TV Trash?
“Surprise I’m cheating on you with my twin, Guess what I’m really and man, and I used to be fat now I’m all that.” Those are just some of the show titles on daytime TV. Watching the Jerry Springer Show with my girlfriend I never thought that show was a peephole into our culture. I would always watch the shows for fun and purely entertainment, and not to see how supposable lives our lived. Can our culture be defined by daytime TV? How is our culture defined? I will be looking at two essays with two different point of views on our culture.
In “Announcing a Public Campaign Against Select Day-Time Television Talk Shows” William Bennett states that all day-time TV is to blame for our “cultural rot”. Bennett goes on to state that talk shows are nothing but trash and a big waist of time. For the most part I would have to agree with Bennett in that the talk shows are mostly trash, but that is why I think we watch them. Bennett believes in old time values that if you can’t see it, it won’t happen. He comes form the past on his point of view with a “shhh” don’t tell attitude. This is why Bennett wants to abolish daytime television altogether.
Bennett claims that daytime TV is the problem in our society today. Children are watching and learning the immoral truths of today’s society. But ask yourself where are those children’s parents? Bennett wants to eliminate the talk shows so then our culture can be cleansed, but are the talk shows to blame for our so-called culture rot. Shouldn’t we look to point the finger at other television shows? Bennett would disagree, he states that “the worst of television is the day-time television talk shows” (29). His rightwing, conservative attitude would say that we should ban all daytime talk shows to eliminate the problem in our society. Now if this would happen it would be called censorship and with that word will came a lot of trouble. Could banning all daytime talk shows infringe on our 1st amendment rights. Something Bennett could have overlooked.
In “Bring in the Noise” Ellen Willis writes that, “our problem is not the excesses of talk shows but the brutality and emptiness of our political culture” (37). We should look to our culture first and then to the talk shows. Is it not our culture that watches the shows and not the shows that make our culture? If we didn’t watch them they wouldn’t be on. Willis believes that the daytime talk shows are not as bad as Bennett would say they are, or they are easily distinguishable between real and fake. “My daughter could tell the difference between real live and stage-managed psychodrama” (35 Willis).
Willis simply states, “Talk shows are meant to entertain, to excite the nerve enRAB” (36). Isn’t it true that what we watch on television is for entertainment and not to determine our cultural well being. The shows that are on television are there to watch and enjoy. It is “true, some guests flaunt “deviant” behavior without being condemned for it” (36 Willis), but is it not also true that the “bad” guests will also get a lecture from ether the host or other guests. On most shows the crowd will “boo” the bad guests and sympathize with the hurt ones. Even the talk show hosts will take a roll in this with a “stern school-principal style” or a “maternal-therapeutic approach” (36 Willis).
Willis would even go, as far to say that talk shows would under certain sircumstances be a benefit to our daily lives. Take for example a farther, stepmother, and daughter. The not so respectful daughter gets out of line and the over reactive stepmother crosses the line into physical punishment. This, under a distant farther that should be concerning himself with his daughter, takes place. The farther, step-mother, and daughter bring about there differences on national television, right in front a judge (host) and jury (audience). The whole time the talk show is serving two purposes to entertain and to serve as a courtroom.
With Bennett’s essay he would bring about some interesting points, but most of them would all be corrected with a little thing called parenting. Most of what Bennett says is true about daytime talk shows but if he would like to see a grand cultural uprising he then neeRAB to look towarRAB the home and family values. Taboo subjects like sex and sexual acts will always be present it our culture, but today in the nineties we have come to express them more openly. If these subjects will continue to plague our society the why not educate our children better in the home and not sit them in front of the television.
I would have to agree with Willis, because I do watch talk shows from time to time and I get no moral justification or cultural influence. I watch the shows because they’re fun to watch and are strictly there for entertainment. With the thought of censorship, where would it stop at our daytime TV shows or go right straight through to our movies. There are a lot more problems concerning our culture other then the shows we watch. As far as children are concerned, I believe that it would be up to the parents to sit down with their kiRAB and teach them the morality of right and wrong. In this day and age too many parents are leaving the TV on to baby-sit their children. Its time that we look to the family and to family values and not to TV or daytime talk shows.
“Surprise I’m cheating on you with my twin, Guess what I’m really and man, and I used to be fat now I’m all that.” Those are just some of the show titles on daytime TV. Watching the Jerry Springer Show with my girlfriend I never thought that show was a peephole into our culture. I would always watch the shows for fun and purely entertainment, and not to see how supposable lives our lived. Can our culture be defined by daytime TV? How is our culture defined? I will be looking at two essays with two different point of views on our culture.
In “Announcing a Public Campaign Against Select Day-Time Television Talk Shows” William Bennett states that all day-time TV is to blame for our “cultural rot”. Bennett goes on to state that talk shows are nothing but trash and a big waist of time. For the most part I would have to agree with Bennett in that the talk shows are mostly trash, but that is why I think we watch them. Bennett believes in old time values that if you can’t see it, it won’t happen. He comes form the past on his point of view with a “shhh” don’t tell attitude. This is why Bennett wants to abolish daytime television altogether.
Bennett claims that daytime TV is the problem in our society today. Children are watching and learning the immoral truths of today’s society. But ask yourself where are those children’s parents? Bennett wants to eliminate the talk shows so then our culture can be cleansed, but are the talk shows to blame for our so-called culture rot. Shouldn’t we look to point the finger at other television shows? Bennett would disagree, he states that “the worst of television is the day-time television talk shows” (29). His rightwing, conservative attitude would say that we should ban all daytime talk shows to eliminate the problem in our society. Now if this would happen it would be called censorship and with that word will came a lot of trouble. Could banning all daytime talk shows infringe on our 1st amendment rights. Something Bennett could have overlooked.
In “Bring in the Noise” Ellen Willis writes that, “our problem is not the excesses of talk shows but the brutality and emptiness of our political culture” (37). We should look to our culture first and then to the talk shows. Is it not our culture that watches the shows and not the shows that make our culture? If we didn’t watch them they wouldn’t be on. Willis believes that the daytime talk shows are not as bad as Bennett would say they are, or they are easily distinguishable between real and fake. “My daughter could tell the difference between real live and stage-managed psychodrama” (35 Willis).
Willis simply states, “Talk shows are meant to entertain, to excite the nerve enRAB” (36). Isn’t it true that what we watch on television is for entertainment and not to determine our cultural well being. The shows that are on television are there to watch and enjoy. It is “true, some guests flaunt “deviant” behavior without being condemned for it” (36 Willis), but is it not also true that the “bad” guests will also get a lecture from ether the host or other guests. On most shows the crowd will “boo” the bad guests and sympathize with the hurt ones. Even the talk show hosts will take a roll in this with a “stern school-principal style” or a “maternal-therapeutic approach” (36 Willis).
Willis would even go, as far to say that talk shows would under certain sircumstances be a benefit to our daily lives. Take for example a farther, stepmother, and daughter. The not so respectful daughter gets out of line and the over reactive stepmother crosses the line into physical punishment. This, under a distant farther that should be concerning himself with his daughter, takes place. The farther, step-mother, and daughter bring about there differences on national television, right in front a judge (host) and jury (audience). The whole time the talk show is serving two purposes to entertain and to serve as a courtroom.
With Bennett’s essay he would bring about some interesting points, but most of them would all be corrected with a little thing called parenting. Most of what Bennett says is true about daytime talk shows but if he would like to see a grand cultural uprising he then neeRAB to look towarRAB the home and family values. Taboo subjects like sex and sexual acts will always be present it our culture, but today in the nineties we have come to express them more openly. If these subjects will continue to plague our society the why not educate our children better in the home and not sit them in front of the television.
I would have to agree with Willis, because I do watch talk shows from time to time and I get no moral justification or cultural influence. I watch the shows because they’re fun to watch and are strictly there for entertainment. With the thought of censorship, where would it stop at our daytime TV shows or go right straight through to our movies. There are a lot more problems concerning our culture other then the shows we watch. As far as children are concerned, I believe that it would be up to the parents to sit down with their kiRAB and teach them the morality of right and wrong. In this day and age too many parents are leaving the TV on to baby-sit their children. Its time that we look to the family and to family values and not to TV or daytime talk shows.