

(CNN)   "We bemoan the loss of compassion in society, but we revere this severe level of aggression in these programs, and I think it is a real problem," said Captain Obvious   (cnn.com) divider line 6
    More: Obvious, Captain Obvious, racial harassment, bullying  
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7951 clicks; posted to Main » on 01 Mar 2013 at 3:24 PM (1 year ago)   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»

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2013-03-01 04:00:11 PM
2 votes:
This just in: People are scum.

Go fark yourself at 11
2013-03-01 06:52:42 PM
1 votes:

Rik01: If so many people are victims of bullying, why do they come home and watch it on television?

Because it's getting harder and harder to find anything except aggressive reality shows on TV.

I watched and show called 'Hillbilly Blood' and found it refreshing as it dealt with two guys up in the backwoods who helped each other and their families carve a living out of the wilds when no long term jobs were available. No swearing. No snide remarks. No biatching. No fights. Just and bunch of ingenious and often laborious work and transactions.

There were 4 episodes. I haven't found it since. However, I can find marathons of those idiot back woods duck call makers, gator hunters, squabbles on 'Gold Rush' and near fist fights on Swamp Loggers. Not to mention the couple of towing and repossession shows.

I look at the channel lineup that I pay quite a bit for and find it loaded with lame shows, old movies and tons of infomercials. I still haven't figured out why, what with having a mandatory series of sports channels included in most cable packages, I still have to get one of the few good programs I like pre-empted for basketball.

Remember the old saying 'you are what you eat'? Well, as much as you might deny it, you are also what you watch. Think about this; 'Twix' candy came out with a series of commercials promoting sharing. The actors would snap the candy bar and the announcer would say 'and one for you'. Shortly after, they promoted a similar saying, only the actors kept the candy, saying 'and none for you'.

Ever watch 'Law and Order SVU'? Notice the 'subtle' message concerning any form of 'sex offender'. Basically, they're treated like dirt even if what they did was minor and as kids or are complying with the law and haven't re-offended.

'Leave It to Beaver' shows transformed into 'Roseanne'. Ads showing clips of new movies have been heavily edited to lie to you and make the movies seem much better than they are. Ever pay a small fortune to go see one and find out the exciting scenes you saw in previews on TV are actually several separate parts of different actions edited together? (The movie 'Flight' with Denzel Washington seemed exciting when he flipped that jet liner over to fly it in for a safe landing. Turns out it was a lengthy, boring story about an alcoholic commercial pilot.)

We learned with early MTV Reality shows that behind the scenes, the producers egged the participants on to create conflict.

Look at 'Hardcore Pawn'. Customers, mainly the black ones (nothing like stereotyping) start fights at an instant's notice over stupid things. The son tries to sell the business out from under the Dad and he and his sister always squabble about something. Plus, you learn that if you ask for the full value of an item, you're only going to get 35 to 50% because resale profits these days have gone from 10% over cost to 100%.

Over the years, it's been known that as the entertainment media increases, people start to mimic the behavior. (Monkey see. Monkey do.) It became much more noticeable when GTA games came out -- and after the fuss, the designers refused to accept any responsibility and continued to churn out violent and warped versions with impunity.

Cowboy and Indian shows were popular when I was a kid, with the Indians being blood thirsty savages. Naturally, our play games imitated this. Hollywood took ample liberties with the facts. There was no mention until much later that we were the invaders on their lands.

Cable TV brought blood and guts into the home with HBO, the first station to show graphic gore in movies out of the theater. Previously to that, you could watch a WW2 movie and see soldiers getting bloodlessly killed, falling in dramatic poses.

After wards, you got to watch their heads explode in a red mist, if they stepped on a mine, you saw body parts fly into the air and a partially dismembered, still living man screaming on the ground. The entire horror genre went into high gore mode, with impossible amounts of blood and scattered guts. Displaying someone getting their limbs ripped off was 'cool'.

It's a psychological fact that if you are exposed enough to cruelties, you start to loose empathy and sensitivity.

Ever wonder why the pioneers had some harsh attitudes? No pain killers. Nearly every medical treatment hurt like hell. Surgery was done with the patient awake. Pain was a normal part of their lives and reflected in their attitudes.

People learn how to act from the TV. Then, we're surprised when the Internet openly teaches kids how to make pipe bombs -- and they do. That was followed by TV shows where they went into excruciating detail on how the cops tracked down criminals -- who promptly learned what traces not to leave.

There have been several family shows where the assorted characters are just nasty towards each other -- but that's made 'O.K.' because they profess their love. (I've hated 'Dallas' since the show began.)

Once you start to desensitize, your attitude changes in many ways. You carry it home to your family and friends.

I don't know about you, but that reality show about practical jokers sucks. If I had friends like that, they'd be gone.

Now, I watch the Mentalist and Castle, both intriguing shows and humorous. You don't see the nasty squabbles among cops like on 'Southland'. I watch 'Dual Survival', but since one partner has been replaced, the new guy seems to want to argue more. I watch Survivor Man. I enjoy the new Law and Order with Jeff Goldblume.

I gave up on every 'real' ghost hunting show because, IMO, they're all faked crap. I love good science fiction, but the Syfi channel hasn't had anything resembling that on in years. Basically, it's a wrestling and game show channel now. I watch 'Pickers' and find it hard to grasp how someone will let stuff rot in a field and then ask major bucks for the stuff when the pickers arrive. However, the stars are cool. "Oddities' is cool, but the stuff they deal in is kind of gross. However, all of the characters are nice and there's no squabbles.

HBO and the writers strike changed TV forever and folks seem too stupid to realize they're being manipulated. (3/4 of the Reality shows are coached to make them more exciting.)

A little parable here. Years back, a little girl dying of cancer wrote a book. It was a big hit. Everyone made a fuss about it. Since then, more kids have written books and more folks die of cancer and now, no one really gives a shiat because they've been inundated with dying kids and people and cancer.

Plus our current technology allows the Lunatic Fringe to do almost what they want online in front of millions of people. It becomes harder to tell truth from fiction. (Like those faked Youtube videos.)

Subconsciously, it affects you.
(See how fast that crappy way of holding a gun sideways caught on from gangs? You're lucky if you hit the broad side of a barn that way, but it's 'cool' and people copy it to be 'tough'.)

So, what does this say about current society?

Monkey see. Monkey do.

You couldn't find a ghost hunting show that wasn't faked? The hell you say.
2013-03-01 05:59:56 PM
1 votes:

Fluid: Hypocrisy isn't a particularly new phenomenon in people, so this comes as no surprise.


Exacly... if docors around the world swear by i, hen who are we o argue?
2013-03-01 04:53:45 PM
1 votes:
2013-03-01 03:44:49 PM
1 votes:
FTA:"What message gets through? And which do we emulate at work or school? "

The instant I read that, I knew this article was written by a woman.
2013-03-01 03:26:28 PM
1 votes:
What aggression!! STFU!!!!
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