Tell-a-vision

                                        Tell-a-vision

Television is omnipresent. For some, it is the only window on the world, for others it is a serious threat to our culture. The advantages and disadvantages of this small magic box are many.

Television changes the family, it has changed mine.

When I was eight, my parents bought a black Samsung TV, the first one, small and very heavy, watching it began to be our favourite hobby. It was not a bad thing at the beginning…

First, let us look at the positive aspects of the issue. TV avoided us the detour to the cinema: we did not have to move constantly to see a new film. It is the famous "cinema in slippers". For us seeing Avatar at home was the perfect comfort.

In hindsight, the small screen also offered to my parents a pleasant hobby, entertainment and even relaxation after a long day of stress. They had to put less effort in watching television than in reading a book, for example. Watching all the "Sherlock Holmes" on television was less tiring for the mind than reading Conan Doyle's books every night after the office.      

When we were young, my brother and I used to watch cartoons on TV; they were good TV shows because they were a true ethnicity, with true model “of real life”, our favourite one was Once upon a time…life/space. The television also informed us of what is happening in the world, and it also educates us.

But then it began to destroy the values of our family. The black Samsung TV was switch on during diner, everyone was watching it, silence prevailed between us , no one had the right to talk… the only one who could talk was her and only her, the Samsung TV.            

First of all, it must be said that it was a passive medium; we were subject to stupidity and progressive stupidity. Without any critical thinking, we quickly became the object of television manipulation. We no longer thought, we ‘swallowed’ everything that was presented to us.

Moreover, we were dealing with an individual media; everyone was fascinated by the cathode ray tube and forgot what surrounded it. This was the beginning of the end for our family, from a united family leading to a deterioration of family life, not to mention disputes caused by disagreement over the evening's programs.

The doctors say that watching TV too often is harmful to health: eyes suffer and the viewer, immobile and eating chips, chocolate and other high-calorie products, may gain weight. Some people can no longer do without TV, which becomes a real drug on which they are dependent. We had chance no one in the family has been suffering of any health trouble. But we were literally ‘in need’.

And I remember the television stations broadcasting too many scenes of violence, which may increase the aggressiveness of my brother, because there was no reality but for a child it is quite difficult to dissociate reality from acting. For sociologists, this film brutality is one of the main causes of today's youth violence. The crime of blood is trivialized, murder becomes a habit. Statistics have shown that an average 16-year-old American has witnessed 40,000 television murders since birth.

 In hindsight, I can say there were far more dangers than benefits buying this Samsung TV. You may think otherwise because it depends on time passed watching TV; on the shows you watch, because there is a main difference between science TV shows and TV reality shows.                      

...