Extreme Part 2

Several of the comments about my Extreme Pita Blog have referred to how TV has become so bad, or annoying, or un-watchable.
To be fair, there’s a reason for this.  VCR’s, PVR’s, Nintendo, Wii, Apps, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the Internet…
Back in the 60’s, there were three major American TV networks and a couple of Canadian ones.  Now there are thousands.  So the advertising dollars are spread far and wide.  To get a sense of how little paid advertising some networks are selling, compare how many self-promotion spots there are in a commercial break vs how much paid commercial time there is.  I’ve seen 3-4 promos vs 1 commercial in many breaks.   Astounding.
So the networks have far less money to spend on a show.  Plus, even a “hit” now is drawing a small fraction of the population compared to a hit in the sixties.
With VCR’s and PVR’s everyone started skipping the commercials.  So less incentive for advertisers to buy ads.
Anyone under the age of… well, me, seems to be watching their TV shows online.  And skipping commercials. So now the ads have to be included in the shows.  Welcome to product placement.  It’s no mistake that the judges on So You Think You Can Dance Canada have their cups turned so the Aquafina logo is facing the camera.
Then there’s video games.  Who needs a complex plot when you can have constant blood splattering action and you get to be the lead character?
One day I realized I knew more about the lives of the characters on Seinfeld, than I knew about what was going on in the lives of my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews.
That’s when I stopped watching so much TV.
I turned to movies.
During one of the Terminator films I realized, “I am being ‘entertained’ by horrible, brutal violence.”  I’m being entertained by death.  Sure there are movies like Saving Private Ryan where I didn’t feel entertained by the violence.  But James Bond and action films… Hmm.  We feel sad for the lead characters and nothing for the bad guys.  It’s okay not to feel anything when they die, cause they’re bad… Hmm again.  Isn’t that what the Nazi’s preached?
Films where innocent bystanders were getting mowed down didn’t make me feel anything in particular…which scared me.
I think the last big disaster film I saw involved the entire city of New York being flattened by something or other… and I was enjoying it.  Yet when 9-11 happened and only few of those buildings actually went down, I was shocked, horrified and upset.  Weren’t we all.
So we stopped watching violent movies.  We’re not shying away from death itself.  We recently saw Is Anybody There? with Michael Caine and loved it.  But we’re trying to avoid being excited, aroused and entertained by gore, terror, and carnage.  What those movies like Saw are doing to teenager’s minds… I can’t imagine.
Maybe I am turning into a grumpy old man.  Or maybe I’m more conscious, more aware of what this input is doing to me.  Garbage in – garbage out and all that.
One person said that these violent shows are our way of making sense of death and life and the universe.  Helping us to come to terms with death.  Studies show it does the exact opposite, it numbs us.
If you want to come to terms with death, I highly recommend reading The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer – and do the exercises she suggests.  We’re reading a lot more. Maybe others are too and that’s why TV numbers are down?  It’s a nice thought.