Questions for Us

In lieu of the recent discussion about ‘quality’ television, it made me question what we’re becoming as an audience.

The general response, by the people who defend shows like, The Shire or Jersey Shore etc. etc. etc. is, “It’s so bad, it’s good!” or “It’s just for a laugh!”

But when pushed for an articulate explanation as to what it is they ‘like’ about it or how it’s funny…there is only the sounds of crickets.

That’s because there is nothing they can say about the tripe they’re watching – in fact, some of them explain with an, “I dunno, it just is.”

Yet they’re popping up everywhere. Why? Because it’s what the creators and producers think we want.

Is it?

Well, the tragic part is that it does appear to be what the masses want. I’m sure there will be many people glued to their seats, watching the next gripping and exciting installment of their favourite show of ‘tacky and fickle’.

Are they in the majority?

We appear like a nation of dumb and mindless, when these sort of shows are afforded our attention…and they gain ratings.

Question #75: Is there no sense of pride – knowing that we appear so easy to dupe?

This INFURIATES me because thanks to this perception, a lot of us are being held to ransom, as the choices of what to watch – for entertainment – are so limited.

Worse still, people are making money off it. Your attention = money.

We need to be more frugal with who gets our attention because at the moment, it appears that when a ‘carrot’ with big boobs is dangled – we follow – like children behind the Pied Piper.

Or we say nothing.

A few years ago, when I was on an excursion with students, I noticed that there was a new energy drink in the shops, called Pussy.

I talked to the students in my year group about seeing this drink. I told them of how I imagined the guy who thought it up – thinking about how he would get rich – he himself imagining guys saying to each other, “I’m going to drink some Pussy!” *HawHawHaw/SnortSnort*

I said to them, “Don’t make him right! Do not give him a cent!”

I urge you to think the same way about what’s being dished out and sold to us as being ‘popular’. Step back and take a look at the core of what’s being sold.

In these sorts of shows, the message that keeps hammering us over the head – on BIG screen TVs across the country – is that young women are not worth our attention, if they don’t have a certain type of vanity attached to their behaviour. This can manifest itself in a spectrum of ways – through clothes, make-up, plastic surgery, conversations, ACTIONS! – and the guys?…well, I didn’t see much about them in the first episode of The Shire – it mainly focused on those girls – and I don’t intend to watch anymore to find out either. My brain cells are still recovering from the first encounter.

So, what sort of audience member are you?

Don’t you want – DESERVE – something better?

Deep Breath

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