Neglect Of Working Class America

Sachs explains that TV viewing brings little pleasure and close to being an addiction with little benefit and almost no happiness. This appeals to the readers emotionally since most can identify with some sort of addiction and its fallout. Most Americans have some sort of addiction, whether it is food or television and relate when the author uses this analogy to compare. Sachs goes on to claim that this addiction is leading to the decline in our social development since we spend less time face to face and more time in front of a TV or other media devices. Time that was once spent with family is now in front of a television screen or other media devices. This hold true as much now as it did in 2011 when this essay was written. Just this one statement can draw a reader further in since now almost all of us have a device that fits in our pockets that takes our attention away from other people. We end up looking down at our phones or tablets more than we look at other peoples faces. This, unfortunately, is becoming a sad truth in our society today. We would rather look into a world that is hard to distinguish what is real and what is made up instead of enjoying the real world. Sachs does state that there are other factors contributing to the decline of our social state in America

     But, for most part, author feel television is 'drug'; that is corrupting today's society. Many of us fail to recognize how it has caused the decline of family rituals, the avoidance of relationships and the destruction of the family. Our addiction to this daily habit cause us to escape the real world.

Television has progressed and advanced over the years to become the cornerstone of leisure and entertainment. Television is an advanced method of storytelling and storytelling has existed since the birth of humanity. As opposed to storytelling, television allows us to experience stories for ourselves without leaving the comfort of our homes. It essentially allows us to simulate and experience human interaction without actually interacting. As a result, television has become embedded into our daily lifestyles. It has become a source of influence so much so that according to Robert MacNeil, “by the age of 20 you will have been exposed to at least 20,000 hours of television. Robert MacNeil wrote the article “The Trouble with Television” as a way to persuade the American people in recognizing the negative effects of television on society and its future.

When the first television was first successfully shown, people thought that this invention brought people to a new age, and that the television was a huge benefit to humanity. Unfortunately, since then the Golden Era of television's moral and standards have fallen drastically. We are far away from the days when Lassie and the town of Mayberry ruled the airways and were the talk of America. What was once intended as a benefit for society has become its detrimental fall, now instead of upholding American society's standards, television is working to corrupt the very society it intended to help.

In the video, Class dismissed: How TV frames the working class, it focused on how the media portrayal of the working class influenced people’s beliefs of them. There were different segments on the working class that discussed about stereotypes, inequality among genders and races, and how media avoids showing economic

America has become distorted with the rise of television. The glory that this country once held and the virtues that it once stood up for have vanished. In a mere 89 years, generations of righteous men have gone through a gradual change and have become deformed to indolent boys. With television, has come the downfall of the righteousness of America. This monstrous manifestation is depicted in the decline of our values, the decline of our health, and the decline of the American family.

Television has acted as a moral barometer and guide to Americans since the 1950s. It evolved from stage, to cinema, to small screen, bringing outside influence into intimate home settings. Television sponsors and programmers became paid influencers invoking a negative impact on society. Reviewing television and its history as a medium of social, cultural, and political reform, reveals it has the potential to unwind the damage done by past negative messaging in future broadcasting.

Everywhere we look, we are surrounded by pop culture, whether it is present on the computer, magazines, or on the radio. In the 40’s and the 50’s comic books were blamed for corrupting the younger generation, and in the 90’s the public began to blame rap music for various violent atrocities. Recently, there have been a few articles that have been written discussing TV’s influence on society. Two such articles are “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson, an article written for the New York Times, and “Thinking Outside the Idiot Box” by Dana Stevens, a movie critic for Slate Magazine. These two articles only touch on other outlets for pop culture, but look at a major source that is disseminating pop culture into most American’s lives, television. While looking at these articles, it is important to note how some parts of pop culture have value to them and others can contain a no discernable value.

The film, Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class, by Loretta Alper illustrates how the media uses stereotypes in a humorous manner to gain viewers. The film is based on the 90’s sitcoms. As described by the film, many of the most memorable characters of these sitcoms are of the working class (2005). Furthermore it states that since we view television as a source of entertainment not education, we are easily being subconsciously manipulated. Most if not all the sitcoms presented, showed the working class as buffoons. From characters like Doug, from King of

The past 70 years of American history have witnessed several fundamental issues and events that have since defined and/or changed America. However, there is one event that has had one of the, if not the, largest impacts on America: the invention of the television.

The argument of this essay is that TV viewers are being hypnotized by the media we see into “being lulled into physical and mental inactivity.” He calls viewers “a bunch of MTV-addicted, Jerry Springer loving mall rats” and says that we spend an average of 9 years of our lives “glued” to a box.” He also states that the viewers are set into two categories: passive and active”. Passive viewers sit in front of the TV with their time being wasted as they are transformed into mindless zombies as their show progresses. Active viewers are the people who look at what they are seeing and form concepts from it-this, to the author, is an advantage, but still defines TV audiences as collectively passive.

However, portrayals of ideal families are not always accurate. To understand the influence TV shows have on American individuals and families, it is important to first know the numbers and statistics of TV viewers since the post war era up until now. Lynn Spiegel, Frances E. Willard Professor of Screen Cultures at the School of Communication at Northwestern University, wrote a book called Make Room For TV. In the mentioned publication, Spiegel notes that “between 1948 and 1955, television was installed in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s homes” (2).

Television has been an crucial part of the household since the 20th century, as a medium for traditional households to come together and enjoy a program. The significance of television is encapsulated through the central placement of the television set in the common household. Traditionally, television was the main source of news and regarded as the “social centre”. Everyone had to keep up to date to engage in “water cooler” conversations in order to be “connected”. In the “Dailiness in Radio, Television and Modern Life” reading, Scannell describes media as a

Television is the source of the most broadly shared images and messages in history. Mainstream of the common symbolic environment. Television shows no sign of weakening-consequences are felt around the globe. Cultivation analysis focuses on television contributions to viewer’s conceptions of social reality. In the typical US home, the television set is in use for about 7 hours a day. The more people watch, the less selective they can be.

Years ago, society was full of hard-working, fit, energetic people who diligently worked to improve civilization. But then, society became infected – by television. The virus slowly spread from person to person and began to take over the lives of everyone it encountered. Over the course of eight decades, the virus came to dictate every day activities and transformed a spirited species into languid losers. Television has ultimately turned society into a vegetable garden that is controlled by technological innovations that manipulate the order of our everyday lives.