Television

A recent study done in New Zealand confirmed that television watching in children had adverse consequences that stayed with them for life. The Kodaly and Suzuki methods of teaching music are aimed at naturally developing and instinctive methods of learning that easily apply to music. It has been asserted time and time again if a child listens to Mozart they somehow they will become more intelligent. There are no smoke and mirrors here. If one only takes the time to look at television and analyze with it really is, it would be easy to conclude it is not a good thing for our youth. That has not always been the case. In the Golden Age of Television programming was based upon real life. That was what made it poignant and interesting. Because no medium had ever had the ability to look into the homes of real people, seeing a reflection of your own life on the tube was a kick. Today television does not have this concept. Its music has no motifs. Its programming has no thematic material. There is nothing that ties television together into anything coherent. It somehow became a mish mash of extraneous programs that have translated into dysfunction in American society. If a child watches television for three house, what actually are they seeing? First programs have become truncated, and commercials invade the viewing space much more frequently than in the past. It’s like there is an inquisitive Big Brother constantly “looking in” on the viewer. This phenomenon has inundated American society, and it could be in a psychological form. Is it normal for your personal time to be interrupted constantly by an invading species? When you are attempting to carry on a conversation at school, does Big Business poke its ugly head in? When you are talking on the telephone, does a commercial rudely interrupt you? Someone has to sell the soap, because television is financed by advertising. Programming could not exist except on the public level without advertiser’s dollars. That should not give them the authority to dictate programming standards. These standards, if not regulated by the FCC, should be based upon the actual study of learning. To say a child will not learn when watching TV is ludicrous. When people are young their minds and hearts are open, and they deserve much more than they are being pummeled with on television. It could be said television alone sets the model for schizophrenic behavior, because there are few other situations except Wall Street that mimic such a disjointed approach to social interaction. Only when attempting to register for classes in college have I been exposed to such a situation where calm and intent thought was not effective. It was more like, “You better go out and take what your want,” like the cavemen did. Would Geico be insulted if we suggested their cavemen were so barbaric they must go out and hit their wives on the head with a club? When we attempt to watch television and a commercial interrupts that has no relationship to the programming, it is schizophrenic. Two distant and dissimilar moods juxtaposed upon one another is a formula for something, and maybe it is ADHD. In this manner television has become a barrage of extraneous situations with nothing tieing them together in concept. A young mind watching such a tirade could easily be influenced beginning to unconsciously feel it is normal behavior. Somehow the visceral nature of bombarding images classically conditions the mind into believing concentrating, thinking for oneself, or establishing a mood are inappropriate. Maybe the mind is duped into enjoying submission, because it relinquishes them of the responsibility of having actually to think about the programming content. Entertainment used to be effective like that. Good movies succeeded in reaching our emotions in a positive way with good message. If you think back few movies actually demanded you think about the plot. There was a magic formula consisting of theme related to emotional response that allowed the story to be carried out. Cognitive thought was replaced by an instinctual stream of consciousness. When dealt with in a sensitive and positive way, this was an effective means of both entertaining and enlightening people. Dealt with in a rude and unthoughful way, it will lower the behavior of man to that of the animals and that is what is happening. Producers of film and television are not wise enough to understand their roles. Instead has this media become only a conscious attempt to manipulate our youth into buying products? What about the Blockbuster? Did it not with all its engulfing glory earn the right to sell products because its message was positive as associated with the human race? People love Star Trek and Star Wars for what reasons? It is because the plot is based upon the human condition, and the products are meant as a means of service for our well adjustment in dealing with real life. Television today has lost this aesthetic, and its programming is nothing more than shallow immediate gratification. That every commercial producer on every station has resigned themselves to using “pop” music only in itself has limited television. It used to be the job of the program to bring a degree of intellect and humanity to viewers. If they fail, could it not be the job of commercials to pick up the slack? During the Nielson ratings it was evident commercials had the ability to both titillate and wax philosophic. For a short time only the commercials rose to a level of unprecidented artistry. They were clever and edgy much like their models in Europe. While advertiser’s dollars may not be able to sustain such creativity on a small scale, producers of mainstream television programming bear the responsibility of creating more than casual diversion. America relies upon television for unity, knowledge, and inspiration. Without live music, live composers, and live musicians to carry this message, TV is nothing more than a cheap video game.