Vanity Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 Leave your TV on Artsetceterant by Kate MacDonald, ArtsEtc. Editor April 24, 2002 Monday was the official start of national TV Turnoff Week. Here we are, halfway through the passive protest, and I'm sure that lots of television haters are having a great time talking to each other and painting on velvet. If only Turnoff Week organizers could get the Nielson families to participate -- then the industry might actually squirm a little. Meanwhile, for those who resent the term "idiot box" and embrace the televised medium, here are five reasons to keep your TV on: 1) Ten major health groups just publically advocated TV Turnoff Week, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, harping that television viewing promotes obesity and increased violence. Meanwhile, the medical profession allows itself to be featured on TV constantly. For example, The Learning Channel regularly runs shows such as "Medical Detective" and "Maternity Ward." Discovery has "The New Detectives; Forensic Science." Not to mention the fact that there is an entire channel dedicated to the health profession called Discovery Health. I suppose these fine programs are an exception to the studies and should not be turned off under any circumstance. Hypocritical Oath, anyone? 2) The Turnoff Week organizers are selling "TV Turnoff Week Kits" for $15 online. Seriously. The handy rip-off, er, kit comes with step-by-step instructions: Pick up remote. Hit off button. Turn to people around you and attempt to converse awkwardly. Become embarrassed and horribly uncomfortable by the deafening silence. Suggest that everyone read a book together. Turn TV back on. The Turnoff kit also includes a tip sheet on how to TV-proof your home. Curiously omitted is the obvious suggestion of not buying one in the first place. 3) Think of how out of touch you will be socially if you miss seven days of television. All week long, people will inquire if you saw that one thing with that guy and how funny it was. You can try to steer the conversation toward the non-television activities that you've been enjoying all week, but no one cares about cross-stitching. 4) A paper called "Media Trance" by Taylor Stoehr suggests that people turn the television on to experience it passively while they do "shadow work." This is defined by Ivan Illich as "the secondary work that people in modern market economies routinely do as an unpaid complement to production and distribution." Illich provides examples such as housework, grocery shopping, cooking and studying as instances of "shadow work." Stoehr suggests that television provides something of a media trance during these monotonous activities. He goes further to criticize the practice of passive television viewing, stating that if the TV were off during "shadow work," the mind could be free to engage in "brooding, expecting, wishing, worrying, despairing and so on." Wow, that sounds like fun, Taylor, but I'd rather watch "The Osbournes," buddy. 5) The television networks are aware of the fact that all of the whiny hypocritical annoying people will have their "idiot boxes' off all week. Therefore, they will offer visual delights to the rest of us diehard tube aficionados, such as Michael Douglas guest-starring on "Will and Grace" and a new "Friends." I think the choice is clear. ha ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blink_ATX Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 fuck TV I only watch TLC and discovery, maybe a little bit of Comedy central, otherwise, i aint getting brainwashed by medai banter and advertising overflow. shit talking capitalist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NATO Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 this sought of thing always makes me laugh. if you hate TV so much why do you own a TV to switch off in the first place?? or do you just go round switching off other people's?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest --zeSto-- Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 3) Think of how out of touch you will be socially if you miss seven days of television. All week long, people will inquire if you saw that one thing with that guy and how funny it was. You can try to steer the conversation toward the non-television activities that you've been enjoying all week, but no one cares about cross-stitching. Honestly... If I ever end up standing next to a water cooler, talking to some old bimbo about which 'survivor' is getting the boot next... I'll know that It's time for me to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footsoldier Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 turning off my tv would mean missing the simpsons....soooo its not gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest --zeSto-- Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 and more... read a fucking newspaper!! If you want to be 'in touch' with the world, try living in it! Not just observing it from your ass groove on the couch. I read an article in the newpaper about the 'TV Trance'. Watching television is incredibly depressing to most people, but they dont even know it. For example, if you take 4 hours, and devote it to a project, then you'll have the feeling of accomplishment. Even if it's a simple as reading a book, you'll feel like the time was well spent. But If you watch TV for 4 hours, you feel guilty about wasting that time. So next time you find yourself watching a 'movie marathon'... think about what else you could have done with the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest platapie Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 i love my tv:crazy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG T Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 the TV stays damn it... i can't miss my simpsons(even if it is a rerun) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mental invalid Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 what happen to kill your tv i have a love/hate relationship with mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest railroadjerk Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 mine is on and crankin. roommate and hallmates are playing secret of mana on snes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipples-galore Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 fuck TV. the only thing worth watching is the REDSOX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juggernaut Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 turn off the idiot box it's a disease, just like the chicken pox turn off the idiot box nOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW.. -the wacky wacky aquabats. god, my dad and little brother just sit in front of that posessive boob tube all day, watching anything that's on. it's horrible. puts 'em in a trance or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 Fuck dat. I love my tv. that's where I watch Scarface , Full Metal Jacket , and my porno collection. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donniefrisco Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 hippy shit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stoney Blaze Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 One of my homies has a thick ass book by then Surgeon General, C. Everett Coop about the effects of Marijuana. It states that the effects of smoking Marijuana is better than the effects of watching television. Marijuana stimulates the mind to think and process internal information while television leaves the mind inactive and subject to whatever is being viewed. I'll barrow it from him and relay it verbatum when I get the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remi Martin Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 so getting drunk and watching cable is not good for you....... how about getting high and watching cable........ movies are cool, but otherwise fuck the dumbshit.... i would rather smoke weed and meditate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanity Posted April 25, 2002 Author Share Posted April 25, 2002 Originally posted by blink_ATX fuck TV I only watch TLC and discovery, dont trick yourself into thinking you're actually learning anything from this. you're still jsut watching other people do stuff. psuedo-educational shows are still designed to be entertainment... just under a different guise. they dont actually go into any depth in the subject. and most of what you do learn is trivial (but what isn't, right?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REZK one Posted May 19, 2002 Share Posted May 19, 2002 haha there are too many threads about this shit. viva la simpsons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornelius Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 stupid hippies.. i can't wait until they all die of tofu heart attacks and health food cancer... i love my cartoons... and they aren't going to keep me from watching them.. fuckers... if they come near my tv, i'm going to beat their pacifist hippie asses.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-town_bomber Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 thats pretty harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uncle-boy Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Originally posted by blink_ATX fuck TV I only watch TLC and discovery, maybe a little bit of Comedy central, otherwise, i aint getting brainwashed by medai banter and advertising overflow. shit talking capitalist hahahahah... you are so silly. oh lord kaos, when will you ever learn?:mexican: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornelius Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Originally posted by d-town_bomber thats pretty harsh. yeah, nobody fucks with my cartoon network, buddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 http://enterthecultoflove.com/Read.jpg'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Powers Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I'd say wasting time on 12oz is ten times worse then t.v. how about turning your computers off.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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