I refuse to watch most TV, so the licence is almost useless. Most TV shows are, well, immature crap.
Poll: Is modern TV dumbing down the youth of today?
- Thread starter Dys
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Nah, society has always been the way it is. People have always been dumb, but the manner in which it shows itself just changes over time. Teenager girls always could be horrible dragons, sweet 16 examples just show them new outlets for such kind of behavior.
I don't think anything was better when I was a teen, and I dare to bet that it wasn't better either when you people were teens.
And about great comedy nowadays; look for little brittain. It is not politically correct (far from it) and very funny.
I don't think anything was better when I was a teen, and I dare to bet that it wasn't better either when you people were teens.
And about great comedy nowadays; look for little brittain. It is not politically correct (far from it) and very funny.
First of all, I think that the quality of television today is both far higher and far lower than it has ever been, since the quantity of television has increased hugely. There have been some fantastic dramas, including most things that HBO have done; some brilliant comedies, like Spaced and Black Books; and great documentaries, BBC Four has something interesting on most nights. Furthermore, there's far easier access to them than there was in the 80s or 90s, since we can watch most things online, legally or otherwise, and you can pick up DVD box sets with 24 episodes on for twenty quid, whereas back in the day you'd be paying twelve quid for a VHS with 3 episodes on. So if you want to watch good television, then you can.
Likewise, while there's always been shit on the telly, the sheer volume of it nowadays is massive. I've just turned on my TV, and now I could be watching 'World's Scariest Police Chases', 'X Factor', or 'Coach Trip', which seems to be a reality TV show where some people are on a coach trip, and can vote each other off the coach. Come to think of it, a lot of shows sound like they've been conceptualised by a bunch of network execs writing a derivative idea on a piece of paper, then folding over the piece of paper so the next guy can't see it, then hands it round the table, until the last guy reads it out and commissions it.
But I think a bit of mindless drivel does anyone some good. It just takes your mind off things for a while, it requires little or no concentration, and doesn't challenge you in any way. It can be the televisual equivalent of meditation. Hang on, what about 'Buddist Boot Camp'? Britain's unruliest teenagers are flown off to a Buddist temple, where monks teach them the error of their ways. A team of judges - say: Andi Peters, one of the girls from the Human League, and Brian Blessed - judge them on their Zen-ness, and the guttersnipe who's progressed most on the road to nirvana and the renunciation of worldly things wins quarter of a million pounds. Come on, everyone loves Britain's unruliest teenagers (apart from their parents, of course).
Anyhow, while watching a bit of mindless wank on the box doesn't do you any harm, watching it all day would surely turn you in to a moron. But anyone who does that was probably a moron to begin with, and it's therefore a good thing that they're being kept occupied, out of the way of busy young go-getters such as myself.
Likewise, while there's always been shit on the telly, the sheer volume of it nowadays is massive. I've just turned on my TV, and now I could be watching 'World's Scariest Police Chases', 'X Factor', or 'Coach Trip', which seems to be a reality TV show where some people are on a coach trip, and can vote each other off the coach. Come to think of it, a lot of shows sound like they've been conceptualised by a bunch of network execs writing a derivative idea on a piece of paper, then folding over the piece of paper so the next guy can't see it, then hands it round the table, until the last guy reads it out and commissions it.
But I think a bit of mindless drivel does anyone some good. It just takes your mind off things for a while, it requires little or no concentration, and doesn't challenge you in any way. It can be the televisual equivalent of meditation. Hang on, what about 'Buddist Boot Camp'? Britain's unruliest teenagers are flown off to a Buddist temple, where monks teach them the error of their ways. A team of judges - say: Andi Peters, one of the girls from the Human League, and Brian Blessed - judge them on their Zen-ness, and the guttersnipe who's progressed most on the road to nirvana and the renunciation of worldly things wins quarter of a million pounds. Come on, everyone loves Britain's unruliest teenagers (apart from their parents, of course).
Anyhow, while watching a bit of mindless wank on the box doesn't do you any harm, watching it all day would surely turn you in to a moron. But anyone who does that was probably a moron to begin with, and it's therefore a good thing that they're being kept occupied, out of the way of busy young go-getters such as myself.
MTV is evil. Come on, in what sane society could people like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton ACTUALLY be more popular than things that actually matter? Kids these days know and care more about their favorite pop star than they do about shit like Darfur. It's awful.
EDIT: And reality TV is just garbage. Nothing else to be said about it. Utter garbage.
EDIT: And reality TV is just garbage. Nothing else to be said about it. Utter garbage.
He's a legend in his own shouting.kailsar post=9.73799.810981 said:My humble apologies. Did you see him on Have I Got News For You? He was definitely in bold and caps on that.The_root_of_all_evil post=362.73799.810957 said:Sorry Mr Jack and kailsar, but BRIAN BLESSED needs to be in bold and caps.
I think TV does make people stupid. Or... not stupid, but...hmmmm...Ok, stupid. The stupidest thing I've seen on TV is a reality school for people who were gonna be on reality-TV.
Think of that! A school for grown up people that wants to learn how to act like real people.
And all reality-TV is just cliche. In my school there's people who talks loudly in the classroom and yells things like "Look at me! Here I am! Hey, look what I can do!"
Obviously They're just doing it to get attention. And those people I'm talking about watches shows TV all the time, and talks about reality-TV at school. I don't watch TV anymore, except for certain shows. So my conclusion is that TV makes people stupid. Mostly Reality shows.
Think of that! A school for grown up people that wants to learn how to act like real people.
And all reality-TV is just cliche. In my school there's people who talks loudly in the classroom and yells things like "Look at me! Here I am! Hey, look what I can do!"
Obviously They're just doing it to get attention. And those people I'm talking about watches shows TV all the time, and talks about reality-TV at school. I don't watch TV anymore, except for certain shows. So my conclusion is that TV makes people stupid. Mostly Reality shows.
I'm so glad I don't watch tv anymore lol. Stopped watching when Virgin decided not to pay Sky to show Sky One, I still miss 24 sometimes, I don't miss Lost anymore, the piece of shit show it was.
But on the off chance of finding myself in front of the tv I always end up facepalming at the stupidity of people on shows. I especially get angry at the kids as well as the parents whenever I'm forced to watch "My Sweet 16", the kids need to learn some frigging respect and the parents need to grow a backbone and actually raise their kids properly so that they're not spoilt brats who appreciate nothing, both parties need to be whacked upside the head with a shovel imo.
But on the off chance of finding myself in front of the tv I always end up facepalming at the stupidity of people on shows. I especially get angry at the kids as well as the parents whenever I'm forced to watch "My Sweet 16", the kids need to learn some frigging respect and the parents need to grow a backbone and actually raise their kids properly so that they're not spoilt brats who appreciate nothing, both parties need to be whacked upside the head with a shovel imo.
Personally, I stopped watching TV on a regular basis about 3 or 4 years ago and I haven't felt like I missed anything either.
TV might not be dumbing down todays youth, but it certainly isn't helping.
I sometimes get the feeling that the average persons they aim some of those newer shows at have to be either brain-dead or under the influence of various narcotics.
Most of what I do watch on TV (at irregular intervals) are documentaries, or the occasional movie with a little BBC comedy mixed in (QI, Have I got News for You, etc), but that's about it. The rest is usually to horrible to even consider.
(and I know I'm generalising, but you get the idea)
TV might not be dumbing down todays youth, but it certainly isn't helping.
I sometimes get the feeling that the average persons they aim some of those newer shows at have to be either brain-dead or under the influence of various narcotics.
Most of what I do watch on TV (at irregular intervals) are documentaries, or the occasional movie with a little BBC comedy mixed in (QI, Have I got News for You, etc), but that's about it. The rest is usually to horrible to even consider.
(and I know I'm generalising, but you get the idea)
I would call foul when video games are compared to TV, because video games areXiado post=18.73799.810518 said:
1.) Heavily censored, with no possible adult rating (I'm australian)
2.) Thought provoking, even the most basic of fighters requires you to plan out and think about your next move, learn combos etc
3.) because video games are user controlled and take a lot more effort to play (compared to watching tv) and always involved fictional characters it remains a lot more detached than tv, Reality videogames wouldn't work. Video games, while they are able to have a villanous protagonist, still fail to have the influence of tv. More people emulate Paris Hilton than Nikko Belic, and its no coincidence, the very nature of niko makes him hard to impersonate, children are not encouraged to play his games (in fact young girls have little interest, so 50% are disenterested straight off generally), compared to the B list celebrities and reality heroes who are celebrated among kids.
Just all round is an unfair comparison imo.