Opaque and I engaged in a fairly animated discussion on the pros and cons of TV watching. I took up the position that TV watching is okay when done in moderation (as most things that are amoral are such as eating junk food, playing sports video games, washing your car, etc.). Apparently, he's been on a four month TV diet and is really seeing how much of a time waste TV watching is for him. I, on the other hand, do not feel that I have a bad habit when it comes to ingesting boob tube. Getting a DVR about midway through football season last fall completely helped me better manage my TV watching. I use the DVR to record my favorite shows such PTI, the Boondocks, The Wire, and any sporting events I'm interested in watching. I have actually found that I spend less time idly surfing channels because I have specific, tried and true, programs on my DVR that I can turn to when I can't find anything of interest on "live" TV. I've never been a big renter of DVDs, so I guess I think I've convinced myself that I don't have a problem watching too much TV. Now, I do have other ways of wasting time, but at least it's not in front of the "idiot box".
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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3 comments:
Here's the deal. No one wants to be the guy who builds a wall around himself in a vain attempt to screen all outside influences, unless you're a recent graduate of Bob Jones University. Since I have never attended, visited or even seen that humble university I would not consider myself in that camp. I love me some Seinfeld, college football, and the occasional Law & Order.
But I do see the potentially destructive nature of TV.
TV is the only place where you can experience the horror of death one moment and the exuberance of lime scented dish washing soap the next.
It is the medium that has left a generation with the attention span of less than 1 minute.
Real conversation about real life is replaced with opinions on the most recent American Idol fiasco.
So I'm with Transparent. I get that TV is amoral. However, I'm thinkin' the BEST use of my time isn't spent investigating the in's and out's of the the Desperate Housewives.
Like I said earlier, I went home and watched King of the Hill. Thats my story and I am sticking to it. Although I do have to give credit to the inventor of DVR, what an amazing machine.
I would agree, hombre, that TV is a potentially destructive medium as is the case with music, movies, and the internet. However, because something is "potentially" destructive does not make it persona non grata. Yes, the best use of your time is not watching Desperate Housewives, but what about "Eyes on the Prize" which has been on PBS all month or the "State of the Black Union" telecast that was on all day last Saturday on CSPAN. You do have control over what you watch. Don't punt on this is the face of downside of the medium.
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