The American Heritage Dictionary defines "disease" as "a condition of an organism that impairs physiological functioning, resulting from causes such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress." Although it may not be the first thing to come to mind, television is one of the worst diseases America has ever faced.
American life revolves around the television. People wake up with "Good Morning, America," get their evening news from Brian Williams and fall asleep to Jay Leno. Television has become so ingrained into American culture, that a social event could comprise of no more than watching an episode of "Survivor," and go unquestioned.
According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than four hours of TV each day, meaning that a 65-year-old person will have spent nine years in front of the TV. Could anything be more pathetic than having spent nearly a decade of your life staring at a glass screen?
After its novelty has worn off, the appeal of television is perplexing. It is hard to understand how a medium in which bizarre, sitcom situations are made to seem the norm, the news is always accompanied by flashing lights and powerful music, and a twisted game show supposedly constituting "reality" has come to symbolize American entertainment.
Perhaps the introduction of "channel surfing" into America's cultural vocabulary can be considered the most significant event in the evolution of this country's dependence on television. This concept changed how people used television as an entertainment device, legitimizing a new practice. While, previously, viewers may have turned on the TV to watch a specific program they enjoyed, entertainment has now become the act of staring at a box and trying to find the least undesirable program available. Suddenly, a medium designed to show entertaining programs was itself the entertainment.
It is disturbing that TV addiction has advanced to a point where cable and satellite companies advertise the amount of "choices" they provide. I feel sorry for anyone who considers changing the channel from "CNN" to "Fox News" an actual choice. In reality, the only true choice is one that seems unthinkable to many people: turning the TV off.
While a stand against television from someone who watches a fair amount may be seen as hypocritical, the quality of TV programming is not in question, but rather its role as many people's sole source of entertainment.
Often, advocacy groups will suggest alternatives — reading a book, for example — to watching television. While the noble efforts of these groups must be commended, they are approaching the situation wrongly by offering options to fill time, as if people would simply be sitting on the couch, staring at a wall, were there was no TV. Pushing for an intellectual endeavor to replace television is fine, but a better way to approach the issue would extend to the individual level, asking every television viewer one question: what would you be doing right now if your TV was broken (besides getting it fixed)?
America has become a nation of TV-watching zombies who can sit for hours pondering the status of some sitcom relationship, but do not even try to understand the relationship they have with their own parents. Further, the culture Americans share no longer involves a perceived unity-in-history, but instead consists merely of meaningless ad slogans and theme songs.
Television is not evil. It has revolutionized the way in which people get information, provided more than its fair share of entertainment, and opened people's eyes to things they might not have seen otherwise. However, like a drug, television is best used in moderation and can take years off your life — an average of nine in the United States — if abused.
Watching television programming you enjoy is perfectly fine, but reconsider your actions the next time you flip on the TV just to have it on.
Rob Rossmeissl ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.
