Monday, February 12, 2007
Thoughts on Television
Looking over the old tracts about television that I posted in my last two messages, I have been thinking about what has changed in television and the church's relationship to it over the years. One objection that can now hardly be made is that "many of our spiritual leaders", or "the best of God's people" are opposed to TV. While there are isolated cases of individuals, or a few whole churches, that have rejected the use of television, this is so rare as to be considered an oddity, and many people, whether in the church or outside of it, are surprised at the idea of living without television. Many people recommend controlling what children can see on television, but few reject it altogether.
The strength of the moral objections has certaily increased over time. At one time, television and other media had to at least pretend to serve a valuable public purpose, and uphold positive values, but with the widespread sex, violence, deceit, disrespect for parents, and other evils so widespread on television today, I think it can clearly be seen as a corrupting influence. Much of what can be seen on television now would have been unimaginable a few years ago. I'm sure anyone reading this who sees television, even occasionally, will recognize this. What does not seem so ceratin any more, is that everyone will remember a time when our culture had not been so corrupted. Do you remember why "Gone with the Wind" was considered shocking? Compare that with the language that can be heard every day now on television, or in many other places. Do you remember when Elvis Presley could only be shown from waist up on the Ed Sullivan show? Compare that to what can be seen in music videos today.
Many parents may try to hide their children from the bad things that are on television, but this seems much more difficult than simply removing the TV altoghether. I remember when I was little, before my parents got rid of their TV, we were allowed to watch the Lawrence Welk Show, usually after we had our baths. We couldn't watch the next show, though, because my mother said it was bad. While that may have kept me from watching it, it also filled me with curiosity to know what that bad show could be. I think I saw part of it once, and I'm sure it was mild by today's standards, but at that time it was exciting to see what was usually forbidden. It must be even harder to shelter children (or ourselves) from objectional content and ads now. My wife and I sometimes watch TV while visiting my uncle and aunt, and she usually hits the mute button or turns the picture off when offensive ads come on. If there were children watching this, it might keep them from seeing most of the ads, but surely they would wonder what it is they aren't allowed to see, and they would see enough of them to have an idea what that is. Isn't there a danger that rather than protecting the children by selecting channels and turning off ads, we might make the forbidden seem more attractive? But if there was no TV in the home at all, the children might never know what they were missing, or at least would see it as something foreign to their experience at home.
In addition to the content which is clearly objectionable on moral grounds, there are other dangers associated with the presence of television in the home. One is its effect on attention span, and on habits of receiving information. It is commonly recognized that today's children often have problems with paying attention, especially for long periods of time. To counter this, schools, churches, etc., are encouraged to speed things up, change scenes frequently, and generally mimic the fast-paced entertainment most people have become used to on television. Wouldn't it be better to remove the TV, and train our children to pay attention to things happening at a more realistic pace?
We should also be wary of spending too much time as passive receivers of information from a box. If, as science is now discovering, the brain can rewire itself to process the types of input we give it, isn't there a danger that we may be changing who we are in unintended ways, especially if we grow up with television as a constant presence in our homes?
While I was in the Philippines a few years ago, I saw a brief segment on television that showed chldren and adults playing various traditional games, such as spinning tops and throwing slippers at targets. I asked my wife about this, and she said that these were games children used to play. Before television. I thought it was so ironic that the television station was promoting itself by showing aspects of the very childhood culture it was destroying. Anyone who is old enough to remember a time before television became common has probably noticed this: Childhood games (in America, tag, hide-and-seek, jump-rope, kick-the-can, and many others might serve as examples) have rapidly declined or disappeared as all of the children have become used to staying inside and watching TV. The phrase "go out and play" has dropped from many parents' vocabularies as television has become the universal babysitter. Where childhood used to involve a lot of active exploring, physical games, and interaction with children from neighboring families, many children now prefer to sit in front of a TV. With the rise of video games, this has trend has been made even worse, and we now have an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Television has destroyed many aspects of local culture for adults as well as for children. Many families now eat in front of the TV, rather than sharing meals and conversations around the table. Family entertainment used to consist of telling stories, often about ancestors. Much of the local information that was passed on this way no longer is, and people know more about the personal struggles of the fictional characters on their favorite soap opera, crime drama, or other show, than about their neighbors, or even their own family.
The breakdown in communication often divides members of a family from each other. When people are watching a show, they are often not communicating, or if they are, only about the show, or brief comments. I've heard a wife describe how she wanted to talk to her husband, but the only time to do this was when he was waching TV, and she could sit there for hours, able to make only a few comments, and getting almost no response. The situation is made even worse now that many families have a TV in each room, so the individuals can be watching their own shows, and not interacting at all.
The time consumed by television and other media has grown over the years. The expense can vary enormously, depending on whether the household has cable, and whether they feel they need the latest huge flat screen TV. Perhaps more significant than the expense of the TV itself, though, is the impact of all the ads that are viewed, and the lifestyles that are portrayed. Many people aspire to have the latest gadgets, wear the latest fads, drive the newest flashy cars, and live like they see people living on TV shows. Such raised expectations are an essential part of what drives our economy, but they can be disastrous for the finances of an individual or family. And of course, TV spreads this message that we all deserve the good life to those in countries where few can afford it, making many there dissatisfied with their lives.
I think that if we desire to create a Christian culture, or any culture whose terms are defined by itself, rather than the TV studios and advertisers of the world, we should give up watching or owning televisions. Who do you want to educate your children: yourself, your church, or MTV, HBO, etc., and all of their corporate sponsors? While I am glad not to have a television in my own home, I would love to live among others who didn't have one, who got their values from their own community, who were not bombarded by sex, violence and advertising, whose children hadn't learned all the foul language and poor values portrayed on screen.
Of course, much of this critique could be extended to other media as well. Should we watch movies, listen to the radio, or use the internet? There are groups who get along fine without any of these things, and even though I use them at times, I still have misgivings. The internet is most troubling (even as I post this message on it), making available things that television doesn't usually portray, and potentially consuming as much time and attention. I suppose that we should ideally put limits on our use of it, at least. I believe it was Emerson who pointed out that even reading can waste our time, and divide us from our neighbors, if we do it too much.
The strength of the moral objections has certaily increased over time. At one time, television and other media had to at least pretend to serve a valuable public purpose, and uphold positive values, but with the widespread sex, violence, deceit, disrespect for parents, and other evils so widespread on television today, I think it can clearly be seen as a corrupting influence. Much of what can be seen on television now would have been unimaginable a few years ago. I'm sure anyone reading this who sees television, even occasionally, will recognize this. What does not seem so ceratin any more, is that everyone will remember a time when our culture had not been so corrupted. Do you remember why "Gone with the Wind" was considered shocking? Compare that with the language that can be heard every day now on television, or in many other places. Do you remember when Elvis Presley could only be shown from waist up on the Ed Sullivan show? Compare that to what can be seen in music videos today.
Many parents may try to hide their children from the bad things that are on television, but this seems much more difficult than simply removing the TV altoghether. I remember when I was little, before my parents got rid of their TV, we were allowed to watch the Lawrence Welk Show, usually after we had our baths. We couldn't watch the next show, though, because my mother said it was bad. While that may have kept me from watching it, it also filled me with curiosity to know what that bad show could be. I think I saw part of it once, and I'm sure it was mild by today's standards, but at that time it was exciting to see what was usually forbidden. It must be even harder to shelter children (or ourselves) from objectional content and ads now. My wife and I sometimes watch TV while visiting my uncle and aunt, and she usually hits the mute button or turns the picture off when offensive ads come on. If there were children watching this, it might keep them from seeing most of the ads, but surely they would wonder what it is they aren't allowed to see, and they would see enough of them to have an idea what that is. Isn't there a danger that rather than protecting the children by selecting channels and turning off ads, we might make the forbidden seem more attractive? But if there was no TV in the home at all, the children might never know what they were missing, or at least would see it as something foreign to their experience at home.
In addition to the content which is clearly objectionable on moral grounds, there are other dangers associated with the presence of television in the home. One is its effect on attention span, and on habits of receiving information. It is commonly recognized that today's children often have problems with paying attention, especially for long periods of time. To counter this, schools, churches, etc., are encouraged to speed things up, change scenes frequently, and generally mimic the fast-paced entertainment most people have become used to on television. Wouldn't it be better to remove the TV, and train our children to pay attention to things happening at a more realistic pace?
We should also be wary of spending too much time as passive receivers of information from a box. If, as science is now discovering, the brain can rewire itself to process the types of input we give it, isn't there a danger that we may be changing who we are in unintended ways, especially if we grow up with television as a constant presence in our homes?
While I was in the Philippines a few years ago, I saw a brief segment on television that showed chldren and adults playing various traditional games, such as spinning tops and throwing slippers at targets. I asked my wife about this, and she said that these were games children used to play. Before television. I thought it was so ironic that the television station was promoting itself by showing aspects of the very childhood culture it was destroying. Anyone who is old enough to remember a time before television became common has probably noticed this: Childhood games (in America, tag, hide-and-seek, jump-rope, kick-the-can, and many others might serve as examples) have rapidly declined or disappeared as all of the children have become used to staying inside and watching TV. The phrase "go out and play" has dropped from many parents' vocabularies as television has become the universal babysitter. Where childhood used to involve a lot of active exploring, physical games, and interaction with children from neighboring families, many children now prefer to sit in front of a TV. With the rise of video games, this has trend has been made even worse, and we now have an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Television has destroyed many aspects of local culture for adults as well as for children. Many families now eat in front of the TV, rather than sharing meals and conversations around the table. Family entertainment used to consist of telling stories, often about ancestors. Much of the local information that was passed on this way no longer is, and people know more about the personal struggles of the fictional characters on their favorite soap opera, crime drama, or other show, than about their neighbors, or even their own family.
The breakdown in communication often divides members of a family from each other. When people are watching a show, they are often not communicating, or if they are, only about the show, or brief comments. I've heard a wife describe how she wanted to talk to her husband, but the only time to do this was when he was waching TV, and she could sit there for hours, able to make only a few comments, and getting almost no response. The situation is made even worse now that many families have a TV in each room, so the individuals can be watching their own shows, and not interacting at all.
The time consumed by television and other media has grown over the years. The expense can vary enormously, depending on whether the household has cable, and whether they feel they need the latest huge flat screen TV. Perhaps more significant than the expense of the TV itself, though, is the impact of all the ads that are viewed, and the lifestyles that are portrayed. Many people aspire to have the latest gadgets, wear the latest fads, drive the newest flashy cars, and live like they see people living on TV shows. Such raised expectations are an essential part of what drives our economy, but they can be disastrous for the finances of an individual or family. And of course, TV spreads this message that we all deserve the good life to those in countries where few can afford it, making many there dissatisfied with their lives.
I think that if we desire to create a Christian culture, or any culture whose terms are defined by itself, rather than the TV studios and advertisers of the world, we should give up watching or owning televisions. Who do you want to educate your children: yourself, your church, or MTV, HBO, etc., and all of their corporate sponsors? While I am glad not to have a television in my own home, I would love to live among others who didn't have one, who got their values from their own community, who were not bombarded by sex, violence and advertising, whose children hadn't learned all the foul language and poor values portrayed on screen.
Of course, much of this critique could be extended to other media as well. Should we watch movies, listen to the radio, or use the internet? There are groups who get along fine without any of these things, and even though I use them at times, I still have misgivings. The internet is most troubling (even as I post this message on it), making available things that television doesn't usually portray, and potentially consuming as much time and attention. I suppose that we should ideally put limits on our use of it, at least. I believe it was Emerson who pointed out that even reading can waste our time, and divide us from our neighbors, if we do it too much.
Labels: television
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