Television Sucks

Television Sucks

The real problem with television is that it doesn't suck.

I mean, sure, 95% of it does, but there are plenty of programs which are creative,
interesting, funny, dramatic, moving, etc. If there's nothing on, there are countless
movies you can rent and watch.

The problem is that television gives you the illusion of connection to other people and to
the world. No matter how empty and pathetic your own life might be, you can turn on the
television and let the stories and emotions wash over you. Movies and tv programs let
you get to know their characters in intimate detail, you seem to share the most important
experiences of their lives, as they fall in love, fight wars, cure diseases, defeat alien
invaders, and so on.

But of course, it's a false intimacy. You don't know these people, the characters and
events you're vicariously experiencing probably never existed, and even if they did
they're still not part of your life and never will be. Meanwhile, your own life still sucks.
You just don't know it for a couple hours, while you watch The Simpsons or Raiders of
the Lost Ark. You feel as if you had experiences which were exciting, funny, tragic,
meaningful, but really you just spent the afternoon staring into a box.

So it's probably a good thing that the vast majority of tv programs and movies are crap.
Think of your favorite movies and tv shows, your favorite actors, and imagine what it
would be like if they were ALL that good. What if every show, all day and all night, was
powerfully moving, funny, entertaining? What if you could turn to any channel, anytime,
and whatever was on was as good as the best movie you've ever seen?

Christ, we'd never be able to tear ourselves away from the tv then, we'd give up on the
real world entirely and spend our whole lives staring into the stupid box. So be glad that
tv sucks.