----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>i can't help but agree, but i'll take this further (i don't mean too sound
>elitist here...)
 
Wow, I can't imagine how you'd sound if you actually tried!
 
>television in america is nothing but garbage...life reflecting trash
>reflecting life...cartoons like beavis and buttheasd are so painfully funny
>because we (sadly) went to gradeschool and highschool with illiterates like
>them (if you are under 30)....unfortunately we live in a society who most can
>no longer tell the difference between the cold bland image of a tv sitcom and
>the images on the tv screen, both are taken in like fast food. it all tastes
>the same and you can't remember what you just ate (or saw) ten minutes later.
>i think its a problem when the local  tv news gives equal weight to sports,
>weather, and national events.... who cares about the congress, i want to know
>who won the highschool basketball game!  the news is at best a republican info
>mercial (meant to deprive the viewers from knowing the truth, just morsels to
>keep them thinking they are getting the whole story...
 
>[...its too bad messages like these aren't broadcast on tv...the ones who
>need to know won't ever be told...]
>
>james goldschmidt
 
Yes, James, and you are just the guy to bring Culture to those
unenlightened masses out there!  How else will "those people" ever figure
out that they are being deprived of the beauty and wonder of Art?  They
need a good talking to by an intellectual to raise their consciousness!
 
James, are you watching the same stuff I do?  I regularly see social
commentary and criticism on TV (Roseanne, the aforementioned B & B,
Simpsons, John Larroquette, X-Files, etc.).  But more importantly, I have
fun watching TV.  I am not being duped by the Powers That Be.  I am
engaging in a pleasurable experience.  And there's nothing wrong with that.
 I don't need to be preached to by you that the "garbage" I watch is
garbage - I think many people know that much of TV is lowbrow, stupid,
unenlightening, etc., but we choose to watch it anyway because it's fun!  I
think it would be a much more insidiously corrupt and evil world if instead
of getting biased news and televisual "garbage," we were subjected only to
"hard" news (and James, where will we get "the whole story" anyway?) and
"quality" programming and denied comedy, sports, and other "diversions."
Step back and think about the fact that millions of people watch and enjoy
TV and very few of them have any trouble figuring out the differences
between types of shows or distinguishing quality.
 
On a more macro-Screen-L issue, I've noticed a recent trend toward
TV-bashing and Film (not movies, Film or Cinema) canonizing on this list.
In the past few weeks, most discussions have concerned Art-Films and
Art-Film Directors (e.g. Antonioni), TV's horrible societal effects, and
the Oscars and how they pander to the public (i.e. are shown on TV).  Are
there still TV / Popular Culture proponents out there?  Does anyone else
see this type of discussion list as too heavily filmic?  Do people want to
injecting more pro-TV issues here or perhaps divide Screen-L into Film & TV
sublists?  Any suggestions?  Am I the only one who cares about this?
 
Sorry for ranting.
 
********
jajasoon tlitteu  ([log in to unmask])
 
"You've probably heard that Microsoft has recently taken over the Catholic
Church. The Vatican was pleased, saying, 'Well, we've been using icons for
over 2000 years, and Microsoft has only been using them for 3, so we figure
we'll be able to help them out a bit.'"