Public Opinion Section:
Comments from Cyberspace on Television

"With TV, the viewer is the screen."
-- Marshall McLuhan
 

Cindy Ohara, Arlington, Virginia:

While not having ever given much thought to television, in general, there are a handful of shows that I enjoy watching, but none that I couldn't do without. I have always held that television is an "idiot box," but in our society a necessary evil. When alone, rarely is the television on, and instead you can find me curled up in a favorite chair reading a book.

There are those that constantly have to have the television on and cannot do without, and these people puzzle me. I think our world would be a more creative, peaceful, imaginative place to live without television, because we would have only our own minds and senses to rely on for information and to answer our questions. Perhaps if television informed people of current events, but rarely do people watch t.v. for its information ... only for such mindless drivel such as Sally Jesse Raphael or Oprah. This is not the real world, yet people treat the information as if it is real.

Peter Tucker, Austin, Texas:

I do have genuine concern about the amount of Television we tend to watch. I see it taking away from our creative talents - a non-participatory venture that we all seem to take part in. . . I tend to learn a lot from conversations with others, discussions of issues. . . I don't tend to learn much from TV. I see TV as an escape, a time to be entertained, and occasionally informed.

Scott Kaufman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

Television makes suggestions about what to think about, not how to go about thinking it.

Jim Walls:

Television is medium by which the corporate universe programs us to over consume our resources on the promise of curing that aching dissatisfaction in our hearts. The vicious paradox is that our mindless and meaningless lives, centered around this parasitic symbiosis between us and the industriobeast, is the source of our dissatisfaction. The masses are lost in the trance of this technocorporate antichrist. We are stumbling into oblivion.

John Woodward:

Let's just say that we disagree quite a bit on the politics (or lack thereof) regarding television. My question to you is, if television were to disappear, what would replace it? A return to Vaudeville? Hardly more intellectual than the current smattering of comedy on television. Movies? Most preTV talkies were about the same level as they are now. Books? Perhaps a bump in readership, but could you steer them away from westerns, crime novels and romance stories?

You see, I don't think you can keep people away from wanting to have a light good time. In fact, I see nothing wrong with it all. We all like to have some fun, right?

And sure, TV sells culture. So what? So do books, movies, and radio, not to mention schools, jobs, and personal relationships. (And just for the record, some of out here think the American culture is pretty damn good in most respects. Yes, some things aren't to my liking, but overall, thumbs up.)

Joseph Holly

The error that John Woodward makes in his attempt to defend television-watching is that he assumes all "light entertainments" are equal. Vaudeville and movies both require viewers to congregate with others who have come for a shared experience in a building designed for that experience. Reading a book, ANY book, is more worthwhile than watching television, because it requires effort from the reader: first to do the reading, but more importantly to envision and populate the waking dream that even the simplest written fiction creates in the mind. The main fault with television is the unthinking passivity it encourages.

The thing that bothers me most about television is its failure to live up to its potential. We live in a Golden Age of technology, with more science, more knowledge available to more people than ever before in history. Television in particular has an immense power to teach; so far, nearly all of it is wasted. We could be showing the poor how to improve themselves and their incomes directly, or could be teaching grade-schoolers the rudiments of calculus.

The potential of the medium--its potential to improve human life in general--is unlimited. Rather than realized potential, though, what we get is simple-minded "entertainment," a redundant string of presentations so pointless and uninspiring that one gets the feeling the shows have been designed as filler, existing only to take up the space between the commercials.

Curtis E. Wright, Maxwell, California

18 months ago we disconnected service to our television. That is, turned off the cable service. Living in a rural setting we depended on the "set" for information, but found ourselves watching the evening shows more and more. We were, in fact, being conditioned by the darn thing. News? What a joke; always sensational and not of a positive nature at all; worst of all it was highly edited by the announcers. Slanted sometimes and quite untruthful. We now use the set to watch a movie (video) of our choice. When we wish have actual conversations about topics that interest us and we read quite a bit. I could go on but would rather not bore you. Turning the set off truly let us see what was going on around us and between us.

Andy Mclain

When I tell people I don't have a television, it makes them nervous. The first stage is denial: "Oh, you must have a television somewhere, god knows I have three or four!" The second stage is anger: "what do you mean you don't have a television... whatsa matter, you think you're better than everyone else?" Then comes bargaining: "My brother has a 15" console tv and he wants a new one, he'd probably sell it to you for 50 bucks or so..." And finally, acceptance: "Well, whatever, Jesus. Do what you want." At the end of the cycle, they go away, realizing we have nothing in common, and nothing to discuss.

Anonymous

I am writing to express my disagreement with the view that you have put across. Television was invented as a medium of information and entertainment and if used properly, can be a useful tool in the education of a child, especially in this machine-powered age. It is only when television is abused that it becomes harmful. I don't believe that just because of a few rotten apples the entire human race should be classified as "television-crazed vegetables."

Martin Luke

Television is nothing but a spiritual parasite. It sucks the very life of it's victims. I know some people who LITERALLY are 'dead' as they live. They live in front of their televisions. I feel nothing but pity, shame, and disgust for these people.

Dan 2P

People like you make me sick. Television is one of the greatest inventions of all time. I belong to a religion that is based on Fun and Television called the Partridge Family Temple.

I could go on for hours why tv is the greatest artistic medium. Wise up. You, my friend are brainwashed by the anti-television establishment.

Mark Plummer, Seattle, WA

My suggestion for those attempting to get control of their TV habit. (And it is just that: a habit. TV is the most dangerous and most abused drug in America.)

To get control of your habit, I suggest keeping a "TV Journal." In this journal record everything you have been viewing on TV and your feelings/thoughts about what you've seen. Those little calendar books with each week on a page work great. At the end of a week (or any time interval you choose) review your journal entries. After a bit of this you will become much more aware of how you use TV and maybe of how TV uses you. Take it from there, it's your time after all.

Michael W. Carrington, Austin, Texas

I have to say that I am definitely impressed. Although I have just recently started to surf the www, I found your page to be extremely informative. I can't even begin to imagine how much research and diligence it took for you to complete this project. It is a testament to your passion about your philosophy, a philosophy I might add that is shared by a vast majority of my peers.

Risa Jordan, Philadelphia, PA

I like the topic of your page. My family and friends think I'm weird because I don't watch all of those shows that everyone else seems to like. I don't like watching tv when I could be spending my time reading something or being creative.

Carolyn Waldrop

I am glad that I found this site. I am one of those "baby boomers" whose parents used the television as a "baby sitter" when I was growing up. So now I find it very difficult to leave it off. It is extremely addictive! I try very hard to keep it off when I am home, but some days I just want to "tune out" to the "real world" and that is exactly what I do. I am aware of my problem, and some days I do better than others keeping it in control.

Nancy, Tucson, Arizona

I accidently killed my t.v. last July. My husband refused to buy another. My kids who are 4 and 9 absolutley could not care less! What an unbelievable by-product! I've got 2 kids who never ask for the current toys being hawked, they don't ask for that garbage cereal so often advertised and they don't complain at all about being bored. My 4 yr old has lost that glazed look in his eyes and he loves to play outdoors. My 9 yr old has become an avid piano player and softball fan. We spend time together and talk alot. Death for my t.v. meant new life for my kids and me!

Dave Malkoff, Ohio

I think turning off the TV is a stupid idea. . . it's just an opinion. I truly believe that my life is rich, exciting, and inspired for one reason. . . my television! I think people should watch more TV! Take a look at my page paying homage to the greatest box ever to grace the living room. . . the television, and the news that's on it!

Robert Guaderrama

Thank you for a web page which has affirmed my beliefs about television. I identified with the man who identified the stages that one goes through when confronted with the shocking fact that a person doesn't have television. I refuse to watch it. My in-laws think that a person can't responsibly keep up on the news or even vote without the television. I try to explain to them that I get what I need from peers and the "gasp" newspaper but they can't see my point at all.

I think that when people object to the absence of television in a person's home it is partly because of brainwashing. The major reason though, is that they don't want to have to face their addiction to a medium that is truly sick in its conveyance of thoughts and ideas. It isn't that all of television "programming" is terrible, it is the way it is presented.

People have even gone so far as to call me a bad parent because I have a 10 month old son who will never be able to tune in to Sesame Street. I plan on purchasing a VCR and plugging it in to my computer so that I can control what I watch in the "television" medium. I think that this is a healthy alternative to TV because it gives the viewer much more control over what he/she is exposing their mind to. Thanks again for the thought provoking site.

Beatriz Hernandez, Mexico City, Mexico

I think that the problem is not the t.v. -- we are guilty for abuse of the t.v. We are free to watch or not watch t.v. and the kind of programs we can see too. Nobody forces us to watch t.v.

Shaye Gordon, South Africa

I would just like to state that if I owned the petro-chemical monopoly, I would donate 68 percent of my income to your cause!!!! I personally can't live in the same house as a television and direct a lot of my art towards tele-hate. Great page.

Dustin Beltram

It's great that you've highlighted the article by Jerry Mander. Great web site. I'd like to add that all of these arguments against televsion could also be applied to Internet "push" technology; it's an evil that must be stopped before advertisers and traditional media turn the interactive Internet into yet another carefully controlled broadcast medium.

Owen Parry, United Kingdom

Dear Sir,
Your web site has provided an informative insight in to television in the United States. I am a British physics student preparing for university and I use occasionally use television to complement my studies.

In the United Kingdom, citizens pay a value equivalent to $150 Dollars each year to be legally entitled to watch television. This is a service which comprises of between four and five channels. Only one of these channels currently broadcasts twenty-four hours each day. Two of these channels are non-commercial and are managed by the BBC.

Having discussed this with a number of Americans, they are astonished to find that we ''survive" with so few channels. My answer to this is that I would rather have four channels of quality programmes than two-hundred channels of lower quality broadcasting.

I am proud of the television in my country, and the majority of my fellow citizens will agree. Television, along with the radio services and the print provides a valuable source of information and give people who would otherwise be parochially-minded a broader perspective of the world.

My opinion is that television is the greatest development in the dissemination of information in this century and should be recognised as such. It provides an alternative complement to education at any age and has penetrated the population more successfully than any other medium.

I thank you for taking the time to read my opinions. I would be very interested in hearing more about your sentiments along this theme. I think it is a credit to you that you are willing to consider the opinions of others.

Anonymous, Western Illinois University

I don't watch very much tv, but I don't think it's all bad. I'm a 20yr old college junior. I'm very involved in Hall government, a volunteer group, and dance. But, there are good tv shows. You shouldn't trash every show. "7th Heaven" is a great show, and "Happy Days" is the best show that was ever made.

The Pirate King (anonymous)

Hi Ron, great page. My husband and I have been married 4 years now, and have never owned a TV. We're not obsessive about it; we've never believed TV to be inherently evil or bad, nor are we Luddites, refusing to allow technology into our homes. But the hours spent watching something inane in front of a television are hours that could be spent doing all kinds of things--reading, visiting with friends, exploring a new neighborhood, doing something about the problems in your community--hey, even spending hours on the computer instead; at least it's interactive!

Keep fighting the good fight.