Television: too simple to be good?

Australia
February 4, 2007 5:11pm CST
For as long as we've had television, we've had issues, events, problems shrunk down to the size of the box and presented in a way that caters to the short concentration span of viewers: sitcoms solve problems in half an hour, CSI exaggerates the speed and efficiency of forensic investigation, Dr Phil is shown talking to people for a few minutes on problems which are more deep-rooted than something that can be solved with a brief discussion. Is it a good or a bad use of television's power to do this? Does shrinking an issue down to a digestable size give people a good introduction to it so that they can apply it to their own lives and situations, or does it just give false, misleading ideas about complex issues?
1 response
Destiny007
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
5 Feb 07
Television paints an unrealistic picture of life. It seems like everyone has an expensive car, big house, plenty of money and works only if it is convenient. What news we get is slanted one way or the other, nobody gives just the facts, but delivers their commentary as to what they think is going on. Every thing we see is condensed for us. There is no incentive to think for yourself, the thinking is done for you, wrapped in a neat pretty package and fed to you on a daily basis. I could go on, but I believe I have answered your question, and I feel a rant coming on, so I best quit.