Priming the people for lower expectations in life... (lawyer, examples, Kansas)

[Chango]

Obviously the media is a HUGE influence on our lives and plays no small part in forming our world-view and expectations.

One thing that always used to bug me about TV/Movies was how the lifestyle portrayed for "average joe" characters was WAY too high for reality. One quick example was how the characters in "Friends" lived in a huge NY loft apartment. There are hundreds of examples; it bugged me because it seemed to have the general effect of raising expectations for what was considered a decent life beyond what was realistic, and believe the underlying intent was to make people unhappy with what they had and "encourage" them to buy more.

But lately I've noticed an about-face in entertainment; more and more the "average joe" is placed in a decidedly lower "working class" environment.

"The Middle" is a great example of this:


"The Middle" Trailer - YouTube

and there are plenty more, just watch TV!

So is this just a function of giving the viewers what they want, maybe a nod to our real circumstances?

If it is, it seems illogical as people use normally use entertainment as an escape from reality... especially a less than ideal one.

Despite being in the midst of The Great Depression, 1930's entertainment was all about glitz and glamour... just ask Fred!


Fred Astaire - Puttin' On the Ritz (DVD Quality) - YouTube

OR is it a backlash from the pre-2008 "too much ritz" entertainment syndrome?



Now for some minor Tin Foil Hattery... Is it possible the entertainment industry is being used to purposely lower society's expectations... to slowly downsize the general consensus of what a "decent life" is to the general public?
By quietly manipulating the masses for a reduced living standard, "The Man" could to attempt head off a fair amount of anger and discontent such a change would inevitably cause...

WHATDAYATHINK?

[Zyngawf]

Shoot your TV. If you do watch get rid of any show that has a laugh track in the background. Those are the dumbest shows and they are slowly making people very stupid. They aren't funny but people are sheep and think because they hear laughing something must be funny. Don't watch the The CSI, lawyer, criminal minds stuff. You have something twisted and sick in your brain if you watch them and it is again an unrealistic picture of all that. Movies, only if you are really bored. And then, expect that the chance is greater that the movie will be stupid rather than good.

Could TV be going away like the post office and other things that we gradually figure out that we no longer need?

[nightbird47]

I am adicted to post-apolicptic fiction. I love Falling Skies and was one of those who slammed CBS with peanuts and phone calls and letters so we got a second season for Jericho. (and went to a convention in Kansas, loved the 'flyover zone' and vowed to move so there is a reason for everything.

But, post apoc stuff is inspiring to me. Unless there are zombies and I quit watching then, its about rediscovering the basic basic basicks. Its about understanding the value of what you have, not wishing for more, and finding satisfaction is other than 'things'. It actually helped when I was homeless since I could put myself in that kind of place and see straight.

I don't find stuff about glamor and glitz to make me feel good since I don't expect to have it and don't want to anyway. Fred Astair and his magic feet were the real charm in his movies, not the settings and the stories were just there to stick together the dance sequences. Ditto Gene Kelly and the Busbe Berklee dancers. That was distraction and entertainment.

I would prefer a show, if its not of a completly different setting like a post apoc one, to be believable. A car a normal family drives. Kids which are unique but not unbelievable. The dress like real people do. At the end of the day they take their gains and losses and appreciate what they have.

I think most people don't need tv or the entertainment industry to know that its not likely that they'll be living with more and should probably be getting used to less. If they don't know then no tv show is going to do it.