There are lot’s of things Britain doesn’t do well - I’m not going to list them but they know who they are (public transport, motorways and frequent refuse collection…)
One thing that the British do very well is comedy.
I remember from a very early age watching the Carry On films (not understanding the double entendre), Open all Hours and Only Fools and Horses. And later as a teenager, Monty Python, The Young Ones and of course the all-time classic Blackadder.
Tonight I had the pleasure of watching ‘How TV Ruined Your Life‘ – a fantastic satirical look at how the messages conveyed by TV and the Movies wildly differ from ‘life’s grim reality’. Charlie Brooker you did your country proud.
The point of the show wasn’t to suggest that we all revolt, remove our TV’s from our homes, take them to the top of the tallest building and proceed to throw them off the top. I’m not going to suggest that either. Rather the opposite.
I am here to defend TV.
The problem with TV today isn’t the actual physical TV. We can remove it from our homes, or we can simply exert control and turn it off (and on) as we choose.
If my childhood home had not had a TV, I would not have happy memories of sitting watching the Carry On films on a Sunday afternoon with my family.
TV gets a bad rap sometimes. It’s not TV’s fault, it’s our fault. There’s a saying “A bad workman blames his tools”.
Exercising control is all it takes. If we choose to live completely TV free, how do we learn moderation, and to have a healthy relationship with TV? When we need to lose weight do we stop eating, or do we try to learn to eat more sensibly and with restraint? By not having something, or depriving someone of something could it be they ultimately desire it more?
TV can’t ruin your life unless you let it.
