I'm re-re-rewatching the 6-part BBC series "How TV Ruined Your Life". Highly recommended.

[arcane1]

A masterpiece, both hilarious and brutal. I love it



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_TV_Ruined_Your_Life

[burnodo]

1. Ironic

[arcane1]

2. Indeed, irony that is not lost on me.

Though in my defense, I'm watching it on my computer

[burnodo]

5. There ya go!

I haven't had a tv since 2007 but I watch TV shows all the time

[arcane1]

6. 2004 was my last cable bill

Being able to watch things online means that there isn't something constantly running. You have to make the effort to find and watch it, rather than it being there all the time to find and tempt you.

[renie408]

17. Mostly for me it means no commercials.

I am always slightly startled when I am at someone else's house and a commercial comes on.

[Warpy]

3. Oooh! And it's online!

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2013, 09:57 PM - Edit history (1)

ETA: The one on love! OHGAWDOGAWD HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

What have you done to me?Q

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. It aired over a decade too late for us. I'm just constantly amazed that you people can watch

the unmitigated steaming piles of shit they serve up to you without becoming physically ill.

The very best offerings today are nothing more than vaguely titillating soap operas (King of Thrones and The Wire were the last two puddles of plop I was convinced didn't really suck and just had to watch), while the rest is nothing but mindless drivel and fast moving primary colors to keep you from noticing that another hour of your life is lost to no purpose.

[arcane1]

7. Too true. I am glad I stopped chasing the laser pointer when I did n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. Let me ask you a serious question. Since you've stopped watching for some time now,

have you noticed a change in either yourself or the people that are still plugged in that you regularly interact with IRL?

[arcane1]

9. Yes. I only understand 1/3 of the jokes that I hear.

And when I go back to visit family, it's on and intruding even when nobody is actually watching. And we'll have dinner at restaurants with 20 TV screens, and each table has control over which TV's audio they hear. And 90% of the conversation is over which TV to listen to.

And while that audio is playing, everyone is glancing around to see if one of the other screens has something better.

The worst part: nobody is sitting there passively tuned in. They are not watching, we are conversing and catching up and trying to interact. Nevertheless, something has to be on, both video and audio, at all times, or people become uneasy.

The effect on myself is harder to measure, since I moved to a big city and spent more time trying to make friends, and cancelled cable because I couldn't afford it any longer

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. OK, yeah. I'm trying to figure that part out myself. I rarely understand what they are talking

about, since it is invariably about some show or another, and the overall level of understanding and relevance seems to be declining. I can't figure out if it's me moving on or them sliding backward, but it is definitely going in the wrong direction.

I don't judge life by what I see here on DU, but a common thread seems to be developing.

Anyway, thank you for answering. We're in the process of going the other way, getting out of the city and looking to join or establish a community elsewhere.

[arcane1]

12. In a way, I envy those friends. They have something in common that makes them bond and laugh.

It makes me a mild outcast, in a way. I can live with that, for now.

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. I get that. Gold & Silver Pawn (Pawn Stars) was an epiphany for me.

I live here and had no idea that they had become famous, I just thought people were really strange to line up outside that shithole.

It is somewhat uncomfortable to be in a group and have no idea what the hell they're talking about 90% of the time. My solution was to go back to hanging out with my rich friends. One of the few good things I have to say about the rich, they are too busy living their lives to waste time on the idiot box.

[chervilant]

11. You might want to read

Jerry Mander's Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Brilliant activist; little acclaim.

[arcane1]

14. It has just now been purchased, new.

[chervilant]

16. Wow!

I haven't had television access for the majority of my life. I have twice been amazed at the changes in graphics and advertisements, having been shielded from 'viewing' the television for long periods of time. It's a strange and powerful device, that television.

[arcane1]

21. When I go back east to visit family, I can barely tolerate it.

After going so long without seeing commercials, especially, it's shocking.

[arcane1]

22. Thanks for the advice! I just finished the introduction, and it feels like it was written yesterday.

This is going to be a fun read

[chervilant]

23. Great!

You probably appreciate the grief I get because I don't have a television. It's obscene, apparently, to go without one.

[Initech]

13. Isn't that only proving the point of the documentary?

[msongs]

15. obsession with cell phones has replaced obsession with televisions nt

[byeya]

18. I haven't had a tv for 10 years and do not miss it. Don't listen to the radio either.

reading
making music
listening to music
crossword puzzles
chatting with my wife
walking and/or hanging out with my dog
(I read a lot of magazines like In These Times, The Monthly Review, The Progressive, NY Review of Books)

tv became irrelevant and we got rid of it

[underpants]

20. +