My Day of Television

This is a journal about my day watching television, including some deeper philosophical ideas that came to my mind.

I was watching television today, trying to enjoy myself. However, often times when I am watching television, many different ideas come to mind. First of all, even though there are so many channels, there are not a lot of programs that appeal to me. Despite the complaints I have about television programs, and the complaints I here from my friends, in recent years television has not really changed very much. There must be something intriguing about reality television that I do not see.

It seems to me, in terms of reality shows like Big Brother and Survivor, people are more interested in watching other people live their lives than living themselves. For example, when I used to watch Survivor I was excited to see all the adventures participants were having in the wild, but I was also a little jealous that I was not courageous enough to get outside and explore the wilderness myself. I suppose these programs would be more beneficial if they did more to connect with viewers, and perhaps they could encourage people to be more active in their own lives.

Another idea that I had today while in front of the television was the idea that consciousness is lowered rather than raised by televised programs. Some programs such as Ellen I feel are very uplifting because she expresses concerns for fellow human beings, and she also has discussions about people's experiences and their complex emotions. However, many programs such as the Bachelor, while intriguing for women, are not really genuine and do not encourage viewers to embrace the deepest parts of their being. Not every program is intended to enlighten and inspire human consciousness, but I do think programs should benefit us in ways that go beyond our most basic desires.  

Reviews

[Lysta]

I really admire how you analyzed television in this way. I myself don't watch television much because of various reasons, but on those rare occasions I do flick the machine on, I never have the riveting thoughts you have. After reading this, all points mentioned in this are quite valid, to varying degrees of truth. I think people are fond of watching reality television because in a way it gives you a sort of experience. Take an example, Survivor, like you mentioned, people enjoy watching others' live their lives, perhaps because it gives them a type of backseat experience. The story unfolds from the point of view of a character, or multiple characters, and is filmed in a way so that it feels like you yourself are with the actual character on an exhilarating adventure. This provides entertainment and excitement with the bad parts excluded, and thus a sense of experience. There are also people who live through the lives of others because either they are unable to fulfill their wishes with only themselves, or because they fear or do not want to go through the bad parts of their journey to their goal, hence the "backseat experience" thing I mentioned before. An example would be mothers urging their daughters to compete in beauty pageants and win, because they themselves are not "young and beautiful anymore" or because they are not willing to suffer through the "training to become beautiful" they put their daughters through. Honestly, I have read way to many horror beauty pageant stories, from a mother feeding her child tapeworm egg pills to keep her skinny, to injecting a very young child with Botox to "keep her skin perfect" for so long, the daughter says that it doesn't hurt anymore. Ahhh, this review has morphed into something that is not a review anymore... I just wanted to express my thoughts, and apologies if I rambled on too long. Did I mention that the way you think is incredible? ;)

-Lysta

[Braden Freeman]

I enjoyed your rambling. I actually agree with the statements you made about beauty pageants. I do enjoy seeing pretty ladies, like most guys, but I much prefer to see beautiful souls. And I think sometimes the parents go too far to polish the outer selves of their children.