I went from having no television in BC to watching TV non-frikkin’-stop back here in Ontario. Seriously. Dr. Phil… Simpsons… Simpsons… Simpsons… Sex and the City… The Daily Show… Colbert Report… South Park and then one more Simpsons. Then it all repeats. It seems like at any given time The Simpsons are on somewhere.
The important things of this line up are the Daily Show and Colbert Report. …I’ve been pretty depressed the past week … but you know what makes me REALLY happy and warm inside? Jon Stewart’s laugh. …Which actually sounds a lot like Strombo’s laugh but slightly higher pitched. It’s just such a happy and cute laugh.
What makes me really unhappy are all the commercials. It’s disgusting how much people will fall for and how many stupid gender roles there are being spewed at us eevvvery day. And you know - I’m assuming that most people are just passive watchers, they don’t actually think about it. I’m not saying that I’m on my toes about it all the time - but I would say I’m more aware of it than the average viewer.
Anyway - but to the constant TV watching - it’s because my wireless adapter got broken at the party that we had. I have no idea how it happened, but one minute it was working just perfectly and the next some douche tool had broken it. Not. Cool. I hate drunk people.
On top of that I’m starting a TA position in September, and some kid was already like “HEY! I googled you and got your blog!” when I was in talking to the teacher I’ll be doing it with.. And I was like “shit”… So I’m going to have to tame some of my posts and such I guess… Which is really crappy, but the alternative isn’t a nice one.
I remember a post on A Blog Around The Clock mentioning that some people don’t need to give out business cards, they just say “google me” instead. Well, I’m not so sure that employers and people would appreciate finding some of the things I’ve written in the past. Chances are I’ve said something bad about them because most people in the world are money driven, consumeristic jerk pants who have no care for anyone else on the planet! w00t!!
If you’re more aware then why watch? And considering they’re “being spewed at us eevvvery day” I would say it’s unsurprising, and not about to change. IMHO you are responsible for whatever ‘gender role’ (I loathe that term) you take.
You should download your TV and skip the commercials altogether — its what I do. I have every Simpsons, South Park, Futurama, Lost, Scrubs, Heroes, Prison Break — many many others — and am able to get any episode I don’t have in less than 4 minutes (the new episodes are available 20 minutes after they air)… but I realize I’m awesome and you’re not quite so awesome, so it kind of makes sense.
I have all of Sex and the City, The L Word, 4 seasons of South Park, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Heroes. …But Mom and Paul have “meh” internet connection - and I don’t have internet on my computer… So I can’t download things. Besides… I like watching Colbert and Stewart on TV - the simpsons and south park I could do without.
And why watch? Because Jon Stewart makes me heart feel good.
Andy–
The way I read it, Katie was complaining about the commercials. I assume that she watches TV for what comes in between the commercials, not for the commercials themselves.
As for me, I think that commercial TV and radio has a tendency to make people less intelligent and more selfish, because they model poor thinking. People in commercials are rewarded for being unskeptical and for using logical fallacies. And people who watch commercials are constantly told that they deserve better things than they have, and that people who indulge their selfish impulses are smarter than most people.
Here’s a few examples of what I mean:
An online university urges radio listeners to enroll so that they can start earning the money that they “deserve.” As if the act of listening to the radio made a person deserving of more money.
A lot of TV commercials feature a person who resists buying a new product because he’s skeptical of the claims made by a salesman or a disembodied voiceover. By the end of the commercial, we see that the skeptic is an unpleasant and silly person who would be much better off if he would be less cynical, and more trusting of people who try to sell him things. Very often, this silly person has an attractive friend who believes everything he’s told, and is quite eager to try whatever new product is being touted.
Many commercials feature a line of reasoning that is completely illogical. When aspartame was introduced, consumers were assured that it was safe because it contained chemicals that are also found in bananas and milk. Radio listeners are told that they can have health, wealth, and a better love life if they buy a speed reading system… which will enable them to read every volume in the self-help section of the bookstore.
And on and on it goes. A constant drumbeat of irrationality, selfishness, and consumerism. People don’t watch TV because they’re stupid. They’re stupid because they watch TV.