For the Love and Hate of Television-Anya Slepyan

As an introvert, I have a painful relationship with mixers and get-to-know-you games. But my experience as a camp counselor and participation in various YMCA events have taught me that when entering a new program, mortifying mixers and name games are pretty much inevitable.  So when I recently attended the orientation for Leadership Lexington, I knew I was doomed. It did not surprise me in the least that a major portion of the day was allotted to group bonding and team-building (basically exactly the kind of forced social interaction that I live to avoid). In one of the “games” that we played, we were randomly assigned groups, and we had to find five hobbies or characteristics that everyone in our group had in common. At first it was difficult; the boy sitting next to me started off with something along the lines of “so we’re all republicans, right?” After a couple of seconds of emphatic-head shaking on my part, other suggestions started rolling in. Eventually we got to the topic of TV and entertainment. Although the five of us didn’t have the same favorite shows or movies, we could all agree that we spent at least some of our time watching television (mostly Netflix) and that we enjoyed it. When all of the groups had to later share their common traits, we found that watching TV was pretty much universal among the groups of students.

Of course, the fact that a majority of people likes or does something does not make that something necessarily good; sometimes the exact opposite is true. However, it is undeniable that television is engrained in our culture, especially that of younger generations who now have the benefit of instant streaming, anytime and anywhere. And as with any cultural phenomenon, there is both good and bad that can come out of it. It is true that many Americans spend far too much time watching TV than doing other activities, like moving. Furthermore, there are definitely shows that make me embarrassed to belong to the human species (i.e. Bridezillas, Preachers’ Daughters, Keeping up with the Kardashians). But it would be incorrect to make a blanket statement that all TV is damaging or completely lacking in value. While television brings us trashy reality TV, there are also sources of social and political commentary (Vice, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), educational sources (documentaries, PBS, History Channel, Ancient Aliens), comedy (Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec.) and other shows that are just—objectively—really, really good (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Mad Men).

Anything in excess can be bad, and that certainly includes TV. But TV can also be a valid source of entertainment and information. One of the best, and worst, features of modern television is that the viewer has such a variety of choices that she can make of TV whatever she wants. The power to choose between so many shows and programs also gives the viewer the responsibility of assessing the merits and issues of each one, and making a personal decision based on those ideas. I believe that TV is what you make of it, and what you decide to watch determines its value (or lack thereof).