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rape, criminals, cheating spouses, hospitals, death etc so damn popular?
I dislike them all and refuse to watch........I was apalled when I saw the ad for Dexter : *Americas favorite serial killer* WTH????
I am really disappointed in TV, the programes are trash, if its not killing, its sex. More and more I see *parental guidence* suggested, for about every show thats on in the evening. What the heck is a family to do? Lets all sit around together and watch murders, rapes, killings and sex! Woohoo!
No wonder I watch the History channel and Nat Geo and Discovery and channels like that. What a sad trashy society we live in. What do the popular shows say about our society?
It's hard to understand why people would find those types of subjects entertaining, I know.
I was pretty disturbed when my daughter told me her favorite new show this year was Dexter. She brought over a series cd for us to watch and I hated it.
Not to say Law and Order wasn't my favorite show for a long time though. Just hated Special Victims Unit. Talk about disturbing and often heartbreaking. Why did I watch it? Not sure. Love Christopher Meloni but after awhile I just could not stand the subject matter.
rape, criminals, cheating spouses, hospitals, death etc so damn popular?
Because good drama is about conflict. A show about happy, honest lawyers sitting at the coffee shop discussing haircuts would hardly captivate an audience.
That being said, I do think there is a difference between violence and gratuitous violence, and a lot of TV is definitely gratuitious.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michigansnowflake
No wonder I watch the History channel and Nat Geo and Discovery and channels like that. What a sad trashy society we live in. What do the popular shows say about our society?
If you aren't seeing a lot of violence on the History Channel and Discovery, you're watching different shows than I am. Most shows on the History channel are Nazis, barbarian hordes, the KKK, serial killers. Discovery has forensics chasing serial killers, shark week, nature's top predators, etc. Hardly all ponies and butterflies.
Well, Michigansnowflake (coincidentally, my husband and I live in MI!), I have to agree 100% with you on this one. Perpetuating bad ideas. I guess it's popular culture giving society more of what it wants? I think it's simply that many people enjoy these types of shows. My husband and myself hardly ever watch TV, other than the History channel or the News (which is bad enough in itself). Yes, much of the subject matter on many of the shows on History/Discovery/etc contain graphic and disturbing matter as well, but I am watching these programs to learn something and not watching them for the sake of gratutious violence and exploitation. I don't consider THC and FX channels anywhere near the same ballpark...
I dont think comparing real historic events and what animals do in nature to the trash that writers make up and put into their shows does any justice. Its not the same thing. TV shows arent being historical, they are just flashing blood and gore and loose morals,and many, many people seem receptive to it. I find it disturbing and sad
I was pretty disturbed when my daughter told me her favorite new show this year was Dexter. She brought over a series cd for us to watch and I hated it.
I watched Dexter when it was on CBS early this year and didn't care for it...haven't watched it since.
Because good drama is about conflict. A show about happy, honest lawyers sitting at the coffee shop discussing haircuts would hardly captivate an audience.
That being said, I do think there is a difference between violence and gratuitous violence, and a lot of TV is definitely gratuitious.
If you aren't seeing a lot of violence on the History Channel and Discovery, you're watching different shows than I am. Most shows on the History channel are Nazis, barbarian hordes, the KKK, serial killers. Discovery has forensics chasing serial killers, shark week, nature's top predators, etc. Hardly all ponies and butterflies.
I like your take on it.
But the OP has a point. What the heck is a family supposed to watch on tv now?
I used to watch America's funniest home videos with my kids and thought it was on Sunday night, but couldn't find it last night.
It would be nice for the kids to enjoy adult tv with us sometimes but there really isnt much there to see that isn't murder, sex, murder & sex, gambling, drinking, drinking & sex, gambling & murder, etc................
When I was a kid, Cinemax practically turned porn after 9pm. Nowadays, regular tv is almost always crap, from the trashy talk shows during the day, to the soap operas, to the evening shows. Unless you get onto the kids channels, there is almost nothing on TV for young kids.
What WE do? I dont murder, cheat, rape.....just why would I want to watch tv shows built around those themes?.
I wouldn't want a TV show about my average day either.
To be clear: I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with a story having sex and violence. But when it is done purely for shock value, it's gratuitous, and I'd be the first to agree that most TV shows are gratuitous in regard to sex and violence.
But I sure don't want more stories confined to a purely G-rating. Zzzzz. What we need are stories with a moral center, and most TV shows just don't have it. It isn't the sex and violence that's the problem. It's the lazy writing.
Harlan Ellison came up with the best distinction between violence and gratuitous violence that I have found. Gratuitous violence is any violence done to a character that we don't care about. Violence done purely for shock value.
And really, that happened in yesteryear just as much as today. Jack Bauer beats people up, yes. But Little Joe Cartwright used to shoot this week's bad guy on a regular basis. Just because TV violence of the '60s was more unrealistic doesn't make it better. Quite the reverse I think, because it is portraying violence as a lie.
As for "family" shows that we like to sit down and watch with the kids, they are still around if you look. I'd recommend:
Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nick. SURFACE. Cancelled, but you can get the DVDs. MONK. Psych
Shows like Gilmore Girls and HEROES are probably okay for older kids and teens.
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Most shows on the History channel are Nazis, barbarian hordes, the KKK, serial killers. Discovery has forensics chasing serial killers, shark week, nature's top predators, etc. Hardly all ponies and butterflies. 
