A Cultural Profact : The Television As A Cultural Artifact

Television holds an important part in most of our lives. From a young age, we spend countless hours sitting in front of a television set. Every year there are new shows created, and our favorite shows are renewed for another season. There are numerous programs to choose from. Television broadcasts are free, and there are also paid options for more diverse programming. We are fortunate enough to be able to spend on average a third of our leisure time watching television all from the comfort of our homes. Given the incredible reach that television has on our lives, we can say that television has a significant impact on our lives.

The main reason we watch TV is for entertainment where we can view shows and movies. Shows and movies expose individuals to a variety of cultures and values that they do not see often. Another use of television is for information such as news, political views, and advertisements. Televisions inform us of news around our community and world, and also persuade us in buying products or donating money to a cause. An ongoing controversy has risen such tha televisions can be harmful to children because of the vulgar language and violence shown through modern day shows or even celebrities. Viewing too much television can be time consuming and may even discourage children to go play outside and be social. Watching the newscast has changed my life by informing me of the violence that goes on throughout my community. Also, a negative effect of watching too much television has taken up my time when I could have been doing more productive tasks.

Television has been criticized as “a vast cultural wasteland”. Tv is supposed to be something that people use for fun and entertainment not a way to get away from your problems. Now with that being said this quote is trying to say that tv is useless. I think the reason that some people think that tv is useless is because of shows like SpongeBob and family guy. Sponge bob is a very popular kids show that has been around for years but doesn’t benefit the people watching it in anyway. In fact, watching a cartoon like SpongeBob can damaged the mind of many people and children with the stupidity that’s done on the show. Then you have a show like family guy where the things done can be called stupid but at the same time the things done are realistic but the only problem with a show like that is that it’s very inappropriate for kids to watch because of all the inappropriate behavior and violence that that is shown in a show like that. Another problem with tv isn’t the tv it’s the people. The shows are there to watch and to enjoy but it’s up to the person to watch it or the parent to allow their child to watch that. I don’t think that tv is a vast cultural wasteland because there are many different thins to see and watch and learn you just have to watch the right shows and use the right channels. Sometimes watching tv can even be fundamental.

Even when controlling for ethnicity and socioeconomic status, results still indicate that watching TV contribute significantly to obesity. For example, a study conducted in the United Kingdom concluded that an increase in TV hours on weekends correlated with higher BMIs at 30 years of age. For each added hour of time spent watching TV on weekends at age 5, obesity risk increased by 7%. The impact of watching TV on children’s weight is even more pronounced when there is a TV set in the child’s bedroom. A study of children between the ages of 9 to 12 suggested that having a TV set in their bedroom significantly increased risks of obesity, regardless of physical activity. Moreover, when TV viewing time is decreased, obesity as well as other measures of adiposity are reduced as well. Multiple studies have also documented the positive association between increased TV exposure and increase risks of childhood obesity in the Latino

The Television is often the centerpiece of typical American house. TVs are now a representative the American dream. TVs are even used to measure finical wellbeing. Huge flat screen TVs symbolize success, while smaller TVs represent modesty. People crowd around the TV to watch the big game, to catch up on the news and keep up with pop culture. Is there something wrong with this so-called wonder device known as the Television? Marie Winn, author of book Unplugging the plug-in drug, argues this point in the chapter “The Trouble with Television” claiming that the television negatively affects families and specifically children. Marie Winn is an author and journalist who is known for her write ups on wildlife and television. The book was published in 1987 and describes eight ways in which the television is damaging. Winn makes it a point not to argue against the content of television, but rather how the television effects family relationships and is a detriment to children’s development. While I agree with some of Winn’s, overall, I disagree with her assessment of television. The points that Winn made that I disagree with include, TV allows kids to grow up less civilized, TV keeps family from doing other things, TV makes children less resourceful, TV has a negative effect on children’s school achievement and TV has a negative effect on children’s physical fitness.

Furthermore, the social health of people is suffering due to watching TV, over hanging out with friends. When watching TV people do not talk, as they need to hear the show they are watching. They cannot have healthy relationships with friends if they

The environment in which people live in plays a huge role in the choices people make when it comes to food and activities. The subliminal marketing and the easy accessibility of junk food makes America a toxic place to live. It’s tough for individuals to make the right choices when bad influences are woven into the fabric of society. What can we do to fix this widespread epidemic that is affecting the country? Small changes in a person’s lifestyle can have a drastic effect on their health. Weight gain is closely linked to “a high intake of potato chips, potatoes, [and] sugar-sweetened beverages” (“Obesity in America”). So a change in a person’s diet to a healthier one can be very beneficial. Also, exercise and physical activity can help protect against sudden weight gain. Another culprit for obesity is TV, it is one of the biggest enemies of exercise and the friend of snacking. Under the protection of the First Amendment, manufacturers have the right to promote their products freely, regardless of the negative effects it has (“Pounding Away”). Thus, many people are overly exposed and tempted by many junk or fast food products that are heavily advertised. Putting down the remote and exchanging hours of surfing the net for leisure exercise can significantly change a person’s well

Today, mostly everyone has a television at home. Who doesn't? Yet, had we considered what effects television does to us when we spend hours watching it for a long while? Ehrenreich assertion of television are accurate because people spent their time sitting in the couch being slothful, doing nothing interesting, and spending their whole time watching tv.

Cross sectional epidemiological studies have consistently found relatively weak positive associations between television viewing and child and adolescent adiposity. Prospective studies are less common and have produced mixed results. The consistently weak association found in epidemiological studies may be due to the measurement error in self reports of television viewing. As a result, additional epidemiological studies would not be expected to clarify the true nature of this relationship.

Dunstan DW, Barr ELM, Healy GN, et al. Television viewing time and mortality. The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Circulation 2010; 121: 384-91. Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.894824v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Dunstan&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language

Television can be considered a cultural forum. By cultural forum, this means issues and points of view can be discussed openly and almost without punishment. These issues can vary anywhere from male dominance in the household, to wars, to racism, to political jabs and still be covered under freedom of speech. Television can hold a wide variety of opinions which may offend, but for the most part due so to prove a point.

The week one screening of film Dead Set, a horror drama film created by Charlie Brooker and directed by Yann De-mange chronicles a nightmare scenario in which Britain is taken over by Zombies. It is essentially a spoof on reality television that depicts both the inside and outside worlds of the UK’s version of “Big Brother.” The film explores the parallels between zombies and contemporary reality television. Zombies represent the darker side of human nature (Gadsby, 2011), coinciding with the idea that reality television has the power to destruct and generate conceptions that construct the way society thinks.

The television is also a very important aspect of popular culture that affects the American Identity. Watching television is such a common part of contemporary society, that most Americans adopted it as a part of their daily routine and watch television for at least an hour a day. Stanley Crouch, a poet, music and cultural critic, writes that whenever people pretentiously and proudly announce, “I don’t watch television,” they should follow it up with “I don’t look at America either” (Masciotra 79). Television has become a part of many people’s lives. When the mass population watches the same TV shows, movies, etc. they can all relate to each other, and thus unite them as an American. We look to TV shows to see how other people like us act

Television, a telecommunication medium some may not survive without. Today’s generation may refer to television as a technological norm; delusional of a world where television was non-existent. Notably, television unites the nation through local or world events, politics, education, and entertainment. Philo Farnsworth, “Father of Television,” invented the television; the electronic transmission of fixed or mobile images. Furthermore, Farnsworth’s invention influenced a new form of media. Young Farnsworth’s scientific, technological imagination as well as, competitive battle with a major-league corporation, RCA, enticed the growth of one of the most popular media mediums; television.