Calvin told me about a new TV show the other night and at first I thought he was putting me on. Calvin’s a great guy, but his taste in television? Um, let’s just say if he had lived in ancient Rome, Calvin would have been first in line for tickets to watch Christians being thrown to Lions.
Calvin’s also one of my best friends and I love him like a brother, but he definitely represents that lowest common denominator network TV supposedly appeals to. I’ve told him this on numerous occasions and he seems utterly unfazed by my assessment.
Cal loves “reality” TV; any show in which inbred hillbillies attack each other with a steady barrage of bleeped-out F-bombs is all he needs to achieve viewing Nirvana. He shares details of these shows with me all the time because he knows even hearing about them makes my teeth hurt.
If I actually tried to sit through one of these video travesties, I’m sure my head would explode.
I sound like an intellectual snob here, but I’m not. I watch all sorts of idiot TV; old episodes of “Star Trek” and “Law & Order,” Three Stooges shorts … that’s about it, I guess. Unless you count 300 viewings of the movie “Caddyshack,” which I never get tired of, assuming there’s beer in the house.
My point is, my own tastes aren’t all that high falutin’ and I probably shouldn’t be so quick to judge the viewing habits of others. But when Cal told me about this new TV show he’s watching, I couldn’t help it.
The show is called “The Briefcase” and if it’s not the work of either the Devil or Donald Trump, I don’t know what is.
As I understand it, the show revolves around two desperately poor families, each of which is given $101,000. They can use this money to pay for junior’s college education, buy a better brand of Ramen noodles, or settle accounts with the loan shark who’s been threatening to kill their children.
Or — and here’s where things supposedly get interesting — they can give some or all of the money to another family that’s in as bad, or even worse, shape than they are.
What fun, right? Let’s watch the poor people feel guilty about their one chance for a decent future! They’re so cute when they grovel! Oh, look! They’re watering down the baby’s formula to make it go further!
I’m sure the seven-figure network execs who came up with the idea for this abomination think its a real hoot, not to mention too, too droll, dahling. This is television for the 1 percent and those too stupid to know they’re in the other 99.
OK. I’m ranting. Old guys do that.
But how long will it be before we’re watching “The Hunger Games” and it’s not a SF movie? How long before we tune in to see to two terminally ill patients cage fight over a vial containing the single available cure?
Society seems caught in an unending game of limbo and the question repeats, over and over: “How low can you go?”
With “The Briefcase,” the answer is, pretty low. And the scary thing is, I don’t think we’ve hit bottom yet.
mtaylor@staffordgroup.com
(616) 548-8273
No comments:
Post a Comment