Silence is golden...television shows and their message

Bernard Cornwell, a British author, once said that television is a young person’s medium. I remember the days of Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Adventures of Tintin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Three Stooges, The Magic School Bus, Popeye the Sailor Man, as well as the original Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I grew up watching these shows religiously and, in a sense, these shows were either a part of my childhood or early teen years. As a child, for some strange reason I believed that spinach would give me massive biceps. I related to certain characters, while trying to imitate others. In a sense, I lived vicariously through the characters in the shows I followed.

The more I contemplate Cornwell’s aforementioned quote in light of these shows and others, the more I have come to the obvious realization that television, apart from serving certain educational purposes, has introduced me to and has exposed me to society and the world around me. During Tuesday’s lecture, it was argued that at different times in one’s life the metaphors that are associated with television, as outlined in article written by Dettweiler and Taylor, change. I would argue that not only have the metaphors changed but so too has the content of the shows. In certain examples, the content not only serves as the antithesis to common ways of behaving and living but also serves to distort and obscure what is defined and/or meant by proper conduct.

In lecture we discussed how Christians were being represented in narrative television and in reality shows, but what about the representation of Christian values? Even if you want to disregard religious values, what about a basic conduct of living and a sense of morality i.e. respect for yourself and others as well as right versus wrong? I feel that certain sitcoms and televisions shows are creating a false sense of living and a misrepresentation of proper/normal behaviours. As an example, the sitcom Entourage is one particular television show that was extremely appealing and popular. The notion that viewers live vicariously through their favourite television actors and, in turn, adopt their particular traits, becomes troublesome when you look at how Ari Gold (the main character) treats women, his assistant, and his employees. His behaviour is rude, chauvinistic, and abhorrent but somehow attractive! Two and a half men is another example of a sitcom with controversial messages but we all know about that…