NEGATIVE TV:
Have these “Survivor” type TV competitions gone to
far?
Big
Brother
The Weakest Link
The Amazing Race
Lost
Fear Factor
Survivor
Temptation Island
What do all these shows have in common? They glorify
the negative in our society.
By waving a carrot of a large money settlement,
the programs manipulate the contestants to promote
their selfishness and greed.
And by watching these shows and becoming
intimately involved with the characters, we, too, buy
into their covet ness. For example:
Maybe, it’s
time for more uplifting programming.
So might I offer these possible ideas for the future.
Brother Can You
Spare a Dime:
Teams of strangers are sent into the street to
beg for money to help the poor. Those who collect the
most money will receive a cash prize. The cash prize
will be donated to the contestant’s favorite
charity.
Share
My Crib: Strangers are given the task of adopting a needy family and
helping them find employment, and a place to live.
Contestants who do the best job in promoting their
family will win a prize. The contestants are given the
option of keeping the money or giving it to their host
family as a down payment on a better life.
Bicycling
for Bucks: Teams of employees chosen from
large corporations race across the country on
bicycles. In every town, the contestants have to
perform good deeds before getting back on their bikes
(peeling potatoes for a homeless shelter or washing a
load of clothes owned by a homeless person). The
winners will be given points for their best time on
the road and their good deeds performed. The winning team will present a check to their favorite
charity.
Get the idea. I’m
not a TV programmer but these ideas could be turned
into some decent uplifting shows.
In closing, I’d like to leave you with a story I saw
in a foreign animated cartoon.
A
man is walking down the road. He comes upon a large
hole and falls in.
Cursing, he climbs out of the hole but stops
when he hears someone coming. Hiding behind a tree,
he watches as another traveler makes the same
mistake and falls into the hole. The first traveler
silently laughs at the man’s misfortune. Suddenly,
the second traveler hears someone coming down the
road. Like the first traveler he too decides to hide
behind the tree. As the second man confronts the
first man hiding, he is both amazed and angered, but
suddenly the two men put their feelings aside and
joyfully wait behind the tree to view the misfortune
to come. Into
view comes the third traveler. Like the first and
second traveler he falls into the hole. But unlike
the first and second traveler, the third man climbs
out of the hole, finds a large stone and fills the
hole. As he walks away, the first and second man
look puzzled and saddened that their fun had been
interrupted by the man’s solution to the problem.
The moral: We can make fun of our neighbor
and use his misfortune as a source of entertainment
or we can act to prevent misfortune so that it will
not hurt anyone in the future. What will you choose?
-- Jerome A. Holst, Webmaster
October, 2001
