Charlie Payne - Assignment 5

     I cannot comfortably say that I don't like TV; many television shows have moved me and I appreciate the power of a good series. The "TV is bad for you" mentality prevents many from enjoying good art, and seems to me to be too dismissive, despite many TV shows popular now being trash, opting to be low-risk money makers that dumb themselves down to try to reach as broad an audience as possible. Let's not forget about Freaks and Geeks, or Twin Peaks, or The X Files (at least a few seasons of it), or Wilfred. These shows are intelligent and creative and fresh and witty and succeed at establishing audience-character connections on an emotional level, while continuing to be widely accessible in bite-sized bits to people all across America.

    All that said, I can't think of the last time I sat down and watched TV just for the hell of it. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, with a dormant thirst for knowledge and insight, and I find watching television as a pastime to be extremely consumptive and distracting. That isn't to imply that I refuse to fill my days with consumptive activity; consumption is part of learning and can be used to better yourself, in my opinion. The problem arises when someone starts a new show on Netflix with a full bag of Cheetos in their arms like a baby, and then the next minute Netflix has nothing more to offer and they look down at their once-white-now-orange shirt and four empty Cheetos bags and think "Wow, did I seriously watch two seasons of Breaking Bad back to back and not move from this chair for like 40 solid hours? Hell yeah, bro!" It's no mystery why America has an obesity problem. Television can be a highly enjoyable and relaxing indulgence, but it's still just that: an indulgence. Unfortunately, like junk food, most people don't think of it like that.