Check out the essay at this address:
Here's an essay on trash tv. It raises some interesting points about "high" art and "low" art. New media always seems to be considered trash. Parents used to be appalled at the sight of their children reading novels, now they pay them off (in Pan Pizzas, for example) to read them. I get interested in ANYTHING that gets people worked up enough to declare it "trash" and "porn" and "dangerous" and "the democratization of perversion." (Oh how I wish I had coined that phrase.)
Anyway. Here's my question. Does television really have the power to change the way we all view the world? Does it really normalize "filthy" behavior? Or does it just act as spectacle that we can all watch, moralize about, and feel superior to?
Are we really so stupid, so shallow, so naive as to be taken in and unable to "separate fact from reality"?
Has tv really gotten worse or trashier? Or has it gotten better and cleverer?
(And yeah, that was more than one question.)
what do you think?
12 comments:
I defiantly think trash TV, and TV in general, affects the way we view life and relationships in good and bad ways. I think that it is up to the individual to separate between what is appropriate behavior for their life and what is simply entertaining to watch on TV.
Although i do believe as Lauren said that trash tv is up to the watcher to decide what is appropriate and what is not. But then again many different people are interested in many different things and there is trash tv for almost every subject. From watching Paris Hilton screw around all day, to watching people in the "real world" who have to get jobs and still participate in an active social life.
I believe that television has a major impact on its viewers and how most people choose to percieve the world. I think the amount of impact it has on the viewer depends on the type of person they are, but these reality shows definately normalize "filthy" behavior. They make it acceptable seeing as we are watching them do this on tv, but for others who don't take it seriously it can be used strictly for entertainment. Over the years some networks have gotten trashier while others more clever. Although the shows may still have absolutely no substance to them, they attract many viewers just for entertaintment purposes.
I believe TV is a big influence on how viewers perceive their lives and relationships. Sometimes, viewers interpret it diffferently by their own perspectives. However, I think when viewers choose TV programs with their careful thoughts, some TV shows that only made for people's attention would be able to abolished.
(I did not know how I can post the assignment. So I am just writing on this link)
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Going along with this quote, the definition of trash can be defined differently depending on the person. What one person perceives as leftovers, another many find useful or valuable. For example, a piece of scrap paper can be a piece of art with some thoughts which I will describe next.
I think art is a way that people express their own ideas through music, literature, painting and etc. It has to evoke peoples’ emotions, but does not necessarily give the same perspective to everyone. For example, one person may gain insight from a painting of two dashes painted, while the other person may perceive it as a trash.
According to my definition of art and trash, I believe they are strongly related to each other. Music, paintings, literature, poetry and TV can be either art or trash based on each person. Therefore, even though we can not put together a work as one same answer, I believe the work will be judged as best, either an art or trash, when people perceive the work with their careful thoughts and ideas.
I would say that trash TV only has the power we give it. It is up to you weather or not you allow it to change the way the world is perceived. To someone who buys into the crap they see on TV and passes it off, in their own mind, as even remotely realistic, yes trash TV dose change the way that person sees the world. However I do not think it changes the perspective of someone with half a brain.
I'd have to agree with Peter Harvey saying "trash TV only has the power we give it." It's true on every level. Trash TV should be seen as trash TV and if someone decides to run with it as art, well, I guess it's all a matter of opinion...
Today I watched the Tyra Banks talk show after I had just watched an episode of Operah. While trying to decide if the Tyra Banks show was trash or not, I came across the quote, “To each his own.”- Suum Quique. And I still think it is the best way to decipher between good and bad TV. The episode I watched today was about a young couple, a Hindu Indian girl and a Black Muslim boy. Both of whom come from very different cultures and believed in very different things. The young girls parents told her she was to marry a Hindu lawyer, but she loved her boyfriend so much that they eloped against her parent’s wishes. Tyra told their story and was able to give them the honey moon of their dreams and felt their story should be an inspiration to all young people in love. To some this episode may have seemed corny and trite, but to others it may have affected them and been inspirational. I personally wouldn’t classify the Tyra Banks show as one of the top talk shows today, but I also wouldn’t write it off as trash. Depending on your background and personal experiences, some stories may not affect you in any way while others can have a lasting impact.
For my talk show besides Oprah, I watched an episode of Jerry Springer that I found very trashy and tough to watch. Not only was it a typical episode of Jerry Springer where the prostitute claims to be trying to escape by her pimp, but also the top prostitute ends up fighting the women who is trying to get out of the situation. That is true trash television because there is absolutely nothing you can learn that you do not already know, and nothing you can take with you from viewing. In my opinion I think that we can watch it and be like I’m glad I’m not in that situation and will never be, and it does make the audience “feel superior”. Like in the essay on trash television on the blog, “Jeff Jarvis of TV Guide puts it, daytime talk is a "forum for trashy people to act trashy, exhibiting their bad manners, hard hearts, and filthy family laundry before millions of viewers." I think this kind of quote gears towards the jerry Springer type shows with strange situations that will make you “turn off your mind for that half hour to an hour”. I found that in the episode of Oprah I watched, as boring as some parts were, I actually learned valuable information no matter how disturbing it actually was. (It was on how often people change their sheets, pillows, mattresses, sponges, with many things living inside them for years.) I also found a quote that described Oprah very well, which in fact she says herself, “we can make a show out of anything”, in fact she really can.
I know as a young veiwer of trash T.V. and growing up in a culture that has grown a custom to the "Real World" and other T.V. shows of that genre. I became aware of subjects in a small town that would never come up. I watched girls in 4th grade wear the big heeled shoes because thats what the Spice Girls had on during their music videos. T.V. has a major affect trash or not on the veiwers that watch it.
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