Television. A lot of people view television as simply entertainment. I don’t disagree that television certainly provides entertainment, but I feel that it also goes beyond that. Like a good book, a television show captures emotions that viewers can relate to. In a great television show the storylines and emotions the characters go through provide a source of comfort to viewers who have gone through similar situations or who can imagine going through something similar in the future. There are shows out there that have extreme storylines that aren’t realistic and therefore not as relatable, and those shows are more purely entertainment, they also can serve as an escape from stress, whether it be school, work, family, whatever.
A show that falls into the first category is Rookie Blue. It’s a cop show on ABC during the summer. I have watched it half way regularly since the beginning but last weekend I watched pretty much every episode of the series online. Even though it is a cop show there is a huge focus on the relationships of the characters. Because of the focus on relationships and on the characters themselves there is a lot that the audience relates to. Real human emotions and experiences- being drawn to someone but having your guard up, not being sure of yourself, being scared, knowing when ‘breaking the rules’ is doing the right thing, being let down, making mistakes, learning to trust your instincts, etc.
There are a lot of negative connotations out there about television. That it is bad. Kids shouldn’t be allowed to watch it. People who watch a lot of television are just a bunch of couch potatoes. Here is my position. Moderation is key in pretty much everything. Yes I watched 26 + episodes of a television show last weekend and I am talking moderation. Those kind of weekends are clearly not every other weekend. They can be fun and captivating but after awhile you definitely can almost feel the need to go do something active! I am definitely of the opinion that there is a huge global movie and television industry for a reason and at the heart of that is what I was saying about real human emotions. I love television because I love storytelling and story-watching, I love connecting, relating, empathizing and sympathizing. Kinda like why I love blogging.
Quote from Missy Peregrym, Andy McNally on Rookie Blue. I just love this quote so much. I feel viewers can go through the same thing, experiencing something in real life that they have seen play out on tv or vice versa- seeing something play out on tv that they have experienced in real life
I leave you with some great music (which I happened to hear on Rookie Blue).
I know we've already talked about this, but I totally agree with you here. Something about watching shows I love and watching characters that I feel like I know going through things that I've gone through comforts me. It makes me feel like I'm not alone, even though I completely realize that the show is fictional. I swear, I never would have gotten through any of my break ups without One Tree Hill, Friends or How I Met Your Mother. Thank God for good television :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen so many commericials for this show but haven't actually watched it yet. It sounds good so I think I'm going to try to find it on demand this afternoon!
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