Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Jimmy Jet and his T.V. set


In my life I have watched a lot of t.v. despite the fact that as a child the amount of television I was allowed to watch was strictly governed by my mother. I was allowed only a few shows, all of which were educational. These viewing restrictions were facilitated by our lack of a television antenna. Until I was 13 I didn’t know how to work a television without rabbit ears. Despite these ‘hardships’ the television that I watched as a child plays a strange significance in my life as an adult. I can still sing many of my favourite television shows theme songs and I have an alarming recollection of all things Sesame Street. The feeling I get when I actually hear these songs again is nothing short of a genuine nostalgia. What’s even more alarming is how many of my friends share the same warm fuzzy feeling. Television has provided our generation with it’s only real unifying experiences. Being able to instantly recognize the theme from The Littlest Hobo is an incredibly telling phenomenon. Television plays into both our national and personal identities. Is it possible to entirely forsake television and still relate to one’s peers? I’m sure it is, but it’s an experience few of us will ever have.

2 comments:

Glow Worm said...

I think that if I hadn't watched so much t.v. as a kid and actually went out and did stuff I would be more of an individual with the intelligence of having my own ideas, sayings and thoughts rather then quoting from a silly box that ruined my imagination.

Anonymous said...

pees and carrots

who said that? what???