It's All Fake

I concede the cynical part of me may be driving this entry and that on a better day I may not feel quite this strongly on this matter. Having said that, I am becoming increasingly of the mind that all one sees on television these days is fake. The drama is exaggerated. The alerts are unnecessarily hyped. Much of the so-called news is disguised advertising. The talking heads do nothing to add to the national conversation regarding serious issues. The knowledge-base of many of the supposedly respectable journalists is as thin as a slice of butter. And our elected leaders, many of whom are not worthy of the offices they hold, are driven by their own self interest rather than the greater good of our nation.

Television programming seems to be overwhelmed with reality shows. The irony here is there is little, if anything, real about these shows. Whether it is some battle royal between a bunch of cooks who are given one hour to make the best chocolate chip cookies ever or some family of celebrities who we get to watch talk about such critical topics as which health spa to go to or which pair of shoes they should wear to an upcoming movie premiere, it is all trumped-up junk. And do not get me started on the array of dating shows where contestants vie to find their true love. Each of these episodes is more insulting than the last.

The so-called serious shows are the worst offenders. The best thing one can say about many of them is they make lots of noise. It is all show biz and we are the worse for it. I only wish we had someone to apologize to for what we have allowed to happen. Perhaps it is future generations. Television really is a vast wasteland as was once said many years ago. The difference is it seems to be getting worse. Increasingly, this entire medium devotes its energies to appealing to the emotions of the millions of us who watch what it offers. Even though there would no doubt be resistance, we would  all be so much better off if it tried appealing to our intellect instead.