America’s tastes have gone downhill. Don’t worry though, this time I’m not complaining about food - this one’s about TV.
Our need for more channels and nonstop entertainment is disturbing. We watch hours of television and go to bad movies. If it weren’t for our demand, things like “Dawson’s Creek” and Carson Daly wouldn’t exist. It’s disgusting, but I’m OK with it.
At least I’m starting to cope with the neverending stream of nonsense. Some things I’m not quite able to swallow yet, like “SmackDown!” or “Black Knight.”
It’s disappointing we’ve dropped so low as to enjoy terrible acting, cheap laughs and movies based completely on special effects. It really would be nicer if everybody would read more and engage in intellectual discussion for diversion. It would be fantastic if we had a higher collective intellect, but we don’t.
It’s funny that so many people bash Britney Spears, but she still somehow seems to top the charts. Maybe I’m too immersed in the college crowd, but I don’t know who’s buying all her albums.
While I won’t admit to enjoying Spears’ music, I will admit that I have lowered my standards for entertainment.
Recently, I’ve been watching “Smallville” on the WB and I have listened to and secretly enjoyed a few songs by Blink-182 (but they do get old quickly).
Americans like glitz and glamour. We want our explosions to be big and loud, and we don’t want to watch extended personal conflict.
In “Smallville,” the protagonist Clark Kent, is clearly the hero. He’s virtuous and good looking. There’s nothing real about him.
It’s low entertainment because the acting is mediocre and Kent always ends up the hero at the end of the episode. And that’s the way I like it.
While I agree a media full of sexy people is not good for our self-image, I understand that it’s marketable. I don’t want to watch un-sexy people doing ordinary things. If I wanted that, I’d watch my roommate.
Instead, I’d rather escape from the daily grind for a bit and watch a young Superman kick some ass and try to win the affection of the attractive Lana Lang.
Escapism is important. I make sure to watch “The West Wing” every Wednesday on NBC, but if all the shows I watched were that serious and dealt with important issues, I’d get an ulcer.
Since Sept. 11, Americans want a quick and easy victory over terrorism. Like most things, it’s not that simple. We want a war that’s fun to watch and yields results.
Unfortunately, a war on terrorism isn’t going to be easy. But the public needs to be fed something. We’re eating up the news coverage and the jingoistic products that have suddenly hit the market the way we devour any crap that corporate America feeds us.
While I’m not going to spend my small salary on a flag for my dorm room to celebrate my American pride, I will continue to engage in activities that terrorists disapprove of. I plan to enjoy a few episodes of “The Real World” and “Cribs” on MTV and be entertained by dance parties with attractive women.
I complain about our society’s level of stupidity, but I watch Comedy Central. It’s hypocritical, but what isn’t? Even Osama bin Laden wore a Timex watch while whining about his moral superiority.
I’ve obviously become cynical about my role in the improvement of our society as a whole. I’m hoping there will be a cultural backlash and people will start appreciating art and good music and turn off “Baywatch” to better themselves, but I’m not holding my breath.
We are a shallow group of people when it comes to entertainment, and to a certain extent, it’s OK.
Remember that watching fake wrestling on TNN doesn’t mean you’re stupid. Just as long as you take it in perspective and don’t hurt people with folding chairs, I think our society will be OK.
Ryan Weltzer is the State News theater reporter. He’s going to stop complaining about bad plots and terrible acting and start enjoying the commercialist hype. Reach him at weltzerr@msu.edu.
