“On Friday night, I was reading my new book, but my brain got tired, so I decided to watch some television instead.” ―
Americans are watching less television these days. All forms of TV watching are on the decline, live, binge watching, subscription, cable, you name it. Except at my house. I think over the past few years it’s on the rise! On average, one government study reported, we are watching just under three hours of TV a day. The older you are, that number increases.
Survey research tells us that almost 97% of American households have a TV. Only a third say that it would be very hard to give up their TV. Probably because we feel a little television guilt. The numbers are higher for those who would find it hard to give up their phone or internet (roughly half). Younger generations finding entertainment on phones and laptops.
TV is making me cry these days. All the human interest stories on the news. The grandma in the nursing home when all the preschoolers come to visit, the dog that gets rescued from the drainage ditch, the lovers reunited after the war. The biography of the NFL quarterback tonight?? These stories have always been on the TV. Why am I now having emotional reactions? I didn’t used to.
“We live in a world where joy and empathy and pleasure are all around us, there for the noticing.” ―
“What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.” ―
As I scroll through my menu of choices, why do I keep ending up in the British Isles? I’m mad because my Netflix algorithm seems to only push me Hungarian programs dubbed into English. What’s the deal? I’ve got to cancel that subscription! It seems as if my attention is kept only by mysteries. Watching a comedy all alone doesn’t really work. The Brits have a lot of mystery series that I can follow while still grading or writing or painting. Some of those accents roll right past me.
I do make it a point to watch the news morning and evening. I’m so old that I remember in my childhood when we had two editions of the newspaper delivered, one in the morning and evening! I realize, watching the news religiously probably puts me into the senior adult category. I’m around college students every day who can’t put their phones down (if their lives depended on it!) yet they don’t know if it’s going to rain today? I have friends and family out of town who had no idea I was recently hit by a hurricane. You’d think that would have been on the news? What are people watching?
My morning news routine keeps me worried. I try to catch it late so that I can skip through the commercials. In the morning these are all about new drugs (with people dancing and singing despite their side effects?), Medicare extension plans and knee surgeries. See what I mean? News watching on TV must have become be a senior adult activity.
“Television is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.” ―
I honestly think the TV is on so much at my house so that there will be background voices playing – to keep me from living in too much silent isolation. Periodically I will leave the music channel playing when I leave the house. When I return home, the “haunted house” effect isn’t so bad – with a familiar tune playing.
My wife and I used to sit together and I’d put on TV programs that she requested. She didn’t have too many favorites. She would sit on the couch and tap away at her laptop all night long. I’d gripe that she wasn’t even watching. She would look over at me and then repeat every word and scene that had just transpired. I could never win. So, we kept watching her corny shows week after week.
When I pay more attention to my lifestyle, I put on the music and move to a different room. Much better. That TV with all those stupid programs dumbs me down. I watch a documentary periodically to keep from feeling too guilty. There’s some great stuff out there. Plus, I never run the risk of boring anyone else in the room!
What are you watching on TV?
What’s playing on your TV while you’re doing something else?
Is everyone in the room actually watching the TV together?
How difficult would it be for you to give up your TV?
I’m having roommate issues with mine!
“Seeing a murder on television… can help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.” ―
The Invisible Man 