TV: The Devil's Work?

Okay, I don't really believe in the Devil, but that term works for the larger point here. There seem to be two kinds of people: Those who love TV and who use it as their main source of entertainment, and those who hate TV and believe it's the worst invention in the history of humankind and that we should all shun it in the interest of improving ourselves. Obviously these are generalizations, and there are people somewhere in-between these extremes. In fact, I probably fall somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the "TV is bad" camp."

When I was growing up, we didn't have cable for years. I had become accustomed to not really watching, and became a fan of reading as my favorite solitary activity. As an adult, I watched stuff, and liked it, but didn't care so much if I missed my favorite shows. There were little spurts of television obsessions (i.e. Macgyver, 90210, Buffy and The X-Files), but things like Reality TV just don't resonate with me. It seemed like shows were getting more and more stupid, to the point that I was only watching two things regularly: The news (which is a ridiculous joke that is barely useful for knowing current events in a well-rounded way) and House (oh, Hugh Laurie, you are so dreamy).

When the digital switch happened, my husband and I decided to stop watching TV altogether. We were using an antenna, and opted not to buy a digital converter box or get cable or a satellite dish. Mat's not a TV person-he's more of the "TV is the root of all evil" gang, and was thrilled to have it out of our lives. We were backed with countless research about the perils of letting children watch http://www.aap.org/family/smarttv.htm http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-faq.html and decided the TV would now exist solely for watching DVDs. Maybe someday a video game system, but we'll see.

In the world of DVR, a thousand satellite channels, and cocktail party chatter involving the latest American Idol cast-off, this makes us weirdos. Most people I know let their kids watch a ton of TV, and they themselves watch something (at least one show, usually more) every single day. I think the key to a healthy, balanced life is moderation, and I certainly don't think that the whole world should skip their favorite shows in favor of reading War and Peace (although I admit, in a mid-upper class, white, snobby sort of way I do believe that it would make us a lot smarter and more interesting).

Still, why can't people just cut back? I really don't know, and it's not my business, but it's something to think about. In the meantime, I catch new episodes of House on Hulu, http://www.hulu.com , I read my news online from various websites and blogs, and I rent the DVD collections of Weeds and Californication. I think I'll be just fine.