Jill and I watched the Super Bowl tonight at home by ourselves. It was a very nice date; we got pizza and drank a beer together. I like spending time with Jill. I don’t care one bit about football. Not only is it a silly sport but the networks totally ruin it with dumb commercials, product placement all over the place, and ads for more TV shows.
I’ve never been much of a TV watcher. Sure, my siblings and I watched our share of movies and shows as a kid. But ever since I discovered the fun of gaming, I’ve been hooked. I’d rather play a game with graphics like this…
…than watch a TV show. Really. Here’s a couple reasons why:
1) Role playing games are like making your own TV show – you are the main character (even if the digital representation of your hero is an “@” symbol). Using your imagination is often more fun than mindlessly taking in what others have already imagined.
2) I don’t get interrupted every ten minutes by five minutes of people trying to sell me something I never want to buy, ever. Bud Light was already a disgusting beer, but it got mentioned tonight on the Super Bowl enough to really make me despise it. I’m not buying a $30,000 SUV, truck, or car. I’m not shopping at Victoria’s Secret because some model in lingerie tries to be seductive. Since I haven’t watched TV for so long, I couldn’t believe how annoying commercials really are. I hoped they’d be funny, but all I thought about was how invasive and disruptive they were. It made me want to NOT buy all the stuff they tried to sell me.
3) I don’t have to wait a week to find out what happens next.
4) I don’t have to feel guilty for watching all the filth that’s on TV. And yes, it’s filthy. “Viewer discretion is advised” was said about every show they advertised tonight! As people that choose what entertainment enters our houses, we should exercise the right to show discretion. Every show I’ve seen over the years seems to get progressively more sensuous, violent, and vulgar. Do we choose to acclimate ourselves each time we see more, or is there a limit somewhere? Hasn’t that line already been crossed? Isn’t it true that we don’t want to put our foot down because we LIKE what we see? The networks know a lot about people and what keeps their attention. It’s their job. It’s time we took responsibility and filter what we watch.
5) Have you ever watched something on TV and started to feel dizzy or disoriented? Video editors do everything they can to keep viewers interested and “tuned in”. Constantly changing camera angles and other similar techniques force your brain to re-adjust to what you are seeing, and consequently keeps you from changing the channel. This has gone way overboard. Watch five minutes of an old black and white TV show, and then watch five minutes of MTV. You will see instantly what the difference is.
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These are some of the reasons Jill and I got rid of our TV. We still have the capability to watch on the computer (for Jill), but I could easily not have any kind of TV and be happy.
The internet isn’t without its own set of filth and immorality, but at least you can easily avoid it. There are ads but you can block some of them and the other ones are mostly stupid and easily ignored. Also, gaming is just as addictive as TV and that’s an area where I tend to excess.
As for entertainment, I think I’ll play a board game with Jill instead of watching the Super Bowl next year 🙂
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