Television's World of Distorted Reality

Sadly, Americans as a whole spend an ever-increasing amount of time watching television. In fact, the average time spent being brainwashed in front of the tube has grown to four hours a day. Although “life” on television is simply a mix of fantastical adventures and dramas, many of the impressionable minds that place themselves in front of the indoctrinating machine believe that television indeed is an accurate reflection of reality.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Television presents a world that reflects an extremely skewed reality - a stereotyped world made up of artificial and improper values.

For instance, two-thirds of the United States population is employed in blue-collar jobs, whereas television’s population is made up of celebrities or the white-collar professional types. This furthers the feeling of inadequacy of one’s unpretentious self-reflection.

What message is portrayed to the poorer classes, the youth of today, and those searching for a job, when the careers deemed “fashionable” by television are the only “acceptable” jobs? How could television possibly further the pursuit of independence and self-control?

The sexes are also represented disproportionately to reality. Just under half of this nation’s population consists of males, as opposed to three-quarters of those people who appear in the television world! Women are “left out in the rain, ” per-se, and both sexes are stereotyped. White males rule the television world, and are thus portrayed in controlling roles. Women are placed in the typically female jobs – secretaries, nurses, and the like. Although the female workforce is today stronger than ever, no hint of this comes from television.

Although apparent to some, with further examination, the messages that are synthetic messages of the world of television are naught but negative. Television controls society, and it dictates the material possessions one wants, despite any financial restraints one has.

The perpetual bombardment of commercials, and possessions of the characters on television’s fictional world perpetuate the belief that, to be popular, or successful, one must purchase the items advertised on television.

The ideal of free will so emphasized by common American belief is fading, and the life of the American public is ruled by a fantasy. America’s values, morals, icons, and even clothing choices are directly affected by the mass media.

As television continues to control the society of today, so also is it raising the future of America. The lives of more and more of today’s youth are consumed by television, and it is to such an extreme that one could say television has replaced the role of a parent.

In today’s world, babysitting, teaching, entertainment, and even socialization is provided by the encroaching influence of television. America needs to carefully evaluate its values and goals if it is to continue to advance and prosper as a nation. Otherwise, we all shall succumb to television’s brainwashing influence.