On Television and nostalgia

It's funny how swayed we are by articles that we read or interesting radio stories. All it takes is reading some blurb about carbs making us fat and suddenly the whole population is an expert on losing weight and what the body needs. These sorts of things come up often within the bonds of marriage because as we all know, spouses or sig. others are the people we get to tell all the boring/complaining/possibly interesting stuff that we bottle up all day while pleasantly smiling at co-workers whose name we're not quite sure of.

S: I read that dancing is supposed to make you smarter.
M: That's why I'm always trying to get you to go to the club.
S: The article also mentioned that you should only watch, at maximum, two hours of television a day.
M: What a shocker. Finally an article that let's us know that television isn't great for us.

M: New stunning research comes out, "If you punch babies in the face you may be an asshole. More to come on Channel 7 news.

Time passes.
S: Let's do the dishes.
M: I'll be downstairs lowering my IQ.

I have conflicted feelings about television. Television was something that I used to watch with my dad and my brother. We'd bond over sports games, exulting in the win, or feeling downtrodden with each loss. We still talk about what is on television, it somehow manages to tie us together across all these thousands of miles. It's amazing to think we can be witnessing the same events simultaneously from all across the country.

I remember watching X-files with my mother when I was the only child still left at home. The special treat that it was to call her into the living room and watch that show. My mother rarely watched television but for those two years we rarely missed an episode. When I think of Thanksgiving I think of family, of turkey, and of television. I think of watching the game, or being told to stop watching the game and socialize. I think of the hours spent early in our marriage watching episodes of AD on those Friday's when we were too worn out from work to do anything else. I remember being in college, and watching episodes of Family Guy, ordering pizza, and sitting together and sharing in communal laughter.

I listen to NPR. I have a Masters degree. Some days I still think I want to be a writer. This pretty much makes me the sort of person who has complicated feelings about television. I'm simultaneously annoyed and thrilled by people who don't own televisions. I can't imagine how much time they must have, not spending hours upon hours in front of the television. Privately, I loathe the time I spend watching television. I berate myself or S for watching too much and claim that we should be out making meaningful relationships or writing or serving the homeless.

I am of the generation that knows that television makes you less intelligent. My God, just look at the awkward construction of that previous sentence as proof. This study wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. But what about all the good television shows that are on right now? What about the shared enjoyment of an episode of AD? or the fantasy of Lost that reminds me of being curled up in my mother's lap listening to Tolkein? I actually think television is getting better. But is it making us better? I occasionally have feelings of guilt when I watch television. I imagine that I should be reading, or writing, or listening to a podcast about philosophy. I think of all the other things that I could be doing that would make me a better human being.

Are they all better things? Were human beings a more moral or happy species before the advent of television? Were families and marriages less likely to break up? Did people gather round and sing folk songs late into the night? Is it a compelling argument to ask, "At the end of your days will you be remembered for all the television shows you watched?" Or is that just implicitly a bullshit question? What else are you likely to be remembered for? Ashes to ashes dust to dust. How much does the interim matter in any grand scheme? Do people who watch less television really enjoy life more? Or are they just smug bastards who can't afford cable and enjoy feeling better than other people? Is TV the devil?

My current opinion about the old boob tube is that it's not all bad. I think that watching a good television show can be a worthwhile experience. I think that the insidious trap of television is no different than that offered by any other things we humans partake of. It is good in small doses. The ubiquity of television makes it perhaps a bit more dangerous than other options. But you can watch television shows that make you a more well connected and intelligent human being? Or you can watch two and a half men. The real trick, I suppose, when watching television or doing anything else for that matter, is to figure out when you've had enough enjoyment out of it and when it's time to move on to something else. Let that be a self-reminder for Thanksgiving meal as well. Learning to be grateful for the good things and not gorging oneself is a damn near impossible lesson to learn.

Because the temptation (often given into in my case) is to sit until I am well past the point of satiated. That's not actually televisions fault though, it's mine. Treating television like it's the problem seems a bit short sighted. Humanity tends to have one major problem and that problem is humanity. The self. We have a tendency to demonize things that are really only symptomatic of our own inability to control impulses. Certainly their is something to be said for not tempting yourself, but applying negative connotations to something that is essentially a non-entity seems like a misstep. And perhaps related to my own inability to slip out of its grasp. And you risk making something compelling when you outlaw it. If television is restricted it often becomes something that is desired all the more. It's a tough balance to strike, and I don't envy parents of our generation. The best way to show control over the television is probably to illustrate a healthy relationship with watching it yourself, not treating it like a long lost lover nor like Lucifer himself.

Related story. Every time that I hear this song on Pandora with the refrain, "if you could only change one thing in the world, what would it be?" I think... myself. Sure it's easy to say world hunger, poverty, oppression of all kinds. However, Michael Jackson esque though it may be, I'd have to say the most problematic thing in the world that I have any semblance of real control over is me. And I'd like to change that first. I don't think I'm alone in this. I think St. Paul pointed this problem out long ago.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Romans.

This from one of the most hard ass Christians you'll find. Point being, I'll probably always have conflicted feelings about television and they are likely related to conflicted feelings I have about a number of things like what is the good? how does a man/woman spend his/her time on the earth? what gives meaning? All that to say that I'm really enjoying Modern Family, V, Flash Forward, The Office et al, but I do listen to NPR on the way to work...

To be continued....