At the beginning of second grade, the television screen became a major life component of my existence, a necessity among the physical needs of food and sleep.
From the time I got home to the time I left for school the next day, you would find me in my room, adjusting myself in a hard chair, watching an onslaught of television game shows. Some of my favorites in particular included Supermarket Sweep, Nickelodeon GUTS, and Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Needless to say, I was a television junkie. And although I can’t pinpoint exactly why I became drawn to the LCD screen, the reason could’ve been a mixture of different elements: the enthusiasm and high-rush energy among the hosts, the inborn excitement of the contestants, and the luxurious, expensive rewards.
These were feelings I felt lacking and inauthentic in my own life, and I burned with jealousy as I watched kids my age appearing to have it made. I would observe those teenagers' struggle through mazes of synthetic objects and costumed guards to win trips to tropical paradises, thinking to myself, it would be so easy to do all of those things. Just give me the chance, and I could show them all how it’s done.
This juvenile, mediocre assessment may have been the beginning of the opening of one of my valves, a valve in which I became aware of the disillusionment conjured in the space between television and actuality. Although I had the right to say these things, I had little chance to prove them. There could be many factors that went into these shows, including auditions and interviews for those with “winning personalities.”
But I wasn’t thinking about this at the time. I willingly substituted my life for a fictional, publicized version of someone else’s, and as a result, I never really developed my own.
Watching television generally reminded me of what I was capable of, but it also skewed aspects of real life. This isn’t limited to only game shows; on many news channels, for example, there’s a subliminal force that tells you how to feel (either by exclaiming how a prodigy is “better than you,” or by reminding you that you live in a crappy world where crime and shootings happen daily).
This negativity provoked me to forgo television completely. Now, this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be reminded or aware of the problems society faces, but when it comes to the point where it promotes hopelessness and inactivity towards solutions, then shouldn’t a fine line be drawn there? When one can’t tell if a source of media is either enlightening or hindering their capabilities?
There’s also the Internet, which does the same as television, only with more opinions and perspectives. Even after my television abstinence, I can notice the discrepancies between it and the Internet as a whole, the latter of which is less forgiving and apologetic in bringing forth the issues that do not attract attention on television. Honestly, who would’ve known about the 2015 Million Man March? About Akon bringing solar power electricity to 600 million in Africa?
I understand that most people prefer to have both television and Internet. The two go hand in hand, especially when it comes to paying the electricity bill. But with practically everything available within the click of a mouse or the swipe of a screen, are we doing ourselves any favors?
