugh and escape…I watch CSI or NCIS or Cold Case when I am in a narrative mood…I watch Masterpiece and NOVA and the History Channel when I want to feel informed…and every time Charlie Gibson’s says ‘I hope you’ve had a good day’, I always find myself thinking…yeah, I guess it was an ok day, Charlie, thanks for asking. In this world of uncertainty, where the only thing that is guaranteed is that the gas prices will continue to rise, I guess we all find our solace in the calming glow of the television…which informs us…that no matter where we are in life, or what we’re doing…through the glow of that 70-inch plasma, or the 5-inch TV in the kitchen….somehow, someway, television is connecting us all. (even if it is just by our overpriced cable bills…)
