That's Entertainment!

The primary purpose of all forms of entertainment is to give us a bit of rest from the reality of our daily lives. We have gone from the emergence of morality tales of Greek and Roman plays to wandering medieval troubadours going from village to village to the development of books to be read for pleasure. But it was not until the advent of movies, radio, and television that our technology has enabled the creation of what has become the "Entertainment Industry" which began as a rising tide and has become a tsunami threatening to wash us all away. Like Mickey Mouse confronting the broomsticks and buckets in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Walt Disney's Fantasia, "entertainment" has gotten completely out of control to the point where our constant exposure to unreality has perversely led us to believe that the unreal is real, and we are somehow at fault for not being a part of it.

A recent edition of CBS' "Sunday Morning" featured an interesting and telling segment on the increasingly ubiquitous "reality" shows. The fact that so called reality shows have little or nothing to do with reality--which is far too intrusive and often far too unpleasant--is irrelevant.

A driving force behind such shows is, as one commentator noted, that TV producers, directors, and executives have realized that today's audiences have reptile brains: little or no thought; just reaction. Coupled with the fact that reality shows bring in huge profits for a fraction of the cost of scripted--or more correctly, more formally scripted--programming guarantees that these shows will continue to proliferate, delving ever deeper into the garbage of the human experience. In the world of commerce, there is no god but Mammon.

Historically, entertainment most frequently had a strong element of nobility, in that, in addition to taking our minds off the world around us, it generally educated us and taught us lessons of hope. That element has all but been obliterated in the rush to crank out mindless distractions.

People with absolutely no discernible talent but all-consuming egos and the desire for fame are taking over television. It was estimated that one major network now devotes fully twenty percent of its programming to so-called reality shows. The fact that outrageous behavior is actively encouraged to attract viewers also means, of course, that what is seen on these shows sloshes, like the contents of a slop bucket into which someone has dropped a large stone, over everything and everyone around it.

And the message to the viewer is clear: boorish behavior is acceptable for everyone.

As always, it is the children who are most at risk. They grow up admiring egomaniacal, rude, utterly thoughtless people. Should it/will it surprise anyone when those same kids grow up to emulate what they were raised on by watching TV?

That we watch these exercises in anti-social behavior at all speaks volumes...and depressingly...about how insecure we are in and with our own lives. We are bombarded with adventure and excitement and things which, though ubiquitous on TV, the simple restrictions of time dictate that no single human being could possibly experience. But that fact doesn't register: they are there, right in front of our eyes, and beautiful, rich people are enjoying them right this very minute. Why am I not enjoying those things right this very minute? I deserve them. I want them. So I am therefore somehow at fault...or worse, therefore someone else is at fault...for being deprived of them. Unhappiness, resentment of those who do have them, and general frustration ensue.

That we will, if history's established patterns continue, somehow survive this onslaught as we have survived countless others through time is testament to the resilience of our race. But it does not make for a smooth ride.

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