The invention of television has swept through the annals of culture taking no prisoners. Perhaps the most apparent effect of television is the effect on family life. As Rodman says “The biggest changes were occurring in American society, especially in term of family life.” (288) I am an opponent of the saturation that has occurred between culture and the television. As Rodman says television did bring families together but the time they spent together was not in conversation. Families were simply coming together to watch their favorite prime time programs they were not coming together to do “family bonding”. Television is perhaps the most inutile of the new mass media. Unlike internet or cell phones television is a relic of the new media. Television only allows for one way communication with the public.
The nature of the programming on television is also on the whole and insult to good taste. Although television does have many educational channels with quality programming such as public television, History channel, and the discovery channel. There are many networks which run distasteful demining programs. The new wave of reality television floods our televisions with random people humiliating themselves. Television should no longer be taken seriously and only watched for comedic purposes.
3 comments:
I agree with your point saying how the programs are becoming very distasteful. They don't put as much care as they used to put on the TV show since the numbers of audience are almost guaranteed. The quality of the content sometimes is not even true or reliable because they show us what they want to show.
However, I kind of not agree with what you talked about how TV doesn't help family to get closer to one another because family actually get to have alot more conversation or interaction such as watching sports channel together and discuss about it later. Or maybe NEWS or maybe a movie...etc. It really depends on what type of TV show they are watching together, and what source can bring them together.
I do agree with you on the face that television has become somewhat of a relic in today’s culture. Although many people still watch it to keep tabs on their favorite shows and occasionally the news, many have turned to the internet because it offers the same services on demand. In many cases completely replacing television. And as you said, the truth is that it has become a bit distasteful in many instances and watching channels like MTV or E! can be mind numbing. The future of television in uncertain while some still lack internet access, however its popularity is certainly on a steady decline.
I also believe that family time has lost significant value with the rapid progression of television and the programs aired today. Television is a remarkable invention, but it has discouraged society from leading more active lives. Television consumes an incredible amount of people's time with the excessive amount of channels and programs offered, catering towards almost every interest group of the public. With such strong emphasis and obsession with television,society is at a greater risk of forgetting the importance of quality family time.
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