an interesting discussion

[Rosbjerg]

I had an interesting discussion based on an article in a Danish newspaper ..

 

nowadays prime-time TV is filled with 'life-style' programs, which show us how to live our lives .. they show us how to live, or how not too, what food people eat, how they arrange their gardens, how much money they are getting for selling their house, what clothes is in etc etc..

 

The sheer amount of these kind of programs have exploded (at least on Danish TV), and mediascientists are speculating that these programs serve a use as a sort of social guidiance .. in a society with contiuos flexible norms which are affected by international trends, people are loosing touch with what is "right" ..

 

The solutions range from apathy to a more clear intervention in which trends come in and out of a country (if such a thing is even possible) ..

 

imo it's just shows that people aren't as 'individual' as we like to tell ourselves we are .. it seems we still rely heavily on others opinions .. and when these opinions are becoming increasingly numerous the need for 'normality' and a clearer definition of it, seems to be some kind of new commodity!

I see no solution and my discussion earlier this evening was quite fruitless, so I thought I would toss it by here .. to get a new international perspective ..

 

Do you think it's a problem? what can be done? should we even do anything? (or is it just another trend soon to be over?)

[><FISH'>]

i try not to pay too much attention to t.v....in fact the only things i like watching on t.v are cartoons (dexters laboratory pwns) and desperate housewives >.<.

[Rosbjerg]

well I havn't watched TV for 6 months (don't have one) .. but you can still discuss what's on, it doesn't take alot to imagine how these programs work!

and I think we've all seen at least one equivalent at some point in our lives!

[draakh_kimera]

Well, I don't necessarily think that these how to live your life programs are a problem, there's been such things going on for a while, just not with the same size of consumers as now, and not in a more physical sense, but rather a spiritual one. The fact that the current issue concerns the physical is to me not a problem, but more of a sad effect of what has happened to society. Almost everything is materialistic nowadays, what cars you have, how much money you make, the clothes you wear, hell even your own body. I'm not saying that everyone is such, nor that materialism is only bad, but I think too many are too focused on it. In a way, I guess it could be considered a problem to some since it encourages materialism over morals/ethics whatever, and that isn't a very comforting thought.

 

Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the general population of a country actually takes these programs to heart, but the fact that they exist must have some reason...

 

It's the same with the whole reality show thing, like big brother, or paradise hotel/island whatever the hell it is. I sure as hell don't like em, but sometimes it's amusing to observe the low level of intelligence some of those people seem to be on, and what it leads to.

 

 

As for the individuality issue, I don't think it'll be a problem. How individual one is depends more (I think, and hope) on one's past, experiences, and social life, rather than TV programs. Also, how would one define individual? To some people a group of other people may all seem the same and vice versa, but within each group every person has their own individuality, though it can only be percieved by those within the group. For example, to me, snobs here in Sweden all look and act the same to me. I'm pretty sure that's what they think of me as a skateboarder as well, but there's no way either I or they can make such a statement and validate it.

 

Well, I've rambled enough now...

[Phosphor]

nowadays prime-time TV is filled with 'life-style' programs, which show us how to live our lives .. they show us how to live, or how not too, what food people eat, how they arrange their gardens, how much money they are getting for selling their house, what clothes is in etc etc..

 

The sheer amount of these kind of programs have exploded (at least on Danish TV), and mediascientists are speculating that these programs serve a use as a sort of social guidiance .. in a society with contiuos flexible norms which are affected by international trends, people are loosing touch with what is "right" ..

 

These sorts of shows are massively popular here in Canada. We've entire channels dedicated to them.

 

The solutions range from apathy to a more clear intervention in which trends come in and out of a country (if such a thing is even possible) ..

 

imo it's just shows that people aren't as 'individual' as we like to tell ourselves we are .. it seems we still rely heavily on others opinions .. and when these opinions are becoming increasingly numerous the need for 'normality' and a clearer definition of it, seems to be some kind of new commodity!

I see no solution and my discussion earlier this evening was quite fruitless, so I thought I would toss it by here .. to get a new international perspective ..

 

Do you think it's a problem? what can be done? should we even do anything? (or is it just another trend soon to be over?)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't think the popularity of these shows indicates anything new in our culture, but they do definitely latch onto and explore something that is part of our culture but not previously at the forefront of popular awareness.

People have always relied heavily on the opinions of others, it's in our nature. I don't know about a need for normality, but certainly most people like to think they're normal, so seeing something on tv that says so is comforting.

I don't see a trend or problem reflected or supported by lifestyle television shows. If anything, they're a good idea and can bring a wider cultural perspective to one's life. Some of them are downright lame and irritating, as with anything, but some of the shows are genuinely interesting and informative. Like with all media you've got to pick and choose which suits your tastes.

[Darth Barth]

nowadays prime-time TV is filled with 'life-style' programs, which show us how to live our lives .. they show us how to live, or how not too, what food people eat, how they arrange their gardens, how much money they are getting for selling their house, what clothes is in etc etc..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I am not sure if I understand exactly what kind of programming you are referring to. Do you mean like home improvement type shows? Make-over shows? I can not think of any television show where the whole point was for someone to tell me how much they sold there house for (besides, isn't that why we have coworkers, so we can lord our accomplishments over them? Anyways..).

 

It has been my personal belief that psychologists and psychoanalysts are in the business to portray answers and explanations as exciting or thought-provoking or alarming as possible. If they just came out and said "People watch home-swap-improvement shows because they want to see the neat and awful designs" or "People watch Springer cause they love to see people talk trash, who doesn't?" there would be a scarcity of psych articles to fill newspapers. In short, the conclusions these people arrive at are just another "oh, hey" diversion in life which is, ironically, these articles entire focus.

 

Who knows.. I'm a little drunk. Besides, I'm Rocket McGrane and I do whatever I want to maintain my upbeatness.