While I agree that John Tierney is a total knob, I think he’s actually on to something when it comes to the depictions of violence – and I would include militarism – on television.
How many people here watch The Learning Channel? Do you remember, just a few short years back, that there used to be shows on archeology, on the arts, on science? You know, quiet little shows which were ideal for puttering away a rainy afternoon, and you would actually learn something along the way.
Now what do we have? Well, lets take a look at tonight’s lineup on the “new Learning Channel”:
8:00PM “Sports Disasters” – A show about, yes, you guessed it, sports disasters. I wonder if their doing a segment on the `62 Mets?
9:00PM “Overhaulin'”– A show in which a classic car is restored, or destroyed, depending upon your perspective.
10:00pm “Rides” – Yet another freakin’ car show, this time devoted to tattoos, in an oblique segue even I can’t figure out.
You folks can see any o’ that there learnin’ goin’ on here? I sure don’t, unless you want to learn which parts of the country to avoid.
And this lineup is typical. It’s all cop shows, military shows, emergency room shows, how-to shows, etc. The only science programs one sees are always in some way related to putting a nice glossy image on corporate America. Just yesterday I watched a “documentary” on what a great company Caterpillar is. Honest, they’re great! Did you guys know what a great fucking company Caterpillar is? Why, let’s bulldoze the whole fucking planet!
Anyway, you get my point. We’re being desensitized. Purposefully. Tierney’s quite right, only for all the wrong reasons.
Oh, and though Giuliani’s idea of withholding police blotter information had a positive effect on the tawdriness of the local evening news, it was still government censorship. If news gathering organizations decided to come up with a way to tone down the violence without limiting access to such information – for those that want it, anyway – I’d be all for it.
As for the rest of us, we should write letters to the Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, History Channel, et al, and tell them how dissatisfied we are with their drift into tabloid stupidity over the last ten years.
I realize that this isn’t a life-and-death issue, but this country’s rightward creep seems to be taking place on all fronts, so every skirmish is important.
Here are a couple of helpful links:
http://www.discovery.com/utilities/about/contact.html
http://www.historychannel.com/global/feedback/index.jsp?NetwCode=THC
Thanks for reading.
