We Are What We Watch

Most people believe their choice of diets will improve and prolong their lives. We are what we eat. But by the same reasoning, can’t we say we are what we watch on TV? So many people are concerned about what they put in their mouths, but not at all what they put in their minds.

We Are What We Watch
There were years in my life when I could not start my day without the Today show or end my day without an hour of vegging out in front of the TV. No more. I can’t bear to watch human beings humiliating others. I cringe when I see people degrading themselves. My soul shrinks when I see couples use their wedding day as an opportunity to get loot, presided over by a manic Katie Couric, who has since decamped and wants us to believe she is all hard news now.

Don’t have a partner lined up? No problem–you can get one from a show where men and women vie against each other for the attention of a stranger and a million dollar check with a big, mean, string attached. If any one of these contestant’s parents try to sell them on an arranged marriage, the fur would fly. But add a chance to be on TV and get a wad of cash, and an arranged marriage pales in comparison to a contrived marriage.

It’s Not Escape, It’s Passive Victimization
Why are we glued to the TV, night after night, watching people get fired for not out-weaseling their suite-mates, get voted off an island for not excelling at deceit, or get thrown out of a dating pool for not passing the cruelest gossip? This is fun? This is relaxation? This is what we do to escape from our jobs—where we are scared of getting fired, hate the deceit, and pray we don’t become the next victim of cruel gossip?

Filling our minds with these shows is the entertainment equivalent of gawking at the mangled bodies in a car wreck. Is our pleasure now derived from relief that the mangled body–or tortured soul on TV–isn’t ours? At least we don’t let people kill animals on TV. That, after all, would be cruel.

We’re Teaching Our Children to be Bullies
There is more alarming news. I recently read a report that 75 percent of children under the age of five are watching these shows with their parents. These same parents who won’t allow their children to drink caffeinated soft drinks because it’s bad for their health. What will these kids be like when they grow up? What laws will they pass? Who will they vote into the White House Island of Triumph?

Turn it Off, Do Something Fun
What’s the answer? What you put in your head is up to you. Here’s what I discovered now that the TV is off: I like listening to different kinds of music. Chants, drums, songs in languages I don’t know. Sometimes I just sit and listen to music and don’t do anything else. Sometimes I read a book for the pure pleasure of a plot that I like. I’ve also had time to explore collage and encaustic—painting with hot wax, both of which are less expensive than a month of cable and both of which have opened a whole new world of color and texture for me.

It’s astonishing what you think of, what you remember, what you dream up when your mind is not retreating in horror. Your mind is stuck in your head, which is connected to the hand with the remote. You are what you watch.

–To see collage art that speaks to you, visit my website at www.quinncreative.com
You’ll also find information about life coaching and creativity coaching.