And now, for a brief history of television in my life.
My parents have a photograph of my brother and me watching television in our pajamas. I suppose we were watching "Land of the Lost" or some other Saturday morning fare. No doubt, we'd already dumped the Frankenberry cereal out and plucked the rubber toy like a gem from its tumble.
My brother's mouth makes a red "O" and I, clutching a patchwork teddy bear, look at him looking at the television. It seems like much of my joy involving the tube has to do with me watching someone watch something. Watching something with someone is a particular kind of bonding experience, and I wonder if it is unique to cultures where television is a cornerstone. And then I find myself asking if this is acceptable or if we ought to push for something deeper.
Growing up, we always watched "Mary Tyler Moore," and "The Carol Burnett Show." We often ate dinner in front of the television and talked about its residents as if they were our neighbors.
I have a very complicated relationship with this form of media. It is a part of my history just as it's a part of the world's history. And then, at the same time, I am suspicious of its glass and flash, the cheap and quick way it can make your heart bleed and then leave you.
Shortly after 9/11, I wrote an article about post-traumatic stress disorder. An expert psychologist explained to me that vast swaths of the American population were suffering from this debilitating psychological confusion and anxiety not because of what they experienced, but because of what they watched on television. So, you see, terrorism happened not just on American buildings and bodies, but in our hearts. I can imagine the television broadcasting pain, confusion, uncertainty, fear, and hatred like a heated fuselage straight into the center of our chests.
I reflect on the temporary joy I have experienced through the world of television. And then I wonder: At what cost? They say little children believe what's on TV is real. For them, there is no glass separating them from the people, creatures, weapons, words, and actions on TV. As we grow, how much do we really move away from that? How convinced is my brain that what I have watched has really happened to me? How much have those seemingly harmless hours of reality television viewing cast my own reality, shaped my own physical experiences?
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Shortly after 9/11, I stopped watching television, especially news. I told people to tell me if there was something really important that I needed to know. I never saw a single image of Hurricane Katrina, but felt an appropriate amount (my opinion) of sympathy without having to see all the horror.
ReplyDeleteIt's made my life much better to not see every single bad thing that happens in the world in a quick flash across a screen.
You know, there are times that I allow a little bit of guilt come over me, because I don't know what is going on in the world. In order to get over the guilt, I will turn on Fox News. I can stand it for about 20 minutes, because the innane commentary and such is more stressful to me than anything. Therefore, I have set our homepage to MSN in order to keep abreast with the current news. It is soooo much better, because now I read what I find interesting, and I don't have to subject myself to watch what other people think is important for me to watch. I know, I know, people still choose what is on the website, but at least I don't have to listen to someone else "explain" it to me...I can come to a conclusion on my own!
ReplyDeleteoh -- I have those same childhood saturday morning tv memories. we weren't allowed to wake our parents until after certain shows were over.
ReplyDeletedo you ever dream alternate endings to movies you've watched right before sleep. I think that our subconscious goes right ahead and processes those media images, books, movies, tv, internet, music, everything... just the same as if those things had actually happened in our own lives. and our subconscious is what is responsible for our intuition.
have you read Jonah Lehrer's book, "How We Decide."? in it there is a fascinating description of how we get that sense of foreboding or how we "just know" what to do, in a split second. I think what media we feed ourselves or allow to be force fed to us, has as much affect on our subconscious as too many empty food calories have on our waistlines and thighs.