Television! The drug of the nation?

[StewyGriffin]

Watching this site over the last few days has opened my eyes. Big brother!!!! a television show has been a main topic on here and many other places. Does TV REALLY have that much control on our lives?

How ironic the issue that is most frequently talked about in news, has the title BIG BROTHER! Orwell must be rolling in his grave.

It's made me so disillusioned that i have removed all remnant's of MSM from my home.

I'm not an educated intellectual, I'm working class through and through. But when i see the mess this world is in, and the main topic of conversation is the goings on of a TV programme, A TV programme that has people sitting in their houses watching others in a house......... I despair, I'm ashamed to be human at times.

Sorry for the rant, those that don't get me.

Just needed to get it off my chest.

Stewy.......(And yes i know he's a fox character, I'm only human. lol)

[vehelpfulguy]

Television - Chewing Gum for the eyes

I am afraid many of us in the western world now have a lot of spare time (due to shorter working week, more labour saving devices like washing machines, dishwashers etc).

To fill this spare time we put the TV on - and for many people it is simply a case of watching the lastest soap or reality TV show.

It is rather sad, as there are plenty of other useful things we could be doing, but it is very easy just to turn the TV on and let it wash all over you.

I find the news, and many serious programs (Panorama etc) very depressing and they seem to try to find all the bad news from all over the world.

The 24 hour news channels seem to glow with positive delight when news of a murder or a disaster somewhere in the world comes through.

A soap or reality TV show (not that I watch either) can be a respite from all the bad news we get rammed down our throats every day.

[4getmenot]

Yes its TV but its a reality show, Its real life!! and I'm glad once and for all this has been talked about and bought up. It wasnt racial but it was Bullying and that should never be ignored!!

[ummmm]

I don't watch it so it's not my drug. All I know is what has been on the news. Which is also more than I want to know.

[noxlumos]

I'd rather have my eyes gouged out than watch Big Brother, Celebrity ...anything, Coronation St, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Home and Away, Neighbours, stupid mindless shows where you vote for things, idiot game show where the questions are so easy my four year old can answer them etc etc etc.
We either watch BB2, a news channel, sometimes 4 and 5, Discovery channels, some music, but generally the kids find it banal and inane and go and do something more interesting . People wonder why we are producing a generation that doesn't think.
TV could be the answer to our prayers, instead this amazing tool has been used solely for financial profit and dumbed down for the scaffold knitters where people vote to hatchett people.Horrible.

[jake-the-peg]

I think the saddest thing is that Open University programs have disappeared from our screens.

I know it's only a very small number of us that set our recorders to watch programs on other peoples degree courses and I know I didn't pay for them but without OU programs I'd be ignorant of the controversy over pre-columbian syphallis, or the importance and mechanisms of the ATP cycle.

It seems that even hard-core documentaries like Horizon are now well and truely in the "Discovery channel" mode and that it's more important to have information enacted than explained by people who actually know what they're talking about.

Only the Sky at Night still stands out and you have to ask how long that'll last when Patrick Moore dies.

Maybe there's hope though for internet driven content we'll just have to wait and see

[sp1814]

Stewy

The reason why the programme touched a nerve, and why it's still popular is because people are interested in people.

We want to see how much like other people we all are. I admit that I can't keep up with CBB, but only for the same reasons why I can't watch soaps.

Remember, the vast majority of the nation has always tuned into trash. Prior to telly, it was the BBC Light Programme, featuring easily digestible nonsense, comedy and easy listening tunes.

The majority of this nation, and many others I assume, want things that are easy to digest - The Sun sells more than The Times...and Weetabix sells more than Alpen (which is horrible).

[spanner7853]

I completely agree never have I more reason to get rid of all the tv's in my house and stick to reading or even doing the housework seems more appealing. I cannot believe such crap as big brother, im a celebrity etc,etc,etc rules peoples lives. I hate it there is too much reality tv. I cannot believe I pay my tv licence to watch such crap!!! What happened to dramas, documentary's, things people are actually interested in watching. It makes me cringe the way people behave on such programmes and thats only the 30 second glimpse before the programme I want to watch comes on. Whcih is very rare as there is nothing on. Repeats of shows from 20 years ago. Come on channel bosses, think of something fantastic for everyone to watch! I have a feeling we'll be waiting a long time.

[sp1814]

spanner

The programmes you refer to, are all on commercial stations, which do not rely on you paying your television licence.

The reason why commercial channels are loathe to try anything new is that they are chasing an ever shrinking market.

Believe it or not, people watch FAR less telly than thirty years ago, simply because we have much more leisure time to do other stuff. This is why in this country, cinema attendances are on the up, as well as theatre and gallery attendance.

Then there's concert attendances, Internet gaming etc etc.

We are no longer a square-eyed nation.

[Ctrak]

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Disposable-He roes-Of-Hiphoprisy/Television-The-Drug-Of-The- Nation.html

[StewyGriffin]

Nice to see others share some of my sentiments. There is hope after all. ;-) Thanks for the comments.

And yes Ctrak, that was the tune i was listening to when i went on my rant. A classic in my eyes.