Too Many Shadows, Whispering Voices, Faces on Posters, Too Many Choices

I read a poll that said the average American watches 34 hours of television a week. I've expressed in the past my intense dislike for the TV many times in the blog, it goes past the conventional haters notions of what is bad and what isn't. Of course reality television is shit, and most reasonable minds will concur on this, but my dislike goes on to not truly ever finishing an episode of Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Southpark, Sex in the City, The Supranos or anything witty, clever, 'critically acclaimed masterpieces.' I realize I miss out on some good stuff, cultural references, and signs of our time, but I trade all that to not be consumed by what buckley calls the white noise of the world....there's just too many better things to do, even if you're just idling with your spare time. This allows you to be creative in your own thoughts (not necessarily unique), and not let the media force feed market researched digestible pop culture crap down your throat.

Recently I've been accused of not being introspective, and it's very disheartening considering it is someone close to me, someone who I thought understood that I go thru analysis paralysis with everything in my life. I've the ability to laugh at my mistakes, admit when I'm wrong, work to seek compromise, to the extent I'm not trampled on by someone who sees offense as the best defense. Being introspective, or as critics would call it, 'on my high horse', I find that I'm very comfortable in my own skin, understanding that my character traits aren't character flaw, but to be pointless and cliche, it's what makes 'me me'.

Let's see, tying this back to tv and the media....hmmm....it does a great job influencing and entertaining, but it doesn't do a damn bit of good in teaching the realms of reality, and life for the most part, life IS a long road (nice metaphor, eh?), not full of the crafty 'real-isms' depicted in your favorite sitcom. Some people are able to watch with a grain of salt, but many people don't understand that they are being sucked into a false reality which says, 1 - watch me for 17 minutes, because that's just the right amount of digestible content, 2 - let me make you insecure, let me be your 'hero', 3 - let me show you just how sarcastic I can be, and use this power of sarcasm to make you weak, without you even knowing it.

Guess to conclude, the next time you're rounding 10+ hours in front of the tube, take a step back, invest 5 or so hours in reading some shit you are interested in, get a hobby, fly a kite, hop on an exercise bike, hell, visit the zoo, entertain a friend, visit with some family, mow some grass, do something beneficial to the community, or if your stomach fancies it, go have a heart to heart with someone that's important to you. That's where the true inspiration and irony exist.