Meredith Whitmore of Plugged In Online (the best Christian Reviewing site in the world!!!) discovered something I find to be very interesting.
"...recently when a group of friends and I met for the first time in about a year. I'd hoped to catch up and share a few of the experiences we'd had since parting. Rather than giving us time to talk, however, our hostess proffered popcorn, candy and a DVD. The others were excited to see the movie.
I was deeply disappointed.
And when the TV and lights flickered off because of a power outage during the opening credits, I felt relieved. Great, now we'll have to actually talk, I thought. But things rarely go as I think. Instead of discussing real life, we sat amid a few tea lights in an otherwise darkened room and didn't seem to know what to say. That is, until several people mentioned their favorite television programs—as if the characters and plots were actual and their own real worlds weren't worth mentioning.
Now I felt like crying. Not only because I couldn't relate—I hadn't watched much American TV in the past few years—but because I was suddenly afraid that in this country we were all becoming superficial conversationalists distracted by a million splinters of media.
At this point, I realize I might sound superior—as if I have all of this communication stuff "figured out" and am a consummate raconteur. So for the record, I don't. And I'm not. I'm just amazed by how few Americans are concerned by our culture's media obsession and its effects."
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/read/read/a0004602.cfm
As a person without cable, I have also been in the same situation many times! I don't understand Lost (although I'm sure its interesting from what I hear) and I don't really care who is winning in American Idol. (Sorry but its true!)
This article has given me something to think about...are we focusing too much on the unreal world as an escape-something to keep us from dealing with real issues? I have found that I rely much too heavily on virtual worlds and TV shows to take away the "sting" of life. I'm not going all anti-technology on ya! My word, I mean, this is an internet blog! No, what I mean is that we have to keep our feet on the ground. Know your limits, and make sure that you're not using TV to dull the stuff that you have to deal with. Please comment on this and give me your opinions, if I'm totally off or if I hit the nail on the head for once. :)
I think I know how you feel. When I was a kid, we did not have a TV. It was really hard even getting people to realize that I really meant it when I said we didn't have one. People seemed to think I must have really meant that I didn't have one in my room or something. Even when they finally got the message they were always, forgetting and asking things like, "Did you see ____ last night?" and I would have to remind them that I really didn't have a TV.
ReplyDeleteI do have a TV now, but I only use it for watching DVDs. That's DVDs I've bought myself--mostly to help me learn Japanese.
I'm not sure how serious it is, but I do think there's something not quite right when people are so caught up in TV, cell phones, or whatever that they can't seem to think or act without them. When you don't have all those gadgets, you begin to notice just how strange some of the things everyone else is doing are.
wisewit