Are we watching too much TV?

Television is a recent invention if you compare it with all the other inventions that we have come up with. In a very short time it has become a very prominent part of people’s lives and we find ourselves constantly following the tele. We are often influenced today by the ads on television; advertising is in itself an art-form which has been taken to its highest levels. The hype and the buildup that is usually surrounding a TV event are surreal in many ways and we are all found riding the boat at some point in time.

A 9 year old girl at a mall wants to buy the same things that she has seen her teen icon wear and use. Advertisements are highly influential in making people choose what they wear and what they eat too. In most cases lots of us completely ignore the aspect of getting value for money as it then takes a back seat to an endorsed product which may or may not be good at all. We are surrounded by brands

One such vivid example of such phenomenon occurring on a large scale is smoking. Smoking and smoking on TV in general leads many confused youth to take up a habit that lasts a lifetime. Our sub-conscious mind is always awake to small psychological suggestions which over time do affect our choices even if so in the smallest of ways. The human desire to emulate what looks good has been alive since man’s first few steps on the planet so it’s not surprising that we want the same things that these so called on screen plastic idols have.

Besides that TV also plays a vital role in helping build public opinion on topics ranging from everyday things to sensitive issues too. It is a responsibility that must be shouldered with a lot of thought and a lot of care. It is important to know both sides of any story and in most cases the other side is completely neglected.

The lot of us is influenced by something or the other that we watch on the tele. We need to be very careful and thoughtful about what we follow from TV and what we watch. I am not saying that we need to monitor everything and try and scrutinize everything but there are a lot of things that are aired on TV that are questionable. We spend time watching TV when we could be outdoors doing something productive, yes there are times when we can simply kick back and watch TV for the sake of entertainment. Spending too much time in front of the tele is harmful in so many ways and it is compounded by the fact that there are a lot of things that we see on TV that are questionable. A plastic reality forged out of the need to capture real life in its closest forms has also often degraded into the worst possible portrayals of life. So I end up asking, Are we watching too much TV?