More destructive than the atomic bomb

[Jessyn]

there are three main problems with tv as I see it.

1)Commercials.  don\'t get me started on this, coz they are the biggest.

2)Mindless pap.  most of the shows on tv have no meaning.  and i\'m not talking about every story having a moral, i\'m talking about shows that don\'t make you laugh, cry, think, etc.

3) They can\'t be turned off.  yes, i know they have a switch.  but people get addicted to TV, and by \"people\"  i mean MOST.  as in more than half of the people who own a tv.  people who turn on the tube for a show they want to watch, watch the show, and then, start flippin,\"there\'s gotta be something else on...\"  everyone\'s done it a few times, but so mny people do it EVERY DAY.

those are the problems with tv, as I see em.

Jessyn

[Kiern]

Originally posted by Xandria
Believe it or not, that stuff affects your mind in ways you cannot imagine.  Your mind begins to think that that is what all women should look like.  Even worse, it\'s objectifying women, which later on can cause men to beat their wives, and other such horrible acts  ;(

Nothing causes anyone to do anything, it is their own actions and a picture or image or even a living person has no choice whether or not they do it...even if they grew up in that enviroment, it is not an excuse.

[cmhitman]

i love television...period

[Fantasyfiend]

I agree with Jessyn. It\'s sad how many people have nothing better to do than stare for hours on end at a box. I think it comes from boredom. I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but there\'s nothing to occupy their minds, so they watch it. Personally, I got programming.

Commercials are bad, but I think infomercials are worst. They\'re like 1/2 hour commercials trying to justify the stupidest and most useless items. They had one for pills for male enhancemant, and they were actually going around on a street talking to people about the product, and it\'s effect. I don\'t know HOW they went about asking them about it (or why people even answered). Then they had a live audience. That was so horribly stupid I actually had to laugh. Come back to the show, people clap and sit down.

Shows on tv aren\'t really about morals anymore. FOX is real bad about showing things like \"Worlds Most Shocking Acts Caught on Tape!\" or Worlds scariest car chases, or world\'s biggest bowel movements. The only channels that seem to present anything close to a moral is the Hallmark channel. VH1 used to be cool, but now it seems they cater to rap and Pop more than anything else.

Yes, you can turn off a tv. You can turn off your radio, but that doesn\'t stop anything. Billboards for example.
I went up to Houston to visit some family that came down for Thanksgiving (It was actually the first time I drove through there without family. Except my cousin who drove through most of the heavy traffic). Anyway, there was a huge billboard for a laughably called \"Gentlemen\'s Club\". The ad said something to effect of.

\"You\'ll find it too hard to leave\"

Written big, bold, and across the sky, staining it. Subtle messaging? Hardly. That seems like one of the last things that should be seen from the 610 Loop.

It\'s really a shame when that kind of crap is suddenly \"Okay\" in this day and age. I realize that our ancestors during, say, \"The Salem Witch Trials\" and Prohibition were probably being a bit over Zealous, but I see no reason to go backpedalling hard in the opposite direction.

[AendarCallenlasse]

and it\'s not that i have something against gays, but it seems like ? of what they broadcast nowadays has to have gays in it, wich kinda annoys me..

This is a personal choice though.  There is no difference between two guys kissing and a girl and guy kissing.  If you disagree then you are simply looking at it from a typical homophobic (Too harsh a word maybe) perspective.  Would you be so offended if it were two women kissing?

3) They can\'t be turned off. yes, i know they have a switch. but people get addicted to TV, and by \"people\" i mean MOST. as in more than half of the people who own a tv. people who turn on the tube for a show they want to watch, watch the show, and then, start flippin,\"there\'s gotta be something else on...\" everyone\'s done it a few times, but so mny people do it EVERY DAY.

If a person can\'t go a day without watching TV, and mean seriously cannot, then they should visit a therapist.  It\'s not the companies fault if they get \'addicted to TV\'.

Hypocrite for what I do watch? I honestly haven\'t considered that. But the sexual overtures in FLCL don\'t bug me, because (1) FLCL usually portrays it as humour , and (2) sex is simply a part of life. Granted. As for Futurama, perhaps you have a point. But again, it was directed as humour. It\'s not saying, \"Drink this, get laid.\"

So it\'s ok if it makes someone laugh?  I\'m sure someone got a kick out of watching someone die.  Sure they were obviously deranged.  But as long as it makes someone laugh it\'s ok.  To him, it was humour.

Anyway, there was a huge billboard for a laughably called \"Gentlemen\'s Club\". The ad said something to effect of.

Well if you have a problem with that then you probably should attack the American Constitution.  Every business has a right to advertise.  EVERY  business.  There is nothing wrong with strip clubs.  It\'s a business.  Hell I was at one only a few days ago.  The women there make money and the men there can let off some steam.

You mistake television and media for a trigger. To some degree it is. It doesn\'t make anyone kill anyone, I doubt it causes unprotected sex. But it grinds down the mind and morals to the point where it seems like a reasonable alternative.

TV is a very, very small part of what influences the younger generation to do anything.  And I am saying this from the point of view of an 18-year old, college freshman.  I watch TV all the time.  I have never done drugs, obviously haven\'t killed myself, and never had unprotected sex.  If I turn off the TV, I still have a pot smoking roommate.  Rooms of beautiful girls on all sides of me, and plenty of reasons to end my life.


Best TV show on TV?
Law and Order: SVU
or
Law and Order: CI
or
Law and Order

Ok any of the Law and Order shows.[/COLOR]

[sashok]

I on the most parts agree with FantasyField.

MTV degrades humanity.  They sell sex and all kinds of degrading behavior.
But I would understand if MTV was an adult channel.  Adult minds(20-45)  are not affected in any way by watching this stuff, in fact, adults wouldn\'t watch it because it\'s simply put, crap.
But no, MTV specially targets teenagers.  Before, when MTV was just making it\'s roots, there was mostly music videos, and some shows like beavis and butthead .  But now, they learned how to lure more young viewers. And that\'s by selling sex.  They show teenage soap operas.  Stuff like real world, rich girls, sorrority life, dismissed, those shows make me SICK.  They do not show any values, they do not teach any morals, other than preditor instinct  
Hey, I catch my mom watching Rich Girls and I ask her why she\'s watching it.  She just wants  to look at how they live .  But she\'s 40 years old.  Her mind will not be affected by the behaviour of the girls, and she will not try to act like them.  Young girls, by watching this show, will look on contrary, how these girls act, dress, what are their values.  And why?  Because they are rich.

On another note, Family guy, Futurama, South park are adult shows and parents are warned this beforehand.  And they are usually shown at night time.  But MTV runs their degrading programs all day long and teens are attracted by what they sell to them.

p.s.  watch comedy central all day.  You can\'t go wrong with that

[AendarCallenlasse]

So anyone who watches those shows tries to copy them?  I watch Viva La Bam.  I love that show.  Do I act like Bam?  No.  I\'ve watched Jackass.  Do I do any of that stuff?  Hell no.  If someone does then they are an idiot.  Period.  And you cannot blame MTV for that.

Real World.  That is the best show ever made.  It shows normal people and how they interact.  Sure there is cursing, sex, occasional nudity, and mild violence.  But that is normal in every person\'s life.  Hence the name, Real World.

MTV plays these shows for one reason.  That\'s what we like.  If MTV played a bunch of bible-beating, parent driven shows then they would go out of business because that isn\'t what we want to see.

MTV isn\'t to blame for why we like those shows.  Hormones is.  If you\'re a religious person God is to blame for making us the way we are.  It\'s normal teenage behavior.  Don\'t like it?  Too bad.

Comedy Central:
The Man Show
South Park
Crank Yankers

[Rageburst]

You say things that some people might agree with... but I don\'t agree with you saying it at the expense of scorning other people who like MTV, who are gay on television, who are pop stars appealing to the masses, and so on.

It\'s quite easy to hate all this stuff, but do you see a dangerous flaw within yourself when you do this?

I say it again, you\'re letting your ego take over you. I wouldn\'t go on arguing to show how self-righteous you are, or how you think your judgement on everything should be the standard for everyone.

[Leander256]

IMHO, TV is influencing society, which is in turn influencing it.

I\'d describe that as \"just another problem of money\". People want to get more bucks, so they all try to outdo the others in terms of audience, by any mean they can find. Is it bad? Not if you consider the capitalistic society in which we live in.

As some people already stated here: You can just switch your TV off. That\'s what I did 3 years ago and I don\'t feel that bad (just watched scientifical magazine, moto gp, futurama, and ... dark angel ).

But don\'t blame TV for being what it is, you\'re probably aiming at the wrong target.

[sashok]

Originally posted by AendarCallenlasse
So anyone who watches those shows tries to copy them?  I watch Viva La Bam.  I love that show.  Do I act like Bam?  No.  I\'ve watched Jackass.  Do I do any of that stuff?  Hell no.  If someone does then they are an idiot.  Period.  And you cannot blame MTV for that.

Real World.  That is the best show ever made.  It shows normal people and how they interact.  Sure there is cursing, sex, occasional nudity, and mild violence.  But that is normal in every person\'s life.  Hence the name, Real World.

MTV plays these shows for one reason.  That\'s what we like.  If MTV played a bunch of bible-beating, parent driven shows then they would go out of business because that isn\'t what we want to see.

MTV isn\'t to blame for why we like those shows.  Hormones is.  If you\'re a religious person God is to blame for making us the way we are.  It\'s normal teenage behavior.  Don\'t like it?  Too bad.

Comedy Central:
The Man Show
South Park
Crank Yankers

When I watched it 5 years ago and I watched it a lot , there was less sexual stuff.  The real world was just invented and so on.  Today, it\'s not the same MTV.

Hey, I don\'t care what people watch and what they don\'t watch, I\'m trying to see if other people agree with what I said.  And if enough people agree, it becomes a statistic

Comedy central is also trying to sell sex nowadays, but they are not as good as MTV.  They should learn from MTV

[Windra]

TV is a very, very small part of what influences the younger generation to do anything.  And I am saying this from the point of view of an 18-year old, college freshman.  I watch TV all the time.  I have never done drugs, obviously haven\'t killed myself, and never had unprotected sex.  If I turn off the TV, I still have a pot smoking roommate.  Rooms of beautiful girls on all sides of me, and plenty of reasons to end my life.

Tv may be a  \'very small\' influence to you, but the media has a bigger influence over the most people than anything else ever invented.(except mayb religion...but thats dying out too)
You cannot deny that the media does not affect you, because it does,wether its subconsiously or not. it may not even effect you directly but indirectly it does. Your friends/fammily\'s opions affect you, and many of those opinions are derived from the effects of the media.
IMO the whole world as we see it is from the consequences of the media,very few people,will not ever see anything to do with the media, and those that dont you will find live a very sheltered and if not better life.
The media streches its reach to almost everyone in developed countries,and even those that are not are affected in some way.
The media publicises everything, and desenserises people over centurys so that sosiety changes.
If it was not for media, you wouldnt be discussing issues about sex on this forum,or murdors,killings, or anything like that at all.
Tv is part of the media, and therefore it is part of the one thing that has influenced the world most, and the one thing that has indirectly affected almost every person on the earth.
It is therefore the \'thing\' that has poisoned minds, yet also educated people. It has brought together people and a new way of thinging causing the good effects and also bad affects.

[Xandria]

At least someone shares a similar point of view:)

Thanks for the post, Windra

[AendarCallenlasse]

What I was saying is that even if TV was \'cleaned up\' teens would still be surrounded by bad influences.  TV is no more influential to a teen then their friends and family.  Yes it is very influential but not to the point that a person will stop being who they are and become some sort of zombie to capitalism.

[Fantasyfiend]

Real World most certainly NOT is the best show ever made. For one thing it\'s deprived of anything real.

Empty-V sets them up a nice little crib and  personally I haven\'t seen them do jack other than make idiots of themselves. How many normal people have a hot tub, and how many normal people have money to burn that they didn\'t earn? Mostly, people still living with their parents.

That\'s what Empty-V is, anymore. Started cool with music videos, now it\'s the big pimp daddy to an army of slathering creatures who barely pass for human. Spring Break on MTV, I once witnessed a game to see who could undress and change clothes with a girl in a cramped phone booth. That\'s sick, sad, and pointless. If you can\'t see they\'re shoving \"naughty\" under your nose for ratings, then your pretty blind.

How many of those punks have NORMAL jobs. Sacking Grocceries, changing the tags on store items. Christ, they live in an uptown penthouse, and they eat at the nicest resteraunts. Do you ever see them settle with F\'ing McDonalds?

Besides, if that\'s what normal people are like anymore, then let this war end in a quick global genocide, because we\'re screwed where we stand. I never see so many people p*ss and moan about whose laundry is laying around. If people have that much sex, with that many partners, then the world is sadder and sicker than I thought. If that is so \"real\" then, again, that would explain the rapidly growing population, variations of VD, and why the world is so filled with a-holes.

And sashok, don\'t you dare blame God. He gave Adam and Eve warnings early on. Still they proceeded. The human race has a tendancy to destroy ourselves. Be it with drugs, food, sex, greed, blasphemy or what else you can think of. I wonder myself why he didn\'t just stomp out the human race early on, but it\'s not for you to pass judgement. Don\'t forget, your under him.

[Fantasyfiend]

Sorry, some corrections.

AenderCallenlasse, Are you justifying Hell on Earth letting someone die on stage?

Sorry, sashok about that God remark, I mean AenderCallenlasse.

I don\'t consider myself \"self-rightous\". But I find it pretty easy to see the fecal matter that has become society.