There really is no substitute for “being there,” is there? Whether it’s the wonders of the natural world or the idiosyncrasies of the people we love, a video cannot compare to being there, no matter how hi-res. It’s why we miss our loved ones so much when we’re geographically apart.
I’ve not yet thrown my smartphone into the Atlantic Ocean because I appreciate the far flung personal interactions it enables, but nothing can compare to the magical alchemy that occurs when we interact with each other simultaneously in real time, unmediated by technology.
There is no substitute. Magical alchemy is a perfect way to describe it. I think it's supposed to be that way, don't you? Our growth as spirit-beings is fertilized by community!
You certainly are right about there being no substitute for being there, but until someone, maybe you, figures out how to teleport, you better NOT throw that damn thing into the Atlantic. As Mary likes to remind us, how would we all have found each other without this infernal technology?
Hmmm…still working on it. I’ll be right over once I figure it out. In the meantime, I continue to treasure the remote connections I’ve made that affirm that not everyone has been driven insane by the chaos swirling around us. We three never would have “met” and become soul sisters were it not for all the crazy. What a ride, huh?
Thank you, Mary. A very thoughtful, and beautifully written essay that is also incredibly timely.
I have not read that book, but have a feeling I don't need to. Besides, you're covering it!
I suspect too, that what we're in the midst of right now will push more and more of us into nature. Sad we seemed to require becoming so separate in order to re-orient, but as you note, we will eventually figure it out. Loved that poem too. Best, and thank you again.
Mary, this essay was really thought-provoking. I definitely sense the loss of that “direct experiential knowledge of the infinite variety of the natural world” in my own life, even with living in a semi-rural mountain environment. After reading your essay I feel that I’ve probably missed out on a whole lot of that “beauty” that Charles Eisenstein talks about, the reason we’re all here in the first place, “to behold the magnificence and beauty of life, and praise it.”
The idea that we have become “more reliant on information outside ourselves” and less reliant on our senses and not as trusting of our own instincts and intuition is disturbing, but I’ve seen it in myself. These last few years however have been a real test for me in that respect not being able to deny my own instincts about what was going on and to risk alienation in the process. Not to mention struggling to discern truth from lies.
It’s sad to have “traded away our innate sense of reality” for one imposed on us by some so-called expert or intellectual somebody, or scientist. We sure have been sold a bill of goods all right. But it’s still not too late. How does that song go? "Nothing's impossible, I have found, For when my chin is on the ground. I pick myself up, Dust myself off, And start all over again". Fortunately we’re not alone.
Thanks for bringing all this to our attention in such an interesting way. And I have to say that I really appreciated that cross-post of Michael Warden’s last week. It lifted my spirits to be informed of all the incredible possibilities that are out there being envisioned by people like us for our future.
I'm with you. I'm committing to more beholding and praising! It's not too late for that or for trusting our instincts more and more, you're right about both. And I'm so glad Michael's post lifted you up! It did the same for me, too. That's how we will get through it all. Big hugs to you, dear Rocket... xox
Reading through this comment section I'm struck by how cogent all your replies are to everyone no matter which part of your article they commented on. Not to mention how much we can learn from reading the comments. I just may have to check out that book by Mander, "In the Absence of the Sacred", that Joel Miller references. xox
Very nice of you to say, but I'm not so sure about that. I do remember that back then, Peter was pretty much the only one writing comments. What a loyal guy, uh? Always in your corner, and it paid off too. Look at you now! xox
They don't call it television "programming " for no reason!
Any yet, it is but one aspect of the incredibly convenient, electronic/ technological prison we joyfully agree to have built around us.
We generally jump to accept anything that relieves us of our internal frustration or fear. Yet the fear remains, just in a "glossed over" state.
As you said, we need to value the "real" world. I'll add, our "real souls" and our " real nature" as spiritual beings.
And that pathway is known, I believe. It exists, and brave beings have walked it.
Essays, perceptions and thoughts like yours, can help to inspire us to find our path, to hear "the voice in the wilderness", and to start or continue the journey.
Wonderful addition, CS. Yes, real souls! We have been so acculturated to believe that the material rules supreme. The fear you mention grows rampant when we are disconnected from Source.
Thank you for your presence and your offerings here!
I’m just starting this series so I’ll wait to comment on the content (great start tho!!) but wanted to chime in and say that’s it’s quite possible, according to your quotes, that we read all the same stackers. 😂
Jun 20, 2023·edited Jun 20, 2023Liked by Mary Poindexter McLaughlin
A fine fine piece Mary an' I'm right thar with ya philosophy-wize. Tho' I never heard of Mander's work before--dang he just NAILED IT, on the head, on the mark! Btw, that's gotta be a nom-de-plume, no? (manipulations political --aka ta gerrymander..., right?)
Anywayz, I betcha'll like whut the late great Alan Watt (not Watts, that's a diff'rent feller) said 'bout teevee an' its dangers:
My kiddos grew up without teevee an' we STILL ain't got it now! No misses either! (an' yup, folks said really weird stuff to us too like, "how will your kids know what all the kids are talkin' about if they don't have tv?" to which I'd say, "wull of course they'll TALK!--with each other!" (an' they did!)
Ditto here fer gettin' out in the real world--with us it wuz city-real but it included the parks (all've 'em!) an' botanical gardens an' zoos an' lotsa nature--that wuz our "real deal!"
As my girls got older--I think my youngest wuz 'bout 8 then--we introduced (via commercial-free dvdeez) some "good tv" of yesteryear (my curatin' of course) mebbe an hour 'r 2 a WEEK (!). But it wuz the "good stuff!" (an' yes, it warn't all bad either!) I grew up with my gran'parents n' enjoyed lotsa reruns n' old movies, so my tastes skew ta them "golden oldies" so here it wuz stuff like The Lucy Show, Carol Burnett, Honeymooners, The Munsters, a' course Beverly Hillbillies (yee haw!), Batman (natch!), an' similar. All great comedy, all fine ensemble actin', all performers with puhlenty of stage experience so it wuz a whole n'uther onion than what passes fer "teevee" today. Later we wartched some Star Trek (the original) an' durin' the plandemic lockdowns some Twilight Zones that were SO canny an' on-target we had some jaw droppin' moments (I wrote 'bout one've 'em on my stack--the Burgess Meredith in The Obsolete Man about book bannin' which is positively CHILLING! mentioned in this 'un: https://thcsofdaisymoses.substack.com/p/how-we-fight, the postin' you yerself inspired!)
BUT, cuz I grew up watchin' teevee mostly as a fambly affair (my granny used ta holler at Columbo all the time--"look there--he's behind you! He's gotta gun!!!!!!!" (ha!), my own rule wuz we ALWAYS wartched it TOGETHER. It was never a babysitter, always a fun "novel" activity. An' a bit've a history lesson--seein' them "ice boxes" or Lucy n' Ethyl puttin' on white gloves ta go shoppin'-- but ya gotta sit together ta have somebuddy pernt it out--many times after an episode we'd chat 'bout it too. Also, it wuz a nice way to introduce SO many great actors to my gals cuz there wuz always guest stars back then--good 'uns! So teevee (in small doses) wasn't always n' only the idiot box-- but today, callin' it an idiot box'd be a compliment!
One'a my goals--tho--is ta wartch all them ol' theater shows like Playhouse 90--fine stuff 'fore our time but the list've actors doin' quality work is mind-blowin'. HAD teevee stayed like that (never the plan...), I think young brains today wouldn't be so lost... Even the ads wuz better (an' as I mentioned once, my daughters an' I used ta study'em--a fun AN' funny way ta learn 'bout proper-gander!)
So teevee could be eddy-fyin' IF it wasn't--as my very wizs gran'pappy called it, "The Idiot Box!" Sad thing is most kids today don't know Lucille Ball from a malted milk ball. Come ta think of it I don't think most've 'em know what that is either!
But ya said it all well here! An' indeed--our media-'tid lives / medi-ate-ID lives / media did lives... all've it an' (of course) mediated in terms of bein' managed-controlled, guided by that invisible hand they called the cathod ray...
I think we've all replaced the public forum--the park space, town square, the local IHop (!) an' HoJo's--with Substack but it ain't immediate--we can't look at one another while we type--not the same. I'm grateful fer it--an' if nuttin' else, though I see it on a screen (thankfully not a small one either, ha!), it's a far cry better than what goes fer teevee now...
An' on that note I'm gonna adjust my ol' rabbit ears 'fore bedtime!
Jerry Mander is his true name. Maybe his parents had a serious sense of humor?
Thank you so much for the clip of Alan Watt -- I may reference it in the next two installments. I looked at his website and was sad to see he had passed... what a revolutionary!
You and I watched the EXACT SAME STUFF as kids. I'm convinced that Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore (you didn't mention her, but my guess is that she was in your sphere) were the greatest influencers on my decision to pursue acting. That era seemed pretty golden, though after listening to Alan Watt, I'm not so sure... :-)
Playhouse 90 is new to me -- I'm going to look it up. And I'm grateful, too, for Substack's forum, even if it's still "owned" by Hamish What'shisname. You're a peach, Daisy. Thanks for being here and offering so much of yourself... xox
Jun 22, 2023·edited Jun 22, 2023Liked by Mary Poindexter McLaughlin
wull xos back atcha' Mary... Ha, wull if that's his real name an' he wuz that smart / prescient mebbe his parents DID have a twinkle in their eyes 'a namin' him...?
Yes, he passed away in '21 an' some say Alan Watt did not die of natch'ral causes either (he was very outspoken an' not that old). He was brilliant--thankfully much've his stuff is still online (I think).
OH yes indeedy ta MTM!
I'll add that one'a my FAV-O-RITE shows ever (her first show too!) wuz Dick Van Dyke (he's so dear ta me...a hoofer, a singer, great actor!). I loved the schtick of Buddy & Sally--and Mary herself (also a dancer AND she started in commercials as...Happy Hot Point!) developed that tremulous an' slightly lackin'-in-confidence but feisty character as "Laura Petrie" on the DVD show. Another one fer tee-riffic ensemble actin'...
I think we need to take in the brilliant commentary 've folks like Alan Watt but n' also, I don't think that those golden shows were harmful except in the way they pulled folks outta the parks an' public spheres an' inta living rooms (tho' back then famblies warched together!). We learned to laugh at ourselves watchin' good stories, good actin', clean/gentle humor. So my take is that it wuz a double-edged sword and we gals managed ta duck 'fore it hit the choppin' block--seems there wuz funky stuff goin' on from the 50's onward--but show runners (aka producers) were--back in the day--allowed the freedom to make marvelous shows to entice folks to stay glued ta the boob-tube an' take in the commercials, etc. But I think we ducked the blow! (I sure hope so!!!)
Oh Dick Van Dyke -- yes! He brought so much joy! And I agree with you on the double-edged sword thing. I sometimes wonder what I could have done with the time I spent lolling in front of the tube...yet I also know that my inclinations as a dramatist were sparked in large part by my lolling. There's a middle road in there somewhere, no doubt.
It's worth the read! It's available as a PDF online, which I linked to in my post. I just looked up Jordan Maxwell -- I'll be interested to learn more about his work. I didn't realize he died a year ago...
I had to read Mander’s “In the Absence of the Sacred” for college philosophy class. My friend said, “This is the same guy who wrote ‘Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.’” He’d somehow come across it in another class. There were at least two Mander fans on the faculty.
There is an irony that I am reading your piece on a screen and commenting on a screen...but hey.
I remember chucking my TV at age 21. The impetus was a number of realizations coming together around the same time. I had started to notice that TV shows were getting more violent in the early 80's, (nothing compared to today's screen violence), and realized that it really bothered my on a deep level. My partner at the time would listen to one of the popular "cop" shows that were starting to appear and my experience in an adjacent room was one of constant yelling and violence. My nervous system would become jacked and I would become agitated. Of course this was after my partner came home from work in the evening. I would subsequently go to bed with my nervous system activated; it's much harder to get to sleep with an activated nervous system.
I also really disliked the constant peddling of products that I had no interest in, which was becoming more and more pervasive...Years later "Mad Men" would be aired so that we could all experience the underbelly of the process by which all this seemingly solicitous barrage of polygrip, metamusil, cigarettes, jello, tampons, hot dogs, bologna, plop, plop, fizz, fizz, I can't believe I ate the whole thing, and the nascent arrival of drug ads with the requisite speed talking head reeling off 16 pages of side effects in 30 seconds. Gag me with a spoon.
Well, anyway, violence became king, our attention spans became shorter and shorter, more guns, guns, guns, drugs, violence...Gag me with a cell phone. These days the challenge is to find a TV show or movie that is not filled with guns and violence. All of the years since my first repulsion to TV guns and violence I have watched mass shootings and drive by shootings and school shootings become the norm. Gag me with a semi-automatic.
The other thing that occurred to me in the early 80's was after returning from a trip to rural China that I was lucky to be able to experience. China was just opened up and I was able to spend 4 weeks in rural South China as an artist through a cultural exchange program. I had the use of a bicycle and could ride around seemingly where I wanted to in Taishan area, though we were followed constantly. I would ride around in the evening and had the experience of observing a birth and death in relation to entertainment in rural China at this point in time. One experience was of an oral tradition that I found fascinating to observe, where there would be a sizable circle of people including children sitting around an older person who was obviously telling stories. Everyone was very engaged in listening attentively; this would be taking place outdoors in the evening. This was entertainment and rich cultural engagement the like of which I had never experienced. I quite sure that this oral tradition was in fact the same one that humans had been participating in for hundreds of years; the passing down of history and connection through story telling. Lucky me to be able to witness this!
At this same time something else was starting to emerge. As I would cruise around in the evening on the bike I would pass an occasional edifice that usually had a large sliding door that was open to the outside, and there would be a TV going inside and a crowd of various people would be spilling out onto the street all watching the flickering screen. The juxtaposition of the dying art of storytelling with the obvious excitement around the few TV's in the area struck me as a harbinger of what was to come. A death and a birth. A beginning and an end. Radical change. Direct connection in real time with real humans vs proxy artifice. Still gagging.
Meanwhile...with the help of homeopathic doses of humans like yourself who are questioning the dominant created artificial paradigm and maybe headed out to nature or the bonfire to connect I am feeling heartened. May it be so!!
What a fascinating comment, Denni! Thank you for describing your experience with violence on tv -- I'm sure it resonates with many. I certainly can relate. And wow, your time in China gave you such an insight -- thanks, too, for sharing that. It's rare when we are given opportunities -- and are awake enough to recognize them -- of witnessing colossal change in real time.
I may like to quote you in the next installment; Part 2 is all about advertising, and your description of the "barrage" is hilarious and awful and true. Are you okay with that?
There really is no substitute for “being there,” is there? Whether it’s the wonders of the natural world or the idiosyncrasies of the people we love, a video cannot compare to being there, no matter how hi-res. It’s why we miss our loved ones so much when we’re geographically apart.
I’ve not yet thrown my smartphone into the Atlantic Ocean because I appreciate the far flung personal interactions it enables, but nothing can compare to the magical alchemy that occurs when we interact with each other simultaneously in real time, unmediated by technology.
There is no substitute. Magical alchemy is a perfect way to describe it. I think it's supposed to be that way, don't you? Our growth as spirit-beings is fertilized by community!
You certainly are right about there being no substitute for being there, but until someone, maybe you, figures out how to teleport, you better NOT throw that damn thing into the Atlantic. As Mary likes to remind us, how would we all have found each other without this infernal technology?
If anyone could figure out teleportation, it's the Rev! :-)
Hmmm…still working on it. I’ll be right over once I figure it out. In the meantime, I continue to treasure the remote connections I’ve made that affirm that not everyone has been driven insane by the chaos swirling around us. We three never would have “met” and become soul sisters were it not for all the crazy. What a ride, huh?
Amen to that. Thank god I'm riding along with the Tres Amigos! xox
Thank you, Mary. A very thoughtful, and beautifully written essay that is also incredibly timely.
I have not read that book, but have a feeling I don't need to. Besides, you're covering it!
I suspect too, that what we're in the midst of right now will push more and more of us into nature. Sad we seemed to require becoming so separate in order to re-orient, but as you note, we will eventually figure it out. Loved that poem too. Best, and thank you again.
I imagine you don't need to, too. Thanks for the sweet comment, Kathleen!
❤️🩹
Mary, this essay was really thought-provoking. I definitely sense the loss of that “direct experiential knowledge of the infinite variety of the natural world” in my own life, even with living in a semi-rural mountain environment. After reading your essay I feel that I’ve probably missed out on a whole lot of that “beauty” that Charles Eisenstein talks about, the reason we’re all here in the first place, “to behold the magnificence and beauty of life, and praise it.”
The idea that we have become “more reliant on information outside ourselves” and less reliant on our senses and not as trusting of our own instincts and intuition is disturbing, but I’ve seen it in myself. These last few years however have been a real test for me in that respect not being able to deny my own instincts about what was going on and to risk alienation in the process. Not to mention struggling to discern truth from lies.
It’s sad to have “traded away our innate sense of reality” for one imposed on us by some so-called expert or intellectual somebody, or scientist. We sure have been sold a bill of goods all right. But it’s still not too late. How does that song go? "Nothing's impossible, I have found, For when my chin is on the ground. I pick myself up, Dust myself off, And start all over again". Fortunately we’re not alone.
Thanks for bringing all this to our attention in such an interesting way. And I have to say that I really appreciated that cross-post of Michael Warden’s last week. It lifted my spirits to be informed of all the incredible possibilities that are out there being envisioned by people like us for our future.
I loved your woodpecker poem. xox
I'm with you. I'm committing to more beholding and praising! It's not too late for that or for trusting our instincts more and more, you're right about both. And I'm so glad Michael's post lifted you up! It did the same for me, too. That's how we will get through it all. Big hugs to you, dear Rocket... xox
Thanks, Mary. Big hugs back to you too.
Reading through this comment section I'm struck by how cogent all your replies are to everyone no matter which part of your article they commented on. Not to mention how much we can learn from reading the comments. I just may have to check out that book by Mander, "In the Absence of the Sacred", that Joel Miller references. xox
Aw... thanks for noticing, Rocket. I try ;-) I'll tell ya, this comment section REALLY took off once you showed up!!
Very nice of you to say, but I'm not so sure about that. I do remember that back then, Peter was pretty much the only one writing comments. What a loyal guy, uh? Always in your corner, and it paid off too. Look at you now! xox
Thank you for that very inciteful piece.
They don't call it television "programming " for no reason!
Any yet, it is but one aspect of the incredibly convenient, electronic/ technological prison we joyfully agree to have built around us.
We generally jump to accept anything that relieves us of our internal frustration or fear. Yet the fear remains, just in a "glossed over" state.
As you said, we need to value the "real" world. I'll add, our "real souls" and our " real nature" as spiritual beings.
And that pathway is known, I believe. It exists, and brave beings have walked it.
Essays, perceptions and thoughts like yours, can help to inspire us to find our path, to hear "the voice in the wilderness", and to start or continue the journey.
Wonderful addition, CS. Yes, real souls! We have been so acculturated to believe that the material rules supreme. The fear you mention grows rampant when we are disconnected from Source.
Thank you for your presence and your offerings here!
I’m just starting this series so I’ll wait to comment on the content (great start tho!!) but wanted to chime in and say that’s it’s quite possible, according to your quotes, that we read all the same stackers. 😂
That would not surprise me! 😂
I think we kinda straddled it!
A fine fine piece Mary an' I'm right thar with ya philosophy-wize. Tho' I never heard of Mander's work before--dang he just NAILED IT, on the head, on the mark! Btw, that's gotta be a nom-de-plume, no? (manipulations political --aka ta gerrymander..., right?)
Anywayz, I betcha'll like whut the late great Alan Watt (not Watts, that's a diff'rent feller) said 'bout teevee an' its dangers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdO6I3eML9M
He's a fave'o mine...
My kiddos grew up without teevee an' we STILL ain't got it now! No misses either! (an' yup, folks said really weird stuff to us too like, "how will your kids know what all the kids are talkin' about if they don't have tv?" to which I'd say, "wull of course they'll TALK!--with each other!" (an' they did!)
Ditto here fer gettin' out in the real world--with us it wuz city-real but it included the parks (all've 'em!) an' botanical gardens an' zoos an' lotsa nature--that wuz our "real deal!"
As my girls got older--I think my youngest wuz 'bout 8 then--we introduced (via commercial-free dvdeez) some "good tv" of yesteryear (my curatin' of course) mebbe an hour 'r 2 a WEEK (!). But it wuz the "good stuff!" (an' yes, it warn't all bad either!) I grew up with my gran'parents n' enjoyed lotsa reruns n' old movies, so my tastes skew ta them "golden oldies" so here it wuz stuff like The Lucy Show, Carol Burnett, Honeymooners, The Munsters, a' course Beverly Hillbillies (yee haw!), Batman (natch!), an' similar. All great comedy, all fine ensemble actin', all performers with puhlenty of stage experience so it wuz a whole n'uther onion than what passes fer "teevee" today. Later we wartched some Star Trek (the original) an' durin' the plandemic lockdowns some Twilight Zones that were SO canny an' on-target we had some jaw droppin' moments (I wrote 'bout one've 'em on my stack--the Burgess Meredith in The Obsolete Man about book bannin' which is positively CHILLING! mentioned in this 'un: https://thcsofdaisymoses.substack.com/p/how-we-fight, the postin' you yerself inspired!)
BUT, cuz I grew up watchin' teevee mostly as a fambly affair (my granny used ta holler at Columbo all the time--"look there--he's behind you! He's gotta gun!!!!!!!" (ha!), my own rule wuz we ALWAYS wartched it TOGETHER. It was never a babysitter, always a fun "novel" activity. An' a bit've a history lesson--seein' them "ice boxes" or Lucy n' Ethyl puttin' on white gloves ta go shoppin'-- but ya gotta sit together ta have somebuddy pernt it out--many times after an episode we'd chat 'bout it too. Also, it wuz a nice way to introduce SO many great actors to my gals cuz there wuz always guest stars back then--good 'uns! So teevee (in small doses) wasn't always n' only the idiot box-- but today, callin' it an idiot box'd be a compliment!
One'a my goals--tho--is ta wartch all them ol' theater shows like Playhouse 90--fine stuff 'fore our time but the list've actors doin' quality work is mind-blowin'. HAD teevee stayed like that (never the plan...), I think young brains today wouldn't be so lost... Even the ads wuz better (an' as I mentioned once, my daughters an' I used ta study'em--a fun AN' funny way ta learn 'bout proper-gander!)
So teevee could be eddy-fyin' IF it wasn't--as my very wizs gran'pappy called it, "The Idiot Box!" Sad thing is most kids today don't know Lucille Ball from a malted milk ball. Come ta think of it I don't think most've 'em know what that is either!
But ya said it all well here! An' indeed--our media-'tid lives / medi-ate-ID lives / media did lives... all've it an' (of course) mediated in terms of bein' managed-controlled, guided by that invisible hand they called the cathod ray...
I think we've all replaced the public forum--the park space, town square, the local IHop (!) an' HoJo's--with Substack but it ain't immediate--we can't look at one another while we type--not the same. I'm grateful fer it--an' if nuttin' else, though I see it on a screen (thankfully not a small one either, ha!), it's a far cry better than what goes fer teevee now...
An' on that note I'm gonna adjust my ol' rabbit ears 'fore bedtime!
Jerry Mander is his true name. Maybe his parents had a serious sense of humor?
Thank you so much for the clip of Alan Watt -- I may reference it in the next two installments. I looked at his website and was sad to see he had passed... what a revolutionary!
You and I watched the EXACT SAME STUFF as kids. I'm convinced that Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore (you didn't mention her, but my guess is that she was in your sphere) were the greatest influencers on my decision to pursue acting. That era seemed pretty golden, though after listening to Alan Watt, I'm not so sure... :-)
Playhouse 90 is new to me -- I'm going to look it up. And I'm grateful, too, for Substack's forum, even if it's still "owned" by Hamish What'shisname. You're a peach, Daisy. Thanks for being here and offering so much of yourself... xox
wull xos back atcha' Mary... Ha, wull if that's his real name an' he wuz that smart / prescient mebbe his parents DID have a twinkle in their eyes 'a namin' him...?
Yes, he passed away in '21 an' some say Alan Watt did not die of natch'ral causes either (he was very outspoken an' not that old). He was brilliant--thankfully much've his stuff is still online (I think).
OH yes indeedy ta MTM!
I'll add that one'a my FAV-O-RITE shows ever (her first show too!) wuz Dick Van Dyke (he's so dear ta me...a hoofer, a singer, great actor!). I loved the schtick of Buddy & Sally--and Mary herself (also a dancer AND she started in commercials as...Happy Hot Point!) developed that tremulous an' slightly lackin'-in-confidence but feisty character as "Laura Petrie" on the DVD show. Another one fer tee-riffic ensemble actin'...
I think we need to take in the brilliant commentary 've folks like Alan Watt but n' also, I don't think that those golden shows were harmful except in the way they pulled folks outta the parks an' public spheres an' inta living rooms (tho' back then famblies warched together!). We learned to laugh at ourselves watchin' good stories, good actin', clean/gentle humor. So my take is that it wuz a double-edged sword and we gals managed ta duck 'fore it hit the choppin' block--seems there wuz funky stuff goin' on from the 50's onward--but show runners (aka producers) were--back in the day--allowed the freedom to make marvelous shows to entice folks to stay glued ta the boob-tube an' take in the commercials, etc. But I think we ducked the blow! (I sure hope so!!!)
Oh Dick Van Dyke -- yes! He brought so much joy! And I agree with you on the double-edged sword thing. I sometimes wonder what I could have done with the time I spent lolling in front of the tube...yet I also know that my inclinations as a dramatist were sparked in large part by my lolling. There's a middle road in there somewhere, no doubt.
Yes and yes
Wonderful, thanks!
I’ve always wanted to read this book, first heard about it from Jordan Maxwell.
It's worth the read! It's available as a PDF online, which I linked to in my post. I just looked up Jordan Maxwell -- I'll be interested to learn more about his work. I didn't realize he died a year ago...
Oh man, thanks for the pdf Mary! Yes he opened my eyes to many things…was a gateway in many respects.
I had to read Mander’s “In the Absence of the Sacred” for college philosophy class. My friend said, “This is the same guy who wrote ‘Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.’” He’d somehow come across it in another class. There were at least two Mander fans on the faculty.
That's so interesting! How long ago was this? And should I check out "In the Absence of the Sacred"? Thanks for commenting, Joel!
There is an irony that I am reading your piece on a screen and commenting on a screen...but hey.
I remember chucking my TV at age 21. The impetus was a number of realizations coming together around the same time. I had started to notice that TV shows were getting more violent in the early 80's, (nothing compared to today's screen violence), and realized that it really bothered my on a deep level. My partner at the time would listen to one of the popular "cop" shows that were starting to appear and my experience in an adjacent room was one of constant yelling and violence. My nervous system would become jacked and I would become agitated. Of course this was after my partner came home from work in the evening. I would subsequently go to bed with my nervous system activated; it's much harder to get to sleep with an activated nervous system.
I also really disliked the constant peddling of products that I had no interest in, which was becoming more and more pervasive...Years later "Mad Men" would be aired so that we could all experience the underbelly of the process by which all this seemingly solicitous barrage of polygrip, metamusil, cigarettes, jello, tampons, hot dogs, bologna, plop, plop, fizz, fizz, I can't believe I ate the whole thing, and the nascent arrival of drug ads with the requisite speed talking head reeling off 16 pages of side effects in 30 seconds. Gag me with a spoon.
Well, anyway, violence became king, our attention spans became shorter and shorter, more guns, guns, guns, drugs, violence...Gag me with a cell phone. These days the challenge is to find a TV show or movie that is not filled with guns and violence. All of the years since my first repulsion to TV guns and violence I have watched mass shootings and drive by shootings and school shootings become the norm. Gag me with a semi-automatic.
The other thing that occurred to me in the early 80's was after returning from a trip to rural China that I was lucky to be able to experience. China was just opened up and I was able to spend 4 weeks in rural South China as an artist through a cultural exchange program. I had the use of a bicycle and could ride around seemingly where I wanted to in Taishan area, though we were followed constantly. I would ride around in the evening and had the experience of observing a birth and death in relation to entertainment in rural China at this point in time. One experience was of an oral tradition that I found fascinating to observe, where there would be a sizable circle of people including children sitting around an older person who was obviously telling stories. Everyone was very engaged in listening attentively; this would be taking place outdoors in the evening. This was entertainment and rich cultural engagement the like of which I had never experienced. I quite sure that this oral tradition was in fact the same one that humans had been participating in for hundreds of years; the passing down of history and connection through story telling. Lucky me to be able to witness this!
At this same time something else was starting to emerge. As I would cruise around in the evening on the bike I would pass an occasional edifice that usually had a large sliding door that was open to the outside, and there would be a TV going inside and a crowd of various people would be spilling out onto the street all watching the flickering screen. The juxtaposition of the dying art of storytelling with the obvious excitement around the few TV's in the area struck me as a harbinger of what was to come. A death and a birth. A beginning and an end. Radical change. Direct connection in real time with real humans vs proxy artifice. Still gagging.
Meanwhile...with the help of homeopathic doses of humans like yourself who are questioning the dominant created artificial paradigm and maybe headed out to nature or the bonfire to connect I am feeling heartened. May it be so!!
Cheers...
What a fascinating comment, Denni! Thank you for describing your experience with violence on tv -- I'm sure it resonates with many. I certainly can relate. And wow, your time in China gave you such an insight -- thanks, too, for sharing that. It's rare when we are given opportunities -- and are awake enough to recognize them -- of witnessing colossal change in real time.
I may like to quote you in the next installment; Part 2 is all about advertising, and your description of the "barrage" is hilarious and awful and true. Are you okay with that?