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Television and Shared Experience
I was listening to NPR’s Laura Sydell yesterday as she and her guests were discussing media trends over the past 40 or 50 years as they connect to shared experience. 
One guest on the program was arguing that the development of global communications technology means that next-door neighbors may have few shared cultural experiences. In essence, by enabling a large fraction of the population to seek the television news that it wants to watch, the music that it wants to hear, and the political ideas that it wants to think, there are fewer cultural touchstones that we share in common.
It’s Not Just You
My child hasn’t even been born yet, but I’m already thinking (planning, obsessing, et cetera, ad nauseum) about what it will be like to raise kids. Crazy thoughts! One thing is certain: I’m going to try really hard not to be one of those parents who has to protect their kid from everything, including their own shadow.
That’s why this article, “Is It Just Me? Let’s Stop Scaring Our Kids” hits home so much. The author asks
How did this happen? How did it become too scary to let kids be kids?
And the answer:
“TV,” says Trevor Butterworth, an editor at the media watchdog group stats.org. “Cable TV exists to scare the pants off you.” That’s how it gets you to stay tuned. And what is scarier than a kidnapped kid-no matter how far away?
A lot of people think that Jennifer and I don’t own a television for some religious reason. Some have even asked if we’re Amish! (I mention at this point that computers outnumber people in my household two-to-one.) They can’t imagine choosing not to expose themselves to a lot of television as a choice that a modern, rational, enlightened person would make in our society – so it must be an irrational option imposed from some religious authority.
But that’s not it at all. We don’t choose not to own a television because we’re particularly pious. We choose not to import the world of symbols and ideas that television conveys because many of them are pretty unenlightened, irrational, and unhelpful. I don’t see it as something that makes us better than others (though it does, for good or ill, set us apart as different) but as a choice we’ve made which has had many more positive impacts than negative.
I don’t think that getting rid of television is sufficient to keep a parent from becoming the kind of person who is afraid to let their 12-year-old daughter walk one block to a friend’s house. But it certainly can’t hurt.
The Worst Show in the History of Television: Cop Rock
Jennifer was in the break room at work today when VH1 was showing “I love the 90s” for the year 1990. Apparently there was a show that ran for 11 episodes in 1990 called “Cop Rock.” This show fused a gritty television drama about police work with campy original musical scores to create the hideous love child of Cannibal: The Musical and Cops. (Another site describes it as “part ‘Real Stories of the Highway Patrol’ and part Broadway musical.”) It sounded too good to be true – at first I couldn’t believe that something this awful had actually been made, let alone broadcast.
Without further ado, I give you “Let’s Be Careful Out There.”
Dwell on this: Someone paid money to make this. Someone thought this was a good idea. Just let that sink in. There. That’s better.
Mothers be cryin’, man. Life in the hood really isn’t no piece of pie, is it?
If anyone can find me video of the purported scene where the courtroom jury turns into a Gospel choir singing “He’s Guilty!” I will give them $5.
Super Boring?
I’ll be honest – I really didn’t care who won Super Bowl LXI, and the only reason I watched it was because it would be fun to spend some time this weekend with my parents munching on homemade pizza. But am I the only one who that that the Super Bowl was a Super Yawn?
The game’s true MVP was the Bears’ QB, Rex Grossman, who was clearly most valuable to the dominating Colts. The game was amusing because of all of the turnovers. (Yes, I understand that it was raining.) But the real question is: what’s with the (disturbing lack of good) commercials?
The truck assembling itself slowly in midair was pretty cool. Jennifer liked the Ford (?) car driving with one edge on city balconies. But there was a surprising lack of funny beer ads. Where was Pepsi, for crying out loud?! Coke ran a few new ones, but the longest time spots were dedicated to the Grand Theft Auto-themed commercial where everyone is singing and dancing because the character is drinking Coke. That’s great, but I don’t even own a television – I watch about an hour of television a week, tops – and I still have seen that commercial too many times. And this is what they’re paying $2M+ to run during the Super Bowl?
Billy Joel was an embarassment. He had serious flubs – did he even practice? Prince was… Prince. Fine. Not my thing, but fine. The halftime show was pretty tame, altogether. Maybe they were compensating for last year.
Altogether, this was a really boring Super Bowl.
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