So the topic for today is… Television!

Yes, I know that you think you know what I’m going to say next, especially those of you that have heard me incessantly mutter, bitch, whinge and kvetch about my roommates’ incessant, mind numbing TV habits.

And on some days you would be right.

But today I got up at 5-ish, went to work, and spent some time out after work and yet I have found myself here, past midnight, typing away. And… I’ve read both books by my bedside. So what kept me up? That’s right: TV shows.

This got me to thinking… what do I really think about TV? How can I get so annoyed by people watching TV, or by TV in general, yet love to watch films? How can I get so into a show that I will catch up on three episodes at a time?

What is the difference between how I see myself as a TV viewer and how I see the “average American” and am I just a self-deluding snob?

Firstly, and the easiest point to raise is advertising. Generally, most people concur on this, although not as many as I would have once expected. I do hear conversations about ads people like more than I used to. Anyway, most people would say they would prefer to watch their favorite shows without advertising. Because this is not a very interesting topic, I’ll cut to the chase and just say, ads are a mixed bunch, and although some are clever, I feel assaulted by most of them, and because of my inability to tune things out, I watch every single one. Intently. And then I feel robbed.

Secondly, timing. I have never owned a DVR. But I get the idea. I, too, like to watch stuff when I want to. I won’t pay for the whole shebang, though, because I can’t and wouldn’t even if I could. Dish or cable + packages with DVRs and bills are an entirely repugnant, bloated consumer product to me. I guess I’m more aligned with the younger generation in that I will torrent, rip, load onto my phone and all that.

Thirdly…well, there is no thirdly, actually. Instead we head straight into another one of my idealistic visions. This vision has to do with storytelling. It has to do with ancient man, sitting by the fire, sharing stories, wisdom and knowledge. It has to do with timeless oral traditions that preserved myth, knowledge and culture through the ages.

Basically, I see television, film, and books as the next steps in this august lineage. Some of my most precious memories are of being told stories by my parents. Some fantastic tales spun by my mother, others readings from books and still others personal retellings of different times and places in the world from my parents’ personal experiences: America (segregation, rock ‘n’ roll, the ‘60s,) Europe (Nazi Germany, post-War Britain.) These have become part of the mythology of my family and I hope that someday I may pass these on, along with my own stories.

In addition, I will never forget the impact that the stories I read on my own had on my developing mind and perspective: the Moomin’s dark Finnish world, the idyllic Dragon-filled lands of Anne McCaffrey, the Lord of the Rings, Dune and so many others. I still have vivid memories of iconic films: the Wizard of Oz, Blade Runner, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Fight Club, Trainspotting. And of course, here it is years later and Doctor Who has followed me from across the sea. These stories spoke to me at the time and have become interwoven in the fabric of my consciousness, whether frivolous and fun or deep and meaningful.

I guess I view storytelling as a sacred trust. And certainly the ability of an artist to inspire an audience to think, learn and wonder. Why is the Discovery Channel so popular; why do I see people from all walks of life watching animal shows and documentaries? I think it is because people truly are interested in life and learning.

Television is a miracle. Schools across the world should be utilizing all forms of media to engage their students. To profane this vehicle of the sacred trust by selling us “lifestyle products” or to push another voyeuristic glorification of some garishly consumptive celebrity is an affront.

With the proliferation of available outlets, it seems to me the time is right for the true storytellers to reclaim their territory. I know there are innumerable underground filmmakers I am unaware of and I should probably be out there digging around, finding the next cool thing, but I’m not.  Surely there has to be some way for the media barons to make some space for something a little edgier and realer if we put enough pressure on them. And I imagine that there are a bunch of community-based art projects and young filmmakers who could generate a wealth of low-budget material for school districts all across the country

Hey, I’m just shooting off at the mouth, since I haven’t really done any research, but if anyone out there agrees, post a reply, maybe even with some links to like-minded folks, sites, projects etc. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

Johnny doesn't do well in school. All he wants to do is smoke weed and write beats. Part Two

Last time, we were speaking about our hypothetical Johnnies and their hypothetical teachers. Their teachers’ attitudes ranged from the most selfish reasoning (I need my job) to the less so (instilling education, discipline etc.) At the most basic level, the more selfish the reason, the less likely it is to work. Keeping a job or making sure the necessary percentage of students graduate are not educational goals, they are agendas set by regulatory agencies or economic requirements.

Just for a second, imagine if a teacher’s job was a partnership aimed at helping Johnny find out what he’s good at, and how to go about doing it. In that process, a teacher might find out that Johnny likes working on cars with his older brother. This opens the opportunity for any number of dialogues about chemistry, physics or mathematics that will have relevance to Johnny. That relevance to Johnny is a much more effective motivator for Johnny to learn and apply what he has learned than arbitrary grades and punishments from people who neither understand nor respect him.

In that process, it might be part of the curriculum for Johnny to get work experience at a local body shop in his community. It might even be a shop that does restoration on classic cars, or works on low riders. This provides a real-world example of where Johnny’s passion can lead, helps him develop goals and aspirations and provides him with inspiring role models.

Following this same train of thought, what if you were Johnny? What would your ideal school have looked like? For that matter, what would your ideal job look like?

Your ideal home? Your ideal community? Your ideal life?

And thus we come full circle, to the issue I mentioned originally: what our lives should and could look like. Since I wrote Part One of this blog, we saw the Occupy Wall Street movement demonstrate widespread discontent with the current landscape of the majority of people’s lives. This indicates to me that this is a systemic problem. Johnny’s “bad behavior” at school, the huge number of people incarcerated, struggling with addiction or simply zoning out on reality shows after work, these are symptoms of the same problem.

We are standing at a point in history where the façade is cracking. Most Americans no longer feel they can aspire to the American Dream. And that dream was a false one created by corporate manipulation of popular media, conspicuous consumption and the wholesale plundering of natural resources without concern for consequences.

American needs a new dream, one in concert with the rest of the world, one which is inclusive, inspiring and self-perpetuating, rather than generated, promoted and marketed to serve the interests of a moneyed oligarchy. Prosperity must be redefined at a societal level and the dialogue needs to begin on every street corner. I believe that every one of us has been forced by this society into abdicating our dream of self-fulfillment. In many cases, I think we have been so crippled in our thought processes that what we dream of is not truly ours. We dream of “having a safe place to raise my kids” or of “winning the lottery” – dreams formed from fear or lack - or, sadly, the new iPhone 4S.

How many of these gadgets are simply new devices to help us cope with our alienation or to navigate an impersonal society that no longer serves us at the personal or community level? We use facebook as a desperate lunge for human contact while we decompress from our frantic day in the rat race.

More importantly, I think this dialogue can and must also occur at the highest levels. Our economy, political system and basic infrastructures will not survive if there is not major reform. Corporations, medical practitioners, psychologists and physicists are all beginning to converge on some of the fundamental questions of existence. What wellbeing really is, what abundance is and how we create it on the individual or group level is no longer an esoteric concern.

Our lives and our futures are at stake.

Food for thought:

www.oecd.org/betterlifeindex

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