There are very few people in the Western world who have not grown up with a television set and the dominance of cable. Multiple generations have been led and fed by the box that frequents every living room in America. Hordes of children have been raised by commercials, puppets and soap operas while learning the ethical and philosophical impetuses of our culture(s). In an age before the current accessibility of information, people were forced to watch what the tube vomited at them and the day was punctuated by video shows, sitcoms, game shows and night time talk shows that put everyone to sleep. There was a very limited range in what one could view and the more adult themed fair such as drugs, violence and sex were mostly hidden within the odd Super Channel flick or the Français channel at night. We were dependant on what information flooded the room from the cable companies and the complexities of issues and international realities were generally diffused and watered done, due to time constraints, demographics and advertising agendas. While there are very substantial similarities in the currently popular mediums of spanklets and ithings, old school TV was limited by nature. Whole seasons of shows were not shown back to back and only the most popular or flashy products made it onto the screens by greedy product advertisers who bent the medium over and had their way with it. Hollywood and movie theatres still dominated the big viewing experience and the television channels had a more local, townsy feel than the glut of broad information reigning upon all of us now. Access to visual examples that presented the depths of human depravity were hidden and locked away in various closets, while children heard about forbidden knowledge from school mates, rumours and porno magazines. In today’s information overload tech world, kids can access the most intense, eye opening, vile and challenging pictures and ideas humankind has to offer, by the age of 4. I still find stuff on the internet that makes my skin crawl and blows my mind...tweens have seen all this and more by Grade 5. TV programs used to be a mix of tried and true staples and touches of randomness, but this has faded away as people dictate what and when they view the information filtering through various devices. While TV’s proliferated every home and many bedrooms, when it was off or you were away there was no way to access it. You had to break out the old radio or paper to get your news or weather updates. I do not mourn the television and the cable companies, I merely reminisce of a simpler time...a more ignorant time, when information was hard to come by.
The ease of accessibility is truly an amazing and vital step for human beings but the short childhoods and desensitization of the human mind can seem problematic...but only if you compare the now to a romanticized and idealized past. I hated being forced to watch Wheel of Fortune because nothing else was on. I would cringe and sink into depressions when the only thing tuneable was repeat CareBears cartoons which always reared their syndicated, stuffing filled heads. When I had to write a paper or research something, off to the stinky old library where the info was dated, missing or flat out wrong. If I discovered a great Director like Kubrick, it was an epic task to get a hold of all his flicks to really get a sense of the artist. My upbringing in the shadows of the pre-internet glow was lacking in options and filled with energetic explosions devoid of researched intentions. Kids cannot claim this kind of ignorance in this day and age as every opportunity is there for them to research, inform and gain valuable data applicable to any given situation. This is a great deal of power that the newer generations can yield for the betterment of all of humanity and they are the miners of the vast walls of information. Now...if we can only get them to care as much about their profound potential as they do about selfies, snapchat and hollow trends.
Joystick 'n' Hand
The ease of accessibility is truly an amazing and vital step for human beings but the short childhoods and desensitization of the human mind can seem problematic...but only if you compare the now to a romanticized and idealized past. I hated being forced to watch Wheel of Fortune because nothing else was on. I would cringe and sink into depressions when the only thing tuneable was repeat CareBears cartoons which always reared their syndicated, stuffing filled heads. When I had to write a paper or research something, off to the stinky old library where the info was dated, missing or flat out wrong. If I discovered a great Director like Kubrick, it was an epic task to get a hold of all his flicks to really get a sense of the artist. My upbringing in the shadows of the pre-internet glow was lacking in options and filled with energetic explosions devoid of researched intentions. Kids cannot claim this kind of ignorance in this day and age as every opportunity is there for them to research, inform and gain valuable data applicable to any given situation. This is a great deal of power that the newer generations can yield for the betterment of all of humanity and they are the miners of the vast walls of information. Now...if we can only get them to care as much about their profound potential as they do about selfies, snapchat and hollow trends.
Joystick 'n' Hand